He became known for antics such as performing fire knife dances, playing a ukulele, walking on a bed of nails,[6] breaking wooden boards over his head, and wearing a necklace made from boar's teeth.

His finishing move, the "Coconut Head-butt", gave rise to the professional wrestling trope that Samoan wrestlers have "hard heads".

[3] In the late-1950s, Maiava began appearing regularly with the Honolulu, Hawaii-based promotion 50th State Big Time Wrestling.

[18] On August 16, 1961, Maiava defended his NWA Hawaii Heavyweight Championship in a bout with King Curtis Iaukea at the Civic Auditorium in front of approximately 3,000 people.

[21] Fellow American Samoan professional wrestler Fanene Anderson took his ring name, Peter Maivia, from Maiava.

[1][3] At the time of his death he was reckoned by journalist Dave Meltzer to be the world's second oldest living professional wrestler.