Haku (wrestler)
Haku | |
---|---|
Birth name | Tonga ʻUliʻuli Fifita |
Born | [1] Nukuʻalofa, Kingdom of Tonga[1] | 10 February 1959
Spouse(s) |
Dorothy Koloamatangi
(m. 1977) |
Children | 4, including Tanga Loa, Tama Tonga and Hikuleo |
Family | Bad Luck Fale (cousin) Steve Fifita (cousin) Tatafu Polota-Nau (cousin) |
Professional wrestling career | |
Ring name(s) | Haku King Haku King Tonga Monster Face of Fear/Terror Meng Tama Tonga[2] |
Billed height | 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)[3] |
Billed weight | 275 lb (125 kg)[3] |
Billed from | Tonga |
Trained by | Giant Baba[1] |
Debut | 1978[1] |
Tonga ʻUliʻuli Fifita (born 10 February 1959) is a Tongan
Sumo wrestling career
Growing up on the main island of the South Pacific island-kingdom of Tonga, Fifita attended Tonga College, where he played rugby union. At the age of 15, he was part of a group of six teenagers and young men sent by the king of Tonga to Japan to study Sumo. Sione Vailahi, who would later become better known as pro-wrestler "The Barbarian", was also a part of this group. After moving to Japan in 1974, he competed under the shikona (sumo name) of Fukunoshima (福ノ島). He made his debut in November 1974 and reached the rank of Makushita 27. However, in 1975 the stablemaster who recruited him died, and he and the other five Tongan wrestlers got entangled in a dispute with his successor, which led to him being forced to retire by the Japan Sumo Association in 1976.[4]
Fukunoshima Hiroshi | |
---|---|
福ノ島 裕士 | |
Personal information | |
Height | 1.81 m (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in) |
Weight | 95 kg (209 lb) |
Career | |
Stable | Asahiyama |
Record | 48-25-4 |
Debut | November 1974 |
Highest rank | Makushita 27 (September 1976) |
Retired | September 1976 |
* Up to date as of Aug. 2020. |
Professional wrestling career
Early career (1978–1986)
Under the guidance of two other former sumotori who had turned to puroresu, Genichiro Tenryu and Takashi Ishikawa, he joined their home promotion, All Japan Pro Wrestling. Early in his career, he also refereed matches in the Amarillo territory. Nevertheless, this merely served as a springboard for him to wrestle all over the world.
In the early 1980s, Fifita, taking the name King Tonga, wrestled in Canada for Frank Valois'
World Wrestling Federation (1985–1992)
Tonga debuted at a WWF Championship taping on 8/20/85 as King Tonga and wrestled as a "babyface".
The Islanders (1986–1988)
In 1986 King Tonga became a star by body slamming
King Haku (1988–1989)
In 1988, following
who himself was crowned as "King Duggan".Colossal Connection (1989–1990)
Haku would later go on to form the tag team known as the Colossal Connection with André the Giant and win the WWF Tag Team Championship from Demolition on 30 December edition of Superstars (taped on 13 December).[8] Haku and André lost the titles at WrestleMania VI, when Demolition defeated the Colossal Connection to regain the titles. Haku never legally tagged Andre into the match (due to André's poor health). Late in the match André attempted to interfere, but Haku accidentally struck him with a savate kick which left André tied in the ropes; Haku was pinned shortly after this. The team's manager, Bobby Heenan, blamed André for the loss and even slapped the Giant, who retaliated by "paint-brushing" Heenan. Haku tried to ambush André; however, The Giant blocked Haku's kick and struck him repeatedly before leaving the ring alone to a standing ovation. André's face turn meant that the team had split.
Various feuds and departure (1990–1992)
Just after WrestleMania, Haku became the first wrestler to challenge the new WWF champion, The Ultimate Warrior, but he lost the match. Later that month he was programmed into a house show program with Hercules. On a match that aired on 8 June 1990 MSG Network, Hercules defeated Haku. In matches through April and May, the former Heenan family member won most of his matches against Haku. In the summer of 1990 Haku transitioned to an opening card wrestler on the house show circuit. He was victorious against the returning
In early 1991 he formed a tag team shortly after this with fellow Heenan Family member
Japan and Mexico (1992–1994)
Coming towards the end of Fifita's WWF career, he would wrestle under the name King Haku for Japanese promotion Super World of Sports. On 14 February 1992, Haku and Yoshiaki Yatsu became the first SWS Tag Team Champions. They lost the championship on 16 April when they lost them to George and Shunji Takano but would regain them on 18 April, holding them until 19 June when SWS closed. With SWS closing, King Haku wrestled for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre in Mexico and New Japan Pro-Wrestling and Wrestle Association R in Japan, before finally joining World Championship Wrestling.
World Championship Wrestling (1994–2001)
Col. Robert Parker's bodyguard (1994–1995)
Fifita joined WCW in 1994, under the new ring name Meng, because the name Haku was
Shortly after, Meng began feuding with
He would soon become known as "The Monster" Meng. He was touted as being a former bodyguard to the
Dungeon of Doom and Faces of Fear (1995–1997)
Meng joined the
Two nights later, on the January 29 episode of
Faces of Fear branched out as a tag team after the rivalry with Hulk Hogan ended. They unsuccessfully challenged
Hardcore Champion (1997–2001)
Meng spent much of 1997 facing lower and mid-card performers before starting a small winning streak in the summer of 1998. This led to a main event WCW World Championship match with Bill Goldberg on 10 August edition of Monday Nitro. Goldberg, too, had an impressive winning streak. Goldberg won and retained his title that night and thus added another wrestler in his winning streak, making it 160–0. Prior to this, Meng had faced Goldberg (before he won the World Championship) on WCW Saturday Night and despite the loss had pushed Goldberg for longer than anyone had until that point. In the spring of 1999, when Ric Flair was the (kayfabe) president on WCW programming, the barbaric Meng would often annihilate Flair's enemies per his instructions. Later on, Meng had a short-lived feud with Sting and occasionally faced top stars like Lex Luger and WCW Champion Bret Hart. He also participated in matches for the newly introduced WCW Hardcore Championship toward the end of 1999. Meng finally won the title at the Sin pay-per-view on 14 January 2001. He became the final WCW Hardcore Champion. A week later, he left WCW just weeks before it was bought by WWF in March 2001.
Independent circuit (2000–2005, 2008-2016)
Fifita, under the name Meng, wrestled for World League Wrestling winning the WLW Heavyweight Championship on two occasions in 2000. He would return in 2003 to win the championship for the third time. Since 2005, Fifita has been essentially retired, returning to the wrestling ring on a few occasions over the years. In 2009, as King Haku, he would wrestle regularly for World Xtreme Wrestling where he won the WXW Hardcore Championship twice. He would return to semi retirement after his stint. Meng appeared at Chikara's King of Trios 2012 tournament, held on 14–16 September in Easton, Pennsylvania, teaming with The Barbarian and The Warlord under the team name the Faces of Pain. On 14 September, the team was eliminated from the tournament in the first round by Team ROH (Mike Bennett and Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson).[15][16]
Return to WWF (2001–2002)
One week after Sin, Fifita returned to the WWF as Haku and made a surprise appearance at the
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2016–2018)
On 4 January 2016, Fifita, as King Haku, made a surprise return to New Japan Pro-Wrestling, taking part in the
Haku, once again representing Bullet Club, returned at the G1 Special in San Francisco. He, alongside Tama Tonga,
All Elite Wrestling (2021)
On 28 July 2021, Haku made a surprise appearance at All Elite Wrestling's (AEW) Fight for the Fallen event where he accompanied his son Hikuleo to the ring for his IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship match, where he faced Lance Archer in a losing effort.[20]
Personal life
Fifita is married to Dorothy Koloamatangi. They have a daughter, Vika; a son,
Legacy and reputation
Many former wrestling personalities have described Haku as the toughest or greatest legitimate fighter in wrestling, including
On 3 March 1989, Haku got into an altercation with some men at a
In a shoot interview
Kevin Sullivan told a story to WWE Classics about the time when he and Haku went to a tavern to grab a few beers before heading to their hotel. According to Sullivan, it was obvious that he and Meng were not locals, so when they walked into the bar, a guy playing pool insulted Meng. "The next thing I know is that Meng goozles the guy like Mr. Spock," Sullivan said. "It was fast and furious. He then grabbed another guy who tried to get involved and knocked him unconscious." After that, things got even crazier. "Meng bit through the guy's shirt like a wolf, bit a chunk out of the guy's back, then spit it on the floor," he said. "I said, 'It's time to go.'" Sullivan said that as they drove from the bar he saw police cars pulling into the parking lot, but authorities did not pursue them and no charges were ever filed.[52]
Wrestler Shane Douglas said in a shoot interview that one would be better off fighting the US Army than fighting Haku. He spoke about an incident when he witnessed several cops trying to hold Haku down and one of them struck Haku with a baton on his face while the others emptied their cans of mace on him but Haku did not sell it.[53]
Championships and accomplishments
- 50th State Big Time Wrestling
- All Japan Pro Wrestling
- 2 January Korakuen Hall Heavyweight Battle Royal (1981)[56]
- Cauliflower Alley Club
- Tag Team Award (2019) - with The Barbarian[57]
- George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame
- Frank Gotch Award (2023)
- Impact Pro Wrestling
- IPW New Zealand Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Liger
- North Carolina Wrestling Association
- NCWA Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with The Barbarian[58]
- Lutte Internationale
- NWA Mid-America
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- Super World of Sports
- Tokyo Sports
- World Championship Wrestling
- World League Wrestling
- World Wrestling Council
- World Wrestling Federation
- WWF Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with André the Giant[76][77]
- Slammy Award (1 time)
- Bobby "The Brain" Heenan Scholarship Award (1987) with André the Giant, Hercules, King Kong Bundy, Harley Race and Tama
- World Xtreme Wrestling
- 2 times)[78]
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter
- Z-Gangsta, and The Ultimate Solution vs. Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage in a Towers of Doom match at Uncensored[79]
Sumo Career Record
Year | January Hatsu basho, Tokyo |
March Haru basho, Osaka |
May Natsu basho, Tokyo |
July Nagoya basho, Nagoya |
September Aki basho, Tokyo |
November Kyūshū basho, Fukuoka |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1974 | x | x | x | x | x | (Maezumo) |
1975 | West Jonokuchi #19 5–2 |
West Jonidan #71 5–2 |
East Jonidan #42 6–1 |
East Sandanme #80 4–3 |
East Sandanme #65 3–4 |
West Sandanme #77 7–0–D |
1976 | East Makushita #60 3–4 |
East Sandanme #8 3–4 |
West Sandanme #21 5–2 |
West Makushita #56 6–1 |
East Makushita #27 Retired 1–2–4 |
x |
Record given as wins–losses–absencies Top division champion Top division runner-up Retired Lower divisions Non-participation Playoff (s)Divisions: Jonokuchi Makuuchi ranks: Maegashira |
Media
- WCW/nWo Revenge (Video Game – 1998)
- WCW/nWo Thunder (Video Game – 1998)
- WWE Raw(Video Game – 2002)
- WWE 2K16 (Video Game – 2015)
References
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{{cite web}}
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External links
- Biography of Haku
- Tonga Fifita at IMDb
- Haku on WWE.com
- Haku's Chikara profile
- TV.com summary Archived 5 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine
- Haku's profile at Cagematch.net , Wrestlingdata.com