Fukunoshima Hiroshi

Fukunoshima Hiroshi - 福ノ島 裕士 (born February 10, 1959) is a former Tongan professional sumo wrestler from Nukuʻalofa. He made his debut in November 1974 and wrestled for Asahiyama stable. His highest rank was makushita 27 and he retired in September 1976.

## **Early Life**

Growing up on the main island of the South Pacific island-kingdom of Tonga, Fifita attended Tonga College where he played rugby union. At the age of 15, he was part of a group of six teenagers and young men sent by the King of Tonga to Japan to study Sumo.

## **Career**

After moving to Japan in 1974, he competed under the shikona of Fukunoshima (福ノ島). Even though he was by far the youngest, Fukunoshima competed significantly better than his other Tongan contemporaries. He did not produce a single losing record until his sixth professional tournament. In order to redeem himself from a losing score, he produced a perfect 7-0 record in the following tournament, however, he lost the playoff for the sandanme yusho. As a result he was promoted to the makushita division in January 1976. He would reach a career high rank of makushita 27 in the September 1976 tournament.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

### **Controversial Dismissal**

Fukunoshima's stablemaster, ex-maegashira Futaseyama, died suddenly in 1975 and his Tongan stablemates were caught up in a succession dispute between former maegashira Ryuo and the man who eventually became the new head, former komusubi Wakafutase. They sided with Futaseyama's widow, who preferred Ryuo to take over, and were ultimately dismissed by the Japan Sumo Association.

However, Fukunoshima had been in a hospital dealing with an injury at the time. He was never asked for his opinion even though he clearly stated that he was willing to wrestle under the new coach, but nonetheless, the Sumo Association would not let him back. As a result of the controversy sumo officials had to fly to Tonga to explain themselves to the country's king, Taufaʻahau Tupou IV.

### **Professional Wrestling Career**

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. In his early career he wrestled under the ring name of King Tonga in multiple independent and territorial wrestling promotions.

He joined the World Wrestling Federation, or the WWF, (later renamed World Wrestling Entertainment) in 1986 and was part of a tag team called the Islanders. In 1988 he started wrestling under the new gimmick of King Haku. Later he went on to form a tag team with legendary wrestler, Andre the Giant. The tag team was known as the Colossal Connection. They won the WWF Tag Team titles, but later lost it in WrestleMania VI.

He wrestled in multiple promotions in Mexico and Japan such as Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), and Wrestle Association R (WAR) from 1992 to 1994.

He returned back to the United States wrestling scene when he joined World Championship Wrestling (WCW) under the new ring name of Meng. He was a member of a wrestling stable known as The Dungeon of Doom and he reunited with former sumo wrestling stablemate, the Barbarian (Sachinoshima). He later won the WCW Hardcore Championship in 2001, however, he would be the last wrestler to hold this title. He returned to the WWF as Haku just one week after winning the hardcore championship to form a tag team with Rikishi. His stint with the WWF would be short-lived as he was later released in the following year.

Haku continued to work on independent shows for around 16 years before returning to Japan to wrestle for NJPW. He was involved in many storylines which consisted of top wrestling stars such as Cody and Kenny Omega.

## **Personal Life**

* Haku made a cameo appearance in the 1978 Sylvester Stallone movie Paradise Alley along with many other professional wrestlers.
* He currently resides in Kissimmee, Florida.

### **Family**

Haku is married to Dorothy Koloamatangi. They have a daughter, Vika; a son, Tevita who is also a wrestler; and two adopted sons, Alipate and Taula. His son Tevita played football as a defensive end for the University of Texas at El Paso and was on the WWE roster from 2009 until 2014, as Camacho, and was also known as Micah in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. Tevita and Alipate currently wrestle as Tanga Loa and Tama Tonga in New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Haku's youngest son Taula made his professional wrestling debut in November 2016. He works under the ring name Hikuleo previously, Leo Tonga. Among Haku's cousins are former New England Patriots defensive tackle Steve Fifita and Australian Wallabies rugby international player Tatafu Polota-Nau.

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 48-25-4/73 (12 basho)
* **Makushita:** 10-7-4/17 (3 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 22-13/35 (5 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 11-3/14 (2 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 5-2/7 (1 basho)

## **Gallery**

Fukunoshima (middle) joins professional sumo (c. 1974)Fukunoshima in maezumo (c. 1974)Fukunoshima and his stablemates after their Maezumo debut (c. 1974)Fukunoshima eats chanko-nabe with his stablemates (c. 1974)Asahiyama oyakata trains the Tongans (c. 1974)Asahiyama oyakata feels Fukunoshima's hair (c. 1975)Tongan sumo wrestlers protest their new stablemaster (c. 1976)The Tongan rikishi return to Tonga after their dismissal (c. 1976)Giant Baba recruits Fukunoshima into AJPW (c. 1977)
## **Sources**

* Fukunoshima Hiroshi Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Fukunoshima Hiroshi Rikishi Information