| The Tongans | |
|---|---|
.jpg)   | |
| Stable | |
| Members | Tama Tonga Tanga Loa/Tonga Loa Hikuleo/Talla Tonga |
| Name(s) | BC Firing Squad Bullet Club G.O.D Guerrillas of Destiny Sons of Tonga[1] The Tongans The Bloodline/MFT |
| Billed heights | Tonga: 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[2] Loa: 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[3] |
| Combined billed weight | 195 kg (430 lb)[2][3] |
| Billed from | Tonga |
| Former member(s) | Jado(manager) El Phantasmo |
| Debut | November 8, 2008 |
| Years active | 2008–2009 2016–present |
| Trained by | Bubba Ray Dudley[4] D-Von Dudley[4] Ricky Santana[4] Tonga Fifita[4] |
The Tongans are a Tongan-Americanprofessional wrestling stable, consisting of brothers[note 1]Tama Tonga,Tonga Loa, andTalla Tonga. They are signed toWWE, where they perform on theSmackDownbrand as a sub-unit ofThe MFT stable. As a Tag Team, Tonga and Loa are formerone-timeWWE Tag Team Champions.
The brothers Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa first wrestled together in 2008 asSons of Tonga, a reference to their fatherTonga Fifita. Although the team was originally short-lived, the two reformed asGuerrillas of Destiny inNew Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) from 2016 to 2024, where they became one of the promotion's prime tag teams, winning theIWGP Tag Team Championship a recordseven times, the2020 World Tag League, and theNEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championshipthree times with various stablemates fromBullet Club, of which the two weremembers until 2022. From 2022 to 2024, Guerillas of Destiny extended into a stable of its own to include their managerJado, a third brother,Hikuleo, andEl Phantasmo.
While working for NJPW, Tonga and Loa also appeared inRing of Honor (ROH), where they won theROH World Tag Team Championship, andImpact Wrestling. They both separately left NJPW in early 2024 and reunited inWWE atBacklash France in May as The Tongans (in reference to theirTongan origins), as part of the larger Bloodlinestable, which Tonga had joined prior to Loa's arrival. Jado, Hikuleo and El Phantasmo originally continued the Guerillas of Destiny stable without either original brothers, leading The Tongans and Guerillas of Destiny to exist simultaneously for over a month until the latter disbanded atDominion 6.9 in Osaka-jo Hall on June 9, 2024, leaving The Tongans as the sole direct continuation of Guerillas of Destiny. Loa and Hikuleo then reunited atNight of Champions 2025, reviving the stable in the process.
Alipate Leone andTevita Fifita are sons ofprofessional wrestlerTonga Fifita, better known by thering names Haku, Meng and King Tonga.[4] The two brothers grew up together inCentral Florida, but did not immediately gravitate to their father's profession.[5] They finally decided to pursue their own careers in professional wrestling, when Alipate was stationed atWhiteman Air Force Base with theUnited States Air Force and Tevita was attendingUniversity of Texas at El Paso.[4] The brothers started training under their father andRicky Santana in a ring owned by theDudley Boyz (Bubba Ray Dudley andD-Von Dudley) at their Team 3D Academy of Professional Wrestling and Sports Entertainmenttraining school inKissimmee, Florida.[4] Eventually the brothers signed up with the Team 3D Academy, where they would continue their training for a year under the Dudley Boyz.[4]
In 2008, Alipate and Tevita began wrestling under the names Kava and Nuku, respectively, and the team name "Sons of Tonga".[1][6] In 2009, the brothers took part in aWWE tryout camp, which resulted in Tevita being signed to a contract.[1][4] Tevita eventually made it to WWE television under thering name "Camacho", while Alipate traveled first to Puerto Rico and then to Japan, joiningNew Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) in May 2010, where he became a founding member of theBullet Clubstable in 2013 as "Tama Tonga".[2][4]
On February 14, 2016, at NJPW'sThe New Beginning in Niigata event, Bullet Club'sDoc Gallows andKarl Anderson unsuccessfully challengedG • B • H (Togi Makabe andTomoaki Honma) for theIWGP Tag Team Championship. Following the match, Gallows and Anderson's stablemate Tama Tonga, entered the ring to challenge Makabe and Honma, stating that his partner would be a new Bullet Club member. The challenge was accepted by Makabe and Honma.[7][8] On March 12, Tonga revealed that his partner would be his brother Tevita,[9] who was given the ring name "Tanga Loa"[note 2] with their tag team dubbed "Guerrillas of Destiny" (G.O.D.).[1][4] The brothers together came up with their team name, which references their feeling of "fighting for a cause" and the belief that destiny had brought them back together. The team's acronym stemmed from Alipate's ring name meaning "God of War" and Tevita's ring name meaning "Family of God" in the Polynesian Islands.[1][4]
Loa made his NJPW debut on March 27, attacking Togi Makabe during his match with Tonga.[14][15] This led to his first match with the promotion on April 1, where the Bullet Club quintet of Loa, Tonga,Bad Luck Fale,Kenny Omega andYujiro Takahashi were defeated by Makabe, Tomoaki Honma,Juice Robinson,Hiroshi Tanahashi andMichael Elgin in a ten-man elimination tag team match.[16] On April 10 atInvasion Attack 2016, G.O.D. defeated G.B.H. to become the new IWGP Tag Team Champions.[17][18] They made their first successful title defense on May 3 atWrestling Dontaku 2016, defeating G.B.H. in a rematch.[19][20] Later that month, G.O.D. took part in a North American tour, co-promoted by NJPW and the AmericanRing of Honor (ROH) promotion.[4] During theWar of the Worlds event on May 14, ROH wrestlerJay Briscoe pinned Loa to win an eight-man tag team match between Team ROH and Bullet Club and afterwards announced that he and his brotherMark were coming to NJPW to take the IWGP Tag Team Championship from Loa and Tonga.[21] On June 8, NJPW officially announced that the win had earned theBriscoe Brothers a shot at the IWGP Tag Team Championship.[22] The title match took place on June 19 atDominion 6.19 in Osaka-jo Hall and saw the Briscoe Brothers end G.O.D.'s title reign and become the new champions.[23][24]
On September 22 atDestruction in Hiroshima, after the Briscoe Brothers had successfully defended the IWGP Tag Team Championship against Bullet Club'sThe Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson), they were attacked by G.O.D., who demanded a title rematch.[25] This led to a match on October 10 atKing of Pro-Wrestling, where G.O.D. defeated the Briscoe Brothers to regain the IWGP Tag Team Championship. Following the match, G.O.D. and The Young Bucks attacked the Briscoe Brothers as well asTomohiro Ishii, who tried to save the former champions.[26][27] This led directly to G.O.D.'s first title defense on November 5 atPower Struggle, where they defeated Ishii andYoshi-Hashi.[28] From November 18 to December 10, G.O.D. took part in the2016 World Tag League.[29] After winning their block with a record of six wins and one loss, G.O.D. advanced to the finals of the tournament,[30] where they were defeated by G.B.H., setting up another title match between the two teams.[31][32] However, before the match could take place atWrestle Kingdom 11 in Tokyo Dome, G.O.D.'s title belts were stolen byToru Yano, which resulted in him and Tomohiro Ishii being added to the match.[33][34] On January 4, 2017, at Wrestle Kingdom 11 in Tokyo Dome, G.O.D. lost the IWGP Tag Team Championship to Yano and Ishii in the three-way match.[35][36] The match became infamous for the excessive loud cursing in English by Tonga and Loa. This was the result of their mother telling them that they needed to stand out at the "WrestleMania of New Japan Pro Wrestling".[5] On June 11 atDominion 6.11 in Osaka-jo Hall, G.O.D. defeatedWar Machine (Hanson andRaymond Rowe) to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship for the third time.[37] They lost the title back to War Machine in ano disqualification match on July 1 atG1 Special in USA.[38]
In September, Guerrillas of Destiny, War Machine and theKiller Elite Squad (Davey Boy Smith Jr. andLance Archer) were booked in three three-way matches for the IWGP Tag Team Championship.[39] The first two matches on September 10 atDestruction in Fukushima and September 16 atDestruction in Hiroshima were won by War Machine,[40][41][42] while the third match, contested undertornado tag team match rules, on September 24 atDestruction in Kobe was won by the Killer Elite Squad.[43] In December, Guerrillas of Destiny won their block in the2017 World Tag League with a record of five wins and two losses, advancing to the finals of the tournament.[44][45] On December 11, they were defeated in the finals of the tournament byLos Ingobernables de Japón (Evil andSanada).[46] Six days later, Guerrillas of Destiny and Bad Luck Fale defeated Sanada, Evil andBushi to become the newNEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champions.[47] They lost the title toChaos (Beretta, Tomohiro Ishii and Toru Yano) in a five-teamgauntlet match on January 4, 2018, atWrestle Kingdom 12 in Tokyo Dome.[48]
Guerrillas of Destiny spent the bulk of 2018 being embroiled in the Bullet Club civil war, as part of the OG faction of the group, feuding with theElite faction. The Elite would ultimately separate from Bullet Club, and G.O.D. would remain with the new streamlined Bullet Club under new leaderJay White. On August 12 during theG1 Climax event, G.O.D. won their third NEVER Openweight 6-Man Title, this time teaming with Bullet Club teammateTaiji Ishimori, and would hold the championships until January 30, 2019, losing them toTaguchi Japan at a Road to New Beginning event.
On February 23, 2019, they would regain the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Titles by defeating Sanada & Evil atHonor Rising 2019: Day 2, starting their fifth reign.[49][50] On April 6, 2019, G.O.D. won a Winner Take All Fatal Four-Way tag team match atG1 Supercard, successfully defending the IWGP titles and winning theROH World Tag Team Championship for the first time, making them double champions between NJPW and ROH. They would lose the titles against The Briscoes at Manhattan Mayhem.[51] After defending the IWGP Tag Team Championships another six times, their reign would end when G.O.D lost toFinJuice (Juice Robinson &David Finlay) atWrestle Kingdom 14.[52][53][54][55] They would soon immediately regain the belts at The New Beginning in the USA event in Atlanta, before again losing them without a defence toGolden*Ace (Hiroshi Tanahashi &Kota Ibushi) on a New Japan Road show inKorakuen Hall.[56][57][58][59][60]
After the 2020Pandemic, 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.[61] They would go on to win an IWGP Tag Team Titles atWrestle Kingdom 15, defeating championsDangerous Tekkers (Taichi &Zack Sabre Jr.) after Tanga Loa hit 'Apeshit' (aSitout Reverse Piledriver) on Taichi after 19 minutes & 18 seconds.[62][63][64] They retained the championships against Dangerous Tekkers in a rematch atThe New Beginning in Hiroshima.[65] They retained the championships again atCastle Attack, defeatingChaos'sHirooki Goto andYoshi-Hashi.[66] On June 1, they lost the IWGP Tag Team Championships back to the Dangerous Tekkers at the Road to Dominion.
Guerrillas of Destiny made a surprise appearance atNJPW Resurgence where they confronted former Bullet Club stablematesThe Good Brothers (Karl Anderson andDoc Gallows).[67] They returned to Japan to compete in theWorld Tag League in November, however, failed to advance to the finals after only scoring 14 points in the tournament.[68]
Following Guerillas of Destiny's removal from Bullet Club atImpact Wrestling's,No Surrender in February 2022, Tonga and Loa returned to Japan to participate in theNew Japan Cup. Both men receivedbye's to the second round, but Loa was eliminated byShingo Takagi and Tonga was eliminated by Evil. Following the match, GOD was attacked by the Japanese branch of Bullet Club, confirming their departure, whilstJado was also expelled by Bullet Club and allied with Tonga and Loa.[69] Following this, Tonga claimed Guerrillas of Destiny would become their own stable, which contained Tonga, Loa and Jado as members. The trio would form an alliance withRyusuke Taguchi,Master Wato andHiroshi Tanahashi, turning the trioface for the first time since before joining Bullet Club.[70]
In April, Loa suffered a tornMCL, causing him to be out injured for an undisclosed amount of time.[71] Whilst Loa was out injured, Tama Tonga competed in singles competition, earning quick success by defeated EVIL to win theNever Openweight Championship atWrestling Dontaku in May, winning his first NJPW singles championship.[72] The following month atDominion 6.12 in Osaka-jo Hall, Tonga lost the championship to former tag-team partner Karl Anderson. Tonga experienced further success, by topping the B Block during theG1 Climax 32 tournament, by eliminating,IWGP World Heavyweight Champion and former teammate Jay White.[73] Tonga advanced to the tournament semi-finals, but was eliminated by A-Block winnerKazuchika Okada.[74]
In September,Hikuleo joined Guerillas of Destiny, leaving Bullet Club and betraying Jay White by attacking him as he attacked Tama Tonga.[75] Due to being the only man to defeat White in the tournament, as well as ending is G1 campaign, Tonga received an IWGP World Heavyweight Championship match in October at Declaration of Power, but was defeated by White.[76] On January 4 atWrestle Kingdom 17, Tonga regained the Never Openweight title from Anderson.[77] In February, Hikuleo expelled Jay White from NJPW, defeating himThe New Beginning in Osaka.[78] Following a loss to David Finlay in the semi-finals of theNew Japan Cup, Tama Tonga lost the Never Openweight Championship to Finlay atWrestling Dontaku.[79] In May, Hikuleo won is first NJPW title, defeatingKenta Kobayashi to win theStrong Openweight Championship.[80] Hikuleo lost the title back to Kenta just 18 days later atResurgence.[81]
By July, Loa returned to NJPW, joining his two brothers in theG1 Climax tournament.[82] Whilst Loa and Tonga failed to advance from the B and C Blocks respectively, Hikuleo finished runner-up in the A Block, advancing to the quarter-finals.[83] In the quarter-final round, Hikuleo lost toTetsuya Naito, eliminating him from the tournament.[84] Following the tournament, GOD invitedEl Phantasmo, who had similarly been ejected from Bullet Club, to join the stable, which he did on the tournament's final day.[85]
On October 9 atDestruction in Ryogoku, Hikuleo and Phantasmo defeatedBullet Club War Dogs (Alex Coughlin andGabe Kidd) to win theStrong Openweight Tag Team Championship, making Hikuleo the first wrestler to hold the Strong Openweight singles and tag team titles, while Tonga also defeated Finlay to win the NEVER Openweight Championship for the third time.[86] On October 28 atFighting Spirit Unleashed, Tonga lost the title toShingo Takagi in his first title defense.[87] From November 25 until December 6, Hikuleo and Phantasmo took part in the 2023 World Tag League, where they won their block with a record of five wins and two losses, advancing to the semifinals of the tournament. On December 8, Hikuleo and Phantasmo defeatedThe Mighty Don't Kneel'sMikey Nicholls andShane Haste in the semifinals and then were defeated byBishamon (Hirooki Goto andYoshi-Hashi), on December 10 in the finals of the World Tag League. Following the match, Bishamon challenged Hikuleo and Phantasmo to a match, for bothIWGP and the Strong Openweight Tag Team Championships in a Winner Takes All" match.[88]
On January 4, 2024 atWrestle Kingdom 18, Hikuleo and Phantasmo defeated Bishamon in a Winner takes all match, becoming the new IWGP Tag Team Champions while also defending their Strong Openweight Tag Team Championship. Furthermore, Tonga defeated Takagi to win the NEVER Openweight Championship for the fourth time.[89] In a post-match press conference, Tonga announced he would be leaving NJPW due to his contract expiring.[90] The following day atNew Year Dash!!,Chase Owens came forward to challenge Hikuleo and Phantasmo for their titles on behalf of himself and Kenta, which they accepted.[91]
On January 22 atThe New Beginning in Nagoya, Phantasmo and Hikuleo successfully defended the Strong Openweight Tag Team Championship against Kenta and Owens, before deciding to give their former Bullet Club teammates a match for the IWGP Tag Team Titles atThe New Beginning in Osaka. Following this match, Tonga faced EVIL for the NEVER Openweight Championship. The match originally ended in a no contest, after Tonga was attacked by the House of Torture. The match was restarted into alumberjack match, where Tonga lost the title to EVIL.[92] Four days later, Tonga wrestled his penultimate match under his NJPW contract, where he, El Desperado, Tomoaki Honma and Yoh defeated House of Torture. Later that night, Tonga helped Shota Umino win his match against Ren Narita, alongside Desperado, following the interference from House of Torture, marking his final regular appearance for the promotion.
At The New Beginning in Osaka on February 11, Hikuleo and Phantasmo lost the IWGP Tag Team Championship to Chase and Kenta.[93] AtThe New Beginning in Sapporo: Night 2, Hikuleo and Phantasmo defeated Tonga and Loa in Tama's final match with the company.[94] On March 31, at Road to Sakura Genesis, Tanga Loa challenged for theKOPW trophy in a losing effort toGreat-O-Khan. This was later revealed to be his final match with the company.[95] Hikuleo would also leave with his contract expiring in 2024, as he wrestled his final match for NJPW atDominion 6.9 in Osaka-jo Hall, where he and Phantasmo lost the Strong Openweight Tag Team titles in a four-way match Winner Take All match, where Nicholls and Haste claimed both sets of championships. With Hikuleo's departure, G.O.D. was officially disbanded in NJPW.[96]
On the January 27, 2022, episode ofImpact!, Guerrillas of Destiny made theirImpact Wrestling debut attackingJake Something andMike Bailey before challenging The Good Brothers to a match atNo Surrender for theImpact World Tag Team Championship.[97]At No Surrender, Jay White interfered in G.O.D's match against The Good Brothers, hitting the Blade Runner on Tama Tonga causing them to lose the match. Afterwards, Jay White, Chris Bey, Anderson and Gallows all gave the "Too Sweet" hand gesture in the middle of the ring, signaling that G.O.D. had been traded out of Bullet Club in favor of The Good Brothers.
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Tonga made his WWE debut on the April 12 episode ofSmackDown as part ofThe Bloodline stable replacingJimmy Uso.[98] Tanga Loa (now under the tweaked name "Tonga Loa"), also made his WWE return at theBacklash France event on May 4 helping Tonga andSolo Sikoa win the no disqualification tag team match againstRandy Orton andKevin Owens. Loa previously performed from 2009 to 2014 as Camacho.[99] Tonga and Loa, who are going by the name of The Tongans, made their WWE tag team debut on the May 31 episode ofSmackDown, defeating theStreet Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford).[100] After the addition ofJacob Fatu, Tama Tonga along with Fatu and Sikoa emerged victorious in asix-man tag team match overCody Rhodes,Randy Orton andKevin Owens atMoney in the Bank.[101]
On the July 26 episode ofSmackDown (taped a week prior), The Tongans originally planned to compete in a Tag Team Turmoil match to become Number 1 Contenders for theWWE Tag Team Championship, held byDIY (Tommaso Ciampa andJohnny Gargano). However, due to Loa's eye injury in a previous episode, he was replaced byJacob Fatu. In the end, Tonga and Fatu emerged victorious after defeating The Street Profits.[102] A week later, Fatu and Tonga defeated DIY to win theWWE Tag Team Championship. This marks Tonga's first title reign in the WWE.[103] On the August 23 episode ofSmackDown, Sikoa had Fatu relinquish his half of the title to Loa, making the Tongans an overall ten time tag team champions and getting them their first WWE Tag Team Title.[104] On the October 25 episode ofSmackDown, the Tongans lost the titles to theMotor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley andChris Sabin) following interference fromRoman Reigns andThe Usos (Jey and Jimmy), ending their reign at 84 days.
Although Tonga was injured in April 2025,Night of Champions on June 20 saw both Loa's return and the debut of their younger brother,Hikuleo (now under the new name "Talla Tonga"), to help Sikoa win theWWE United States Championship from Fatu, who lefta few weeks prior.[105] Sikoa's faction, including The Tongans and formerUnited Empire memberJeff Cobb (who goes by the name of "JC Mateo"), was then named MFT; he would later lose the championship toSami Zayn on the August 29 episode ofSmackDown. On the October 10 episode ofSmackDown beforeCrown Jewel: Perth, Tama Tonga returned from injury sporting the face paint he wore during his time in NJPW, and was joined by his brothers and Mateo, as the group attacked Zayn andShinsuke Nakamura during a United States Championship match which ended in a no contest.[106]
| * | Founding members |
|---|---|
| M | Manager |
| Member | Tenure |
|---|---|
| Tama Tonga* | 2008–2009 March 12, 2016–February 24, 2024 May 4, 2024–present |
| Tanga Loa/Tonga Loa* | 2008–2009 March 12, 2016–present[note 3] |
| Jado (M) | March 12, 2022–June 9, 2024 |
| Hikuleo/Talla Tonga | September 25, 2022–June 9, 2024 June 28, 2025–present |
| El Phantasmo | August 13, 2023–June 9, 2024 |
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