Tama Tonga Discusses His Decision To Turn Down WWE Offer
The tag team of Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa is one of the most decorated in the history of New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Their seven reigns as IWGP Tag Team Champions are the most ever.
However, the formation of the Guerrillas Of Destiny almost didn't happen. Tama Tonga says he turned down a contract with WWE to stay with New Japan and team with his brother.
'I actually had committed to WWE with AJ [Styles] and [Doc] Gallows and all them," Tonga told the All Real Wrestling Podcast. "I committed also. The one thing I had to do was go back to Japan and do one last tour. So I went back to Japan to finish my tour. I told them I was leaving. That's when [they made] the offer of, 'What if we bring in your brother? You guys can be a tag team here.' OK. Let's do that. So I had to turn down my other contract with WWE, or my confirmation with WWE, I guess."
AJ Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura, Karl Anderson, and Doc Gallows all left New Japan for WWE in the early part of 2016. Tanga Loa joined New Japan in March of that same year and the newly former Guerrillas Of Destiny quickly won the IWGP Tag Team Championship for the first time.
Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa are the sons of Haku. But Tonga said as children, he didn't share any secrets with them about the inner workings of professional wrestling.
"I didn't know anything about wrestling," Tonga recalled. "I just knew what was on TV. My dad kayfabe'd the hell out of us. For all I knew, the punches were real. I mean, it wasn't a work. So, chair shots is still real. That's how much my dad loved the business and protected the business."
Tama Tonga says he feels conflicted over the role of kayfabe in modern pro wrestling. Part of that is because he has seen the different roles kayfabe plays in Japan compared to the United States.
"I think if you're not kayfabing it, maybe we could get more people to have an appreciation for the art of wrestling," Tonga explained. "You know, just like the art of acting.
"And then again, kayfabe can be great because it's the mystery, you know? It's the darkness behind closed curtains and you don't know and that can be a rush too. So, there's like this give and take because I think kayfabe in America is dead but in Japan, it's still full-on alive and I appreciate it. So, I live in a world where one is alive and one is dead and I see the benefit of both. So how do you distinguish what's best?"
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit All Real Wrestling Podcast with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.