He is currently wrestling for the Japanese promotion New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), and the U.S. promotion Impact Wrestling under the ring name Hikuleo ( Hikureo), he is a former member of Bullet Club.He has joined his brothers of the Guerrillas of Destiny as of September. Alipate Aloisio Leone [7] (born October 15, 1982) is a Tongan-American professional wrestler better known by the ring name Tama Tonga ( Tama Tonga ). Haku ended the year mired in a lengthy losing streak. Later, he faced Sting in a losing effort for the vacated United States title at the 1995 Great American Bash. But it's all good, we have that understanding. By: Caroline John - Published: August 2, 2018 at 9:21 am, Tama Tonga (Left) and Roman Reigns (Right) (Photo: Twitter/Tama_Tonga, Jon Kopaloff/Stringer). At the age of 15, he was part of a group of six teenagers and young men sent by the king of Tonga to Japan to study Sumo. During a phone call in 2004 they decided they would become professional wrestlers once they had finished their respective obligations three years later. The World's Most Entertaining Car Website. The latest Twitter feud stems from wrestling heavyweights Tama Tonga and Roman Reigns beefing online. [36] On the October 21st episode of Impact!, Hikuleo and Bey faced off in a #1 contendership match for the Impact World Tag Team Championship, but the match ended in a no contest. He defeated Nobuo Yoshihashi,[16] and Akira,[17] but lost to Ryusuke Taguchi,[18] Fujita Hayato,[19] Kenny Omega,[20] Koji Kanemoto,[21] and Taiji Ishimori, ending with four points, second to last his group. [10][4], In January 2008, the brothers approached the Dudley Boyz to use the ring they had at the Team 3D Academy of Professional Wrestling and Sports Entertainment training school they operated in Kissimmee, Florida. On April 10 at Invasion Attack 2016, G.O.D. Many wonder if the Bullet Club star is somehow related to Reigns. Did a WWE legend just take a shot at Sami Zayn's physique right here? "Tama & Tonga: pic.twitter.com/mfbzeFBN6n. [1][3], Koloamatangi was trained to wrestle by Bully Ray and Devon at the Team 3D Academy in Florida. Fifita wrestled under the names Haku or Meng and was close to the Anoai Family, even forming a tag team with Rikishi. However, all of that would only be possible if WWE comes to an agreement for a working relationship with NJPW. Most live rock is sold in two basic categories: base live rock and display quality live rock. [29] Later in the Burning Spirit tour on September 25, Hikuleo betrayed Bullet Club by attacking Jay White along with Tama Tonga, turning face and joining the Guerillas of Destiny stable with his brothers Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa along with Jado.[30]. Tama Tonga, the most intriguing star athlete in New Japan Pro Wrestling. He was touted as being a former bodyguard to the Emperor of Japan and was initially called The Monster. On 14 February 1992, Haku and Yoshiaki Yatsu became the first SWS Tag Team Champions. Is Tama Tonga related to WWE megastar Roman Reigns? It's said the interest "isn't new", and . 15 Things You Didn't Know About The Anoa'i Family, 10 Wrestlers From The 1990s Who Are Only Remembered For One Storyline, 10 "So-Bad-They're-Good" WWE Storylines That Were Wildly Entertaining, 10 AEW Wrestlers We Hope Will Never Return To The Company, 10 Feel-Good WCW Stories That Made Fans Emotional, 10 Wrestlers Whose Ring Names Are Tributes (To Other Wrestlers), 5 Best WWE Tag Team Champions Of The Golden Era (& 5 Worst), 10 WCW Character Transformations That Made No Sense, 5 Wrestling Valets & Managers That Were Helpful (& 5 That Were Just Eye Candy). [55] Tonga finished the tournament on August 12 with a record of four wins and five losses. Tongan ancestry can be traced to the Kingdom of Tonga, and the U.S. considers them Pacific Islanders. In March Tonga, Loa and Jado formed an alliance with Ryusuke Taguchi and Master Wato and later Hiroshi Tanahashi and joined the Hontai stable which represents New Japan.[85]. This led to Hikuleo answering White's "U.S of Jay" open challenge at Mutiny in April 2022, however White defeated Hikuleo, who gave White the "too sweet" gesture post-match, confirming his loyalty to Bullet Club. If the fans think so, OK, great. After the Rumble, he formed a tag team with Rikishi, but the team did not last long due to Rikishi suffering an injury. NJPW star Tama Tonga returned to the ring this past week at NJPW Strong after a lengthy spell on the sidelines due to travel restrictions, but The Bullet Club OG has kept himself very busy by. Thank U. Alipate and Tevita live together in Orlando, Florida, commuting to Japan for tours of between a couple of weeks to three months.[10]. In the summer of 1991 Haku began to appear in Super World Sports in Japan for joint WWF/SWS cards. February 21, 2022. On 14 September, the team was eliminated from the tournament in the first round by Team ROH (Mike Bennett and Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson).[15][16]. It's all good. Maivia's daughter, Ata Maivia-Johnson, is Jax's aunt. By fall, he would become listed as a member of the Impact roster,[34] and he, Chris Bey, and El Phantasmo established themselves as a U.S. based branch of Bullet Club in Impact Wrestling. was a surprise hit anime series from the Fall 2022 anime season. Meng spent much of 1997 facing lower and mid-card performers before starting a small winning streak in the summer of 1998. After being left off of SummerSlam 90, Haku was first to be granted a series of matches against new Intercontinental Champion Kerry Von Erich in a series of house show matches in September. Tautuiaki Taula Koloamatangi (born February 7, 1991) is an American professional wrestler of Tongan descent. We recently caught up with Tama ahead of his return to the ring, and of course, we had to ask about those comparisons with WWE Superstar Roman Reigns! Please logout and login again. Prior to this, Meng had faced Goldberg (before he won the World Championship) on WCW Saturday Night and despite the loss had pushed Goldberg for longer than anyone had until that point. Tevita Tu'amoeloa Fetaiakimoeata Fifita (born May 7, 1983) is an American professional wrestler, currently working for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), under the ring name Tanga Loa ( Tanga Roa) (originally Tanga Roa).. Fifita started his wrestling career in WWE's farm territory Florida Championship Wrestling in 2009. He spoke about an incident when he witnessed several cops trying to hold Haku down and one of them struck Haku with a baton on his face while the others emptied their cans of mace on him but nothing seemed to faze Haku. In 2009, as King Haku, he would wrestle regularly for World Xtreme Wrestling where he won the WXW Hardcore Championship twice. He made his debut in November 1974 and reached the rank of Makushita 27. Haku tried to ambush Andr; however, The Giant blocked Haku's kick and struck him repeatedly before leaving the ring alone to a standing ovation. In the WWF, he also wrestled under the names King Tonga and King Haku. The brothers are active in New Japan Pro-Wrestling with the Bullet Club. [19] In March of the following year, Hikuleo competed in the New Japan Cup USA tournament, defeating Jordan Clearwater to qualify for the tournament. Published Aug 14, 2021. In 1986, King Tonga, in his rookie year in the World Wrestling Federation, became a star by bodyslamming Big John Studd on Championship Wrestling, though predictably Studd's manager Bobby "The Brain" Heenan didn't pay him the US$15,000 he promised to anyone who could do so. 28. All positive for me. [18] Haku next appeared at NJPW's G1 Special in USA on 2 July 2017, alongside his sons.[19]. All it means is that WWE is much bigger than NJPW. [52] Heenan also praised Haku as a good-hearted family man. Dwayne The Rock Johnson comes from the Anoai family. Bullet Club member Tama Tonga recently took to Twitter to call out Roman Reigns and his faction, The Bloodline. So far, Tonga is leading 1-0 with his last jab at Reigns tendency to appear scripted on camera. He was initially portrayed as the mysterious and intimidating bodyguard of Col. Me and Siva kind of cleaned house there and left. It isn't a diss to Tonga at all. Growing up on the main island of the South Pacific island-kingdom of Tonga, Fifita attended Tonga College, where he played rugby union. Although they are both apart of the Anoai family, Johnson and Reigns arent biologically related. The 40-year-old hails from a wrestling family, much like Reigns, as he is the adopted son. In the 2022 New Japan Cup, Tonga faced Evil in the second round; during the match House of Torture attacked Tonga only to briefly be saved by the Japanese division of Bullet Club only to have them also turned on Guerrillas of Destiny and Jado. Even though Anderson attacked him before the match began,. He made a name for himself as Haku in the WWF as half of "The Islanders" with Tama. In the first part of 2010 he returned to WWC, first as a singles wrestler with the moniker King Tonga Jr. (his father had also wrestled in Puerto Rico as King Tonga). [27] Despite this, Hikuleo appeared at the event in the corner of Bullet Club. [4] In 2016, he travelled to Japan, where he became a student at the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) dojo. They initially congratulated Omega, but suddenly turned and attacked Omega and the Young Bucks as they were celebrating on the ramp while wearing T-shirts referring to themselves as the "BC Firing Squad". A week later, he left WCW just weeks before it was bought by WWF in March 2001. Haku stated, "Yeah. New Japan. What do you think of being compared to Roman Reigns? [1] He is also known for his time in World Championship Wrestling (WCW), where he wrestled under the name Meng. Unique lists featuring pop culture, entertainment and crazy facts. Haku was left to wrestle on the lower card shows like Sunday Night Heat. Haku, once again representing Bullet Club, returned at the G1 Special in San Francisco. Theres no evidence that Tama Tonga and Roman Reigns are even distantly related. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Since 2003, Fifita has been essentially retired, returning to the wrestling ring on a few occasions over the years. He is currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is the current NEVER Openweight Champion in his second reign. Tonga is the nephew and adopted son of professional wrestler Haku and forms the tag team Guerrillas of Destiny (G.O.D) with his cousin/adoptive brother Tanga Loa. [12], Leone went to Japan in 2010, initially going to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) to train, he impressed enough to be hired by the company. Sullivan said that as they drove from the bar he saw police cars pulling into the parking lot, but authorities didn't pursue them and no charges were ever filed. #theOC. Later on, Meng had a short-lived feud with Sting and occasionally faced top stars like Lex Luger and WCW Champion Bret Hart. defeated Makabe and Honma to become the new IWGP Tag Team Champions. 316K subscribers NJPW star Tama Tonga sits down with Chris Van Vliet from his home in Tampa, FL. [23] Among Fifita's cousins are former New England Patriots defensive tackle Steve Fifita[24] and Australian Wallabies rugby international player Tatafu Polota-Nau. Later that night, Haku appeared with Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa after Kenny Omega successfully defended the IWGP Heavyweight Championship against Cody. Fightful Select reports that WWE is interested in Tama Tonga, who recently competed at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17 and defeated WWE's Karl Anderson. Teaming with Kurasawa, he feuded against Sting and Road Warrior Hawk after the feud he was called "The Monster" Meng.[14]. At the event, The Good Brothers retained the championships. [34] . The heel Tonga was managed by former wrestler Tarzan "The Boot" Tyler. With SWS closing, King Haku wrestled for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre in Mexico and New Japan Pro-Wrestling and Wrestle Association R in Japan, before finally joining World Championship Wrestling. Returning to Japan in 2014, Tonga participated almost exclusively in tag matches the next two years,[12] Fresh off his victory over El Phantasmo at NJPW The New Beginning in Osaka, Tama Tonga is ready for new challenges. [14] Peter Maivia wasnt biologically an Anoai, but the patriarch, Reverend Amituanai Anoai, considered Johnsons grandfather a brother. [25], Many former wrestling personalities have described Haku as the toughest or greatest legitimate fighter in wrestling, including Stone Cold Steve Austin,[26] Road Warrior Animal,[27] Perry Saturn,[28][29] Barbarian and Warlord,[30] Hulk Hogan,[31] Rocky Johnson,[32] The Rock,[33] Rick Steiner,[34] Arn Anderson,[35] Goldberg,[36] Big Van Vader,[37] Fit Finlay,[38] Mean Gene Okerlund,[39] Ric Flair,[40] Stu Hart,[41] Rikishi,[42] Frenchy Martin,[43] Jim Cornette,[44] Bob Holly,[45] Dave Penzer,[46] Gino Brito,[47] J. J. Dillon,[48] Sonny Onoo,[49] and Hillbilly Jim. Tama Tonga is one of the most decorated tag team wrestlers never to sign with a major United States wrestling company. See you down the road Next stop: Birmingham, Alabama for @wwe Monday Night Raw, January 9. Japanese pro-wrestling star, Tama Tonga, broke out of "Twitter Jail" and ignited a feud with Roman Reigns, famous for being the current face of the WWE. [30] His debut match for CMLL saw him participate in the 2012 edition of CMLL's Leyenda de Azul tournament. [92], In addition to his adoptive brother Tevita with whom he wrestles in NJPW as the Guerrillas of Destiny, Leone's younger (biological) brother Taula is also part of NJPW under the name Hikuleo. Tonga himself lost the strap to Anderson at last year's Dominion event. And we had a lot of spat, back and forth but he knows now I ain't one to back down. He's up there a level with exposure and all it does it is put me out there with him. 'Hey, are you guys with those guys wrestlers? Meng appeared at Chikara's King of Trios 2012 tournament, held on 1416 September in Easton, Pennsylvania, teaming with The Barbarian and The Warlord under the team name the Faces of Pain. The team was named "Guerrillas of Destiny" (G.O.D.). See details. They finished at the bottom of their block with a record of three wins and four losses. 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