 Maivia in 1977 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Fanene Pita Anderson (1937-04-06)April 6, 1937 |
| Died | June 13, 1982(1982-06-13) (aged 45) Hawaii, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Cancer |
Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Relative(s) | Dwayne Johnson (grandson) Nia Jax (first cousin once removed) Roman Reigns (great nephew) |
| Family | Anoaʻi family |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Prince Peter Maivia High Chief Peter Maivia |
| Billed height | 5 ft 9 in (175 cm)[1] |
| Billed weight | 275 lb (125 kg)[1] |
| Billed from | "The Isle of Samoa"[1] |
| Trained by | Steve Rickard[1] |
| Debut | 1960 |
| Retired | February 11, 1982 |
Fanene Leifi Pita Maivia (bornFanene Pita Anderson; April 6, 1937 – June 13, 1982), better known asPeter Maivia, was a Samoan-American professional wrestler, actor and stunt coordinator.[3] Maivia was the grandfather ofDwayne "The Rock" Johnson via adoption, and was also part of the famousAnoaʻi family via blood brother pact. He was also thepromoter of theNational Wrestling Alliance memberPolynesian Pro Wrestling inHawaii.[1]
Maivia made his debut in 1960 at the age of 23.[4] He worked forNWA Hawaii, and in other places including France, and the United Kingdom.[4]
After spending his first twenty years in American Samoa, Maivia moved to New Zealand.[3] He began competing, wrestling under the ring name Prince Peter Maivia.[4] He was trained inNew Zealand by local wrestler and promoterSteve Rickard.[3][4]
Both in and out of the ring, Rickard taught the young Samoan a great deal about professional wrestling, and under his guidance, Maivia developed at an amazing rate. On 3 August 1964, after less than a year in the business, he won theNew Zealand Heavyweight Championship.[3] The title victory was impressive, however Maivia's reign was extremely short, and he held the championship for just three days, with the championship returning to Rickard on August 6, 1964.[3] The point had been made though, and from then onward, Maivia enjoyed main-event status in theNWA's New Zealand territory.[4]
Later in 1964, Maivia followed up his previous success by winning theNWA Australasian Heavyweight Championship.[4] Maivia became the new Australasian champion by defeatingKangaroo Kennedy, and he carried the belt for four years before finally losing it to Steve Rickard in 1968.[3] After developing his repertoire and ring skills in New Zealand, Maivia slowly began to branch out and take bookings in larger promotions.[3][4]
Maivia continued working mainly in Hawaii during most of his career. In 1968 he worked forInternational Wrestling Enterprise in Japan.[3] From 1969 to 1975 he worked inNWA San Francisco,NWA Hollywood,WCCW,Houston Wrestling, and theAWA winning many championships in the process.[3]
He joined the World Wide Wrestling Federation in mid-1977.[3] He was one of the company's biggest stars, working matches with many top wrestlers such asSuperstar Billy Graham,Ivan Putski andBob Backlund.[3][4] He turned heel in 1978 on Backlund in a match againstSpiros Arion andVictor Rivera.[3][4] During his tenure in the WWWF, he also competed in Hawaii, Japan, Toronto, Detroit, San Francisco, Los Angeles and New Zealand. He left the WWWF, which had now been renamed to the WWF, in 1981.
After leaving the WWF, Maivia returned to California and won theNWA Americas Heavyweight Championship.[3] He wrestled in his last match in Hawaii in February 1982, defeating Victor Rivera in a singles match. He retired on February 11, 1982, due to his battle with cancer.[5]
Maivia, also known as the Flyinʻ Hawaiian, was of theAli'i lineage ofMalietoa.[6] Maivia'straditional Samoan tattoos, which covered his abdomen and legs, were a symbol of his High Chief status.[1] According toSuperstar Billy Graham, they were completed in three days. His wife Ofelia Fuataga, more commonly known asLia Maivia, was one of the first female professional wrestling promoters.[7][8] Maivia adopted Lia's daughter Mataniu Feagaimaleata "Ata" Fitisemanu.[2][9]
Maivia was theblood brother of Amituanai Anoaʻi, the father ofthe Wild Samoans (Afa andSika), and thus theAnoaʻi family regard the Maivia family as part of their own family.
Maivia was also an actor, appearing in the fifthJames Bond film,You Only Live Twice, where he played a driver who transports a disguised Bond to Osato headquarters. His character also fights Bond, is hit with a sofa, wields akatana, and is put down when a statue is broken on his head. He was also the film'sstunt fight co-ordinator.
In 1981, Maivia was diagnosed with inoperablecancer, having reportedly ignored symptoms along with his friends and family's requests to see a doctor.[4] He died on June 13, 1982.[1]
Maivia was posthumously inducted into theWWE Hall of Fame, along with his daughter's ex-husbandRocky Johnson, in 2008 by his grandsonDwayne Johnson, with the award being accepted on his behalf by his daughter Ata Maivia-Johnson.[1]
In the 2016 Disney animated film,Moana, the character design ofMaui was derived from photographs of Peter Maivia, according to interviews with his grandson, Dwayne Johnson, who voices Maui in the film.[10]
,Cagematch,Internet Wrestling Database| First generation | |
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