Samuel K. Mokuahi (May 4, 1934 – May 2, 2006) was an American professional wrestler, better known by his

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons, or projecting ...

, Sammy Steamboat.

Early life

Mokuahi grew up in Honolulu, attending

President Theodore Roosevelt High School President Theodore Roosevelt High School is a public, co-educational college preparatory high school in Honolulu, Hawai'i. It is operated by the Hawaii State Department of Education and serves grades nine through 12. Roosevelt High School is accre ...

, where he played multiple different sports.

Professional wrestling career

Mokuahi was trained to wrestle by Lord James Blears and Lou Thesz. He debuted in the 1950s, adopting the ring name "Sam Steamboat", the English translation of his birth name. Steamboat began his career with the Honolulu-based promotion

50th State Big Time Wrestling 50th State Big Time Wrestling (sometimes referred to as NWA Hawaii or Mid-Pacific Promotions) was a professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii in the United States that promoted professional wrestling matches throughout Ha ...

. He won his first championship on August 5, 1956,

teaming Teaming may refer to: * Link aggregation, in computing, known more specifically as NIC teaming or Network teaming * the practice of being a teamster * the formation of a team A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working togeth ...

with Billy Varga to defeat Great Togo and Tosh Togo for the NWA Hawaii Tag Team Championship. On January 25, 1961, Steamboat defeated Dick Hutton to win the NWA Hawaii Heavyweight Championship. He lost the championship to Luigi Macera on April 15, 1961. In the early 1960s, Steamboat relocated to the

contiguous United States The contiguous United States (officially the conterminous United States) consists of the 48 adjoining U.S. states and the Federal District of the United States of America. The term excludes the only two non-contiguous states, Alaska and Hawaii ...

, where he competed for the Los Angeles, California-based promotion Worldwide Wrestling Associates. In 1960, he won the WWA International Television Tag Team Championship with Dick Hutton. Steamboat went on to compete in the Atlanta, Georgia-based Georgia Championship Wrestling, where he won the NWA Southern Tag Team Championship (Georgia version) with Eddie Graham in 1964, and the North Carolina-based Mid Atlantic Championship Wrestling, where he held the NWA Southern Tag Team Championship (Mid-Atlantic version) with Graham in 1965. In the mid-1960s, Steamboat began wrestling for Championship Wrestling from Florida, where he reformed his alliance with Eddie Graham. Steamboat won the NWA World Tag Team Championship (Florida version) on five occasions between 1964 and 1967, as well as the NWA World Tag Team Championship (Mid-America version) on two occasions in 1965 and the NWA Florida Tag Team Championship in 1969. Steamboat returned to Hawaii in the late 1960s, winning the NWA Hawaii Heavyweight Championship on three further occasions and the NWA Hawaii Tag Team Championship on four further occasions. He also won the NWA North American Championship (Hawaii version) on four occasions. He retired in the late 1970s.

Personal life

Mokuahi was married to Sheryll, with whom he had seven children. Mokuhai was an avid surfer and canoeist. Fellow professional wrestler Ricky Steamboat took his ring name from Mokuahi due to their resemblance and was briefly billed as his son or nephew. However, the two men were unrelated.

Death

Mokuahi died in Hawaii from complications from

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

on May 2, 2006.

Championships and accomplishments

** NWA Hawaii Heavyweight Championship (

4 times "4 Times" (stylized as "4 TIMES") is the 50th single by pop/ R&B singer Koda Kumi. It was released on August 17, 2011 and debuted at No. 6, remaining on the Oricon charts for nine consecutive weeks. In commemoration of it being the fiftieth singl ...

) ** NWA Hawaii Tag Team Championship ( 5 times) – with Billy Varga (1 time), Bearcat Wright (1 time), Peter Maivia (2 times), and Billy White Wolf (1 time) ** NWA North American Heavyweight Championship ''(Hawaii version)'' (

) * Championship Wrestling from Florida ** NWA Florida Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) – with Ciclon Negro ** NWA World Tag Team Championship ''(Florida version)'' ( 5 times) – with Eddie Graham (3 times), Ron Etchison (1 time), and Jose Lothario (1 time) ** NWA World Tag Team Championship ''(Mid-America version)'' ( 1 time) – with Eddie Graham¹ * Georgia Championship Wrestling ** NWA Southern Tag Team Championship (Georgia version) (4 times) – with Eddie Graham * Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling ** NWA Southern Tag Team Championship ''(Mid-Atlantic version)'' ( 1 time) – with Eddie Graham * NWA Western States Sports ** NWA World Tag Team Championship ''(Amarillo version)'' ( 1 time) - with Eddie Graham * Worldwide Wrestling Associates ** WWA International Television Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) - with Dick Hutton ¹Steamboat and Graham won this championship by winning a tournament held on a card promoted in the Championship Wrestling from Florida promotion.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Steamboat, Sammy 1934 births 2006 deaths American male professional wrestlers Deaths from dementia in Hawaii Deaths from Alzheimer's disease President Theodore Roosevelt High School alumni Native Hawaiian professional wrestlers Professional wrestlers from Hawaii Sportspeople from Honolulu 20th-century professional wrestlers NWA Florida Tag Team Champions NWA World Tag Team Champions (Florida version)