Tonga Fifita Tonga ' Uli ' uli Fifita ( February 3 , 1959 ) is a semi - retired Tonga n professional wrestler , known for his appearances in both World Championship Wrestling ( WCW ) and the World Wrestling Federation ( WWF ) . In WCW , he wrestled under the name Meng ; in the WWF , he wrestled under the names King Tonga , King Haku , and Haku . Career history . 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 moving 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 . 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 . He made a name for himself outside the ring as the toughest wrestler of his era . This developed throughout several incidents and has been validated through comments by various wrestlers and people involved in the business . 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 . World Wrestling Federation . In 1986 , King Tonga , in his rookie year in the World Wrestling Federation , became a star by bodyslamming Big John Studd on " WWF 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 , 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 . Afterward , he formed a tag team with The Barbarian . World Championship Wrestling . In WCW , Fifita served as Meng , initially the bodyguard for Col . Rob Parker . During this time , 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 prone 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 culminated an impressive winning streak and retained his World title that night . 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 . It was then vacated when he appeared in the WWF shortly before the sale of WCW , making him the last man to hold the belt . Return to WWF and beyond . Fifita re - debuted as Haku as a surprise entrant in the 2001 Royal Rumble . At the time he jumped ship to the WWF , 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 . 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 . He still wrestles on occasion in the independent scene . He was chosen as the tag partner of Genichiro Tenryu on May 3 , 2004 . And , he won brothers of Asashōryū Akinori in Tokyo Dome . Haku now wrestles in various independent promotions . 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 cousins are New England Patriots defensive tackle Steve Fifita and Australian Wallabies rugby player Tatafu Polota - Nau . He appeared in the 1978 Sylvester Stallone movie " Paradise Alley " . He also starred in a Little Caesars commercial alongside Goldberg . He was the best man at The Rock ' s wedding . He appeared on the VH1 series " Hogan Knows Best " , and can be seen throwing Brooke Hogan into the family swimming pool .