UPDATE: Adnan’s family has responded and they say the dog story is not true. Click here for the update.
ORIGINAL: The late Mr. Fuji was as famous for his legendary backstage pranks, or “ribs,” as he was for his in-ring career. On a recent episode of their “DEMOPOD” podcast, his former clients, Demolition, confirmed some of the most notorious stories about their manager and shared a personal story of being on the receiving end of a Fuji prank.
The duo discussed one of the most infamous stories in wrestling folklore: that Fuji once cooked a wrestler’s dog and fed it to him. Barry Darsow (Smash) confirmed the story as he had heard it, identifying the victim as General Adnan Al-Kaissie. The prank was reportedly revenge for Adnan repeatedly eating Fuji’s homemade sandwiches.
“The story I heard was Fuji used to bring a bag lunch with him… and Fuji could cook, so it was good sandwiches,” Darsow began. “Adnan did it again. He did it two or three times. Ate his lunch. So then Fuji says, ‘Okay, I’m going to fix this son of a gun.’ So he went over and got his dog and cooked his dog up.” Darsow continued, “Adnan started eating the sandwich and… looked at him, he goes, ‘this is really delicious.’ He goes, ‘it’s your dog.’ And I heard Adnan threw up.”
Bill Eadie (Ax) confirmed another legendary story, this one involving S.D. Jones and some M-80 explosives. “The story was that Fuji had four, five, or six M-80s, and he taped them to the engine of S.D.’s car, closed the hood,” Eadie said. “And of course, they’re going down the highway, and as it heats up, the M-80s all blew up and blew the hood off the car… Fuji told us that story there for a fact.”
These stories aligned with Fuji’s reputation for sometimes “sinister” ribs. The podcast’s host mentioned another story, told by Larry Zbyszko, in which Fuji would wrap white tape around a sleeping wrestler’s pubic hair, let the tape hang down, and then set it on fire, forcing the victim to wake up and stomp it out. Darsow noted that the reason no one would retaliate was the certainty that Fuji would always get his revenge. “We knew that no matter what happened, he would get you back,” he said.
While Fuji’s reputation was well-known, Barry Darsow (Smash) also shared a story of a more personal, albeit annoying, prank Fuji pulled on him during a tour of Europe. After Darsow had been complaining about being tired, Fuji took action. “He knew what my room number was, and he gave me a wake up call every hour on the hour,” Darsow said.
Darsow decided against direct retaliation, knowing it would only escalate the situation. Instead, he got his revenge after the tour was over. “I did what you’re not supposed to do is I called him at home at four o’clock in the morning wake up call, and then I hung up,” he revealed. “I did that about three or four days in a row… I never got ribbed from him again.”
Both men were quick to point out that Fuji never pulled any of these severe pranks on them. “He never pulled any ribs on us that I can recall,” Eadie said. “I think he knew where his bread was buttered.”
Darsow added that by the time Fuji was managing them, he had begun to pass the torch of pranking to a new generation of notorious jokesters in the locker room. “He kind of was over all the serious ribs,” Darsow said of Fuji’s demeanor when he was with them. “He kind of sent the Bulldogs and Curt Hennig through the Fuji School of ribs. So they were kind of doing the ribs for Fuji, I think.” Click below to listen to Demolition’s DEMOPOD.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit DEMOPODÂ with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
