However, in 1975 the stablemaster who recruited him died, and he and the other five Tongan wrestlers got entangled in a dispute with his successor, which led to him being forced to retire by the Japan Sumo Association in 1976.
[4] 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 the early 1980s, Fifita, taking the name King Tonga, wrestled in Canada for Frank Valois' Lutte Internationale promotion based in Montreal.
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 Bravo, and the two became successful, including a win over The Road Warriors at the Montreal Forum.
[5] They turned heel in 1987 during a match on the WWF Superstars of Wrestling with The Can-Am Connection (Tom Zenk and Rick Martel).
A feud thus broke out between the Islanders and the Connection; when Zenk left the WWF, Martel and replacement partner Tito Santana, as Strike Force continued the war, with the Islanders challenging Strike Force for the WWF World Tag Team Championship after the latter team won the belts.
He challenged Randy Savage for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship on 17 December at The Spectrum but failed to win the title.
However he would cement his position as king by successfully defending his crown against the returning Race in a match at the 1989 Royal Rumble at The Summit in Houston.
Winless in these matches, he then became part of the Heenan Family feud against The Big Boss Man and participated in the 1990 Survivor Series.
His last night as a bodyguard was at the SuperBrawl V pay-per-view event on 19 February 1995, where Stud Stable member Bunkhouse Buck lost to Jim Duggan.
Later in the event, when Blacktop Bully was scheduled to wrestle Dustin Rhodes, WCW Commissioner Nick Bockwinkel came out and escorted Meng back to the dressing room because of the attack on Duggan earlier in the show.
The next week, Col. Parker announced that Meng would no longer be a bodyguard, but would be a wrestler from then onwards, winning his first match against a local competitor with one fast high kick.
On the 27 January 1996 episode of Saturday Night, Meng unsuccessfully challenged Johnny B. Badd for the World Television Championship.
At Slamboree, Meng was randomly paired with Dungeon teammate Hugh Morrus against tag team partner Barbarian and Diamond Dallas Page in the Lethal Lottery tournament to qualify for the Battlebowl battle royal.
After losing to Chris Benoit and Steve McMichael at Halloween Havoc, Faces of Fear began pursuing the World Tag Team Championship.
At World War 3, Faces of Fear unsuccessfully challenged The Outsiders (Scott Hall and Kevin Nash) for the titles in a triangle match, also involving The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobbs and Jerry Sags).
This led to a main event WCW World Championship match with Bill Goldberg on 10 August edition of Monday Nitro.
Later on, Meng had a short-lived feud with Sting and occasionally faced top stars like Lex Luger and WCW Champion Bret Hart.
Haku's last matches were against WWF European Champion Diamond Dallas Page at house shows in February and March 2002 losing all of them in Texas, New Mexico, Japan, Singapore and Malaysia.
[18] Haku next appeared at NJPW's G1 Special in USA on 2 July 2017, alongside his sons when they teamed with stablemate Hangman Page.
Later that night, Haku appeared with Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa after Kenny Omega successfully defended the IWGP Heavyweight Championship against Cody.
After dragging Omega and the Young Bucks back to the ring to attack them further, fellow Bullet Club members Hangman Page, Marty Scurll, Yujiro Takahashi, and Chase Owens all attempted to come to The Elite's defence, but were summarily beaten down.
Haku then delivered a piledriver to Omega onto a steel chair, leaving the Firing Squad standing tall at the end as they declared themselves to be the real Bullet Club.
On 28 July 2021, Haku made a surprise appearance at All Elite Wrestling's (AEW) Fight for the Fallen event where he accompanied his son Hikuleo to the ring for his IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship match, where he faced Lance Archer in a losing effort.
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.
[25] Many former wrestling personalities have described Haku as the toughest or greatest legitimate fighter in wrestling, including Stone Cold Steve Austin,[26] Road Warrior Animal,[27] Perry Saturn,[28][29] Barbarian and Warlord,[30] Hulk Hogan,[31] Rocky Johnson,[32] The Rock,[33] Rick Steiner,[34] Arn Anderson,[35] Goldberg,[36] Big Van Vader,[37] Fit Finlay,[38] Mean Gene Okerlund,[39] Ric Flair,[40] Stu Hart,[41] Rikishi,[42] Frenchy Martin,[43] Jim Cornette,[44] Bob Holly,[45] Dave Penzer,[46] Gino Brito,[47] J. J. Dillon,[48] Sonny Onoo,[49] and Hillbilly Jim.
Kevin Sullivan told a story to WWE Classics about the time when he and Haku went to a tavern to grab a few beers before heading to their hotel.
Sullivan said that as they drove from the bar he saw police cars pulling into the parking lot, but authorities did not pursue them and no charges were ever filed.
[54] Sanshō key: F=Fighting spirit; O=Outstanding performance; T=Technique Also shown: ★=Kinboshi; P=Playoff(s) Divisions: Makuuchi — Jūryō — Makushita — Sandanme — Jonidan — Jonokuchi