Sarona Moana Marie Reiher Snuka-Polamalu (born January 10, 1978) is an Americanprofessional wrestler. She is signed toWWE, where she performed under thering nameTamina (shortened from her former ring nameTamina Snuka).
On the May 24, 2010, episode ofRaw, Snuka debuted as avillainous character, under the ring name Tamina, along withJimmy and Jey Uso by attacking theUnified Tag Team Champions,The Hart Dynasty (David Hart Smith,Tyson Kidd, andNatalya).[9][10] The next week on the May 31 episode ofRaw, Tamina and The Usos introduced themselves and stated that the Hart Dynasty were in the "wrong place at the wrong time", before again brawling with the trio. On June 20 atFatal 4-Way, Tamina and the Usos were defeated by the Hart Dynasty in asix-person mixed tag team match, after Natalya pinned Tamina.[11] Two weeks later on the June 21 episode ofRaw, Tamina made her singles debut against Natalya, but the match ended in ano contest afterThe Nexus interrupted the match. On the June 28 episode ofRaw, Tamina and The Usos were scheduled to face The Hart Dynasty in another six-person mixed tag team match, but instead attacked them during their entrance, leading to Tamina throwing Natalya in the ring and executing theSuperfly Splash on her.[12] On August, Tamina turned face when she became the manager of the team ofSantino Marella andVladimir Kozlov.[13][14] On the December 6 episode ofRaw, Tamina and Marella began a relationship storyline.[15]
After changing to face on the December 30 episode ofSmackDown,[20] and changing her name to Tamina Snuka, she wrestled for the WWE Divas title atElimination Chamber pay-per-view, but was defeated by Beth Phoenix.[21] On the August 20 episode ofRaw, Snuka suffered alegitimate back injury.[22] She returned three months later at theSurvivor Series pay-per-view as aheel, interrupting a segment betweenAJ Lee andVickie Guerrero by attacking AJ from behind.[23] She atElimination Chamber, Snuka unsuccessfully challenged Kaitlyn for the Divas Championship.[24] On the June 5 episode ofNXT, Snuka was defeated byPaige in the first round of theNXT Women's Championship tournament to crown the inaugural champion.[25]
On February 23, 2014, at theElimination Chamber pay-per-view, Snuka accidentallysuperkicked AJ during her title match against Cameron, and eventually caused a disqualification when Cameron almost won the match.[30] After Snuka left Lee, she wrestled for the title, participating in atWrestleMania XXX in the 14-Diva match, which was won by the defending championAJ Lee,[31] and againstPaige atExtreme Rules, losing again.[32]
Eleven months after having undergone surgery following a tornACL on June 4, 2014,[33] Snuka, billed simply as Tamina again, returned on the May 4, 2015, episode ofRaw, allying herself withNaomi, as the two attackedThe Bella Twins.[34] Tamina and Naomi went on to defeat the Bella Twins in a tag team match atPayback.[35] The following night onRaw, Tamina interfered in Naomi'sDivas Championship match against Nikki Bella, causing a disqualification. After the match,Paige returned from injury and attacked Tamina, Naomi and Nikki.[36] AtThe Beast in the East on July 4, Tamina failed to capture the Divas Championship from Nikki Bella in atriple threat match that also involved Paige.[37]
On the July 13 episode ofRaw, after weeks of being outnumbered by Team Bella (The Bella Twins andAlicia Fox),Stephanie McMahon called for a "revolution" in the Divas division and introduced the debutingNXT Women's ChampionSasha Banks as an ally to Tamina and Naomi.Charlotte andBecky Lynch would then debut and ally with Paige, leading to a brawl between the three teams.[38] The trio of Tamina, Naomi and Banks was later dubbed Team B.A.D. (Beautiful and Dangerous). AtBattleground, a triple threat match took place with Banks representing Team B.A.D., against Charlotte of PCB and Brie Bella for Team Bella in a losing effort, while Charlotte picked up victory.[39] The three teams would ultimately face off atSummerSlam in athree team elimination match, where Team B.A.D. were the first team to be eliminated courtesy of Team Bella when Tamina was pinned by Brie, and PCB would win the match.[40]
On the February 1, 2016, episode ofRaw, Tamina and Naomi attacked Banks after the latter announced her departure from team B.A.D.[41][42] Thefeud between Tamina and Naomi and Banks would continue throughout February,[43][44][45][46] and would lead to atag team match atFastlane, where Tamina and Naomi lost to Banks and her partner Becky Lynch.[47] In late March, Tamina and Naomi allied withLana,Emma andSummer Rae, leading to a10-Diva tag team match on theWrestleMania 32 pre-show, which Tamina's team lost.[48] In early May, Tamina underwent knee surgery in order to repair torn ligaments,[49] while Naomi also claimed to be injured on May 5, due to a torn ankle tendon, thus disbanding the team.[50] After having been undrafted in the2016 WWE draft due to her injury, it was reported in December that Tamina was cleared for in-ring competition.[51]
On February 18, 2017, Snuka made her in-ring return in a tag-team match at aSmackDownlive event, where she andNatalya scored a victory overAlexa Bliss andCarmella.[52] She made her televised return on the April 11 episode ofSmackDown Live, where she was established as a member of the SmackDown brand as part of the "Superstar Shake Up".[53] On the April 25 episode ofSmackDown, Tamina interfered in a title match betweenCharlotte Flair andNaomi alongside Natalya and Carmella.[54] On May 21 atBacklash, Tamina competed in a six-woman tag team match alongside Carmella and Natalya, where the three emerged victorious over Flair, Naomi, andBecky Lynch.[55] On June 18 atMoney in the Bank, Snuka competed in the inaugural women'sMoney in the Bank ladder match, which was won by Carmella following an interference byJames Ellsworth.[56] On the June 20 episode ofSmackDown, Carmella was stripped from the briefcase by SmackDown's general manager,Daniel Bryan,[57] and a rematch took place on the June 27 episode'smain event, in which Tamina failed again and Carmella was victorious.[58]
On the July 4 episode of Smackdown, Tamina comfortedLana after her championship loss, teasing an alliance between the two. Lana later became her manager. On July 23 atBattleground, Snuka unsuccessfully competed in afive-way elimination match to determine the number one contender for theSmackDown Women's Championship after she was eliminated by Becky Lynch.[59] On the September 19 episode ofSmackDown, Snuka participated in afatal four-way match to determine the number one contender for Natalya's SmackDown Women's Championship against Becky Lynch, Naomi and the returning Charlotte Flair, which was won by Flair.[60] On November 19 atSurvivor Series, Tamina represented Team SmackDown in a ten-woman elimination tag team match against TeamRaw, losing the match but scoring an elimination overBayley.[61] On January 28, 2018, atRoyal Rumble, Tamina entered at number 7 during the firstwomen's Royal Rumble match, in which she was eliminated byLita.[62] Shortly thereafter, Tamina would go on hiatus due to a tornrotator cuff and underwent a successful surgery. This ended her partnership with Lana.[63]
On the October 15, 2018, episode ofRaw, after nine months of inactivity due to various injuries, Tamina made a surprising return, working again as aheel. In her first match back, she teamed withDana Brooke againstEmber Moon andNia Jax.[64] During the match, it was announced that Tamina will be take part of the women's battle royal set forWWE Evolution.[65][66] At the event, which took place on October 28, Tamina was one of the final competitors left but she was eliminated by Moon.[67] Shortly after her return, Tamina started an alliance with Nia Jax, after multiple confrontations between the two.[65][68][69] On the November 12 episode ofRaw, Tamina achieved her first singles victory onRaw when she defeatedEmber Moon. AtSurvivor Series, Tamina eliminatedNaomi before she got eliminated byCarmella. On the November 19 episode of Raw, Tamina andNia Jax scored a victory overBayley andSasha Banks and later on that night they confrontedRonda Rousey.
Snuka in 2019
Tamina would participate in the Women's Royal Rumble match at theRoyal Rumble on January 27, 2019, entering at number 10, eliminatingMickie James, before being eliminated byCharlotte Flair. Tamina and Jax would compete at theElimination Chamber in an elimination chamber match for theWWE Women's Tag Team Championship, but were eliminated by Bayley, Sasha Banks,Sonya Deville, andMandy Rose. On the final show of Raw beforeFastlane, Tamina defeatedSasha Banks after a distraction from Jax. At Fastlane on March 10, Tamina and Jax unsuccessfully challenged Banks and Bayley for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship. Afterwards, Tamina and Jax continued to attack Banks, Bayley, WWE Hall of FamerBeth Phoenix, who was performing commentary, andNatalya.[70] On the March 25 episode ofRaw, it was announced that Tamina and Jax would compete in aFatal 4-Way match atWrestleMania 35 for theWWE Women's Tag Team Championship against current champions The Boss 'n' Hug Connection (Bayley and Banks),The IIconics (Billie Kay andPeyton Royce) andThe Divas of Doom (Phoenix and Natalya).[71] At the event on April 7, Tamina and Jax were unsuccessful when Kay pinned Bayley.[72] Afterwards, Tamina and Jax would stop appearing on Raw after Jax underwent surgery for knee injuries.[73]
After wrestling onMain Event several times and later suffering a concussion in July at a live event, Tamina returned atHell in a Cell, defeatingCarmella backstage for the24/7 Championship, the first championship of her wrestling career. She later lost the championship toR-Truth later on in the night.[74] As part of the2019 draft, Tamina was drafted to SmackDown.[75]
Teaming with Natalya, Tag Team Champion (2020–2021)
At theRoyal Rumble event on January 26, 2020, Tamina competed in the women's Royal Rumble match, entering at number 14, lasting less than a minute before being eliminated byBianca Belair. On the March 20 episode ofSmackDown, Tamina was announced as a participant in aFatal 5-Way elimination match forBayley'sSmackDown Women's Championship atWrestleMania 36. At WrestleMania 36, Tamina was the first woman eliminated after the four other competitors pinned her at once. Tamina demanded a title match against Bayley on the April 10 episode ofSmackDown, which Bayley accepted if Tamina could defeatSasha Banks the following week, which Tamina did, turning herface in the process. At theMoney in the Bank event, Tamina failed to win the title.[76][77] On the August 14 episode ofSmackDown, Tamina competed in a triple brand battle royal to earn aWWE SmackDown Women's Championship match atSummerSlam, which was won byAsuka.[78] On the October 12 episode ofRaw, Tamina competed in another battle royal to earn a match for theRaw Women's Championship, which was won by Lana.[79]
At the beginning of January 2021, Tamina turnedheel once again, when formed an alliance with Natalya while "putting the women's tag team division on notice".[80] At theRoyal Rumble event on January 31, 2021, Tamina competed in the women's Royal Rumble match, but was eliminated by Nia Jax andShayna Baszler.[81][82][83] AtWrestleMania 37 night 1, Tamina and Natalya won a tag team turmoil match to earn an opportunity at the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship, and the following night, they were unsuccessful. The two would continue feuding with Jax and Baszler, defeating them on the May 14 episode ofSmackDown to win theWWE Women's Tag Team Championship, which they proceeded to lose toRhea Ripley andNikki Cross.[84] At theMoney in the Bank event, both women entered the Women'sMoney in the Bank ladder match, but would be unsuccessful in winning the briefcase as it was won byNikki A.S.H.[85][86]
On the January 3 episode of Raw, Tamina failed to win theWWE 24/7 Championship fromDana Brooke in a mixed tag team match also involvingReggie andAkira Tozawa.[87][88] Tamina, Tozawa, andR-Truth then spent months trying unsuccessfully to win the title from Reggie and laterDana Brooke in various backstage segments. Tamina would however win the title on the April 18 edition ofRaw, during a double wedding ceremony, losing it to her partner, Tozawa after.[89] Later that month, due to him being unable to help her win the title, she filed for divorce.
After having an ongoing feud with Brooke for the 24/7 Championship, the two began to team together. On the August 5 episode ofSmackdown, a tag team tournament to crown new champions was announced. Tamina and Brooke were announced as a team on the August 8 episode of Raw. Tamina and Brooke lost in the first round againstDakota Kai andIyo Sky. Due to an injury fromGigi Dolin after her andJacy Jayne won round 1 againstNatalya andSonya Deville, it was announced on the August 22 episode of Raw that Tamina and Dana Brooke would be participating in a "Second Chance Fatal Four Way" to re-enter the Women's Tag Team Tournament on the August 26 episode ofSmackDown, in which they lost. Tamina entered at #19 in the 2023 Women’s Royal Rumble, she lasted just under 12 minutes before being eliminated byMichelle McCool. Tamina was used sporadically on Main Event tapings in early 2023, losing toMichin on the March 3 taping in what would be Tamina's final appearance with the WWE. She was removed from WWE's active roster in July 2024.[90]
