There’s new blood in The Bloodline. This past Friday on WWE SmackDown, Solo Sikoa excommunicated Jimmy Uso from the familial faction’s ranks, instructing the group’s newest recruit to take out his brother. That mystery man revealed himself to be Tama Tonga. Commentary played up Tama’s pro wrestling pedigree, referencing the fact that he is the son of wrestling legend Haku. While Tama is not directly related to any of the Anoa’is, his lineage are largely considered to be spiritual relatives to that royal wrestling family. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has noted that he refers to Haku as “Uncle Tonga,” making Tama a cousin by association.
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Regardless of his placement on a family tree, the question remains: who is Tama Tonga?
Tama Tonga’s Wrestling Origins
He may be new to the WWE audience, but Tama Tonga is no stranger to the wrestling industry.
Tama began his training in 2008, working under the private tutelage of his father Haku and Ricky Santana while simultaneously dropping into WWE Hall of Famers The Dudley Boyz’s wrestling academy. His debut match came later that year, wrestling alongside brother Tanga Loa as The Sons of Tonga.
The same month that he made his in-ring debut, Tama and Tanga took part in a WWE tryout. Tanga received a developmental contract offer, officially signing it in February 2009. Tama did not.
New Japan Pro Wrestling
While his brother began to cut his teeth in Florida, Tama headed to the Far East. Tama traveled to New Japan Pro Wrestling with the sole intention of training in the NJPW Dojo but would impress enough to be hired by NJPW altogether.
It didn’t take long for Tama to find himself in high-profile situations within New Japan. Tama competed in the Super Junior Tag Tournament and the G1 Tag League. He mixed it up with future industry leaders, and future stablemates, Kenny Omega and Taiji Ishimori. In 2012, Tama took an excursion to CMLL, NJPW’s partner promotion in Mexico, for a two-month run. He would return to Japan after that, and his career changed forever.
Founding Bullet Club
2013 saw Tama’s wrestling career become just too sweet.
Tama linked up with Prince Devitt (WWE’s Finn Balor) and Bad Luck Fale to attack NJPW ace Hiroshi Tanahashi, who had just defeated Karl Anderson. Anderson joined in on the onslaught, officially making this villainous group a quartet. Their name? Bullet Club.
Bullet Club went on to dominate New Japan and consequently bring the Far East’s wrestling scene into the mainstream. Over the next four years, the black-and-white battalion added the Young Bucks, Luke Gallows, AJ Styles, Kenny Omega, Hangman Page, Cody Rhodes and more into its ranks.
Tama operated as Bullet Club’s go-to heavyweight tag wrestler. He captured duos gold on one-off occasions with a rotation of tag partners, but it wasn’t until a familiar face joined the group that he really hit his stride.
Guerrillas of Destiny
After signing that aforementioned WWE developmental deal, Tama’s brother Tanga Loa had a brief main roster run as Camacho, the muscle for former WWE star Hunico. Tanga was released in 2014 and took his talents to TNA where he aligned with Drew Galloway (WWE’s Drew McIntyre) and Eli Drake (WWE’s LA Knight) in a short-lived trio called The Rising.
Months after wrapping up his TNA commitments, Tanga took his talents to NJPW and reunited with his brother, joining Bullet Club in the process. Out with The Sons of Tonga and in with Guerrillas of Destiny, Tama and Tanga tagged together for the first time in seven years in 2016 and never looked back. GOD went on to become seven-time IWGP Tag Team Champions.
Civil War and Singles Run
While Tama was never an outright leader of Bullet Club, the co-founder decided to take the group’s direction in his own hands in 2018. It was at this time that Bullet Club fractured in two, with Cody Rhodes claiming leadership while Kenny Omega was still the technical frontman. Right as Rhodes and Omega had made amends, Tama, alongside Tanga and Haku, led an attack on Bullet Club Elite, declaring themselves Bullet Club Firing Squad in the process.
The Elite then made their way to AEW while Tama remained with Bullet Club for the next three years. In 2022, then-leader Jay White kicked Tama and Tanga out of Bullet Club in favor of bringing Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson back into the group.
From here, Tama embarked on a brief singles run. He captured the NEVER Openweight Championship, his first NJPW singles title. He feuded with Anderson over the belt throughout Fall 2022, including while Anderson was under WWE contract. He won the title back from Anderson at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17, making him the first wrestler to defeat a WWE star for a NJPW championship in nearly four decades. He continued throughout 2023 as a singles star, competing in the G1 Climax and finishing third in his block.
The Bloodline
That takes us to the present day, where Tama is the newest member of The Bloodline. As evident by his history, Tama is no stranger to prestigious factions, and has no issue taking the reins should things get complicated. Considering all signs point to The Bloodline erupting into a civil war, Solo Sikoa’s enlistment of Tama makes all the more sense.
