Dean Ho 

Real Name - Dean Higuchi

Lifespan - 12/30/1938 - 2/20/2021

6’ 260 lbs. - Vancouver, BC

Athletic Background - Bodybuilding [Mr. America - 6th Place]; Football (College)

Teacher(s) - n/a

Professional Background - Hawaii(`56-`68), Portland(`62,`64-`65,`67-`73), Vancouver(`68-`73), Stampede(`68), Maritimes(`69), Dallas(`71-`72), WWWF(`73-`74), Vancouver(`75-`76), Georgia(`75-`77), Vancouver(`76-`77), SECW[Knoxville](`77), San Francisco(`77-`78), Vancouver(`81-`83), Portland(`81-`83)

Aliases - Dean Higuchi, Don Ho, Dean Kailani

Peak Years - `68-`74

Place in History - Hawaii has produced a number of great pro-wrestlers who have achieved success all over the world.  In the 1950s, there was a surge of Hawaiians of Japanese descent like Tosh Togo, Mitsu Arakawa and Toru Tanaka that would become prominent heels in the wake of World War II.  Dean Higuchi was the exception to that rule.  His family had been traumatized by Pearl Harbor, but perhaps more significantly, he was a true Hawaiian through and through.  Dean played up his Hawaiian heritage throughout his career and was a long-time babyface.  An athletic youngster, Dean trained his body and won the title of Mr. Hawaiian Islands as a bodybuilder.  When he segued into pro-wrestling, his muscular physique, his good natured promos and his fiery in-ring style helped him get over with all the fans.  In the late 1960s, he took the surname “Ho” for the popular Hawaiian entertainer Don Ho whose song “Tiny Bubbles” was a Billboard favorite.  While he had his fair share of singles success, Dean Ho was most notably a tag team wrestler, although none of his championship teams are notable.  His partnership with perennial WWWF tag wrestler Tony Garea was the longest championship reign that Garea had.  Dean Ho settled in Vancouver and worked the majority of his career working there and the Portland territory.  Like many pro-wrestlers of that era, he kept coming back to his home region, but had a few runs away from home.  Dean Ho, coming to the ring in his colorful traditional costumes, bringing leis and ukeles and calling everyone “brudda,” was a great ethnic novelty.  While Peter Maivia and Jimmy Snuka similarly played up their Hawaiian heritage and took up the gimmickry at different times, Dean did never strayed from that persona.  As the territorial scene began tapering off, so did his active career.  He wrapped up his career in the declining All-Star promotion of Al Tomko’s in Vancouver.   Pro-wrestling has always loved its ethnic characters and Dean Ho was arguably the most consistent Hawaiian wrestler.