Teila Tuli

Sumo career

In March 1987, Wily was recruited by former sekiwake Takamiyama Daigorō, another Hawaiian, and joined Azumazeki stable, which Takamiyama had founded the previous year. He was given the shikona (sumo name) of Takamikuni. He was unbeaten in his first 14 official bouts, winning two consecutive yūshō or tournament championships. Weighing nearly 200 kg (440 lb), he was one of the largest wrestlers in sumo. In March 1988, he was promoted to the third highest makushita division, and became the first foreign born wrestler to ever win the championship in that division. In the same month, future yokozuna Akebono Tarō, also from Hawaii, joined Azumazeki stable. As the highest ranking wrestler in the stable, he was a mentor to Akebono and gave him advice on how to adjust to life in Japan. In March 1989 Takamikuni reached his highest ever rank of makushita 2, and even fought two bouts with elite jūryō ranked wrestlers (one of whom, Tōryū Kenji, was a former sekiwake). Takamikuni was never to reach sekitori status himself. He did not compete in the following tournament, and retired from sumo in July 1989 due to knee problems.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

After leaving sumo, he competed as Teila Tuli in the first bout of the UFC 1 in November 1993, held in Denver, Colorado. It was shown on pay-per-view. Despite heavily outweighing his opponent, he lost to Gerard Gordeau, the match being stopped after Tuli was kicked in the face causing the loss of a tooth. This was Tuli's only MMA fight. The match has been described as one of the top five David and Goliath match-ups in MMA history.

Acting career

Credited as Taylor Wily, he had a role in the comedy film Forgetting Sarah Marshall as a hotel worker who befriended the main character played by Jason Segel. He also has a recurring role on the television series Hawaii Five-0. Wily made a cameo on the 20th edition of The Amazing Race, and handed out clues to racing contestants. He also appeared as an "extra" in Magnum, P.I.'s 1982 episode titled "The Eighth Part of the Village" in a street scene near a pool hall.

He also appeared as a sumo wrestler in an episode of One West Waikiki, another TV show filmed in Hawaii starring Cheryl Ladd. In that episode, he had hair, unlike his character in Hawaii Five-0, wrapped in the sumo style. The episode was "Battle of the Titans"