Curtis Piehau Iaukea III (September 15, 1937 – December 4, 2010) was an American

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

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 World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...

(WWF) where he won the

WWF Tag Team Championship The World Tag Team Championship was the original professional wrestling world tag team championship in the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) promotion, and the promotion's third tag team championship overall. Originally established by the then- ...

with Baron Scicluna. He was also later The Master of the

Dungeon of Doom The Dungeon of Doom was the name of a heel professional wrestling stable in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) that existed from 1995 to 1997. History The Dungeon of Doom was created as a stable of wrestlers born from WCW lead producer Kevin Su ...

World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling, Inc. (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of Nation ...

(WCW). Under the name "Iau Kea" he appeared in the film ''

The Three Stooges Go Around the World in a Daze ''The Three Stooges Go Around the World in a Daze'' is the fifth feature film made by The Three Stooges after their 1959 resurgence in popularity. By this time, the trio consisted of Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Joe DeRita (dubbed "Curly Joe"). Dir ...

'' with

Moe Howard Moses Harry Horwitz (June 19, 1897 – May 4, 1975), known professionally as Moe Howard, was an American actor and comedian. He is best known as the leader of The Three Stooges, the farce comedy team who starred in motion pictures and television ...

declaring "That's not a man! That's a committee!".

Early life

He was the great grandson of Colonel Curtis P. Iaukea, a royal chamberlain and diplomat to the court of King

Kalākaua Kalākaua (David Laʻamea Kamananakapu Mahinulani Naloiaehuokalani Lumialani Kalākaua; November 16, 1836 – January 20, 1891), sometimes called The Merrie Monarch, was the last king and penultimate monarch of the Hawaiian Kingdom, Kin ...

and Queen Liliuokalani and son of

Honolulu Police Department The Honolulu Police Department (HPD) is the principal law enforcement agency of the City and County of Honolulu, Hawaii, headquartered in the Alapa'i Police Headquarters in Honolulu CDP. Officially recognized as a part of the government of the ...

Inspector Curtis Iaukea II. He attended

Punahou School Punahou School (known as Oahu College until 1934) is a private, co-educational, college preparatory school in Honolulu, Hawaii. More than 3,700 students attend the school from kindergarten through twelfth grade, 12th grade. Protestant missionar ...

and the

University of California Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant univ ...

as an economics major where he lettered as a lineman until he dropped out. He played as a tackle for the

BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions played their first season ...

from 1958-1959 and the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: Les Alouettes de Montréal) are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has folded and been revived twice. The Alouettes compete in the Canadian F ...

in 1959. He was also in camp with the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

in 1960 before being cut.

Professional wrestling career

Wrestling

Iaukea came to Don Owen's Pacific Northwest territory, commonly known as Portland Wrestling in 1961, wrestling under the moniker Prince Kuhio. Teaming with Haru Sasaki, the two would capture the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Titles on January 19, 1962, holding them for two months. A year later, while traveling between

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

and the Hawaiian Islands, King Curtis would capture the NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Title on September 5, 1963, In

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, King Curtis was a part of the

face The face is the front of an animal's head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental deformities may aff ...

tag team Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establish ...

known as the People's Army with

Mark Lewin Mark Lewin (born March 16, 1937) is an American retired professional wrestler. Early life Lewin was born in Buffalo, New York. He had two elder brothers, Donn and Ted, both of whom also became professional wrestlers. He attended Lafayette High ...

and

Spiros Arion Spiros Arion ( el, Σπύρος Αρίων) born Spyridon Manousakis ( el, Σπυρίδων Μανουσάκης) (born September 1940) is an Egyptian-born Greek former professional wrestler who had an extensive and successful career, mainly in ...

. His first sojourns to Australia were in the 1964–1965 season, where he was a

Heel The heel is the prominence at the posterior end of the foot. It is based on the projection of one bone, the calcaneus or heel bone, behind the articulation of the bones of the lower Human leg, leg. Structure To distribute the compressive for ...

. He was teamed with

Skull Murphy The skull is a bone protective cavity for the brain. The skull is composed of four types of bone i.e., cranial bones, facial bones, ear ossicles and hyoid bone. However two parts are more prominent: the cranium and the mandible. In humans, the ...

. 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 Jagjeet Singh Hans (born April 3, 1944) is an Indo-Canadian semi-retired professional wrestler, known better by his ring name Tiger Jeet Singh. He was known for his elaborate ring entrances, and generally performed as a heel. He wrestled in Japan ...

and the Tojo brothers from Japan. King Curtis was also a member of an alliance known as "The People's Army."

Management

After retiring in the mid-1980s, he turned to

managing Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

. In ICW, known as King Curtis, he managed Kevin Sullivan and Mark Lewin, taking on the

gimmick A gimmick is a novel device or idea designed primarily to attract attention or increase appeal, often with little intrinsic value. When applied to retail marketing, it is a unique or quirky feature designed to make a product or service "stand ou ...

of a crazed cult leader. His faction feuded with

Joe Savoldi Joseph Anthony Savoldi Jr., (born Giuseppe Antonio Savoldi; March 5, 1908 – January 25, 1974) more commonly known by his nickname "Jumping Joe" Savoldi, was an Italian-American professional wrestler, football player, and Special Ops agent for ...

and

Austin Idol Michael McCord (born October 26, 1949) is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Austin Idol. He is best known for his appearances in the Mid-South with the Continental Wrestling Association, in particular his rec ...

. In the 80's, he also appeared with Sullivan in Championship Wrestling from Florida as "The Chairman of the Board". Curtis Iaukea re-appeared briefly in the WWF promotion as The Wizard, a manager and mouthpiece for

Kamala Kamala refers to: People * Kamala (name), given name and surname, includes list of people and characters with the name ** Kamala Harris, the 49th and current Vice President of the United States * Kamala (wrestler) (1950–2020), American profess ...

. The Wizard claimed to be in communion with the spirit of the late original

Grand Wizard The Grand Wizard (later the Grand and Imperial Wizard simplified as the Imperial Wizard and eventually, the National Director) referred to the national leader of several different Ku Klux Klan organizations in the United States and abroad. The ti ...

. He later teamed Kamala with Sika before selling the pair to

Mr Fuji Harry Masayoshi Fujiwara (May 4, 1934 – August 28, 2016) was an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and Manager (professional wrestling), manager, known professionally by his ring name Mr. Fuji (or Master Fuji to his proté ...

. He also appeared briefly in

WCW World Championship Wrestling, Inc. (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of Nationa ...

as 'The Master' of the Dungeon of Doom stable in the mid-1990s, reuniting with both Kamala and Sullivan (who, as Dungeon leader, would address Iaukea as "my father", and he would address Sullivan as "my son") His role in the Dungeon was to conjure up new Dungeon members for Sullivan's war with Hulk Hogan.

Championships and accomplishments

50th State Big Time Wrestling 50th State Big Time Wrestling (sometimes referred to as NWA Hawaii or Mid-Pacific Promotions) was a professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii in the United States that promoted professional wrestling matches throughout Ha ...

NWA Hawaii Heavyweight Championship The NWA Hawaii Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling championship sanctioned by the National Wrestling Alliance and is defended in the US state of Hawaii. The title, which is still currently defended, began in 1935. From February ...

( 4 times) ** NWA United States Heavyweight Championship ''(Hawaii version)'' ( 6 times) * Big Time Wrestling ''(San Francisco)'' **

NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (San Francisco version) The NWA San Francisco United States Championship was a version of the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship that was defended in NWA San Francisco NWA San Francisco was a professional wrestling promotion headquartered in San Francisco, Cal ...

( 1 time) *

NWA NWA or Nwa most commonly refers to: * N.W.A ("Niggaz Wit Attitudes"), a hip hop group from Compton, California, US * National Wrestling Alliance, a professional wrestling organization NWA or Nwa may refer to: Music * New Weird America, a subgenr ...

All-Star Pro Wrestling ** NWA British Empire/Commonwealth Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *American Wrestling Alliance **

AWA United States Heavyweight Championship The AWA United States Championship was a short-lived title in the early days of the American Wrestling Association. It started out as the NWA United States Championship promoted in the Chicago, Illinois from 1953 until 1958. in 1958 then champion ...

( 1 time) *

Championship Wrestling from Florida Championship Wrestling from Florida (CWF) was the corporate and brand name of the Tampa, Florida wrestling office existing from 1961, when Eddie Graham first bought into the promotion, until 1987, when it closed down. It is also referred to as ...

NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship The NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship was a major title in Championship Wrestling from Florida, USA and is now the major title in NWA Florida Wrestling Alliance. It started in 1937 and was abandoned in 1949. It was picked back up in 1966 by C ...

(

2 times "2 Times" is a song co-written and recorded by British Italian-based singer Ann Lee. It was released in 1999 as the lead single from her debut album, ''Dreams'' (1999). The single entered and peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart. Outside ...

) *

NWA Western States Sports Western States Sports (also known as the Amarillo Territory) was a professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Amarillo, Texas in the United States. Founded by Dory Detton in 1946, the promotion enjoyed its greatest success in the 1960s and ...

NWA Western States Heavyweight Championship The NWA Western States Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling title in the National Wrestling Alliance's Amarillo, Texas territory, Western States Sports. The title was in use from 1969, when it replaced Amarillo's version of the ...

( 1 time) *

Pacific Northwest Wrestling Pacific Northwest Wrestling (PNW) (also known as Big Time Wrestling and Portland Wrestling) is the common name used to refer to several different professional wrestling companies, both past and present, based in Portland, Oregon, United States. T ...

NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship The NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship sanctioned by the National Wrestling Alliance and defended in its member promotion Pacific Northwest Wrestling, which promoted shows in the U.S. states of ...

( 1 time) **

NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship The NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling championship sanctioned by the National Wrestling Alliance and defended in its member promotion Pacific Northwest Wrestling, which promoted shows in the U.S. states of ...

( 1 time) - with Haru Sasaki *

Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum The Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame (PWHF) and Museum is an American professional wrestling hall of fame and museum located in Wichita Falls, Texas currently closed to water leaks. The museum was founded by Tony Vellano in 1999, and was previo ...

**Class of 2020 *

World Championship Wrestling (Australia) World Championship Wrestling was an Australian professional wrestling promotion that ran from 1964 until 1978. History The promotion gained publicity through television programs on the Nine Network, which were presented at noon on Saturdays and ...

** IWA World Heavyweight Championship ( 4 times) **

IWA World Tag Team Championship IWA World Tag Team Championship is a Tag Team Championship defended in Puerto Rico.The titles were first introduced in the first incarnation of the International Wrestling Association, where they are defended. They also made a brief appearance i ...

( 3 times) - with

Buddy Austin Austin Wesley Rogers (born Austin Wesley Rapes; February 27, 1929 – August 13, 1981) was an American professional wrestler, better known by the ring name "Killer" Buddy Austin. He is best known for his appearances with the Los Angeles, Californi ...

(1) and

(2) ** World Brass Knuckles Championship *

World Wide Wrestling Federation Capitol Wrestling Corporation Ltd. was an American sports promotion company. It was run by Vincent J. McMahon from 1953 to 1982. Operating as the Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC), the company was originally a professional wrestling and boxing p ...

** WWWF World Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) with Baron Mikel Scicluna *''

Wrestling Observer Newsletter The ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' (''WON'') is a newsletter that covers professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. Founded in print in 1982 by Dave Meltzer, the ''Wrestling Observer'' website merged with Bryan Alvarez's ''Figure Four We ...

'' ** Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 2011)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Iaukea, Curtis, King American male professional wrestlers 1937 births Native Hawaiian people Sportspeople from Honolulu 2010 deaths Native Hawaiian professional wrestlers Professional wrestlers from Hawaii Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum Stampede Wrestling alumni 20th-century professional wrestlers NWA Florida Heavyweight Champions NWA Southern Heavyweight Champions (Florida version) Stampede Wrestling North American Heavyweight Champions IWA World Heavyweight Champions (Australia) IWA World Tag Team Champions (Australia)