Haku

[6.0] "These Tongan wrestlers seem to just be super tough guys, and Haku has to be the toughest. What a strong dude, and his ability and aura was off the charts. Haku's matches are still watchable today, He's someone you would never change the channel against just because you want to see what guys like him do and how he can perform to top the last match."

[6.0] "Incredible aura and everyone who worked in WCW or WWF between 1980 and 2000 has a story of his legit toughness, but his presence almost entirely disappears when the bell actually rings and he inevitably works in a way that makes his otherwise stiff looking chops and punches lack all intensity. For a guy you feel like it should be a big deal to pin, he rarely came across as a monster and most of his best work is in tags where at least two of the other three guys are doing all the work to get you actually invested."

[6.0] "Don't kill me, Haku. A terrifying man with a legendary reputation. Personally, I really like Haku. But, an all-timer talent he was not. However, the funniest s*** to me is him arriving as Meng at the 2005 Royal Rumble, and he just gets in the ring and starts blasting Kane and American Badass Taker with chops and clubs. This, is when his WWE push died. lol... But it's so cool to see. Oh, also, he was the current WCW Hardcore champ when he showed up in the Rumble. Legend."

[4.0] "Always feel like I wanted to enjoy Mengs matches a lot more than I actually did. He seems like a lovely guy but you will struggle to find an actually good match he took part in which is a shame really, just not the most skilled worker. Points for his presence and history in the business have to be given."

[7.0] "Of what Ive heard from wrestlers interviews , Baku is the hardest mothefucker in the history of the wrestling Buisness, which made him very legitimate to watch, even though he was never a top guy , he was believable"

[6.0] "Meng/Haku might have been hard as nails outside of the ring but within it he worked very light and you very rarely got anything even vaguely entertaining. Did quite like the tag team with Barb though."

[8.0] "Haku was a great brawler in the ring. He had a presence and real-life persona of being one of the toughest people in pro wrestling. Never saw much from him on the mic. Was presented well everywhere he went and had usually good matches."

[9.0] "He spent most part of 80's and 90's in the top 2 wrestling federations always delivering solid matches and playing very well the savage heel carachter. Perfect as midcarder with some chances in the main event and great as tag team specialist together with Barbarian. He built his reputation as badass also outside the ring and that helped him to seem even more credible in the squared circle."

[6.0] "Very solid worker throughout most of his career. A good foil for the baby faces and was good at making others look good. I hope Haku doesn't find out who gave him a zero rating!"

[9.0] "Rating on this page is just absurd. Haku was a highly respected wrestler, a hard worker and a great stage appearance. It deserves much more respect."

[9.0] "Criminally underrated. A great big man brawler with a genuine aura of intimidation. No matter who he was in the ring with, he made them look great, because they survived a match with one of the toughest."

[10.0] "Awesome mean machine. Both a good brawler. And even some highflying moves. Never had to talk much because of his looks. Always fun to watch."

[8.0] "One of the toughest and most badass wrestlers of all-time, The Face Of Terror s tales in the ring and especially out are legendary, almost mythical. But how good was he? I would say pretty good. A good brawler and powerhouse, he was at his best when he could be with someone willing to throw hard, still shots as well, and he was also a very charismatic man."

[8.0] "What a tank of a monster of a man! Awesome arsenal of chops and kicks, some of the best looking ever. Also must remark on his back breakers, which always looked devastating. His team with Tama as The Islanders had a strong run but was short lived; thus not very notable, damn good showing at the inaugural Survivor Series though. King Haku was a *GREAT* spot for the man & allowed him to be in the upper mid card and even some main events (hello again to Survivor Series). Soon though he floundered for a long while, but looked awesome while doing it; when your English is limited, so are your opportunities and pushes in Vince's world. The WCW run was rather solid! From shoot interviews, I learned this was his favourite era & you can tell he was very comfortable with his role there - even when part of The Dungeon of Doom. The team with The Barbarian is semi-legendary; The Faces of Fear are probably in the top 5 of all time underrated tag teams. Dying days WCW didn't have much good - but it DID have Meng! Man he was awesome then. His WWF return was lackluster and while the team with Rikishi had an obvious chemistry & upside, things fizzled practically instantly. Booking: peaks and valleys, ring work: S O L I D ! (ps: "yosh hah-hah, yosh hah-hah")"

[7.0] "Tough man that could stiff the hell out of you, he was great in WWF and in WCW as Meng. There are a lot of underrated gems by Meng with the right opponents. I wonder why he was never used in 2001 by WWF, probably because of the fact that the roster was stacked."

[7.0] "I prefer Meng to Barbarian, I think he possesses more natural charisma and is overall a bit of a better worker."

[5.0] "According to all the stories was the legitimate tough guy who you never messed with but in the ring to me he didnt have much skill at all plus most of his matches where just squash matches and he never went anywhere."

[10.0] "Meng is the most underrated wrestler of all time, I know he was a King of the Ring, I know he held tag titles in WWF & WCW, but damn man this guy should've done more. Meng/Haku had excellent fundamentals as a big guy with a Masa Saito esque wrestling style, his piledriver is in the top 10 best piledrivers of all time for me, and the Tongan Death Grip is a sweet finisher where he grabs under the mouth and presses just right on the nerves to nearly paralyze you like the Vulcan Neck Grip except it actually seems like it'd work. I know he's not a talking type but he was charismatic as an unruly savage, and to end this lengthy rating the Powers of Pain are one of the greatest tag teams of all time, love watching them just throw and clubber guys from 96-98."

[4.0] "An okay old school wrestling brawler. Unremarkable except for other wrestlers talking up his (overrated) out of the ring toughness."

[8.0] "Anytime I see Haku I have fun. It really sucks he never got a real push anywhere he was always a highlight in some way. He has a presence that is undeniable."

[6.0] "Worked well as a reliable tag guy as well as being a believable enforcer in WCW. From what I've seen he's just solid with his strikes because he was stiff as hell and he was a pretty fun brawler. Couldn't really have a bad match and actually had some pretty great showings if he was with the right opponent. Solid mid-card act but not a lot else."

[6.0] "Looked the part and was decent in the ring, but never got a push. Did a good job getting other middle carders over."

[7.0] "Was not bad. Looked legitimate and had a good look. Just never really did anything remarkable. Was usually a guy who was beat by someone climbing up to the mid card."

[8.0] "Any man who nearly killed Brutus Beefcake for being a bitch complaining about a fucking islander begin stiff, deserves the world. One of the funnest wrestlers to watch."

[7.0] "Haku's work as Meng specifically garners this rating from me. While booking and match structure in WCW never got the best out of him, Meng had some of the best tough guy matches in the company. The mid and late 90's WCW equivalent of a Tomohiro Ishii, you never expected him to ascend to the status of bigger stars like a Hulk Hogan or a Sting, but he provided many wrestlers with matches that, if it weren't for the copious amounts of interference that were commonplace in WCW, wouldn't feel out of place in today's wrestling. Go seek out Meng vs Fit Finlay and Meng vs The Giant in particular, while I'm certain there are plenty of other great Meng and Haku matches on the network these are the best ones available on YouTube at the moment."

[5.0] "Haku has developed a special reputation in the age of the internet as the locker room's ultimate tough guy but his wrestling ability was never more than okay."

[8.0] "I loved his unique look & presentation. He was fun to watch. Even though he wasn't the size of someone like Andre, he was always presented as someone just as deadly."

[6.0] "Meng was great as a midcard monster: he was tough, immensely strong and carefully built his image as that of a savage monster almost immune to pain. However all the pushes he received ended up going nowhere: he was never able to make the jump and become a top tier monster heel despite having the physique, the look and in-ring skills to become one. The only title reign I remember of his is as WWF Tag Champion in 1990 with a way way past his prime André The Giant, and I have always held this was more a sendoff gift for André than a way to start pushing Meng as a top level heel. I honestly don't know what went wrong with Meng: perhaps he lacked drive and ambition to become a top level star, who knows? Still it's good seeing his sons doing well for themselves these days."

[9.0] "Real life intimating Haku is a legit legend. Glad to see this monster is still going a few times a year still."

[10.0] "Haku was one of the toughest wrestlers I have ever seen. His fighting style was excellent. You would not want to mess with him in a bar. Too bad he never was a WWE champion or Intercontinental champion. That would have been a great push. When he was Meng he was not the same when he was in the 1980's I think the Meng gimmick was crap."

[9.0] "A master of his craft and people tend to not see his greatness. He was a smooth worker and despite his tough guy reputation he never had the habit of working stiff or hurting people (unless he intended to work stiff. ) and he is really underrated when it came to his ring psychology. It seems that people here only look at how many spots and suplexes they can do."

[3.0] "Einfach nur ein brutaler Kerl der seine Meinung mit echter und realer Gewalt durchgesetzt hat. Hat mir nie gefallen!"

[7.0] "A solid mid-carder when I first started watching. He was certainly one of the toughest wrestlers ever in the history of the business. I honestly thought he was good in the ring and back in the day he could have been pushed as a World Champion if he was given a manager. I really miss manager's if i'm honest."

[8.0] "Meng had for me the "tough monster"-aura already before the infamous shoot stories went around. His moves always look impactful, while he still seems to be in the ring a safe worker, he is just believable with his in-ring presence and charisma. He lacks the more advanced ring-technique to be veritable in all roles, but as a monster heel is very capable."

[5.0] "Meng/Haku was one of those guys who ALWAYS seemed to be getting pushed in a generic sort of way, but it never actually seemed to lead anywhere. Just a bunch of squash matches with no real purpose. Still, a solid midcard tag guy if nothing else."

[7.0] "When i read some of the comments i gotta cringe. Giving him 0 Points because of an incident that has nothing to do with his Wrestling skills and one guy wrote he is samoan... yeeezus He maybe wasn't the best technician or as charismatic as others but for a guy that cam from Sumo he did a very good job and no matter what storyline or match i saw from him the guy got what Wrestling is about. Never saw him botch a move and he always pulled good heel heat. Even tho he was kinda limited he was able to adapt to many styles no matter if hardcore, technical or stiff like a board and he was believable in his Gimmicks. btw to the guys writing he was not a menacing character, i'd love to see you guys saying this to his face."

[0.0] "Der Mann sticht Leuten die Augen mit seinem eignem Finger aus und ist auch noch voll brutal. Ich kann mit dem nix anfangen aber mein Favorit wird der nicht mehr. Für mich ist es unverständlich das dieser Mann noch im Wrestling sein darf. Bei Hogan hat man für weit weniger schlimme Dinge viel schneller reagiert."

[9.0] "Known as a legitimate tough guy, Meng didn't necessarily have a flashy offensive style, but he didn't need it. He had a presence and aura about him that made you believe that his kicks and headbutts were deadly, and he had an awesome finishing move in the Tongan Death Grip, which could work as either a submission or a pinfall move. He was perfect for a role as an upper-midcard monster; someone who could get easy wins over jobbers and even other mid-level guys, and then when somebody like Goldberg beats him, it seems like a major accomplishment. Definitely one of my favorite "monster" wrestlers."

[8.0] "Not what one would call a great wrestler, although he wasn't awful, but very few people in wrestling history have come across as just a bad dude like Meng. He always gave off the aura of being an absolute bad-ass, and that made his matches interesting to watch."

[2.0] "Langweiliger Worker, der keine besonderen Momente hatte, und mich in keinem Match unterhalten konnte."

[4.0] "Wenn man mal ganz genau nachdenkt, ist Haku/Meng eine ziemlich coole Sau gewesen. Zumindest von der Frsiur her. Der Deah Grip hat mir auch immer gefallen, aber alle andere, was er im Ring so gebracht hat, fand ich phänomenal lame."

[2.0] "Er hatte keine gefährliche Ausstrahlung in meinen Augen, seltsame Frisuren und Ringkleidung machten dies unmöglich. Im Team mit dem Barbarian war er am besten, diese beiden harmonierten recht gtu miteinander. Letztlich kann mich Haku aber als mittelmäßiger Brawler ohne sonstige Fähigkeiten weder im Team noch als Single überzeugen."

[3.0] "Es ist eigentlich egal ob im Team mit Tama oder an der Seite des Babarian fühlte ich mich eigentlich immer gelangweilt. Was wohl an seinem fehlendem Ring Skills, Charisma oder Mic Work lag."

[4.0] "Ich weiß er hatte was drauf, aber ich hab das irgendwie nie in ihm gesehen, 4 Punkte."

[7.0] "Also ich fand ihn in der WWF und auch in der WCW eigentlich immer ganz gut. Den Finsher in der WCW fand ich aber immer cooler als den kick in der WWF obwohl ich seine kampsportaktionen sehr glaubwürdig fand."

[6.0] "Ein ganz passabler Wrestler wie fast alle Samoaner. In der WCW als Meng auch gut"

[7.0] "Mir hat er insbesondere in seiner wCw Zeit als Meng sehr gut gefallen. Hatte Ausstrahlung und man nahm ihm das wilde Monster ab."

[5.0] "Wirkt sehr bedrohlich, aber letztendlich zu limitiert. Wurde auch selten gut eingesetzt."

[6.0] "Fand ich in den Früh 90er in der WWF nicht übel. Guter Brawler der zu überzeugen wusste. Später in der WCW fand ich ihn nicht mehr so prall. Alles zusammen: Guter durchschnitt."

[9.0] "Dieser Mann hatte für mich alles, eine sehr gute Technik, war ein ordentliches Kraftpaket und hatte einen Superfinisher zumindest in WCW-Zeiten, nur ihm fehlte es Charisma und am Micwork, trotzdem mir gefiel er, deswegen 9 Punkte!"

[7.0] "Haku war ein Kraftpaket mit einer ordentlichen Portion Technik. Habe ihn leider nur am Ende seiner WWF-Karierre gesehen, da hatte er seine beste Zeit schon hinter sich, aber einige frühere Matches mit ihm sind schön anzuschauen."

[6.0] "Ein stets solider Midcarder, der vorallem am Ende der 80er / Anfang der 90er in erstaunlicher Verfassung war. War im Gegensatz zu seinen meisten Kollegen ein verdammt guter Wrestler. Leider ließ er aber auch schnell nach."

[6.0] "Hat mich nie sonderlich beeindruckt, war aber auch nicht so dass man von einem schlechten Match ausgehen muss, wenn er dabei ist. Kommt auch gut als Monster rüber."

[6.0] "Haku war Ewigkeiten im Ring aktiv, zumindest kam es mir so vor. Die Leistung war immer solide und manchmal wirkte er auch bedrohlich, was aber auch vom Gegner abhängig war."

[6.0] "Für sein Gewicht war er ganz beweglich und kam auch als Bedrohung rüber. Aber sein Micwork und die Frisur waren nicht das Gelbe vom Ei"

[6.0] "Harter Mann dem man schon ansah das er keinen Spass versteht ;) Kam für mich immer als Bedrohung rüber und damit erfüllte er seinen Zweck."

[8.0] "Schon seit Ewigkeiten mit dabei und wrestlet immer noch! In der WCW ein Urgestein durch seine faces of Fear Zeit mit dem Barbarian und später seine Hardcore Zeit. In der WWF ist seine Zeit als King Haku auch nicht zu verachten."

[10.0] "Kann man mittlerweile sicher schon fast als Legende bezeichnen. Grossartiger samoanischer/pazifischer Wrestler, zu vergleichen mit Superfly, Wild Samoans etc. Hat mir als (King) Haku in den Spät-80'ern am besten gefallen, auch im Team - bei den Islanders oder der Colossal Connection (mit Andre the Giant! ). Später als Meng in der WCW immer noch beeindruckend - dort eher als "Monster" gepusht."

[6.0] "Nicht gerade eines der besten Wrestler, aber er ist ein alter Hase im Ring ... in der WCW (als Meng) hat er mir am besten gefallen!"

[6.0] "Sicherlich technisch nicht der Beste, aber sein Auftreten im Ring hatte schon was bedrohliches - einer von denen, gegen die man wohl lieber nicht wirklich antritt."