King Tonga Jr.
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Alipate Aloisio Leone (born October 15, 1982) is a Tongan-American professional wrestler better known by the
ring name A ring name is a type of stage name used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons, or projecting ...
Tama Tonga (タマ・トンガ ''Tama Tonga''). He is currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). He is also known as a founding member of Bullet Club; he also makes appearances for
Impact Wrestling Impact Wrestling (stylized as ''IMPACT! Wrestling''), is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment. Founded by Jeff and Jerry Jarrett in 2002, the promot ...
in the United States. 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. He has also worked with NJPW's partner promotion in Mexico,
Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre Co., Ltd. (CMLL; , "World Wrestling Council") is a ''lucha libre'' professional wrestling promotion based in Mexico City. The promotion was previously known as ''Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre'' (''EMLL'') (''Mexi ...
(CMLL) where he has held the CMLL World Tag Team Championship twice. Upon winning the ROH World Tag Team Championship at
G1 Supercard G1 Supercard was a professional wrestling supershow co-produced by the American Ring of Honor (ROH) and Japanese New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotions. It was the 13th annual Supercard of Honor event and took place on April 6, 2019, at Madis ...
, he became the third wrestler to have won a championship in NJPW, CMLL, and ROH, behind Rocky Romero and Matt Taven.


Early life

Leone and his younger brother
Taula A taula (meaning 'table' in Catalan) is a Stonehenge-esque stone monument found on the Balearic island of Menorca. Taulas can be up to 5 metres high and consist of a vertical pillar (a monolith or several smaller stones on top of each other) wi ...
were adopted by their maternal aunt and her husband, professional wrestler Tonga Fifita – better known as Haku or Meng – from his native island of Tonga while they were visiting in 1991. They took him back to Poinciana, Florida where he grew up with his biological cousin and adoptive brother, fellow professional wrestler Tevita, and his older sister Vika. After graduating from Poinciana High School high-school, he joined the United States Air Force and was stationed for six years at Whiteman Air Force Base, serving as a B-2 Spirit mechanic. At the same time, his brother Tevita was playing college football with the UTEP Miners. During a phone call in 2004 they decided they would become professional wrestlers once they had finished their respective obligations three years later.


Professional wrestling career


Training and early career (2008–2010)

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. They did not join the school at the time as they were being trained directly by their father and Ricky Santana, a family friend. To practice more frequently they eventually joined the Academy proper and were partly trained by Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley. The brothers made their professional debut in November 2008, wrestling as a tag team under the name ''The Sons of Tonga'' (referencing their father) in Southern Championship Wrestling (Florida). They continued wrestling under the same name in World Xtreme Wrestling (WXW) and Puerto Rico's World Wrestling Council (WWC) until early 2009. Also in November 2008, they took part in a WWE tryout camp, two months later they were told that Tevita would be offered a contract by the company (he would later appear on television as Camacho) while Alipate would not. Alipate continued wrestling as Kava in WXW during the year, winning the WXW Television Championship on 20 June 2009 though he lost it the same day. 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). He later teamed with Idol Stevens, billed as ''The New American Family'' they briefly held the WWC World Tag Team Championship.


New Japan Pro-Wrestling


Debut (2010–2012)

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. He made his NJPW debut in May 2010 under the name "Tama Tonga". His debut match came as part of the 2010 Super Junior Tag Tournament, where he teamed up with
Davey Richards Wesley David Richards (born March 1, 1983) is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to Major League Wrestling (MLW), under the ring name Davey Richards, and is the current MLW National Openweight Champion in his first reign. ...
, losing in the first round to El Samurai and Koji Kanemoto. Tonga was one of sixteen wrestlers who competed in the 2010 Best of the Super Juniors tournament. He defeated Nobuo Yoshihashi, and Akira, but lost to Ryusuke Taguchi, Fujita Hayato, Kenny Omega, Koji Kanemoto, and Taiji Ishimori, ending with four points, second to last his group. He teamed up with Hirooki Goto, calling themselves ''Ara-tonga'' (a pun on Goto's nickname "Aramusha/Daredevil" and Tama's last name) to compete in the 2010
G1 Tag League __NOTOC__ The is a professional wrestling round-robin tag team tournament held by New Japan Pro-Wrestling as a spin-off of the popular singles tournament, the G1 Climax. It was created in 1991 as the Super Grade Tag League, as a continuation of ...
tournament. They defeated the teams of Togi Makabe/ Tomoaki Honma, and
King Fale Simi Taitoko Fale (born 8 January 1982) is a Tongan-New Zealand Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and former rugby union player. He currently works for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) as . In NJPW, he is a List of NEVER Openweight 6-M ...
/ Super Strong Machine, but lost to the teams of
Manabu Nakanishi is a Japanese retired professional wrestler and former amateur wrestler, who was primarily associated with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). He is a one-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion, one-time G1 Climax winner and three-time IWGP Tag Team Champi ...
/
Strong Man {{disambig *Ring name of American professional wrestler Jon Andersen *Strong Man, a cartoon superhero in ''The Mighty Heroes ''The Mighty Heroes'' is a Saturday morning animated television series created by Ralph Bakshi for the Terrytoons compan ...
,
Masato Tanaka is a Japanese professional wrestler, best known for his appearances with Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) in Japan where he was a one-time FMW Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Champion and a one-time WEW World Heavyweight Champion and in Ext ...
/ Tomohiro Ishii, and Yuji Nagata/
Wataru Inoue is a Japanese retired professional wrestler currently working for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). Professional wrestling career Inoue made his debut on New Japan Pro-Wrestling in 1999. He aligned himself with New Japan Junior Seikigun, a face ...
, which meant they finished fourth in their group with four points. He also entered the 2011
G1 Tag League __NOTOC__ The is a professional wrestling round-robin tag team tournament held by New Japan Pro-Wrestling as a spin-off of the popular singles tournament, the G1 Climax. It was created in 1991 as the Super Grade Tag League, as a continuation of ...
tournament, this time teaming up with Strong Man, calling themselves ''Muscle Pavilion''. He had less success than the previous year with a solitary victory over the team of King Fale/Yuji Nagata, and losses against the other teams. On 4 January 2012, Tonga appeared in a dark match during
Wrestle Kingdom VI was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion, which took place at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan on January 4, 2012. It was the 21st January 4 Tokyo Dome Show and the sixth held und ...
(considered as NJPW's most important show), teaming with
Captain New Japan is a Japanese former professional wrestler. He is best known for his two stints with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and a brief stint with World Wrestling Council (WWC). Hirasawa wrestled as a fall guy, under the mask superhero, .Kyosuke Mikami and Tomoaki Honma.


Excursion to CMLL (2012)

In September 2012 it was announced that Tonga would go to Mexico from 10 October 2012 and work for NJPW's partner promotion,
Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre Co., Ltd. (CMLL; , "World Wrestling Council") is a ''lucha libre'' professional wrestling promotion based in Mexico City. The promotion was previously known as ''Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre'' (''EMLL'') (''Mexi ...
(CMLL). His debut match for CMLL saw him participate in the 2012 edition of CMLL's ''
Leyenda de Azul The ''Leyenda de Azul'' (Spanish for "the Blue Legend") is a lucha libre tournament held seven times by the Mexican professional wrestling promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) between 2000 and 2008 and again in 2011 and 2012. The tourna ...
'' tournament. The match was a 16-man '' torneo cibernetico'' elimination match, from which Tonga was eliminated when Atlantis and Shocker double teamed him. Following the tournament Tonga worked with a number of CMLL's top stars, including the ''Leyenda de Azul'' tournament winner Diamante Azul. On November 13, Tonga and El Terrible won the CMLL World Tag Team Championship from Atlantis and Diamante Azul. Tonga next made it to the finals of the 2012 ''La Copa Junior'' Tournament, where, on December 14, he was defeated by La Sombra in the main event of CMLL's 2012 ''
Sin Piedad ''Sin Piedad'' (Spanish for "No Mercy" or "No Pity", not to be confused with a similarly-titled series of PPV's hosted by WWE) is the collective name of a series of annual ''lucha libre'', or professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a ...
'' ("No Mercy") show.


Bullet Club and Guerrillas of Destiny (2013–2018)

Tonga returned to NJPW in early 2013, just in time to compete in
Wrestle Kingdom 7 Wrestle Kingdom 7 in Tokyo Dome was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion, which took place at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan on January 4, 2013. It was the 22nd January 4 Tokyo D ...
on January 4 where he teamed up with Captain New Japan and
Wataru Inoue is a Japanese retired professional wrestler currently working for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). Professional wrestling career Inoue made his debut on New Japan Pro-Wrestling in 1999. He aligned himself with New Japan Junior Seikigun, a face ...
to defeat Jado, Tomohiro Ishii and Yoshi-Hashi by pinning Jado. On April 7, Tonga and El Terrible successfully defended the CMLL World Tag Team Championship against
La Máscara Felipe de Jesús Alvarado Mendoza (born January 8, 1982) is a Mexican ''luchador'', or professional wrestler best known by the ring name La Máscara for his time working for Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA) and was the co-founder and leader of '' ...
and Valiente at New Japan's
Invasion Attack Sakura Genesis is an annual professional wrestling event promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) since 2013. Held annually at Tokyo's Ryōgoku Kokugikan, the event has been nicknamed . Originally known as Invasion Attack, the event was renamed ...
event. On May 3 at
Wrestling Dontaku 2013 Wrestling Dontaku 2013 was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The event took place on May 3, 2013, in Fukuoka, Fukuoka, at the Fukuoka Kokusai Center. The event featured ten matches (includ ...
, Tonga followed Prince Devitt and Bad Luck Fale ringside after
Karl Anderson Chad Allegra (born January 20, 1980), better known by the ring name Karl Anderson, is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE where he performs on the Raw brand. He also makes appearances for New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), whe ...
's loss to Hiroshi Tanahashi where they all attacked Tanahashi. The four of them founded a new villainous stable named Bullet Club under Devitt's leadership. On July 5, Tonga and El Terrible lost the CMLL World Tag Team Championship to Tanahashi and Jyushin Thunder Liger. Tonga regained the title from Tanahashi and Liger on September 14 with new partner Rey Bucanero. Tonga returned to CMLL with Bucanero in early October. On October 18, Tonga and Bucanero were stripped of the CMLL World Tag Team Championship when they were unable to defend the title against La Máscara and
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due to Bucanero being sidelined with an injury. Tonga remained in CMLL until the end of the year. Returning to Japan in 2014, Tonga participated almost exclusively in tag matches the next two years, He took part in the
2014 World Tag League __NOTOC__ The is a professional wrestling round-robin tag team tournament held by New Japan Pro-Wrestling as a spin-off of the popular singles tournament, the G1 Climax. It was created in 1991 as the Super Grade Tag League, as a continuation of ...
with Bad Luck Fale in November of that year. They finished at the bottom of their block with a record of three wins and four losses. Tonga and Fale would team up again in the 2015 World Tag League for a worse result, picking up two wins for four losses to finish penultimate with four points. On 4 January 2016, at Wrestle Kingdom 10, Tonga teamed with Fale and Yujiro Takahashi to take part in a match to determine the inaugural NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champions, they were defeated by Jay Briscoe, Mark Briscoe and Toru Yano when Jay pinned Tonga. On February 11 at The New Beginning in Osaka, Tonga, Fale and Takahashi defeated the Briscoes and Yano in a rematch to win the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship. After a three-day reign, the three lost the title back to the Briscoes and Yano at
The New Beginning in Niigata The New Beginning in Niigata was a professional wrestling event promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The event took place on February 14, 2016, in Nagaoka, Niigata, at the Aore Nagaoka. The event featured nine matches, four of which were ...
. During February, Tonga accepted an offer to join WWE. However, NJPW retained him when they offered a new contract and hired his brother. On March 3, Tonga scored the biggest singles win of his career by defeating former IWGP Heavyweight Champion and reigning IWGP Tag Team Champion Togi Makabe in the first round of the 2016 New Japan Cup. The following day, he was eliminated from the tournament in the second round by Hirooki Goto. In March 2016, Tonga announced he would reform his tag team with Tevita in NJPW, recruiting him into the Bullet Club as Tanga Loa. The team was named " Guerrillas of Destiny" (G.O.D.). On April 10 at
Invasion Attack 2016 Invasion Attack 2016 was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The event took place on April 10, 2016, in Tokyo at Ryōgoku Kokugikan, and featured nine matches, six of which were contested ...
, G.O.D. defeated Makabe and Honma to become the new IWGP Tag Team Champions. They lost the title to Jay and Mark Briscoe on June 19 at
Dominion 6.19 in Osaka-jo Hall Dominion 6.19 in Osaka-jo Hall was a professional wrestling event promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The event took place on June 19, 2016, in Osaka, Osaka, at the Osaka-jō Hall and was the eighth event under the Dominion name and second ...
. In late June 2016, Tonga returned to CMLL with his brother for a month-long excursion and the two competed in the 2016 International Gran Prix, where Tonga was the last eliminated, losing to winner
Volador Jr. Ramón Ibarra Rivera (born January 26, 1981), better known by his ring name Volador Jr., is a Mexican ''Lucha libre, luchador'' (or professional wrestler), who works for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). He portrays a ''Face (professional ...
Tonga was announced as one of the participants of the
2016 G1 Climax The is a professional wrestling tournament held each August by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. Though it has sometimes been held as a single-elimination tournament, it is usually (and currently) held as a round-robin tournament, ro ...
from 18 July 2016. NJPW's most prestigious tournament, it entitles its winner to an IWGP Heavyweight Championship title match at the next Wrestle Kingdom., Tonga's participation in the G1 was seen as a major step-up. In his third tournament match on 25 July, he scored the biggest win of his career by defeating Hiroshi Tanahashi (who had won the previous year's G1). Tonga finished the tournament on August 12 with a record of four wins and five losses. Returning to tag team competition with G.O.D., he and his brother regained the IWGP Tag Team Championship from the Briscoe Brothers on October 10 at
King of Pro-Wrestling King of Pro-Wrestling is an annual professional wrestling event promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The event has been held every October since 2012 and aired domestically as a pay-per-view (PPV). The event also aired internationally as ...
. They reached the final of the
2016 World Tag League __NOTOC__ The is a professional wrestling round-robin tag team tournament held by New Japan Pro-Wrestling as a spin-off of the popular singles tournament, the G1 Climax. It was created in 1991 as the Super Grade Tag League, as a continuation of ...
but lost to Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma on December 10. On January 4, 2017, Tonga and Loa lost the IWGP Tag Team Championship to Tomohiro Ishii and Toru Yano in a three-way match, also involving Makabe and Honma. On June 11 at
Dominion 6.11 in Osaka-jo Hall Dominion 6.11 in Osaka-jo Hall was a professional wrestling event promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The event took place on June 11, 2017, in Osaka, Osaka, at the Osaka-jō Hall and was the ninth event under the Dominion name and third i ...
, Tonga and Loa defeated War Machine to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship for the third time. They lost the title back to War Machine in a no disqualification match on July 1 at G1 Special in USA. Tonga participated in his second G1 Climax by entering the 2017 edition in July. He finished with a record of four wins and five losses. In December, Guerrillas of Destiny won their block in the
2017 World Tag League __NOTOC__ The is a professional wrestling round-robin tag team tournament held by New Japan Pro-Wrestling as a spin-off of the popular singles tournament, the G1 Climax. It was created in 1991 as the Super Grade Tag League, as a continuation of ...
with a record of five wins and two losses, advancing to the finals of the tournament. On December 11, they were defeated in the finals of the tournament by ''
Los Ingobernables de Japón (Spanish for "The Ungovernables of Japan" and often spelled without the accent as ''Los Ingobernables de Japon'' in English-speaking countries), also shortened to ''L.I.J.'', is a Japanese professional wrestling stable, based in the New Japan ...
'' ( Evil and Sanada). Six days later, Guerrillas of Destiny and Bad Luck Fale defeated Evil, Sanada and Bushi to become the new NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champions. They lost the title to Chaos ( Beretta, Tomohiro Ishii and Toru Yano) in a five-team gauntlet match on January 4, 2018, at Wrestle Kingdom 12 in Tokyo Dome. The following day at New Year's Dash, they would regain the title from Chaos.


Bullet Club Civil War (2018–2019)

At
The New Beginning in Sapporo The New Beginning is an annual professional wrestling event promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The event has been held since 2011 as a pay-per-view (PPV). From 2013 to 2014, the event also aired outside Japan as an internet pay-per-view ...
, Bullet Club stablemate
Cody Cody may refer to: People *Cody (given name) *Cody (surname) * Cody (wrestler), a ring name of Cody Runnels Places Canada *Cody, British Columbia United States * Cody, Florida *Cody (Duluth), Minnesota *Cody, Missouri *Cody, Nebraska *Cody, Wyo ...
turned on the leader of the stable, Kenny Omega. This led to there being two sides to Bullet Club; Team Cody and Team Kenny. While Tama stayed neutral at
Strong Style Evolved ''Strong Style Evolved'' is a series of professional wrestling television specials produced by New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW). The specials air on AXS in the United States and internationally on NJPW World. The inaugural event took place live L ...
before a tag team match against Marty Scurll and Cody, Tama stated if he were to be on a team it wouldn't be Team Cody. On the first night of the
Wrestling Dontaku 2018 Wrestling Dontaku 2018 was a professional wrestling event promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The event took place on May 3 and 4, 2018, in Fukuoka, at the Fukuoka Kokusai Center. The first night of the event featured nine matches, with a ...
shows, G.O.D and Fale lost the
NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship The is a professional wrestling championship owned by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. The title was announced on December 21, 2015, with the first champions crowned on January 4, 2016. Through NJPW's relationship with Ring of Honor ...
to the Super Villains (Marty Scurll and the Young Bucks). The second night, Tama debuted the newest member to Bullet Club, Taiji Ishimori. Later, it was announced that Tama will be competing in the G1 Climax 28. At the
G1 Special in San Francisco G1 Special in San Francisco was a professional wrestling event promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The event took place on July 7, 2018, at the Cow Palace in the San Francisco suburb of Daly City, California. The event was broadcast on AXS ...
, Tama, Loa,
King Haku Tonga 'Uli'uli Fifita (born 10 February 1959) is a Tongan professional wrestler, best known for his appearances in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) as Haku. He is also known for his time in World Champions ...
, Chase Owens, and Yujiro Takahashi defeated CHAOS members Gedo, Yoshi-Hashi, and
Roppongi 3K Roppongi 3K was a professional wrestling tag team made up of Japanese wrestlers Sho Tanaka, Sho and Yohei Komatsu, Yoh, active from 2013 to 2021 in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) in the Junior Heavyweight Tag Team division. They were managed by R ...
( Rocky Romero,
Sho Sho, Shō or SHO may refer to: Music * ''Shō'' (instrument) (笙), a Japanese wind instrument * ''Kane'' (instrument) (鉦), a Japanese percussion instrument * Sho?, a Dubai rock band People * Shō (given name), including ''Sho'' * Shō (sur ...
and Yoh), with Tama pinning Gedo after a Tongan Death Grip by Haku to Gedo followed by a Gun Stun. At the end of the night, following Kenny's victory over Cody in the main event, Tama, Loa, and Haku came out to seemingly celebrate with Kenny and the Young Bucks in a show of loyalty, only to attack The Elite, as well as fellow Bullet Club members Hangman Page, Marty Scurll, even Chase and Takahashi, and finally Cody, when they tried to intervene. They then left the ring declaring that they were the true Bullet Club. From then on, Tonga and his associates would be announced during their entrances as members of Bullet Club OG, while the rest would be known as Bullet Club Elite. In the 2018 G1 Climax, Tonga participated in the B Block, where he tied for last place with 6 points, down from the 8 he posted in the previous two years. However, Tonga did manage to defeat the IWGP United States Champion, Juice Robinson, as well as that year's B Block winner, Kota Ibushi. On the night of the G1 Climax finals, Tama, Loa, and Ishimori won the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championships from the Super Villains in what was originally scheduled to be a showcase match but became a title match after Matt Jackson accepted a challenge from Loa to put the belts on the line. With this victory, Tonga became the first four-time NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champion in NJPW history, and later that night, the Guerrillas of Destiny declared their intention to challenge the Young Bucks for the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championships as well. G.O.D. would end up dropping the tag team titles at Wrestle Kingdom 13 to Sanada and EVIL in a 3 Way Match for the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship that also included The Young Bucks. On January 30, 2019, they lost the Never Openweight 6-Man Championship against Taguchi, Makabe, and Yano.


Seven-time IWGP Tag Team Champion (2019-present)

On February 23, 2019, they would regain the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Titles by defeating Sanada & Evil at Honor Rising 2019: Day 2, starting their fifth reign. After defending the championships seven times, their reign would end when G.O.D lost to
FinJuice FinJuice was an American professional wrestling tag team consisting of David Finlay and Juice Robinson currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The team name consists of Finlay's surname and Robinson’s first name Juice. Trained in th ...
(Juice Robinson & David Finlay) at Wrestle Kingdom 14. They would soon immediately regain the belts at The New Beginning in the USA event in Atlanta, before again losing them without a defence to Golden*Ace (Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kota Ibushi) on a New Japan Road show in
Korakuen Hall is a famous sports arena in Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan, which has hosted many notable boxing, professional wrestling, kickboxing, mixed martial arts and Lethwei matches. History On April 16, 1962, the Korakuen Hall was officially opened with ...
. After the 2020
Pandemic A pandemic () is an epidemic of an infectious disease that has spread across a large region, for instance multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of individuals. A widespread endemic (epidemiology), endemic disease wi ...
, Guerrillas of Destiny would make their return to Japan as participants of the World Tag League. They would win the tournament for the first time after defeating FinJuice in the finals. They would go on to win an IWGP Tag Team Title match at the Tokyo Dome for the first time, defeating champions Dangerous Tekkers ( Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr.) after Tanga Loa hit 'ApeSh*t' (a Sitout Reverse Piledriver) on Taichi after 19 minutes & 18 seconds. They lost the belts back to the Dangerous Tekkers on June 1.


Bullet Club departure and Hontai (2022–present)

At
No Surrender No Surrender may refer to: Politics * "No Surrender!", a British Unionist slogan originating from Siege of Derry now used in Northern Ireland, Scotland, and England *No Surrender (to the IRA), a political chant since used by England football fans ...
, Jay White interfered in the Guerrillas of Destiny's match against former Bullet Club stablemates Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows by hitting his finishing move Bladerunner on Tonga causing them to lose the match. Afterwards, White, Chris Bey, and the Good Brothers all gave the 'too sweet' hand gesture in the middle of the ring signalling that Tonga and Loa had been kicked out of the group. 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. The following night, after losing to Bullet Club in a six-man tag team match, Tonga announced that Guerrillas of Destiny would become a stable. In March Tonga, Loa and Jado formed an alliance with Ryusuke Taguchi and
Master Wato is a Japanese professional wrestler, signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) under the ring name Master Wato (マスター・ワト ''Masutā Wato''). He was previously on an international learning excursion, working for NJPW's Mexican partner ...
and later Hiroshi Tanahashi and joined the Hontai stable which represents New Japan. At
Wrestling Dontaku is an annual professional wrestling event promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). It was originally held from 1993 to 1995 and again from 2000 to 2001 in Fukuoka at the Fukuoka Dome. The event was revived in 2009 and has since been held a ...
, Tonga defeated EVIL to win the NEVER Openweight Championship, his first New Japan singles championship. He lost the title to
Karl Anderson Chad Allegra (born January 20, 1980), better known by the ring name Karl Anderson, is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE where he performs on the Raw brand. He also makes appearances for New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), whe ...
at
Dominion 6.12 in Osaka-jo Hall Dominion 6.12 in Osaka-jo Hall was a professional wrestling event promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The event took place on June 12, 2022, in Osaka, Osaka, at the Osaka-jō Hall and is the fourteenth event under the Dominion name and eig ...
, ending his reign at 42 days. Also at the event, Tonga was announced to be apart of the
G1 Climax 32 The G1 Climax 32 was a professional wrestling tournament promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The tournament commenced on July 16 and concluded on August 18, 2022. It was the thirty-second edition of G1 Climax and the forty-eighth edition ...
tournament in July, where he would compete in the B Block. He finished with 10 points, defeating IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Jay White to advance to the semi-finals. In the semi-finals match, Tonga was defeated by A Block winner Kazuchika Okada, therefore failing to make the finals. Due to knocking White out of the tournament, Tonga earnt an IWGP World Heavyweight Championship match on October 10th at
Declaration of Power Declaration of Power (officially 超実力派宣言 〜Declaration of Power〜) was a professional wrestling event produced by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). It took place on October 10, 2022 in Tokyo, Japan at Ryōgoku Kokugikan. The show most n ...
, however failed to capture the title from White at the event.


Personal life

Leone is the cousin of Bullet Club member Bad Luck Fale, they both spent their early childhoods in Muʻa, Tonga without meeting. They were in the NJPW dojo at the same time and realised they were related when a relative commented on a photo Fale had posted on social media. In addition to his adoptive brother Tevita with whom he wrestles in NJPW as the Guerrillas of Destiny, Leone's younger (biological) brother
Taula A taula (meaning 'table' in Catalan) is a Stonehenge-esque stone monument found on the Balearic island of Menorca. Taulas can be up to 5 metres high and consist of a vertical pillar (a monolith or several smaller stones on top of each other) wi ...
is also part of NJPW under the name Hikuleo. Alipate and Tevita live together in
Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...
, commuting to Japan for tours of between a couple of weeks to three months.


Championships and accomplishments

*
Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre Co., Ltd. (CMLL; , "World Wrestling Council") is a ''lucha libre'' professional wrestling promotion based in Mexico City. The promotion was previously known as ''Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre'' (''EMLL'') (''Mexi ...
** CMLL World Tag Team Championship (
2 times "2 Times" is a song co-written and recorded by British Italian-based singer Ann Lee. It was released in 1999 as the lead single from her debut album, ''Dreams'' (1999). The single entered and peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart. Outside ...
) – with El Terrible (1) and Rey Bucanero (1) * Jersey Championship Wrestling ** JCW Championship (1 time) * New Japan Pro-Wrestling ** IWGP Tag Team Championship ( 7 times) – with Tanga Loa ** NEVER Openweight Championship ( 1 time) **
NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship The is a professional wrestling championship owned by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. The title was announced on December 21, 2015, with the first champions crowned on January 4, 2016. Through NJPW's relationship with Ring of Honor ...
( 4 times) – with Bad Luck Fale and Yujiro Takahashi (1), Bad Luck Fale and Tanga Loa (2), Taiji Ishimori and Tanga Loa (1) ** World Tag League (
2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...
) – with Tanga Loa * Peachstate Wrestling Alliance ** PWA Heritage Championship (1 time) * '' Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' ** Ranked No. 94 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the '' PWI 500'' in 2019 ** Ranked No. 6 of the top 50 tag teams in the ''
PWI Tag Team 50 ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publishi ...
'' in 2020 *
Ring of Honor Ring of Honor (ROH) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. The promotion was founded by Rob Feinstein on February 23, 2002, and was operated by Cary Silkin from 2004 until 2011, when the promotion was so ...
** ROH World Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) – with Tanga Loa * World Wrestling Council ** WWC World Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) – with Idol Stevens * World Xtreme Wrestling ** WXW Television Championship ( 1 time) * WrestleCircus ** WC Big Top Tag Team Championship (1 time) – Tanga Loa


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tonga, Tama 1982 births Living people 21st-century professional wrestlers Tongan emigrants to the United States Tongan expatriates in Japan Tongan male professional wrestlers American male professional wrestlers Expatriate professional wrestlers in Japan People from Tongatapu Bullet Club members Adoptees ROH World Tag Team Champions NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champions IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions