Peter Maivia
Peter Maivia was born in American Samoa, United States on April 6th, 1937 and is the Samoan-American Professional Wrestler. At the age of 45, Peter Maivia biography, profession, age, height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, measurements, education, career, dating/affair, family, news updates, and networth are available.
At 45 years old, Peter Maivia has this physical status:
Maivia made his debut in 1962 at the age of 24. He worked for NWA Hawaii, and in other places including France, and the United Kingdom.
After spending his first twenty years in American Samoa, Maivia moved to New Zealand. He began his wrestling career, wrestling not as The High Chief, but as Prince Peter Maivia. Athletic, naturally talented and a quick study, Maivia received his original ring training in New Zealand, under the watchful eye of local wrestler/promoter Steve Rickard.
Both in and out of the ring, Rickard taught the young Samoan a great deal about his new profession, and under his guidance, Maivia developed at an amazing rate. On August 3, 1964, after less than a year in the business, the popular rookie sensation stunned New Zealand by toppling the rugged, experienced Rickard to win the prestigious New Zealand Heavyweight title in Auckland. The title victory was impressive, indeed, however Maivia's reign turned out to be extremely short, and he held the coveted New Zealand title for just three days, dropping the championship back to Steve Rickard in Wellington on August 6, 1964. The point had been made though, and from that period forward, Maivia enjoyed main-event status in the NWA's New Zealand territory.
Later in 1964, Maivia followed up his previous success by winning another very prestigious championship, the NWA Australasian Heavyweight title. Maivia became the new Australasian champion by defeating Kangaroo Kennedy in Auckland, and he carried the belt for four consecutive years before finally losing his title to Steve Rickard in 1968. After developing his repertoire and ring skills in New Zealand, Maivia slowly began to branch out and take bookings in other (and often larger) promotions, with success invariably following the popular islander.
Maivia continued working mainly in Hawaii during most of his career. In 1968 he worked for International Wrestling Enterprise in Japan. From 1969 to 1975 he worked in NWA San Francisco, NWA Hollywood, World Class Championship Wrestling, Houston Wrestling, and the American Wrestling Association winning many titles.
He joined the World Wide Wrestling Federation in mid-1977. He was one of the company's most prominent stars, making numerous appearances on Championship Wrestling. He worked matches with many well-known wrestlers who later became WWE Hall of Famers, such as Superstar Billy Graham, Ivan Putski and Bob Backlund. He turned heel for the first time in his career in 1978 on Backlund in a match against Spiros Arion and Victor Rivera. During his tenure in the WWWF, he also made trips to Hawaii, Japan, Toronto, Detroit, San Francisco, Los Angeles and New Zealand. He left WWF (WWWF) in 1981.
After leaving WWF, Maivia returned to California as he won the NWA Americas Heavyweight Championship. He wrestled his last recorded match in Hawaii in February 1982 defeating Victor Rivera. He retired on February 11, 1982, due to his cancer diagnosis.