Yokozuna was on top of the world for about sixty seconds at WrestleMania 9 when he defeated Bret Hart to win the WWE Championship.
It marked the first time Yokozuna had won the WWE Title in his career and was a monumental moment for the Samoan dynasty.
"When Rodney won, you could feel the energy and just how happy and proud of him we were, and then here [Hulk Hogan] comes," said Roman Reigns while shaking his head on WWE Icons.
Immediately following Yoko's victory, Hulk Hogan made his way to ringside. Mr. Fuji challenged Hogan to get in the ring with Yokozuna. 22 seconds later, Hogan was the new WWE Champion.
"First of all, going into WrestleMania 9, the plan was for Yokozuna to be our champion for the immediate future. That changed the weekend of WrestleMania," said WWE producer Bruce Prichard. "The reasoning was because of the international tour we had coming up. It was going to be Hulk's farewell tour in a lot of respects and we felt it would be better to have Hulk as the champion. Hindsight [big sigh]"
Bret Hart added, "The night before WrestleMania, they told me 'this is what we're going to do.' I felt like putting my finger down my throat. At that point, wrestling had changed from Hulk Hogan and the musclemen wrestlers of the '80s. I thought we were heading in the right direction, pushing newer and younger stars, but suddenly it was the Hulk Hogan show again.
Hogan took responsibility for the call, saying, "To the best of my recollection, I knew I was leaving. I couldn't remember if I was going to do a movie, but I talked into, 'Hey man, what's the finish in the main event?' He told me what it was and I said, 'Brother, if I go out and help Bret Hart. Hulk Hogan, Yokozuna, you can book us in the next pay-per-view.' It was my harebrained idea and it caused quite a controversy. It was one of those audible, wild wild west type situations. You know?
Both Prichard and Hart said Yokozuna was fine with the outcome either way, with Hart adding that Yoko was happy to be working a program with Hogan.
Yokozuna would regain the WWE Title from Hogan at King of the Ring 1993.
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