Bruce Prichard Once Made the WWE Locker Room Believe Taka Michinoku Was in the Yakuza

– In his latest Something to Wrestle With, Bruce Prichard recalled ribbing the WWE locker room into thinking Taka Michinoku was in the Yakuza. Prichard revealed that he convinced the locker room that Michinoku was in the notorious Japanese crime syndicate in a unique way. Prichard said that he tweaked the popular story of Yakuza practicing yubitsume — cutting off part of a finger as a show of atonement — to sell the story.

“So one day, I convinced the entire locker room that Taka was in the Yakuza in Japan. And they said, ‘There’s no way because he’s not missing any digits.’ I said, ‘No, no, no, no. Because he’s a big star in Japan, they cut off his toes. So if you ever watch when Taka goes in to take a shower or Taka takes his shoes off, he’s got a couple toes missing!'”

Prichard went on to say, “You would not believe how many times people would try and [see Taka’s feet]. Of course I smartened Taka up to it. So Taka would sit over there and kayfabe. And he would make sure and look around before he took his socks off. And then he would run in and drop a towel on his feet so no one could see it and s**t. So I think there are some people still out there today that still think Taka Michinoku was in the Yakuza, and because he was a star, that they cut his toes off instead of his fingers. And Bradshaw kind of perpetuated that a little bit for me.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Something to Wrestle With with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.