"What? Meng? Why?" was probably the thought of many WWF fans when Haku returned to the company in 1999. Haku had a fairly successful run in the WWF from 1986 to 1992, but never reached the top level as a heel. He went over to WCW where he again stayed in the mid-card, experiencing a few stop-and-start pushes along the way. At the end of his run, he was reduced largely to a joke character. Most known for his crazy hair, and competing in ridiculous hardcore matches he seemed destined to ride out his career in one embarrassing WCW skit after the next. Unfortunately for WCW, they didn't have their Hardcore Champion signed to a contract, and he was free to jump ship. While it was an amateurish move on their part, you would think they didn't have much to worry about. Sure, McMahon would've jumped to sign Goldberg or Kevin Nash if their contracts lapsed to really stick it to his rival, but Meng? Well, Meng became Haku once more and teamed up with Rikishi to take on The Brothers of Destruction. It was a bizarre sight, as just weeks before he was facing an elderly Terry Funk and Norman Smiley. The duo didn't win any matches in the feud, and quickly went their separate ways. Haku was out of the company in about a year after wrestling mostly on Heat.
As Rust Cohle from True Detective said "Life's barely long enough to get good at one thing. So be careful what you're good at."
Sadly, I can't solve a murder like Rust...or change a tire, or even tie a tie. But I do know all the lyrics to Hulk Hogan's "Real American" theme song and can easily name every Natural Born Thriller from the dying days of WCW. I was once ranked 21st in the United States in Tetris...on the Playstation 3 version...for about a week.
Follow along @AndrewSoucek and check out my podcast at wrestlingwithfriends.com
