Harry Fujiwara
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| Harry Fujiwara | |
|---|---|
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| Statistics | |
| Ring name(s) | Mr. Fuji Master Fuji The Devious One The Samurai Warrior |
| Billed height | 178 cm (5 ft 10 in) |
| Billed weight | 108 kg (239 lb) |
| Born | May 4, 1935 Honolulu, Hawaii |
| Billed from | Tokyo, Japan |
Harry Fujiwara (born May 4, 1935), known best by the ring name Mr. Fuji, is a former all time heel professional wrestler, who is best known for his work as a manager. As a manager, he would often throw salt in the eyes of face wrestlers. Although he was billed as Japanese, he was in fact a Japanese-American born in Hawaii.
As a wrestler, Mr. Fuji held the World Wrestling Federation's WWF Tag Team Championship several times with different partners including Professor Toru Tanaka (3 times when the company was known as the WWWF), with one of their reigns being the third longest tag team title reign in the WWE/F/WF, and also Mr. Saito (twice when it was known as the WWF). Fuji is one of the most respected tag team wrestlers in World Wrestling Federation history, having held one half of the World Tag Team titles longer than any other wrestler.
Fuji would "blind" his opponents by throwing salt in their eyes. He would carry a little bag of salt in his tights. The throwing of the salt was a take-off on what sumo wrestlers do as they enter the ring. The meaning is said to be a way to invite good luck before the match. This was particularly emphasized when Mr. Fuji managed Yokozuna.
Among the wrestlers who were victimized by the blinding salt were Rick Martel, Chief Jay Strongbow, Jules Strongbow, Bret Hart and Ricky Steamboat.
Before joining the WWF, he had a career in Hawaii with Peter Maivia's Wrestling Hawaii. He often was associated with one of Hawaii's biggest heels, Tor Kamata.
After leaving wrestling, Fujiwara retired to the city of Knoxville, Tennessee. In 1997, he sued the makers of the video game WCW vs. nWo World Tour claiming that the character Master Fuji was based on him. The outcome of the lawsuit is unknown.
Fujiwara operated a training dojo out of Jefferson City, Tennessee, and Dandridge, Tennessee, until 2001. The school is credited with creating current independent professional wrestlers "The Prodigy" Shane Andrews, Robbie Race, and Scotty Atomic.
On the March 12, 2007 episode of RAW it was announced that Harry Fujiwara will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2007.[1]
[edit] Wrestlers managed by Mr. Fuji
- George "The Animal" Steele
- Magnificent Muraco
- Killer Kahn
- Jim Neidhart
- Sika
- Kamala
- Demolition (Ax & Smash)
- Powers of Pain (The Barbarian & The Warlord)
- Berzerker
- Jeff Jarrett (for one match against Lex Luger)
- The Orient Express (Pat Tanaka & Akio Sato and later Kato)
- Crush
- Yokozuna
- Owen Hart
- Bob Orton, Jr.
[edit] Championships and accomplishments
- International Wrestling Alliance
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- IWA Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Tiger Jeet Singh
- Mid-Southern Wrestling
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- Mid-Southern Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Toru Tanaka
- National Wrestling Alliance
- National
- Regional
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- NWA Georgia Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Toru Tanaka
- NWA Hawaiian Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Karl Von Steiger
- NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Genichiro Tenryu
- NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship (4 times) – with Haru Sasaki (3) and Tony Borne (1)
- NWA Southeast Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Toru Tanaka
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- PWI ranked him # 445 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the "PWI Years" in 2003.
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- WWC North American Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- WWC North American Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Pierre Martel
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- WWWF / WWF World Tag Team Championship (5 times) – with Toru Tanaka (3) and Mr. Saito (2)
- WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2007)
- Other Titles
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- British Empire Commonwealth Championship (1 time)
