Uliuli Fifita
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- Meng redirects here. For the degree known as "MEng", please see Master of Engineering.
| Tonga 'Uli'uli Fifita | |
|---|---|
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| Statistics | |
| Ring name(s) | Prince Tonga King Tonga Tonga Fifita Haku King Haku Meng |
| Billed height | 185 cm (6 ft 1 in) |
| Billed weight | 142 kg (313 lb) |
| Born | February 3, 1959 Nuku'alofa, Tonga |
| Resides | Kissimmee, Florida |
| Trained by | Giant Baba |
| Debut | 1978 |
| Retired | 2002 |
Tonga Uliuli Fifita (b. February 3, 1959, Nuku'alofa, Tonga) is a former professional wrestler for both World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). In WCW, he used the name Meng; in the WWF, he used the names King Tonga, King Haku, and Haku. He was known by his wrestling peers as the toughest backstage fighter of his era.
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[edit] Career
Growing up in the South Pacific island of Tonga, Fifita attended Tonga College, and at the age of 14, he was part of a group of teenagers sent by the King of Tonga to Japan to study Sumo. After immigrating to Japan in 1974, he competed under the shikona (sumo name) of Fukunoshima.
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, upon his retirement from sumo in 1977.
Nevertheless, this merely served as a springboard for him to wrestle all over the world. He made a name for himself outside the ring as the toughest wrestler of his era. He is known for biting off noses, knocking people out with one punch or slap, or headbutt, etc. When asked who the toughest wrestler is, most wrestlers will routinely name Fifita. Even backstage brawler Bad News Brown himself said in interviews that Fifita was the toughest. In 1987, Haku had a legit shoot fight with Jesse Barr (who wrestled at the WWF as Jimmy Jack Funk) and ended up biting a piece of his nose off and poking his eyeball out, causing Barr to later wear a glass eye. After this fight now Fifita had a reputation that steered wrestlers away from confrontations..
In an interview with Alex Marvez he was asked about one of his legendary fights. Fifita states his favourite was one that he had to pay a lot of money for. Fifita was drinking in the Baltimore Airport Hilton bar with Sivi Afi when five men started laughing at them and said, ‘You guys are the fake wrestlers on TV.’ In response Fifita replied, ‘I’ll just show you how fake it is,’ and he reached over and grabbed one man while three other men jumped on him. Fifita said he did not care. They were punching him left and right, but the man who he grabbed, he bit him on the nose and spat it out and started fighting the other ones. When the others saw him spit out their friends nose, they all ran out of there.
An alternate account of this incident was offered during an interview with former WWF performer Warlord available through RF Video. While maintaining that Fifita was a nice guy and great wrestler, Warlord painted a darker portrait of the altercation. He stated that Fifita was on the opposite side of the bar - across from his eventual victim - when the two men made eye contact for a moment. Fifita then moved briskly around the bar, grabbed the victim and bit off his nose with ease. Warlord allegedly had an objective POV of the incident and couldn't elaborate on a reason for the attack, other than a possible stare down. The former one half of the Powers of Pain tag team recounted that Fifita's fellow wrestlers had to hold police at bay (diplomatically) while Fifita calmed himself in a hotel lobby, fearing he may hurt, or perhaps be killed by, a cop while resisting arrest. Fifita was later taken into custody without incident.
In 1986, in his rookie year in the World Wrestling Federation, he became a star by bodyslamming Big John Studd on WWF Superstars of 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, an English Bulldog named Mathilda.
In 1989, upon King Harley Race's departure from the WWF, Haku was given Race's crown and robe and rechristened "King Haku". 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 Andre the Giant and win the WWF Tag Team Championsip.
In WCW, Fifita served as Meng, the bodyguard for Col. Rob Parker, then as a wrestler for the Dungeon of Doom and a tag team named the "Faces of Fear" with The Barbarian. He was touted as being a (kayfabe) former bodyguard to the Emperor of Japan. His 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 prone position and experience the full effect of the hold.
Meng then went back to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). At the time he jumped ship, he was the current WCW Hardcore Champion. He redebuted as Haku as a surprise entrant in the 2001 Royal Rumble. He then 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. He was eventually released from WWE and retired to become a car salesman. He still wrestles in rare appearances on the independent scene.
[edit] In wrestling
[edit] Finishing and signature moves
- Tongan death grip
- Back Breaker
- Savate kick
- Headbutt
- Splash
- Asian Spike (Thumb to carotid artery submission)
[edit] Managers
[edit] Championships and accomplishments
- International Wrestling
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- International Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- International Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Richard Charland
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- NWA World Six-Man Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Ken Lucas and George Gulas
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- PWI ranked him # 330 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003.
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- Stampede International Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Dan Kroffat and Rick Martel
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- SWS Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Yoshiaki Yatsu
- World League Wrestling
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- WLW Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
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- WWC North American Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Gran Apolo
- WWC Puerto Rico Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
- WWC Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Hercules Ayala
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- WWF Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with André the Giant)
[edit] Personal life
Fifita is married to Dorothy Koloamatangi. They have a daughter, Vika; a son, Tevita; and two adopted sons, Pate and Taula. His son Tevita played football as a defensive end for the University of Texas at El Paso.
His parents are Kelepi Fifita (father) and Atiola Vikilani Fifita (mother).
Among Fifita's first-cousins are Australian Wallabies rugby player Tatafu Polota-Nau, Customs Officer Andrew Fifita and Television Tonga reporter Sione Vikilani.
[edit] Trivia
He was the best man at The Rock's wedding.
He appeared in the 1978 Sylvester Stallone movie Paradise Alley.
He appeared in a Pizza Hut commercial alongside Goldberg.
