The Barbarian Sione Havea Vailahi ( September 6 , 1958 ) is a Tonga n - American professional wrestler best known in wrestling as The Barbarian . Life and career . Born and raised in Tonga , Sione was one of five teenagers sent by the King of Tonga to Japan to study Sumo wrestling in the mid 1970s . Tonga Fifita was one of the other teenagers . Sione was known in sumo circles as " Sachinoshima " . National Wrestling Alliance . After migrating to the United States , he trained in professional wrestling under the tutelage of Rolland ' Red ' Bastien . In 1980 , he made his debut , wrestling Killer Karl Krupp in Modesto , California . He wrestled as King Konga in several NWA regional territories in 1981 . He soon went to the NWA ' s Jim Crockett Promotions , where he teamed up with Ron Garvin as a face . Seeing the " heel " potential in a huge , intimidating man with surprising agility , Jim Crockett , Jr . changed him into Konga the Barbarian . He joined the stable of Paul Jones . From 1985 to 1987 , he wrestled as part of " Paul Jones ' Army " and teamed with Pez Whatley , Teijho Khan , as well as Baron Von Raschke . It was during this time that " Konga " was dropped from his name and he became simply The Barbarian . In late 1987 , he formed a team with Ivan Koloff , who was also his " coach . " By early 1988 , he was paired with The Warlord as The Powers of Pain . They feuded heavily with another team of big men , The Road Warriors , Animal and Hawk . They injured Animal ' s eye during a weight lifting contest , and soon after won the NWA World Six - Man Tag Team Titles , along with Ivan , from the Road Warriors and Dusty Rhodes . In 1987 , he appeared in the movie " Body Slam " , as Axe the Cannibal . In April 1988 , Crockett decided he wanted the feuding tag teams to have a series of scaffold matches , which neither team wanted because they felt that they were too large to safely participate . This was especially so for the Powers of Pain , who were scheduled to lose the matches by falling off the scaffolding . Barbarian and Warlord decided to leave for the WWF . The NWA announcers explained that the Road Warriors had run them off , even though they still held the Six - Man Titles . World Wrestling Federation . Upon their arrival , the Powers of Pain were faces , initially managed by Tito Santana , and feuded with WWF World Tag Team Champions Demolition ( Ax and Smash ) , who had defeated Strike Force ( Santana and Rick Martel ) for the titles and then injured Martel ( kayfabe ) . The Powers of Pain were introduced as mercenaries to help Martel and Santana gain revenge on Demolition for both the title loss and the injury to Martel . Later , they were managed by The Baron . They soon dumped the Baron and took Demolition ' s manager Mr . Fuji , in a double turn which made them heels and the increasingly popular Demolition faces . After a long feud in which they failed to win the titles , the Powers of Pain were split up and The Barbarian went under the management of Bobby Heenan . He would have his image tweaked , changing from his Road Warrior - like mohawk and face paint to growing out his hair , dressing in fur , and wearing a helmet with reindeer - like antlers and a skull to the ring . He briefly wrestled in singles competition , defeating Tito Santana at Wrestlemania VI and facing the Big Bossman at Royal Rumble 1991 , as part of the Heenan Family ' s feud with the " correctional officer " . Shortly after , he joined fellow Family member Haku and wrestled in tag team matches until leaving WWF . World Championship Wrestling . When he signed with WCW in early 1992 , he initially formed a heel stable with Tony Atlas and Cactus Jack . Atlas soon left the promotion , and the group was joined briefly by Jake Roberts . They feuded with then - World Champion Ron Simmons , whom Barbarian unsuccessfully challenged at Halloween Havoc 1992 . They also faced off against Sting , Barry Windham , Dustin Rhodes , and Nikita Koloff . He briefly won the WCW United States Tag Team Championship with Dick Slater , but the belts were retired one month later . By mid - 1994 , he had returned to WWF , where he wrestled as Sionne , one half of the new version of The Headshrinkers alongside original Headshrinker Fatu until leaving again in mid - 1995 . In late 1995 , Vailahi returned to WCW , wearing a mask and teaming with his former Powers of Pain tag team partner , The Warlord . They were known as the Super Assassins , managed by Col . Robert Parker . No mention was ever made on TV of their former identities , and the team did not last long . Later on , he reunited with Haku ( now called Meng ) as the Faces of Fear . They were members of Kevin Sullivan ' s Dungeon of Doom , and teamed on a semi - regular basis for the remainder of their time in WCW , though they broke up and feuded briefly in 1998 and 1999 . They challenged several times for the WCW World Tag Team Title , but were never able to win the belts . After The Barbarian ' s brief feud with Meng , Jimmy Hart formed a new heel stable in the summer of 1999 called The First Family . The stable consisted of Barbarian , Hugh Morrus , Brian Knobbs , and Jerry Flynn . The stable dissolved after only two months . Barbarian was released from his WCW contract in September 1999 in an effort to cut costs by new WCW Senior Vice President , Bill Busch . Independent circuit . In March 2004 , The Barbarian won the NWA Virginia Heavyweight Championship , and feuded with David Flair for the title , until he was ruled ineligible to compete due to a lack of a valid Virginia wrestling license . In 2005 , The Barbarian again teamed with The Warlord in Gladiator Championship Wrestling , and renewed his feud with Road Warrior Animal . In 2007 , at the Annual Championship Wrestling / IRW Fun Fest Slam in Kingsport , Tennessee , The Barbarian wrestled ' Big ' Steve Fury , the CW Heavyweight Champion , in front of 1 , 100 people . He also made an appearance in IWA Mid South , at the April Bloodshowers 2007 event , where he wrestled Jimmy Jacobs . In 2008 , The Barbarian teamed with Demolition Ax ( Bill Eadie ) , and managed by Ted DiBiase , in Seagrove NC , defeating Cowboy Willie Watts & Leroy Greene . In 2009 , The Barbarian teamed with the Iron Chief in the Ivan Koloff ' s tag team tournament in the Allied Independent Wrestling Federation ( AIWF ) . Personal life . Sione has seven children with his wife , Seini Tonga . His youngest son , Peter , is a standout college football player , who signed with Brigham Young University in February 2005 . However , in the early stages of his BYU contract , Peter withdrew in order to play closer to his home in Charlotte , North Carolina . Peter signed to attend Wingate University in Wingate , North Carolina . Sione ' s family is related to WCAU sportscaster Vai Sikahema , Philadelphia Eagles running back Reno Mahe , and Rock Star : INXS finalist Jordis Unga . When he is not wrestling , he runs a small construction business in his hometown of Charlotte , North Carolina .