He was a man known by many names. He traveled the world and held jobs as widely different as bouncer and doughnut maker. And somehow, though he played a bad guy, people loved him more than the good guys.

McRonald Kelii Kamaka, 71, passed away on July 23 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. Here in Hawai'i, we knew him as Tor Kamaka, villain supreme on 50th State Wrestling with Lord Blears and Ed Francis in the 1970s. Some listings show his ring names as Mr. Moto, Dr. Moto, Killer Moto and Killer Tor Kamaka. But in Canada, where wrestling is an even bigger draw than it was back here, fans came to know him as Tor Kamata, with a "T" at the end, a name he gave himself while he was wrestling in Japan.

"It's the story of a country boy who went away and did good for himself," says cousin Judy Tsutsui, who grew up with Kamaka on the family's land in Waikane, where Kamaka was raised by his grandparents. After graduating from Castle High School in 1956, Kamaka served in the Air Force and was stationed in Turkey. When he came home, he worked as a bouncer at Queen's Surf and came under the tutelage of wrestling notables Lord Blears, Neph Maiava, Curtis Iaukea and Tosh Togo.

In the late 1970s in Hawai'i, professional wrestling was more than sport, more than entertainment — it was a phenomenon. Crowds packed the Blaisdell Arena and families waited up together on Friday Nights to watch Big Time Wrestling matches on KGMB-TV. Little boys wanted to be just like their favorite wrestlers. They practiced moves like the Atomic Drop on the playground equipment. Tor Kamaka, 5-feet-10 and 350 pounds, evil sneer and dirty tricks, was the bad guy you cheered for. When he showed up, things were bound to get interesting.

He'd throw salt in the good guys' eyes. He'd pull a chain or some other sort of devised weaponry out of his trunks. He'd eat a goldfish during a television interview. The crowds loved it, but his grandparents weren't sure what to think.

"His grandma and grandpa, we used to take them to go and watch and they used to ask him, 'But why do you have to be the bad guy?' " Tsutsui recalls. "And he would say, 'Because, Grandma, that makes more money. I have a family to support.' "

Tsutsui says Kamaka told stories about traveling from state to state and having to park the car away from the area and take a cab inside so as not to be noticed by fans who loved to hate him. Some people, women included, got so worked up, they threw their shoes at him. "He worked so hard to have people hate him," his cousin says with a laugh.

Kamaka lived in Kansas for a time, where his two eldest children were born. Later, he brought them home to Hawai'i. When he remarried, he moved to Canada with his wife. He had six children.

In Canada, Tor Kamata, as he was called, was a star of the Stampede Wrestling circuit, beloved and quoted by children. StarPhoenix columnist John Gormley wrote, Kamata "would promise the ring announcer Ed Whalen exotic gifts and silks from Japan and the Orient. But being a heel, Kamata would weasel out of his promises with the memorable words 'No chancee, Mis-tah Whalen.' This became his trademark. And, for a time, everyone from kids to teachers and even parents would often prefer the "no chancee" retort to just saying no."

Kamaka won many wrestling titles during his career, including tag team belts in the U.S. and Japan. He was the first non-Japanese to hold a title belt in that country. He is in the Wrestling Hall of Fame both in Canada and the U.S.

In a sport that mixes theater with athleticism, Kamaka excelled at both.

"There is a picture that we have of him. He was a big person. He was huge. We have a picture of him that shows him jumping up above the rope. He was wrestling this person from Japan, Giant Baba, and he knocked him out with a kick," Tsutsui recalls with admiration in her voice. "If he didn't bring that picture home, we wouldn't have believed him."

After retiring from the sport, Kamaka came home to Hawai'i and, for a time, ran a doughnut wagon.

"It was small doughnuts, good doughnuts, and shave ice. He started here in Waikane in the front yard and then they went to Wai'anae down the beach side."

His obituary in Canada's StarPhoenix also says he ran a restaurant and practiced shiatsu.

And in his retirement, he enjoyed his children and six grandchildren. "He was really just a jelly-belly, you know. He really was a softie, a very kind person," Tsutsui says.

Daughter-in-law Joelvonne Kamaka of Wailuku called him a teddy bear and a loving family man, who came to Hawai'i often to see his grandkids, welcomed their visits in Canada and often met Hawai'i relatives "halfway" in Vegas, where he was constantly recognized by Hawai'i people who remembered his wrestling career. "Lots of people remember him, even more than the good guys," she says.

A memorial and prayer service will be held for Kamaka today at 11 a.m. at the family's land, 48-437 Kamehameha Highway in Waikane with scattering of ashes to follow. Tsu-tsui says, "He traveled quite a bit, and now he's coming home. That's what he wanted."

Lee Cataluna's column runs Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at 535-8172 or lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com.