From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tonga 'Uli'uli Fifita
Statistics
Ring name(s)	Prince Tonga King Tonga Tonga Fifita Haku King Haku Meng Super Zym
Billed height	185 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Billed weight	142 kg (313 lb)
Born	February 3, 1959 (1959-02-03) (age 48) Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Resides	Kissimmee, Florida
Trained by	Giant Baba
Debut	1978
Retired	2002

Tonga 'Uli'uli Fifita (born February 3, 1959 in Nuku'alofa, Tonga, then under British sovereignty) 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.

Contents 1 Career 2 In wrestling 3 Championships and accomplishments 4 Personal life 5 References 6 External links

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. He made his debut in November 1974 and reached a highest 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 Sumo Association in 1976.

Early in his career, he refereed matches in the Amarillo territory.

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.

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, and knocking people out with one punch, slap, or headbutt. Even renowned hardman Bad News Brown himself said in interviews that Fifita was without a doubt the toughest.^[1] Bill Goldberg has also called him the toughest man he's been in the ring with. In 1987, Haku had a backstage fight with Jesse Barr (who wrestled at the WWF as Jimmy Jack Funk) which resulted in Meng 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.

In the book "Arn Anderson: 4 Ever", Anderson cites an event where Meng/Haku pushed a cowboy through 2 sets of doors with one hand - and a conversation with The Barbarian about who was tougher. The Barbarian just shook his head when Anderson asked who would win in a fight between him and Meng and stated "Meng's the man."

In an interview with Alex Marvez, he was asked about one of his legendary fights. Fifita states his favorite was one that cost him a lot of money. 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.[1]

In the early 1980s, Fifita, taking the name "King Tonga" wrestled in Canada for Frank Valois' International Wrestling promotion, based 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.

In 1986 King Tonga, in his rookie year in the World Wrestling Federation 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, a Bulldog named Matilda.

In 1988, 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 André the Giant and win the WWF Tag Team Championship. He would later form a tag team with The Barbarian.

In WCW, Fifita served as Meng, the bodyguard for Col. Rob Parker. He was then a wrestler for the Dungeon of Doom forming a tag team named the Faces of Fear with his old tag team partner 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 the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). At the time he jumped ship, he was the reigning WCW Hardcore Champion, but this was never mentioned by WWF, nor was the Hardcore title referred to again on WCW programming. 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 WWF and retired to become a car salesman. He currently runs the detailing department of a car dealership in Florida. He still wrestles on occasion in the independent scene.

• Finishing and signature moves
  • Tongan death grip
  • Tongan Spike (Thumb choke hold)
  • Back Breaker
  • Savate kick
  • Headbutt
  • Splash

• Managers
  • Jimmy Hart
  • Bobby Heenan

• Lutte Internationale (Montreal)

• Canadian International Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
• Canadian International Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Richard Charland

• NWA Hawaii

• NWA Hawaii Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[2][3]

• NWA Mid-America

• NWA Six-Man Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Ken Lucas & George Gulas^[4][5]

• Super World of Sports

• SWS Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Yoshiaki Yatsu^[6]

• World Championship Wrestling

• WCW Hardcore Championship (1 time)^[7][8]

• World League Wrestling

• WLW Heavyweight Championship (2 times)^[9][10]

• World Wrestling Council

• WWC North American Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Gran Apolo^[11][12]
• WWC Puerto Rico Heavyweight Championship (2 times)^[13][14]
• WWC World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Hercules Ayala^[15][16]

• World Wrestling Federation

• WWF Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with André the Giant^[17][18]

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated

• PWI ranked him # 330 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003.^[19]

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, Australian Customs officer Andrew Fifita, and Television Tonga reporter Sione Vikilani.

He appeared in the 1978 Sylvester Stallone movie Paradise Alley.

He also appeared in a Little Caesars commercial alongside Goldberg.

He was the best man at The Rock's wedding.

Fifita currently works at a car dealership in Sanford, Florida.

He appeared on the VH1 series Hogan Knows Best, and can be shown throwing Brooke Hogan into the family swimming pool.

• Tonga Fifita at the Internet Movie Database
• Biography of Haku
• TV.com summary