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The Guerrillas of Destiny (occasionally abbreviated to GOD) are a professional wrestling tag team formed by Tama Tonga (Alipate Fifita) and Tanga Roa/Tanga Loa (Tevita Fifita), the real-life sons of King Haku (Tonga Fifita). Initially teaming together on the independent circuit as Kava and Nuku respectively under the team name Sons of Tonga before Nuku signed with WWE, the two later reunited in New Japan Pro Wrestling, where Alipate had been working for years as Tama Tonga before bringing in Tevita to be his tag team partner. The Guerrillas were two-times IWGP Tag Team Champions and they are part of the stable the Bullet Club.
History
Training and early career (2008–2009)
Alipate Fifita and Tevita Fifita are sons of professional wrestler Tonga Fifita, better known by the ring names Haku, Meng and King Tonga.[1] The two brothers decided to pursue their own careers in professional wrestling, when Alipate was stationed at Whiteman Air Force Base with the United States Air Force, while Tevita was attending University of Texas at El Paso.[1] The brothers started training under their father and Ricky Santana in a ring owned by the Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley) at their Team 3D Academy of Professional Wrestling and Sports Entertainment training school in Kissimmee, Florida.[1] Eventually the brothers signed up with the Team 3D Academy, where they would continue their training for a year under the Dudley Boyz.[1]
In 2008, Alipate and Tevita began wrestling under the names Kava and Nuku, respectively, and the team name "Sons of Tonga".[2][3] In 2009, the brothers took part in a WWE tryout camp, which resulted in Tevita being signed to a contract.[2][1] Tevita eventually made it to WWE television under the ring name "Camacho", while Alipate traveled first to Puerto Rico and then to Japan, joining New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) in May 2010, where he became a founding member of the Bullet Club stable in 2013 as "Tama Tonga".[4][1]
New Japan Pro Wrestling (2016–present)
See also: Bullet Club On February 14, 2016, at NJPW's The New Beginning in Niigata event, Bullet Club's Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson unsuccessfully challenged G.B.H. (Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma) for the IWGP 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.[5][6] On March 12, Tonga revealed that his partner would be his brother Tevita,[7] who was given the ring name "Tanga Roa"* with their tag team dubbed "Guerrillas of Destiny" (G.O.D.).[2][1] 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.[2][1]
Roa made his NJPW debut on March 27, attacking Togi Makabe during his match with Tonga.[8][9] This led to his first match with the promotion on April 1, where the Bullet Club quintet of Roa, Tonga, Bad Luck Fale, Kenny Omega and Yujiro Takahashi were defeated by Makabe, Tomoaki Honma, Juice Robinson, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Michael Elgin in a ten-man elimination tag team match.[10] On April 10 at Invasion Attack 2016, G.O.D. defeated G.B.H. to become the new IWGP Tag Team Champions.[11][12] They made their first successful title defense on May 3 at Wrestling Dontaku 2016, defeating G.B.H. in a rematch.[13][14] Later that month, G.O.D. took part in a North American tour, co-promoted by NJPW and the American Ring of Honor (ROH) promotion.[1] During the War of the Worlds event on May 14, ROH wrestler Jay Briscoe pinned Roa to win an eight-man tag team match between Team ROH and Bullet Club and and afterwards announced that he and his brother Mark were coming to NJPW to take the IWGP Tag Team Championship from Roa and Tonga.[15] On June 8, NJPW officially announced that the win had earned the Briscoe Brothers a shot at the IWGP Tag Team Championship.[16] The title match took place on June 19 at Dominion 6.19 in Osaka-jo Hall and saw the Briscoe Brothers end G.O.D.'s title reign and become the new champions.[17][18]
On September 22 at Destruction in Hiroshima, after the Briscoe Brothers had successfully defended the IWGP Tag Team Championship against Bullet Club's The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson), they were attacked by G.O.D., who demanded a title rematch.[19] This led to a match on October 10 at King 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 as Tomohiro Ishii, who tried to save the former champions.[20][21] This led directly to G.O.D.'s first title defense on November 5 at Power Struggle, where they defeated Ishii and Yoshi-Hashi.[22] From November 18 to December 10, G.O.D. took part in the World Tag League#2016 World Tag League.[23] After winning their block with a record of six wins and one loss, G.O.D. advanced to the finals of the tournament,[24] where they were defeated by G.B.H., setting up another title match between the two teams.[25][26] However, before the match could take place at Wrestle Kingdom 11 in Tokyo Dome, G.O.D.'s title belts were stolen by Toru Yano, which resulted in him and Tomohiro Ishii being added to the match.[27][28] 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.[29]
Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (2016)
On June 1, 2016, the Mexican Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) promotion announced Tonga and Roa as participants in the 2016 International Gran Prix.[30] On June 24, Tonga, Roa and Sam Adonis defeated Atlantis, Diamante Azul and Volador Jr. in Arena México.[31] On July 1, Roa and Tonga took part in the 2016 International Gran Prix, from which Roa was eliminated by Último Guerrero and Tonga lasted all the way to the finals before losing to Volador Jr.[32]
In wrestling
Guerrillas of Destiny performing the Guerrilla Warfare on Mark Briscoe
Tonga's Veleno
- Double-team finishing moves
- Double-team signature moves
- Tonga's finishing moves
- Roa's finishing moves
- Running Samoan drop[43]
- Entrance themes
Championships and Accomplishments
Notes
- ^ The name has been written as both "Tanga Roa" and "Tanga Loa". NJPW uses the spelling Roa, while ROH has used both Loa and Roa.[43][46][47]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Oliver, Greg 2016-04-24. Tama Tonga finally getting a shot in North America with ROH . Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved on 2016-12-31.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 ja:【IA16】“渦中の男”タマ・トンガにインタビュー！「俺にとって最大のチャンス！ Bullet Clubの“穴”は俺たちが埋めるしかない！」ウワサの“弟”タンガ・ロアとは？ (in Japanese). New Japan Pro Wrestling (2016-03-26). Archived from the original on 2016-03-26. Retrieved on 2016-12-31.
- ↑ Boutwell, Josh 2009-01-09. Viva La Raza! # Ocho: Lucha Weekly . Wrestleview. Retrieved on 2016-12-31.
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedTongaNJPW - ↑ Meltzer, Dave 2016-02-13. NJPW New Beginnings: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Kenny Omega for the IWGP IC Title . Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved on 2016-12-31.
- ↑ ja:＜ＩＷＧＰタッグ＞真壁、本間組が初防衛 (in Japanese). Tokyo Sports (2016-02-15). Retrieved on 2016-12-31.
- ↑ New Japan Cup 2016 (in Japanese). New Japan Pro Wrestling. Archived from the original on 2016-03-13. Retrieved on 2016-12-31.
- ↑ Rose, Bryan 2016-03-27. NJPW Road to Invasion Attack results: New Japan vs. Bullet Club best of 5 series . Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved on 2016-12-31.
- ↑ ja:タマ・トンガ弟が電撃乱入 兄弟でＩＷＧＰタッグ狙う (in Japanese). Tokyo Sports (2016-03-28). Retrieved on 2016-12-31.
- ↑ Rose, Bryan 2016-04-01. NJPW Road to Invasion Attack results: Okada and Naito square off in 6-man tag action . Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved on 2016-12-31.
- ↑ Meltzer, Dave 2016-04-09. NJPW Invasion Attack live results: Kazuchika Okada vs. Tetsuya Naito for the IWGP Championship . Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved on 2016-12-31.
- ↑ ja:【新日・両国】ＩＷＧＰタッグはトンガ＆ロア兄弟が新王者 (in Japanese). Tokyo Sports (2016-04-11). Retrieved on 2016-12-31.
- ↑ Rose, Bryan 2016-05-03. NJPW Wrestling Dontaku results: Super Juniors lineups; IWGP champ Naito vs. Ishii . Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved on 2016-12-31.
- ↑ ja:【レスリングどんたく】真壁＆本間 ＩＷＧＰタッグ王座奪還ならず (in Japanese). Tokyo Sports (2016-05-04). Retrieved on 2016-12-31.
- ↑ Lam, Jeff 2016-05-11. Four weeks of ROH TV tapings from Toronto, ONT: June PPV main event announced . Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved on 2016-12-31.
- ↑ ja:【DM16】6月19日（日）大阪城ホールの全カード決定！ケニーvsエルガン！タマ＆タンガvsブリスコ兄弟！Kushidavsオスプレイ！Jr.タッグ4Way戦！ (in Japanese). New Japan Pro Wrestling (2016-06-08). Archived from the original on 2016-06-08. Retrieved on 2016-12-31.
- ↑ Meltzer, Dave 2016-06-18. NJPW Dominion live results: Tetsuya Naito vs Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP HW Championship . Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved on 2016-12-31.
- ↑ ja:【新日・大阪大会】ＩＷＧＰタッグ戦“兄弟組対決”はブリスコ組が新王者 (in Japanese). Tokyo Sports (2016-06-20). Retrieved on 2016-12-31.
- ↑ Rose, Bryan 2016-09-22. NJPW Destruction in Hiroshima results: Kenny Omega defends his title shot . Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved on 2016-12-31.
- ↑ Rose, Bryan 2016-10-09. NJPW King of Pro Wrestling live results: Kazuchika Okada vs. Naomichi Marufuji . Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved on 2016-12-31.
- ↑ ja:【新日本・両国】トンガ組がＩＷＧＰタッグ奪取 (in Japanese). Tokyo Sports (2016-10-11). Retrieved on 2016-12-31.
- ↑ Rose, Bryan 2016-11-04. NJPW Power Struggle live results: Tetsuya Naito vs. Jay Lethal . Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved on 2016-12-31.
- ↑ Meltzer, Dave 2016-11-07. NJPW reveals full World Tag League lineup, four Wrestle Kingdom matches . Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved on 2016-12-31.
- ↑ ja:戦国炎舞 -Kizna- Presents World Tag League 2016 (in Japanese). New Japan Pro Wrestling. Retrieved on 2016-12-31.
- ↑ NJPW World Tag League finals live results: The winners are crowned . Wrestling Observer Newsletter (2016-12-09). Retrieved on 2016-12-31.
- ↑ ja:【新日】真壁＆本間がタッグリーグ連覇 １・４ドームでＩＷＧＰタッグ王座挑戦へ (in Japanese). Tokyo Sports (2016-12-11). Retrieved on 2016-12-31.
- ↑ ja:矢野が強硬手段で連日ベルト挑戦要求 (in Japanese). Daily Sports Online. Kobe Shimbun (2016-12-18). Retrieved on 2016-12-31.
- ↑ Currier, Joseph 2016-12-19. NJPW announces change in Wrestle Kingdom 11 tag title match . Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved on 2016-12-31.
- ↑ NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 11 live results: Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega . Wrestling Observer Newsletter (2017-01-03). Retrieved on 2017-01-04.
- ↑ El Grand Prix. La mayor competencia de lucha libre a nivel global (in Spanish). Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (2016-06-02). Retrieved on 2016-06-10.
- ↑ Primera llamada extranjera en el CMLL (in Spanish). MedioTiempo (2016-06-25). Retrieved on 2016-06-26.
- ↑ Dark Angelita 2016-07-02. CMLL: Resultados Viernes de Grand Prix – 01/07/2016 – Bárbaro Cavernario salva su melena; Volador Jr. gana la copa para México (in Spanish). Superluchas. Retrieved on 2016-07-02.
- ↑ ja:??·????????? ???IWGP????? (in Japanese). Tokyo Sports (2016-03-28). Retrieved on 2016-03-28.
- ↑ Road to Invasion Attack 2016 (in Japanese). New Japan Pro Wrestling. Retrieved on 2016-04-02.
- ↑ Road to Invasion Attack 2016 (in Japanese). New Japan Pro Wrestling. Retrieved on 2016-04-05.
- ↑ Metzger, Mike 2016-09-21. 9/21 ROH TV Results – Metzger’s Report on Team Okada vs. ROH tag champions, more ROH vs. New Japan matches; Overall Reax . Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved on 2016-12-31.
- ↑ ja:レスリングどんたく 2016 (in Japanese). New Japan Pro Wrestling. Retrieved on 2016-12-31.
- ↑ ja:Kushida、タマ兄弟がCMLLの大会に初登場！両者、見事に初勝利をゲット！！【6.24CMLL・アレナメヒコ大会結果】 (in Japanese). New Japan Pro Wrestling (2016-06-26). Retrieved on 2016-12-31.
- ↑ Invasion Attack 2016 (in Japanese). New Japan Pro Wrestling. Retrieved on 2016-12-31.
- ↑ ja:戦国炎舞 -Kizna- Presents Power Struggle (in Japanese). New Japan Pro Wrestling. Retrieved on 2016-12-31.
- ↑ ja:??·??? (in Japanese). New Japan Pro Wrestling. Retrieved on 2013-07-05.
- ↑ Road to Invasion Attack 2014 (in Japanese). New Japan Pro Wrestling. Retrieved on 2014-04-03.
- ↑ 43.0 43.1 ja:???·?? (in Japanese). New Japan Pro Wrestling. Retrieved on 2016-03-15.
- ↑ [Q]Brick 2014-05-22. "Shot'Em" Bullet Club 2nd Theme . SoundCloud. Retrieved on 2016-12-31.
- ↑ Heavy tag weight class (in Japanese). New Japan Pro Wrestling. Retrieved on 2015-07-21.
- ↑ The Guerrillas of Destiny make their ROH Debut in May . Ring of Honor (2016-04-18). Retrieved on 2016-04-18.
- ↑ Results from Global Wars . Ring of Honor (2016-05-09). Retrieved on 2016-05-09.
External links
- Bullet Club at Shop.NJPW.co.jp (Japanese)
- Cagematch Profile
