One of wrestling’s most legitimately tough men and a former WWE Tag Champion could be joining Paul Heyman in the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2024. 

On the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, it was noted that Haku’s name has come up as a potential WWE Hall of Fame inductee.

Haku is the father of Tama Tonga, who recently signed with WWE after wrapping up his time in New Japan Pro Wrestling. TKO Board Member Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson has previously called Haku his uncle, though the pair are not blood-related. 

Haku in the Ring

Haku’s sole championship win in WWE saw him hold the Tag Team Championships with Andre the Giant. Haku held several titles in the NWA and other promotions, including Puerto Rico’s WWC. 

During his time in WCW, Haku, known as Meng, won the WCW Hardcore Championship. In one of the final defections of the Monday Night War, Haku returned to the WWF in January 2001 while still holding the WCW Hardcore title.

The Toughest Man in Wrestling

Haku, who also competed as Meng, is widely regarded by wrestlers to be one of, if not the toughest man to ever step in the ring. 

Ric Flair once described Haku as “the toughest son of a b**** I’ve ever met” and said he would have dominated MMA had he entered the Octagon. 

Many more of his contemporaries have acknowledged Haku as the most legitimately tough person in wrestling, Hulk Hogan, ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin, Goldberg, Big Van Vader, and The Rock. 

One legendary tale of Haku’s toughness saw the wrestler get into an altercation with some men at a Baltimore Airport bar in 1989. After the men called wrestling fake, Haku handily fought the men, despite being outnumbered, and bit the nose off of one of the individuals. 

Shane Douglas once said that he’d be better off fighting the U.S. Army than legitimately fighting Haku. He also recalled an incident when law enforcement attempted to restrain Haku, who was able to fight them off. 

During the altercation, Haku was hit in the face with a baton while sprayed with a can of mace but neither caused him any pain. 

Last week at Fight for the Fallen, HIKULEO came out for his IWGP United States Championship match against Lance Archer along with his father, Haku. Chris Jericho took to Instagram recently to praise the legend.

“It was great to see #KingHaku….my Sempai & one of my favorite people on Earth…in Charlotte last week!! From 1993-1995, I travelled the world with #Tonga and we had many amazing adventures together….some of them were even sober!!” Jericho wrote.

“Whether it was taking on the entire security team in the #MexicoCity Airport, drinking coconut rum right from a coconut (that Tonga scaled a tree to grab) or doing Mezcal fueled aerobics in a gym surrounded by futbol moms at 7am, we always had a blast! He’s also such a kind hearted & gracious man…you don’t hear that much, but it’s true. And of course he’s tough as f**k!! Malo e lelei Tonga!!”

Chris Jericho’s Haku Stories

During an appearance on Stone Cold Steve Austin’s podcast earlier this year, Jericho told the story of him and Haku getting in a brawl at an airport. Jericho was being surrounded by security agents when Haku sprung to the rescue.

“He threw guys out of the way to get over to me. They were starting to get like, it was a fight and dude was like Old Western back to back, kind of pushing guys and throwing guys around. I remember he had a guy like Darth Vader, he just picked the guy up by his collars and had him in the air, and then out came the guns.”

Wrestling legend Haku recently spoke to TV Insider about a range of topics including his sons wrestling in NJPW, his memories of Rocky Johnson and more. During the interview, Haku was asked about his history in the business and getting started alongside the Barbarian.

Haku and the Barbarian originally left Tonga to become sumo wrestlers in Japan after having been scouted.

“We grew up together, we came from the same country, on a small island of Tonga. We came from the same high school. He was a year ahead of me,” Haku said.

“From there, we went into sumo together. He saw me on TV in Los Angeles. Those who were before me. Especially from the South Pacific. I appreciate everybody all together, but those of us that came from the island like High Chief Peter Maivia and the Wild Samoans, Don Muraco, Mr. Fuji, Professor Tanaka. I’m grateful. My sons I’m proud also. We all owe those who paved the way for us before me. It’s not just about me and my children, but about those who came before me. I’m very grateful. Barbarian is an uncle to my kids in that way.”

Haku’s sons comprise the Guerillas of Destiny in NJPW. Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa are 6x IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions, which is tied for the record alongside Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan. They rank 4th in terms of days spent with the titles and 5th in terms of total title defenses.

“When my sons are in Tokyo, which I always considered my second home, it is unbelievable to see them wrestling,” Haku continued. “You want them to go on in life to get a real job like Tama Tonga had in the Air Force. Tanga Loa with football and going to college. You think they were going to have a better job than me.”

Haku also spoke about the current state of the wrestling business. He said he’s glad there are so many companies around today.

“I’m grateful that it’s not just WWE anymore. That we have AEW. NWA is coming back also,” he said. “You have all these independent companies. I like it because there are so many wrestlers and guys who call themselves wrestlers. There are places to go. It’s not just WWE. You have New Japan of course, places in Europe and other spots. The business is alive and well.”

Haku On Rocky Johnson’s Passing

Haku also spoke about the recent passing of Rocky Johnson.

“It was losing a brother that was kind enough to teach me the way. It reminded me of the days we used to drive around going from town to town. Now he is gone,” he said. “My boys, my family was with me. I’m glad because not many are in town. I’m glad they were in town for his funeral.”

The full interview with Haku can be read here.

Last Saturday, Haku and his sons, Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa, attacked Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks. As NJPW heads into the G1 Climax tournament, the big rivalry appears to now be the Bullet Club “Firing Squad” against Bullet Club’s “the Elite.”

Earlier this week, Haku appeared on the 2-Man Power Trip podcast with Shane Douglas and spoke on a variety of topics.

Haku on His Reputation

Haku is often credited with being one of the toughest men ever in the business. When asked, however, Haku admitted some of the stories about him are a little embellished.

“I’ll tell you that some of them are true and some of them they make up,” Haku said on people who tell stories about his toughness. “The beating up the people in bars is again just protecting the business and showing them what this business is all about. So most of them are true and I’m not bragging, I’m just telling you guys that it was just me protecting the business. People just had the wrong timing and had a few beers and would turn around calling the business saying it was fake and sometimes I guess it was jealousy that we were in the bar and that girls saw you on TV and start talking to you and are not talking to those local boys so there was other things that happened.”

Haku on Teaming With His Sons in NJPW

Since early 2016 when he appeared in the New Japan Rumble, Haku has been an occasional presence in Bullet Club. He often gets to team with his sons, Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, and HIKULEO.

“I always try to give back to the Japanese and for what they have done for me,” Haku said. “I’ve always said that no matter who the promoter is that it is only a job but in Japan, it is showing them that I respect them and am grateful. With New Japan, we’ve gone to New Zealand together and of course, Japan and I hope that my boys understand that. With this new generation, I’m not too sure sometimes if they understand that. I’m not too sure if you know that sometimes history ends and my life is to give back and It is my life to show them the way and I hope they understand that. In Japan, they know our relationship and they give me another chance to go there.”

Haku On Legitimate Tough Guys In Wrestling

When asked about legit tough guy wrestlers such as the Road Warriors or Steiner Brothers, Haku says he was intimidated by them.

“I was afraid of them and I am still away from them. They were all the toughest guys that I knew in the field and I was just a third world country boy that has come into the business and trying to feed my family back home so whatever comes in my way (laughing) you know things happen.”

While others will disagree with him on this point, Haku does not believe he is the toughest man in the history of wrestling.

“I am not the toughest. I am a gentleman (laughing) just doing my job and it was those guys that are tough (Steiners and Road Warriors) and they don’t know how tough they are,” Haku said. “But things happen and in the old days we were taught that with the wrestling we “kayfabe” them and we protect our business inside and outside the ring. So when we weren’t filming it was when I was protecting our business and it was to show respect but things happen just because people showed disrespect and in life there is wrestling and there is no wrestling and for me it was protecting the business.”

Transcription via Wrestling Inc

On Saturday night inside the Cow Palace, Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, and King Haku attacked members of the Elite from behind. Not only that, they turned on their Bullet Club allies, Chase Owens and Yujiro Takahashi, as well.

The Tongans have split away from the rest of the group but are still Bullet Club. This new sub-faction of the group appears to be going with the name “the Firing Squad.” A video providing further details on the Firing Squad was released through the Guerillas of Destiny YouTube channel late last night.

Bullet Club’s Firing Squad

In the video, two members of the faction who were not present in San Francisco are confirmed to be part of the group. Bad Luck Fale and Hikuleo (dealing with a leg injury) are both shown involved in the planning of the Cow Palace attack despite not being there personally.

This brings the group to 5 confirmed members: Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, Haku, Bad Luck Fale, and HIKULEO. Tonga, Loa, and HIKULEO are Haku’s sons and Bad Luck Fale are their cousin. Fale and Tonga met in the New Japan dojo, however, and were not aware they were related before then. They are two of the four original members of Bullet Club.

On Saturday, AXS TV broadcasters, Jim Ross and Josh Barnett, speculated that it was King Haku who was the mastermind behind the attack. While Haku did seem to be directing traffic in the ring on Saturday, the YouTube video tells a different story. In the video, Haku appears unable to connect to the group phone call.

On deez… pic.twitter.com/JTv799mEEV

— Tama Tonga (@Tama_Tonga) July 8, 2018

Bullet Club’s Firing Squad T-Shirts

The T-shirts the Firing Squad wore on Saturday are already available at Pro Wrestling Tees.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BlDIylwgCsF/?utm_source=ig_twitter_share&igshid=poyc67rco2c2

Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, and their father King Haku attacked Kenny Omega tonight following his victory over Cody in the Cow Palace. The G1 Special in San Francisco appeared to be over as Bullet Club celebrated in the ring but suddenly Tama Tonga attacked Omega from behind.

Even their allies in Bullet Club, Chase Owens, and Yujiro Takahashi were attacked by the Guerillas of Destiny. Cody finally came out and Tama handed him a chair to hit Omega with. Cody motioned as if to hit Omega but then tried to take out the Tongans instead. They eventually cut him off and Tama gave him a cutter. Haku then gave Cody a piledriver on a chair.

The trio left the ring area as Tanga Loa stated they are the real Bullet Club into the camera. Jim Ross speculated as to where Bad Luck Fale stands in this, as he is likely aligned with the Tongans as well. Fale is their cousin and Fale and Tonga are 2 of the 4 original Bullet Club members.

After the Tongans cleared, Cody, Omega, and the Bucks hugged it out in the ring and showed they’re solidified again. With that, the Cody vs Kenny storyline is over and it will be the Elite against the Tongan faction.

Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, and Haku

There had been dropped hints of Tama Tonga’s dissension with Kenny Omega, the Young Bucks, and referring to themselves as “the Elite”. Tanga Loa made it clear into the camera tonight that they had no leader and that everyone is equal. Despite this, JR and Barnett speculated that Haku was the mastermind behind the attack.

Kenny Omega and Tama Tonga will meet on Saturday, July 21st, 2018 in the G1.

Former WWE Tag Team Champion and WCW Hardcore Champion Haku recently did an interview with Sportskeeda to talk about several professional wrestling topics. Haku was first asked about who the toughest man he has ever faced was:

“They’re all tough. It’s very kind of others to talk like that about me. But, as you know, I come from a Third World Country, hoping only to spread the name of Tonga in the world. My parents, my grandparents, my cousins, my hundredth cousin…they wanted me to send money home. I had to fight my way for everything, to send money home.”

Haku has earned himself quite a huge reputation as a tough guy amongst his peers in the professional wrestling world. He discussed being challenged by many when he was younger:

“There are people out there who don’t understand wrestling, who wanted to try the wrestlers and the wrestler they faced just happened to be me (laughs). We were just told that we have to take care of ourselves, inside and outside the ring. Pro wrestling has been great to us, to me and my family. It was wrestling that helped me survive all these years.”

Finally, Haku was asked about tomorrow’s PCW Ultra event in California. Haku said he’d like to go to the event and pass the torch to a new generation:

“I’ve done it. I’ve given everything to wrestling. I want to go to PCW Ultra and pass the torch to new generations. Martial arts and all that stuff is far behind me now and I gave it all to wrestling when I was able to.”

You can read Haku’s full interview with Sportskeeda by clicking this link here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jgonBEgQp4

For Christmas, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson gave former WWE Superstar Haku (real name Tonga Fifita) a new truck.

While Tonga Fifita is known to wrestling fans as either Haku or Meng, to Johnson, he is Uncle Tonga. Johnson’s grandfather, WWE Hall of Famer High Chief Peter Maivia, helped train Fifita to become a professional wrestler in the 1970s.

Johnson shared a story on Instagram of borrowing a pair of purple trunks from Haku for his tryout match with WWE, which was also his first-ever wrestling match (he faced The Brooklyn Brawler in a dark match on March 10, 1996 at a Superstars taping in Corpus Christi, Texas).

Merry Christmas Uncle Tonga – enjoy your new truck! Cool Christmas story to share with y’all… Known my “Uncle Tonga” since I was 5yrs old. My grandfather, High Chief Peter Maivia helped train him to become a professional wrestler in the 70’s. Throughout Tonga’s illustrious wrestling career he changed his name to “King Haku” and became one the WWE’s most sought after “bad guys” and still known to this day for being one of the toughest and legit most vicious man in wrestling history.

Years later and I get a call from WWE saying “Vince McMahon wants to see you wrestle immediately. He’s flying you to RAW tomorrow and you’ll have a tryout match.” I thought holy shit that’s awesome, buuuut there’s a few problems: For me, I wasn’t just having “a tryout match”, because I had never actually HAD a real match in my life. Ever. WWE thought that I already had multiple matches under my belt, but little did they know. What they also didn’t know was that I was broke as hell and didn’t actually own wrestling gear – no boots, knee pads or most importantly.. wrestling trunks. I went to Sports Authority and bought some bright ass white volleyball knee pads, called my Uncle and asked if he had ANY trunks I could use for my tryout. He said all I have is a pair of shiny purple trunks (purple was his signature color), I told him I don’t care if the trunks are all the colors of Skittles, I’ll happily wear them. When I picked the trunks up from him I’ll never forget the monster hug he gave me, look me in the eyes and said, “I’m so proud of you. Go get ’em nephew!” Here’s the picture of me wrestling my FIRST MATCH EVER in Corpus Christi, TX in front of 15,000 people – proudly in my lucky purple trunks. And the rest… was history.

My Uncle Tonga is a family man, humble man and champion. Most importantly one of the greatest human beings I know. So we walk outside and I said “Uncle how do you like my truck?” He said, “Whoooaaa nephew it’s beautiful… I love it!” I said “Good ’cause it’s yours.” He was speechless. Thru tears (manly of course;) we monster hugged ’cause I’ll never forget what he did for me when I had nothing. Merry Christmas Uncle and ofa atu. #LuckyPurpleTrunks

• WWE looking to sign Goldberg for 2016

TNA wrestler Mica (aka Camacho) recently spoke with Brian Fritz of Sporting News about the process of convincing his father, pro wrestling legend Haku (aka Meng) to let he and his brother enter the professional wrestling business.

“He didn’t like it at all,” Mica said of him and his brother Tama Tonga becoming pro wrestlers. “He worked his butt off to make sure our mom was there to stay home and take care of us, my brothers and my sister and for us to get a good education and experience other things other than wrestling. He was totally against it, he and our mother.”

Mica also shared his thoughts on former Smashing Pumpkins front man Billy Corgan joining the company to become part of the TNA creative team.

“I know Billy is a fan of wrestling,” he said. “I’ve met him before at wrestling fans as part of WWE and he loves wrestling. To have someone on board of his status, with his background to be part of the creative team with TNA, I think is a real blessing.”

Check out the complete interview at SportingNews.com.

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The following are highlights from a recent Jim Ross Q&A update:

On if he’d like to have Eve Torres on the Ross Report: “It could and I’d enjoy it as well. TBD.”

On if top MMA heavyweights from this era could beat up Haku: “Hmm, I havent heard those rumors but they sound like figments of someone’s imagination. Where were these yarns printed? The answer is in a bar or in the street your assumption is likely inaccurate.”

On his blogs and regular Q&A updates at JRsBarBQ.com: “My time, repetitive questions, one persona submitting multiple questions in one day all factor in. Plus, I like when people are honest and let me know that hey use our products. There’s little reason to devote all the time to the blogs and Q&A’s if we aren’t monetizing the effort and time selling some of our products. Plus, I don’t like to delve too deeply into questions that are so subjective that they have no right or no wrong answers. It’s futile to address. Some I eliminate simply because they are embarrassingly illogical or profane.”

On working with “Macho Man” Randy Savage: “Randy was very unpredictable and could be volatile at times. He did not trust many people but was a very charismatic and talented man.”

On pro wrestling rankings: “Ranking pro wresting within a company would still work and wold add realism to the equation.”

On Chris Benoit’s son Daniel entering the wrestling business: “Mixed feelings and I don’t know what to expect from this matter. I know that his journey like most others won’t be easy.”

Check out more JR Q&A updates at JRsBarBQ.com. You can also order JR’s Bar-B-Q products online at WWEShop.com.

– Former WWE and World Heavyweight Champion Batista accompanied Filipino boxer Nonito Donaire Saturday night in Corpus Christi, Texas for his match against Mikey Garcia. The bout aired on HBO, which Rey Mysterio acknowledged via Instagram.

“My big #homey #Batista just popped up on HBO boxing with NONITO DONAIRE! It’s been a minute since I’ve seen him! Miss u my homey! #Philippinopride,” wrote the inactive WWE Superstar.

– Members of The Heenan Family reunited Saturday at the Big Event convention in Flushing, New York. Bobby “The Brain” Heenan, King Kong Bundy, Haku, The Barbarian and Paul Orndorff (sporting a curly moustache) took photo-ops together with fans.

– WWE Hall of Famer “Cowboy” Bob Orton turns 63-years-old on Sunday. Also celebrating a birthday is WWE developmental trainer Bill DeMott, who turns 47.

Donny Marlow, Son of WWE Legend Haku

Florida Championship Wrestling talent Donny Marlow, son of the legendary Haku/Meng, made his WWE debut on Thursday’s episode of Superstars.

During the show, Hunico came out on the back of a lowrider bicycle, which was driven by Donny Marlow.

In the main event of this week’s show, the team of Primo and Epico (accompanied by Rosa Mendes) defeated WWE Tag Team Champions Air Boom in a non-title match.

Neither Hunico or Donny Marlow were ringside for the main event, so at this point it’s still unclear as to whether they will be aligning themselves with the Primo-Epico-Rosa trio.

You can watch Donny Marlow’s WWE debut on this week’s episode of Superstars:

Arda Ocal (@arda_ocal) and Jimmy Korderas (@jimmykorderas) of #AftermathRadio on thescore.com spoke with former WWE Superstar Tonga Fifita, best known as Haku (WWE) and Meng (WCW): Highlights:

Being “King” of the WWE in 1988, taking the title as “King” of the WWE from Harley Race at the 1989 Royal Rumble:

“When they gave me the opportunity to take the title as “King” from Harley Race, wow. I know his work, I know his wrestling, but I know my respect for this man. I sit back and took a few deep breaths. That was something in my heart, it was an honor to be the next “King”.

His reputation of being the toughest man in the locker room:

“(Wrestlers) just wanna throw my name out for the heck of it. I think we were all tough. You had to make the people believe that in wrestling for us to make some money. For us to have all those angles on TV, and to bring them back for all this good stuff. Everybody was tough those days to make money and protect the business.”

Thoughts on his tag team match at Wrestlemania VI in Toronto, Ontario where he teamed with Andre The Giant against Demolition, why he spent most the time in the match:

“That’s how smart Andre was. All he wanted me to do was to go out there and look strong, because obviously I was still young then, and my career was still going, not that he was finishing up but he was past his prime. He told me ‘Boss, go out there, do your thing, and whenever I wanna come in, ill call you (laughs).”

An incident with Jimmy Jack Funk in 1987:

“I didn’t take his eyeballs off. I was ready to, my hands were in there, ready to take his eye off, but then I realized how stupid we were.  Here we are brothers on the road together. I told Jim after all these things, and he got fired for it, and all these things here, And I feel bad for him Jim. It was something that happened at that moment.”

Other topics discussed include:

• His storyline with The British Bulldogs, “stealing” Matilda going towards WrestleMania 4 and how that is many fans’ most vivid memory of him
• Working these days at a Toyota dealership and how he got connected with them.Why he decided to retire from professional wrestling
• Validating pretty much any altercation story you may have heard about him, whether backstage or after hours
• Comparing his time in WWE and WCW and how Meng was more like the real Tonga Fifita

To listen to the full podcast interview, click here.

– WWE recently trademarked the term “The Network” – which will likely be used for the company’s planned cable network.

– Despite the fact that the NXT Season 1 rookies were all portrayed as heels on Monday’s RAW during the NXT invasion, Justin Gabriel wrestled at Thursday’s FCW tapings as a babyface and did not wear his NXT black armband. David Otunga wrestled on the same show, worked as a heel and wore the black & yellow “N” armband the NXT crew wore on RAW.

– Former WWE and WCW star Haku (Meng) was also Thursday’s FCW tapings. Haku’s son, Donny Marlow, was recently aligned with the Uso Twins and Tamina before they were called up to the main roster.

Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter