King Curtis Iaukea facts for kids
Quick facts for kids King Curtis Iaukea |
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| Birth name | Curtis Piehau Iaukea III |
| Born | September 15, 1937 Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S. |
| Died | December 4, 2010 (aged 73) Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S. |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | King Curtis Iaukea Prince Kuhio The Wizard Prince Curtis Iaukea The Master |
| Billed height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) |
| Billed weight | 290 lb (130 kg) |
| Debut | 1955 |
| Retired | 1980 |
Curtis Piehau Iaukea III (born September 15, 1937 – died December 4, 2010) was a famous American professional wrestler. He was best known by his wrestling name, King Curtis Iaukea. During the 1960s, King Curtis won many championships in different wrestling groups across the U.S. He won titles both by himself and with a tag team partner. Later, he joined the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). There, he won the WWF Tag Team Championship with Baron Scicluna. He also became known as The Master of a wrestling group called the Dungeon of Doom in World Championship Wrestling (WCW). Curtis Iaukea even appeared in a movie called The Three Stooges Go Around the World in a Daze. In the movie, his character was so big that Moe Howard said, "That's not a man! That's a committee!"
Contents
Discovering King Curtis Iaukea
Early Life and Sports
Curtis Iaukea came from an important family in Hawaii. He was the great-grandson of Colonel Curtis P. Iaukea. This Colonel was a special helper and representative for the Hawaiian King Kalākaua and Queen Liliuokalani. Curtis's father, Curtis Iaukea II, was an Inspector for the Honolulu Police Department.
Curtis Iaukea III went to Punahou School and later studied economics at the University of California Berkeley. He was a talented lineman in football there. However, he decided to leave college. He then played as a tackle for Canadian football teams. He played for the BC Lions from 1958 to 1959. He also played for the Montreal Alouettes in 1959. In 1960, he tried out for the Oakland Raiders but did not make the team.
Stepping into the Wrestling Ring
Becoming a Champion Wrestler
In 1961, Curtis Iaukea began his professional wrestling career. He joined Don Owen's Pacific Northwest territory, also known as Portland Wrestling. He wrestled under the name Prince Kuhio. On January 19, 1962, he teamed up with Haru Sasaki. Together, they won the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Titles. They held these titles for two months. About a year later, King Curtis won the NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Title. This happened on September 5, 1963.
King Curtis also wrestled in Australia. There, he was part of a popular good-guy tag team called the People's Army. He teamed with Mark Lewin and Spiros Arion. When he first wrestled in Australia in 1964–1965, he was a bad guy. He teamed up with Skull Murphy. He was known as Curtis Iaukea at first, but the name King Curtis became popular. He had big fights against Mark Lewin. Later, in the 1970s, he became a fan favorite. He then wrestled against Tiger Jeet Singh and The Tojo Brothers from Japan.
From Wrestler to Manager
After he stopped wrestling in the mid-1980s, King Curtis became a manager. A manager helps wrestlers by speaking for them and sometimes getting involved in their matches. In ICW, King Curtis managed Kevin Sullivan and Mark Lewin. He played the role of a mysterious leader for their group. This group had big fights with Joe Savoldi and Austin Idol. In the 1980s, he also appeared with Kevin Sullivan in Championship Wrestling from Florida. There, he was known as "The Chairman of the Board."
In 1986, Curtis Iaukea briefly returned to the WWF. He was known as The Wizard. He managed a wrestler named Kamala. The Wizard claimed he could talk to the spirit of the famous manager, Grand Wizard. He later teamed Kamala with Sika. Then, he sold both wrestlers to Mr Fuji.
In the mid-1990s, he also appeared in WCW. He was called 'The Master' of a wrestling group called the Dungeon of Doom. He reunited with Kamala and Kevin Sullivan there. Sullivan, who led the Dungeon, would call Iaukea "my father." Iaukea would call Sullivan "my son." His job in the Dungeon was to find new members for Sullivan's fights against Hulk Hogan.
Major Wins and Achievements
King Curtis Iaukea won many championships throughout his career. Here are some of his biggest achievements:
- 50th State Big Time Wrestling
- NWA Hawaii Heavyweight Championship (4 times)
- NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (Hawaii version) (6 times)
- Big Time Wrestling (San Francisco)
- NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (San Francisco version) (1 time)
- NWA All-Star Pro Wrestling
- NWA British Empire/Commonwealth Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- American Wrestling Alliance
- AWA United States Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- Championship Wrestling from Florida
- NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
- NWA Western States Sports
- NWA Western States Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- Pacific Northwest Wrestling
- NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Haru Sasaki
- Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum
- Class of 2020
- World Championship Wrestling (Australia)
- IWA World Heavyweight Championship (4 times)
- IWA World Tag Team Championship (3 times) - with Buddy Austin (1) and Mark Lewin (2)
- World Brass Knuckles Championship
- World Wide Wrestling Federation
- WWWF World Tag Team Championship (1 time) with Baron Mikel Scicluna
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 2011)
