The Islanders (professional wrestling)
| The Islanders | |
|---|---|
| Tag team | |
| Members |
Haku Tama |
| Combined weight |
501 lb (227 kg; 35.8 st) |
| Billed from | The South Pacific |
| Former member(s) |
Sivi Afi |
| Debut | 1986 |
| Disbanded | 1988 |
| Years active | 1986-1988 |
| Promotions | WWF |
The Islanders was a professional wrestling tag team. The members were Haku and Tama, and they wrestled in the World Wrestling Federation. They were managed by Bobby Heenan and had a memorable feud with the British Bulldogs in which they kidnapped their pet mascot Matilda. They were also very briefly joined by a third islander Sivi Afi.
Prior to being known as Haku, Fifita wrestled as King Tonga, entering the WWF in late-1985. He bodyslammed Big John Studd on a televised show at a time when Studd was being billed as a man who couldn't be slammed. Fatu, meanwhile, wrestled in the WWF in 1983-1984 as the Tonga Kid, eventually aiding Jimmy Snuka in his feud against Rowdy Roddy Piper. Fatu disappeared shortly after the Piper feud and returned to the WWF in mid-1986, still wrestling as the Tonga Kid. He was almost immediately put into a tag team with King Tonga, given their new names and christened The Islanders. Initially, they wrestled as faces.
Initially, the Islanders wrestled preliminary matches. They won most of the matches and occasionally got matches against higher card teams, such as the Hart Foundation or The Dream Team. Their big break came in October 1986 when they won a tag-team battle royal at Madison Square Garden, last eliminating the favored King Kong Bundy and Big John Studd. While it appeared initially that a feud with Studd and Bundy was on the horizon, that idea was scrapped when Studd left the WWF. The Islanders soon found themselves on the lower end of the card, losing to more established tag teams such as The Dream Team, Nikolai Volkoff and The Iron Sheik, and Don Muraco and Bob Orton. During this period, the WWF was loaded with great tag teams, and the Islanders were lost in the mix during early 1987. They were the first team to wrestle the Hart Foundation on television after the Harts won the titles in January, but lost. They soon found themselves in a long losing streak against a new team, Demolition. They began wrestling other face teams during this period, usually the Rougeau Brothers, and these matches were typically a double disqualification. With little momentum, the Islanders were left off the biggest card of the year, WrestleMania III.
...
Wikipedia