Neff Alfred Maiava was an American Samoan professional wrestler.
14 Facts About Neff Maiava
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Neff Maiava is best known for his appearances in the United States with the Honolulu, Hawaii-based promotion 50th State Big Time Wrestling in the late-1950s and 1960s.
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Neff Maiava was trained to wrestle by Al Karasik, debuting in 1952.
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In 1958, Neff Maiava began wrestling for the Salt Lake City, Utah-based Salt Lake Wrestling Club, where he and Oni Wiki Wiki briefly held the NWA World Tag Team Championship.
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Neff Maiava became a highly popular wrestler due to his "combination of athletic ability, comedy and exotic flair".
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Neff Maiava became known for antics such as performing fire knife dances, playing a ukulele, walking on a bed of nails, breaking wooden boards over his head, and wearing a necklace made from boar's teeth.
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Neff Maiava's finishing move, the "Coconut Head-butt", gave rise to the professional wrestling trope that Samoan wrestlers have "hard heads".
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Neff Maiava was managed by Coconut Willie, who supposedly issued orders to Maiava by beating a drum.
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Neff Maiava held the NWA Hawaii Tag Team Championship on six occasions, teaming with Billy White Wolf, Lord James Blears, and Pampero Firpo.
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In October 1961, Neff Maiava defeated Maurice Vachon in a hair versus hair match.
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Neff Maiava went on to run a tree-trimming company and purchased a portfolio of rental properties on Oahu.
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In 1997, Neff Maiava published "Da Grouchy Moocher Boogie Man", a children's book.
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Neff Maiava died in his sleep on April 21,2018, in Honolulu at the age of 93.
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Neff Maiava was inurned with military honors at the Diamond Head Mortuary.