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Tonga Fifita debuted in the World Wrestling Federation in 1985 as King Tonga, bodyslamming Big John Studd in 1986. He turned heel as Haku, won the WWF Tag Team Championship with Andre the Giant in 1989, and became WCW Hardcore Champion in 2001. After retiring, he appeared on All Elite Wrestling: Dynamite in 2019.
Names, aliases, and relatives of Tonga Fifita — birth name, kin, and personal ties.
Tonga Fifita by the numbers — life, work, and family.
Tonga Fifita — early life, career, personal life, and legacy.
At age 14 in 1973, Fifita was selected for sumo training in Japan after a troupe of Japanese sumo wrestlers visited Tonga. He attended Tonga College, an all-boys school where rugby was the top sport. The sumo training led him to professional wrestling at 18, inspired by the money he saw wrestlers making in Japan.
Fifita debuted in the World Wrestling Federation in 1985 as King Tonga. On WWF Superstars in 1986, he bodyslammed Big John Studd, making an immediate impact. He turned heel as Haku and formed The Islanders tag team with Tonga Kid in 1987. In 1989, he teamed with Andre the Giant to defeat Demolition for the WWF Tag Team Championships. He later moved to WCW as Meng, appearing on WCW Monday Nitro in 1995 and WCW Thunder in 1998. He won the WCW Hardcore Championship at WCW Sin in 2001 and returned to WWF as the 29th entrant in the Royal Rumble in 2001.
Fifita married Dorothy Koloamatangi on June 16, 1980. They have a son Tevita known as Tanga Loa who is also a wrestler, and two adopted sons Alipate and Taula his nephews by blood. His daughter Vika graduated from Florida State University in 2004. The family lives in Poinciana, Florida, where Fifita works as a detail manager at David Maus Toyota.
Fifita is one of the toughest men in wrestling history. He was the only man to hold the WWF Tag Team Championship with Andre the Giant. His sons Tevita Camacho, Alipate Tama Tonga, and Taula Hikule’o all became professional wrestlers. His intense persona and the Tongan death grip remain part of his legacy.
Browse the complete filmography of Tonga Fifita — every film, TV show, and documentary credit, ranked by popularity.
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A wall of memorable lines from Tonga Fifita — lyrics, interviews, and off-the-cuff remarks captured over a lifetime.
On WWE Hall of Famer John Minton: John Is a Difficult Man to Describe. He Was Big and Strong, and I Was Grateful That He Was Willing to Work with Me.
On Sam Fatu A.k.a. the Tonga Kid: I Had a Great Time with the Kid We Were Both Young. He Was Unbelievable. He Could Talk, He Could Wrestle, and He Could Fly.
On His Former Manager, Bobby Heenan: He Was Funny. I Wished Sometimes That the People Could Hear Him. They Saw Him as a Manager and an Announcer. If Only They Could Have Seen Him Away from the Ring and the TV. He Was the Funniest Person to Be Around. We Used to Laugh All Day Long.
On Former Tag Team Partner, André René Roussimoff: I Was Thankful to Be a Part of the Colossal Connection. Working with the Giant Was Something That I Can Only Describe as Awe Inspiring.
On Stone Cold Steve Austin: We Were in WCW Together. He Was a Great Wrestler, but All of a Sudden, WCW Let Him Go. and Now Look at Him! He’s a Main Event Superstar Today.
On Dwayne Johnson: I’ve Known This Kid Since He Was a Baby, and Look at Where He Is Today. I’m Glad to See That. Sometimes I Sit Back and Wonder What His Grandfather Peter Maivia Would Say About His Grandson.
On His Reputation for Being the Sport’s Most Legitimate Tough Guy: I Came up in the Days When You Had to Be Tough to Protect Yourself as a Wrestler, Especially Outside the Ring. for the Bad Guy Wrestlers Mainly, It Was Really Tough for Us to Walk into a Bar or Other Places, Because Challenges Would Be Made Against Us. People Would Call the Business Fake, and It Was My Duty to Defend the Business That’s How I Put Bread on the Table. I Had a Lot of Fights Because I Take Great Pride in Being a Wrestler and in Defending My Friends. but I’m Not Tough. I Believe All Wrestlers Are Tough in Different Ways. They All Believe in Protecting the Business and Protecting Themselves.
On Tony Schiavone: Schiavone Made the Tongan Death Grip Better Than I Did. He Was the One Who Named It and He Gets the Credit.
Little-known facts about Tonga Fifita — origins, oddities, and behind-the-scenes details from a public life.
He is one of the toughest men in professional wrestling, both in and out of the ring.
In Dwayne Johnson’s autobiography The Rock Says, he is referred to as Uncle Tonga and helped Rock with his first professional WWF match by lending him a pair of his old electric purple wrestling tights.
He was the Best Man at the wedding of Dwayne Johnson.
In the Powers of Pain shoot wrestling interview DVD, wrestlers Warlord and Barbarian talk about how Haku once knocked out four men single-handedly at a night club after they taunted him with racial remarks.
Tag team partners have included Rikishi, The Barbarian, Andre the Giant, and the Tonga Kid.
When Haku jumped from WCW to WWE in 2001, he was still the WCW Hardcore Champion and WCW never acknowledged the belt again.
He wore his Meng wrestling attire while appearing in the Mortal Kombat: Conquest episode Festival of Death.
WCW booker Kevin Sullivan gave him the name Meng, based on the Flash Gordon villain Ming the Merciless.
He was a former member of the Heenan Family.
He is first cousin of former Radio and TV Tonga News reporter Sione Vikilani.
He has two biological children Vika and Tevita, and two adopted sons Alipate and Taula who are actually his nephews by blood.
His daughter Vika was an all-county volleyball and softball player at Poinciana High School in Florida and graduated from Florida State University in 2004.
When walking to the ring for matches, he would shout ‘Mate Ma’a Tonga’ which translates to Die for Tonga, the motto of Tonga College.
His wrestling name Haku is the first word uttered by Dwayne Johnson in The Mummy Returns from 2001.
His sons Pate Leone, Tevita Fifita, and Taula Koloamatangi were trained for professional wrestling by Mark LoMonaco and Devon Hughes The Dudley Boyz.
His son Pate Leone was the leading receiver in Osceola County, Florida during his senior year, scoring 8 touchdowns, and later graduated from basic military training at Lackland Air Force Base.
He was a former sumo wrestler under the name Fukonoshima.
He was trained by Giant Baba.
He is a former WWE Tag Team champion.
Many believe that Haku began his wrestling career as Lenny or Larry Hurst, but Haku denied this in an interview.
He was the only man ever to hold the WWF Tag Team Championship with Andre the Giant.
His son Tevita Fifita was a defensive end football player for the University of Texas-El Paso and played at the Houston Bowl.
He is one of only two Tongans to have wrestled for both WWF and WCW; the other is his former tag team partner Sione Vailahi The Barbarian.
He is first-cousin of Australian Wallabies rugby player Tatafu Polota-Nau.
In 1995, Haku became Meng in WCW and served as a bodyguard for Colonel Rob Parker’s Stud Stable.
When he first moved to the United States, he refereed matches in the Amarillo territory.
His son Tevita Fifita earned a bachelor’s degree in communication from the University of Texas at El Paso in December 2004 and later pursued a master’s degree in public administration.
He is a former WCW Hardcore Champion.
He has a scar on his upper right arm from a shark attack in his native homeland; in Chris Jericho’s autobiography, Chris mentions that Tonga ended up killing the shark with his bare hands.
He won a Slammy Award in 1986 in the Bobby The Brain Heenan Scholarship Award category.
His wrestling name Haku means white in Japanese; his middle name Uliuli means black in Tongan.
Gary Hart considered Tonga Fifita for the Great Kabuki character but deemed him too young at the time.
He worked in Florida as a car salesman and as a detail manager for David Maus Toyota in central Florida.
His daughter Vika has one son, George, with wrestler Tyrus Brodus Clay.
He defeated Harley Race in 1989 to become the new King of the WWE.
He was one half of the WWE tag team the Islanders from mid 1987 until early 1988.
Haku entered the NWA using the name Prince Tonga and was later promoted to King Tonga.
Quick answers to the questions readers ask most about Tonga Fifita.
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