Yusuke ‘Wally’ Yamaguchi, best known by WWE fans for his time as the manager of the Kai En Tai faction in the Attitude Era, died on Saturday. He was 60 years old.
According to Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer, Yamaguchi’s health worsened after suffering a stroke in 2017. His reported cause of death was a battle with a lengthy illness.
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WWE released a statement on Yamaguchi’s passing on Sunday.
“WWE is saddened to learn that Wally Yamaguchi, Japanese wrestling fixture and former Kaientai manager, has passed away at the age of 60,” the statement read. “Although primarily known to the WWE Universe as the villainous Yamaguchi-San during the late 1990s, Yamaguchi was a key figure in Japanese sports-entertainment during the 1980s, editing ‘Gong’ Magazine and working with various Japanese promotions as a referee and an agent.
“In addition to appearing onscreen as Kaientai’s manager, Yamaguchi also worked with WWE as its Japanese liaison,” the statement continued. “His brother, Shun Yamaguchi, is a Japanese television announcer for WWE’s pay-per-view broadcasts. WWE extends its condolences to Yamaguchi’s family, friends and fans.”
The Kai En Tai faction originally debuted in the Michinoku Pro Japanese promotion in 1994 with Dick Togo, Terry Boy and Shiryu in 1994. The group jumped to ECW in 1997 with Togo, Terry Boy and Taka Michinoku renaming themselves BWO Japan (an extension of the Blue World Order. The faction competed at ECW’s first pay-per-view, Barely Legal, in April 1997.
Togo, Funaki and Boy first appeared in the WWF the night after WrestleMania XIV in March 1998, and were quickly joined afterwards by Michinoku with Yamaguchi serving as their manager.
The group’s most infamous feud came against Val Venis, where (in storyline) he slept with Yamaguchi’s wife and drove the manager to attempt to cut off Veni’s genitalia with a sword. The clip of Yamaguchi attempting the cut went to black just before anything could happen, and the feud was written off the following week by saying Yamaguchi missed.
With the exception of Michinoku and Funaki, the rest of the faction left the company shortly after that program.
Yamaguchi’s brother, Shun Yamaguchi, remains employed by the WWE as a member of their Japanese commentary team.
Yamaguchi’s death comes in the same week that the wrestling world lost King Kong Bundy, who passed way at the age of 63 on March 4.
