10 WCW Stars You Totally Forgot Existed

1. Prince Iaukea

Though his name made him sound like the heir to a flat-pack furnished empire, Prince Iaukea was a solid worker and a mainstay of the WCW landscape for over half a decade. Iaukea - born Mike Hayner - made his first appearance for WCW as a cadet delivering a missive to Cobra on behalf of Sergeant Craig Pittman. Booker Kevin Sullivan was impressed with the rookie's attitude towards the business, and quickly drafted him into the company, naming him after his close friend King Curtis Iaukea - otherwise known as The Master. A black belt in judo, WCW were clearly keen to capitalise on Iaukea's tough guy image by remolding him into a modern Haku (meanwhile, Haku had been donning business suits as Colonel Robert Parker's bodyguard, Meng). Dressed nearly identically to the Tongan hardman, Iaukea embraced a typical Samoan gimmick - despite being Hawaiian. Yet the gimmick got over nevertheless. Iaukea also began to get over behind the scenes - specifically, with the wife of one of WCW's top brass. Though he denied the rumours, Iaukea just happened to soon be lumbered with an appalling - though guiltily amusing - new gimmick: The Artist Formerly Known as Prince Iaukea. An obvious satire of popstar Prince, Iaukea was clad in a purple velvet suit and hat, and despite the best efforts of Hayner, the character was more miss than 'Kiss'. Another of Vince Russo's 'Let's Go Crazy' moments.
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Editorial Team
Editorial Team

Benjamin was born in 1987, and is still not dead. He variously enjoys classical music, old-school adventure games (they're not dead), and walks on the beach (albeit short - asthma, you know). He's currently trying to compile a comprehensive history of video game music, yet denies accusations that he purposefully targets niche audiences. He's often wrong about these things.