Tonga Fifita

WCW booker Kevin Sullivan gave him the name Meng, based on the Flash Gordon (1936) villain, Ming the Merciless.

Born in the South Pacific island which shares his first name, Tonga Uliuli Fifita was entrenched in athletic competition from an early age. He attended Tonga College, an all-boys school, where the top sport was rugby. After a troupe of Japanese sumo wrestlers visited the island kingdom in an attempt to drum up local interest in the sport, Fifita was selected at age 14 to join a contingent of Tongan wrestlers for further sumo training in Japan. (Fellow Tongan sumo wrestler Sione Vailahi aka 'The Barbarian' would later follow the same career path. ) However, with the generous amounts of money Fifita saw professional wrestlers making in Japan, he decided to change careers, turning pro at 18. After touring various circuits throughout Japan and Canada, he debuted in the World Wrestling Federation in 1985 as 'King Tonga'.

He immediately made an impact as a fan favorite when he bodyslammed Big John Studd on an episode of WWF Superstars (1986). He remained with the company for the next six years, turning heel as 'Haku' after aligning himself with manager Bobby Heenan.

In 1987, he formed 'The Islanders' tag team with the 'Tonga Kid' Sam Fatu.

He was crowned 'King' of the WWF in 1988, and teamed with Andre the Giant to defeat Demolition for the WWF tag team championships in 1989.

Defeated Harley Race in 1989, to become the new King of the WWE.

He later turned up in World Championship Wrestling, appearing on WCW Monday Nitro (1995) & WCW Thunder (1998) with an even meaner streak as 'Meng' - master of the Tongan death grip.

Wore his 'Meng' wrestling attire while appearing in the Mortal Kombat: Conquest (1998) episode, 'Festival of Death'.

By 2000, however, with mis-management and financial chaos running rampant in WCW, Tonga was let out of his contract, and hired back on a per-event basis.

While celebrating a reign as WCW Hardcore champion, Tonga was contacted by the rival WWF within mere days of his title win at WCW Sin (2001), and was offered a contract.

He returned to the WWF soon after, as the 29th entrant in the Royal Rumble (2001). That turned out to be a good business move for him, as WCW was soon shut down and sold off to the WWF.

His daughter Vika was an all-county volleyball and softball player at Poinciana High School, Florida. She graduated from Florida State University in 2004.

Worked as a detail manager for David Maus Toyota in central Florida. [October 2006]

His sons, Pate Leone, Tevita Fifita and Taula Koloamatangi were trained for professional wrestling by Mark LoMonaco and Devon Hughes (a.k.a. The Dudley Boyz). Tevita was signed to a WWE developmental contract in early 2009, later wrestling on the WWE Smackdown! (1999) roster as Camacho. Pate signed on as Tama Tonga with New Japan Pro Wrestling, while Taula made his in-ring debut as Hikule'o at NJPW's On the Mat (2016) iPPV.