Wally Yamaguchi, manager of Kaientai in WWE, has passed away

We are sad to report that Wally Yamaguchi has passed away at 61 years old.

Many fans in the United States will remember him as Yamaguchi-San, the manager of Kaientai during the late 1990s. He and the rest of the group were involved in a high profile angle with Val Venis in 1998.

Yamaguchi was considered one of the most influential figures in Japanese wrestling in the 80s and 90s as one of the main people in charge of “Gong Magazine” at a time when wrestling magazines were very important in the wrestling business and even more so in Japan with heavy readership. He was also one of the people behind the launch of FMW.

Yamaguchi has dealt with health problems in recent years, including a stroke in late 2017.

We send our deepest condolences to his friends and family.

My best friend Wally Yamaguchi (Yamaguchi San)passed away .
He had stroke about one year ago. Had hart problem as well and he was on bed for about one year. I’ll have my show on March 13 as TCW Wally Yamaguchi Memorial Show. R.I.P. pic.twitter.com/bSkErjS9wm

— Jimmy Suzuki (ジミー鈴木） (@JimmySuzuki1) March 9, 2019