Tonga Fifita

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Tonga Fifita
Ring name(s) Haku[1]
King Haku[1]
King Tonga[1]
Meng[1]
Prince Tonga[1]
Tonga Fifita[1]
Billed height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)[1]
Billed weight 273 lb (124 kg)[1]
Born (1959-02-03) February 3, 1959 (age 54)[1]
Nukuʻalofa, Tonga[1]
Resides Kissimmee, Florida[1]
Billed from Tonga
Trained by Giant Baba[1]
Debut 1978[1]

Tonga 'Uli'uli Fifita (born February 3, 1959) is a semi-retired Tongan professional wrestler, known for his appearances in both World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and the World Wrestling Federation (WWF).[1] In WCW, he wrestled under the name Meng; in the WWF, he wrestled under the names King Tonga, King Haku, and Haku.

Contents

Career [edit]

Beginnings [edit]

Growing up on the main island of the South Pacific island-kingdom of Tonga, Fifita attended Tonga College, and at the age of 10, he was part of a group of teenagers sent by the King of Tonga to Japan to study Sumo. Sione Vailahi 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 five other 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.[2]

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' International Wrestling promotion based in Montreal. The heel Tonga was managed by former wrestler Tarzan "The Boot" Tyler. Tonga feuded with the top stars of the promotion, including Dino Bravo. A face turn appeared to be in the offing, as Tonga interfered in a tag match, attacking Road Warrior Animal and Paul Ellering during a bout with Jos LeDuc and Jacques Rougeau, Jr. A miscommunication in another tag match with partner Butch Reed led to Reed and Tyler attacking Tonga. Tonga formed a team with his until-then rival Dino Bravo, and the two became successful, including a win over the Road Warriors at the Montreal Forum.

World Wrestling Federation [edit]

In 1986, King Tonga, in his rookie year in the World Wrestling Federation, became a star by bodyslamming Big John Studd on Championship Wrestling. He made a name for himself as Haku in the WWF as half of "The Islanders" with Tama. The team had a classic feud with the British Bulldogs that was started when the Islanders, along with manager Bobby Heenan, kidnapped the Bulldogs' mascot, a Bulldog named Matilda.

In 1988, following King Harley Race's injury sustained in a match against Hulk Hogan, Haku was given Race's crown and robe and was rechristened "King Haku." He would cement his position as king by successfully defending his crown against the returning Race in a match at the 1989 Royal Rumble. He would later lose the "crown" to Hacksaw Jim Duggan. He 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 Ax and Smash Demolition on the December 30 edition of Superstars (taped on December 13). 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 Andre's ill health), late in the match Andre interfered but Haku accidentally struck him with a Savate kick which left Andre tied in the ropes, Haku was pinned shortly after this. The team's manager Bobby Heenan blamed Andre for the loss and even slapped the Giant who retaliated by attacking Heenan, after this Haku tried to attack Andre who blocked another kick and struck Haku repeatedly before leaving the ring alone to a standing ovation, Andre's face turn meant that the team had split.

Just after Wrestlemania Haku became the first wrestler to challenge the new WWF champion, The Ultimate Warrior, but he lost the match. He formed a tag team shortly after this with fellow Heenan family member The Barbarian. Their most notable match was a defeat in the opening match of Wrestlemania 7 against the Rockers (Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty). [3]

Shortly after competing in the Royal Rumble of 1992, Haku left the WWF.

World Championship Wrestling [edit]

In WCW, (because the name Haku was trademarked by the WWF) Fifita wrestled as Meng. He was initially portrayed as the mysterious and intimidating bodyguard of Col. Rob Parker,[4] wearing business suits and shades while maintaining a quiet demeanor. Eventually, Meng became a wrestler himself, winning his first match against a jobber with one fast high kick. Teaming with Kurasawa, he feuded against Sting and Road Warrior Hawk.[5]

Later, he faced Sting in a losing effort for the vacated United States title at The Great American Bash '95. Meng later joined the Dungeon of Doom forming a tag team named the Faces of Fear with his old partner The Barbarian. He was touted as being a former bodyguard to the Emperor of Japan. Meng's finishing maneuver was the feared Tongan Death Grip, a nerve grip on the Adam's apple applied to a standing victim who would drop into a supine position and experience the full effect of the hold.

Meng spent much of 1997 facing mainly lower and mid-card performers before starting a small rampage of a winning streak in the summer of 1998. This led to his main event World Championship match with Goldberg on the August 10 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. 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 uppercard 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 January 14, 2001. He awarded the title to Barbarian on the final WCW television episode he appeared on.

Return to WWF [edit]

Exactly one week after his WCW Hardcore Championship win at Sin, Fifita returned to the WWF as Haku and made a surprise appearance at the 2001 Royal Rumble. After the Rumble, he formed a tag team with Rikishi, but the team did not last long due to Rikishi's injury. Haku was left to wrestle on the lower card shows like Sunday Night Heat. He was eventually released from WWF, his final opponent being Shawn Stasiak on a WWF Jakked taping in Buffalo, New York on July 23, 2001.

Independent circuit [edit]

Haku appeared at Chikara's King of Trios 2012 tournament, held on September 14-16 in Easton, Pennsylvania, teaming with The Barbarian and The Warlord. On September 14, the team was eliminated from the tournament in the first round by Team ROH (Mike Bennett, Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson).[6][7]

Personal life [edit]

Fifita is married to Dorothy Koloamatangi. They have a daughter, Vika; a son, Tevita who is also a wrestler; and two adopted sons, Alipate and Taula. His son Tevita played football as a defensive end for the University of Texas at El Paso and is now on the WWE roster, as Camacho. Alipate currently wrestles for New Japan Pro Wrestling as Tama Tonga. His parents are Kelepi Fifita (father) and Atiola Vikilani Fifita (mother). Among Fifita's cousins are New England Patriots defensive tackle Steve Fifita[8] and Australian Wallabies rugby player Tatafu Polota-Nau. Fifita made a cameo appearance in the 1978 Sylvester Stallone movie Paradise Alley along with many other professional wrestlers.[9]

He currently works as a car spa manager at David Maus Toyota in Sanford, Florida.[10]

Notoriety and incidents [edit]

Fifita made a name for himself outside the ring as one of the toughest wrestlers of his era and is known for allegedly biting off noses, and knocking people out with one punch, slap, or headbutt. Though he had an easygoing, friendly personality outside of wrestling, he had very little tolerance for people who tested him. Even renowned hardman Bad News Allen said in interviews that Fifita was without a doubt the toughest. His one time manager, Bobby "The Brain" Heenan said in a shoot interview that Haku was "the toughest man I've ever met in my life",[citation needed] but noted that he was also a good hearted family man. In 1987, Haku had a backstage fight with Jesse Barr (who wrestled at the WWF as Jimmy Jack Funk) which allegedly resulted in Fifita gouging one of Barr's eyeballs out, causing Barr to later wear a glass eye. After this fight, Fifita had a reputation that steered wrestlers away from backstage confrontations.[11]

In wrestling [edit]

Championships and accomplishments [edit]

  • Effort Award (1980)

References [edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t "Haku profile". OWOW. Retrieved 2009-08-14. 
  2. ^ Sharnoff, Lora (1993). Grand Sumo. Weatherhill. p. 168. ISBN 0-8348-0283-X. 
  3. ^ a b Shields, Brian; Sullivan, Kevin (2009). WWE Encyclopedia. DK. p. 120. ISBN 978-0-7566-4190-0. 
  4. ^ a b "Stud Stable". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2009-09-08. 
  5. ^ World Championship Wrestling (1995-08-06). "Sting & Road Warrior Hawk vs Mong & Kurasawa /w Col. Robert Parker". WCW Clash of the Champions XXXI.
  6. ^ "Past results". Chikara. Retrieved 2012-09-14. 
  7. ^ Namako, Jason (2012-09-15). "9/14 Chikara "King of Trios: Night 1" Results: Easton, PA". WrestleView. Retrieved 2012-09-15. 
  8. ^ "Steve Fifita article at EnterpriseNews.com". Retrieved 2008-08-19. 
  9. ^ "Full cast and crew for Paradise Alley (1978)". IMDb. Retrieved 11 December 2012. 
  10. ^ http://www.davidmaustoyota.com/dealership/staff.htm
  11. ^ http://bleacherreport.com/articles/859929-the-35-most-shocking-arrests-in-wrestling-history
  12. ^ a b c d e f g World Championship Wrestling (2001-01-03). "Meng VS Crowbar; Chair on a Pole Match". WCW Thunder.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g World Championship Wrestling (1997-06-15). "Chris Benoit Vs. Meng". WCW Great American Bash.
  14. ^ World Championship Wrestling, TNT (1996-10-07). "High Voltage vs The Faces of Fear". WCW Monday Nitro.
  15. ^ "Jimmy Hart profile". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2009-09-04. 
  16. ^ http://www.prowrestlinghistory.com/supercards/japan/alljapan/miscaj.html#hvywt
  17. ^ "NWA Hawaii Heavyweight Championship History at Wrestling Information Archive". Retrieved 2007-10-07. 
  18. ^ "NWA Hawaii Heavyweight Championship History at Wrestling-Titles.com". Retrieved 2007-10-07. 
  19. ^ "NWA Mid-America Six-Man Tag Team Championship History at Wrestling Information Archive". Retrieved 2007-10-07. 
  20. ^ "NWA World Six-Man Tag Team Championship History at Wrestling-Titles.com". Retrieved 2007-10-07. 
  21. ^ "SWS Tag Team Championship History at Wrestling-Titles.com". Retrieved 2007-10-07. 
  22. ^ "WCW Hardcore Championship History at Wrestling Information Archive". Retrieved 2007-10-07. 
  23. ^ "WCW Hardcore Championship History at Wrestling-Titles.com". Retrieved 2007-10-07. 
  24. ^ "WLW Heavyweight Championship History at Wrestling Information Archive". Retrieved 2007-10-07. 
  25. ^ "WLW Heavyweight Championship History at Wrestling-Titles.com". Retrieved 2007-10-07. 
  26. ^ "WWC North American Tag Team Championship History at Wrestling Information Archive". Retrieved 2007-10-07. 
  27. ^ "WWC North American Tag Team Championship History at Wrestling-Titles.com". Retrieved 2007-10-07. 
  28. ^ "WWC Puerto Rican Heavyweight Championship History at Wrestling Information Archive". Retrieved 2007-10-07. 
  29. ^ "WWC Puerto Rican Heavyweight Championship History at Wrestling-Titles.com". Retrieved 2007-10-07. 
  30. ^ "WWC World Tag Team Championship History at Wrestling Information Archive". Retrieved 2007-10-07. 
  31. ^ "WWC World Tag Team Championship History at Wrestling-Titles.com". Retrieved 2007-10-07. 
  32. ^ "WWF/WWE World Tag Team Championship History at Wrestling Information Archive". Retrieved 2007-10-07. 
  33. ^ "WWF/WWE World Tag Team Championship History at Wrestling-Titles.com". Retrieved 2007-10-07. 
  34. ^ "PWI Top 500 of the PWI Years page at Wrestling-Titles.com". Retrieved 2007-10-07. 

External links [edit]

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