Curtis Piehau Iaukea III (September 15, 1937 – December 4, 2010) was a professional wrestler better known as King Curtis Iaukea. Iaukea won championships in several of the major regional U.S. promotions, both as a single and in various tag team combinations, during the 1960s. He then competed in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) where he won the WWF Tag Team Championship with Baron Scicluna. He was also later The Master of the Dungeon of Doom in World Championship Wrestling (WCW).
Professional wrestling career[]
Iaukea came to Don Owen's Pacific Northwest territory, commonly known as Portland Wrestling in 1961, wrestling under the moniker Prince Kuhio.[1] Teaming with Haru Sasaki, the two men would capture the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Titles on Jan. 19th, 1962, holding them for two months. A year later, while traveling between Oregon and the Hawaiian Islands, King Curtis would capture the NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Title on Sept. 5th, 1963,[2] In Australia, King Curtis was a part of the face tag team known as the People's Army with Mark Lewin and Spiros Arion.[3]
His first sojourns to Australia were in the 1964–1965 season, where he was a Heel. He was teamed with Skull Murphy. King Curtis initially wrestled as Curtis Iaukea in his first run in Australia. The King Curtis tag was the one that stuck as he feuded against Mark Lewin. After becoming a fan favorite in the seventies, King Curtis feuded against Tiger Jeet Singh and various Japanese "brothers." King Curtis was also a member of an alliance known as "The People's Army."
After retiring in the mid-1980s, he turned to managing. In ICW, known as King Curtis, he managed Kevin Sullivan and Mark Lewin, taking on the gimmick of a crazed cult leader. His faction feuded with Joe Savoldi and Austin Idol. Curtis Iaukea re-appeared briefly in the WWF promotion as the Wizard, a manager and mouthpiece for Kamala and Sika. He also appeared briefly in WCW as 'The Master' of the Dungeon of Doom stable in the mid-90s.
In wrestling[]
- Finishing moves
- Splash
Championships and accomplishments[]
- 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 Mid-Pacific Promotions
- NWA Hawaii Heavyweight Championship (4 times)
- NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (Hawaii version) (6 times)
- NWA San Francisco
- NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (San Francisco version) (1 time)
- 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
- 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[4]
- 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)[5]
References[]
- ↑ "Iaukea Reminisces About 50th-State Wrestling".
- ↑ url=http://www.cagematch.net/?id=2&nr=1302&page=11
- ↑ "Giant who conquered Aussie hearts". The Sydney Morning Herald.
- ↑ http://www.wrestling-titles.com/australia/wcw/au-world-bk.html
- ↑ Meltzer, Dave 2011-10-20. Thurs. update: Brisco, GSP updates, Hall feature, WWE drops announcer, TV show looks to be canceled . Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved on 2011-10-21.