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Tanga Loa

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Tevita Tu'amoeloa Fetaiakimoeata Fifita[4] (born May 7, 1983)[2] is a professional wrestler, best known for working for his work in New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) under the ring name Tanga Loa (originally Tanga Roa).

Fifita is part of a large wrestling family, as he is the brother of Tama Tonga and the son of Haku. He and Tonga are former seven-time IWGP Tag Team Champions, while also being a former three-times NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champions. Throughout NJPW's working relationship with American partner Ring of Honor (ROH), they are former one-time ROH World Tag Team Championship.

Early years[]

Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, Fifita attended the University of Texas at El Paso, where he played football as a defensive end.[4] And graduated with a degree in Liberal Arts with major in Communications Electronic Media and minor in criminal justice.

Professional wrestling career[]

New Japan Pro Wrestling (2016–present)[]

On March 12, 2016, Fifita was announced as the newest member of New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) stable Bullet Club. The announcement was made by his brother Tama Tonga, who challenged Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma to a match for the IWGP Tag Team Championship at Invasion Attack 2016. Two days later, Fifita was given the new ring name Tanga Roa, while his team with his brother was dubbed Guerrillas of Destiny (G.O.D). Roa made his NJPW debut on March 27 by attacking Togi Makabe during his match with Tonga, causing a disqualification. Roa's debut match took place on April 1, when he and Bullet Club stablemates Tonga, Bad Luck Fale, Kenny Omega and Yujiro Takahashi were defeated by Makabe, Honma, Juice Robinson, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Michael Elgin in a ten-man elimination tag team match. On April 10 at Invasion Attack 2016, G.O.D defeated Makabe and Honma to become the new IWGP Tag Team Champions. They lost the title to The Briscoe Brothers (Jay and Mark) on June 19 at Dominion 6.19 in Osaka-jo Hall. On October 10 at King of Pro-Wrestling, the Guerrillas of Destiny regained the IWGP Tag Team Championship from the Briscoe Brothers. In December, the Guerrillas of Destiny won their block in the 2016 World Tag League with a record of six wins and one loss and advanced to the finals of the tournament. On December 10, the Guerrillas of Destiny were defeated in the finals of the tournament by Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma. On January 4, 2017, Roa and Tonga lost the IWGP Tag Team Championship to Tomohiro Ishii and Toru Yano in a three-way match, also involving Makabe and Honma.[8] On June 11 at Dominion 6.11 in Osaka-jo Hall, Roa and Tonga defeated War Machine (Hanson and Raymond Rowe) to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship for the third time.[9] They lost the title back to War Machine in a no disqualification match on July 1 at G1 Special in USA.[10] In December, Roa and Tonga won their block in the 2017 World Tag League with a record of five wins and two losses, advancing to the finals of the tournament.[11] On December 11, they were defeated in the finals of the tournament by Los Ingobernables de Japon (EVIL and SANADA).[12] 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.[13] 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,[14] only to regain it the following day. On May 3 at Wrestling Dontaku, Guerrillas of Destiny and Fale lost the titles to their Bullet Club stablemates Marty Scurll and The Young Bucks. On July 7 at G1 Special in San Francisco, following a title defense between Kenny Omega and Cody for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, Guerrillas of Destiny and their father Haku dubbed as "Firing Squad" attacked Omega and The Young Bucks. Hangman Page, Marty Scurll, Chase Owens and Yujiro Takahashi, come out to make the save, but were unable to help. Tonga offered Cody to attack Omega, but he ended up trying to save them, only to the Firing Squad to attack Cody. Following the G1 Special in San Francisco, Firing Squad's side would be referred as "Bullet Club OG", meaning "Bullet Club Original". Later that month, during the 2018 G1 Climax, Bullet Club OG was joined by Bad Luck Fale and brought back old tactics that Bullet Club used such as excessive outside interference and ref bumps, which led to them ejected from the arena by NJPW President Harold Meij on August 11, who had previously threatened to suspend them for three months and a fine. On August 12, the Guerrillas of Destiny and the newest member of Bullet Club OG Taiji Ishimori defeated Marty Scurll and The Young Bucks to win the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship. After the match, the Guerrillas of Destiny attacked The Young Bucks and throw their IWGP Tag Team Championship and the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship. This led to on September 30 at Fighting Spirit Unleashed, Guerrillas of Destiny defeated The Young Bucks to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship for the fourth time. From November 17 until December 7, Roa and Tonga took part in the 2018 World Tag League finishing the tournament with a record of ten wins and three losses, advancing to the finals of the tournament. On December 9, they were defeated in the finals of the tournament by Los Ingobernables de Japon (EVIL and SANADA) in the second consecutive year.

On January 4, 2019, at Wrestle Kingdom 13 in Tokyo Dome, the Guerrillas of Destiny lost the IWGP Tag Team Championship to EVIL and SANADA in a three-way match also involving The Young Bucks. They lost the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship to Ryusuke Taguchi, Togi Makabe and Toru Yano on January 30. On February 23, at Honor Rising: Japan, the Guerrillas of Destiny defeated EVIL and SANADA to win the IWGP Tag Team Champions for their fifth time. On April 6 at G1 Supercard, the Guerrillas of Destiny defeated EVIL and SANADA, Villain Enterprises (PCO and Brody King) and The Briscoe Brothers (Jay Briscoe and Mark Briscoe) in a "Winner takes all match" to retain the IWGP Tag Team and win the ROH World Tag Team Championships. From November 16 until December 8, the Guerrillas of Destiny took part in the 2019 World Tag League. The Guerrillas of Destiny entered the final day with a chance to win the tournament, but a loss against Tomohiro Ishii and Yoshi-Hashi cost them the chance to win the tournament.

On January 4, 2020, on the first night of Wrestle Kingdom 14 in Tokyo Dome, the Guerrillas of Destiny lost the IWGP Tag Team Championship to David Finlay and Juice Robinson. They regained the titles from Finlay and Robinson on February 1 at The New Beginning in USA, before losing them to Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kota Ibushi on February 21. In August, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, Loa along with several members of the Bullet Club were unable to work on NJPW events in Japan, leading him to take part in NJPW Strong series, in which he took part in the 2020 New Japan Cup USA, losing to Jeff Cobb on August 7 in the first round. From November 15 until December 6, the Guerrillas of Destiny took part in the 2020 World Tag League, finishing the tournament with a record of six wins and three losses, advancing to the finals of the tournament. On December 11, the Guerrillas of Destiny defeated David Finlay and Juice Robinson in the finals to win the 2020 World Tag League, after reaching three consecutive finals in the previous tournaments. On January 4, 2021, on the first night of Wrestle Kingdom 15 in Tokyo Dome, the Guerrillas of Destiny defeated Dangerous Tekkers (Taichi and Zack Sabre Jr.) to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship for the seventh time, surpassing Tencozy six reigns, to become the team with the most reigns as champions. They lost the titles back to Dangerous Tekkers on June 1. On August 14, at Resurgence, Tonga and Loa returned since losing the IWGP Tag Team Champions, confronting The Good Brothers (Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows). From September 18 to October 18, Loa took part in the 2021 G1 Climax, where he finished with a record of three wins and six losses, failing to advance to the finals of the tournament. From November 14 until December 12, the Guerrillas of Destiny took part in the 2021 World Tag League finishing the tournament with a record of seven wins and four losses, failling to advance to the finals of the tournament.

On the January 27, 2022 episode of Impact!, the Guerrillas of Destiny made their Impact Wrestling debut attacking Jake Something and Mike Bailey alongside Bey and White, before challenging The Good Brothers to a title match for the Impact World Tag Team Championship. On February 19 at No Surrender, the Guerillas of Destiny unsucessfully challenged The Good Brothers (Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson) for the Impact World Tag Team Championship, after they were betrayed by Jay White. Subsequently, the Guerillas of Destiny were kicked out of Bullet Club and White reinstated The Good Brothers as members for the first time in nearly a decade. From July 15 to August 6, 2023, Loa took part in the 2023 G1 Climax, where he finished the tournament with a record of three wins and four losses, failing to advance to the quarterfinals of the tournament.

In March 2024, Loa took part in the 2024 New Japan Cup, defeating Great O-Khan in the first round in an upset win before being eliminated from the tournament by David Finlay on March 12 at the second round. Afterwards, Loa began constantly challenging O-Khan; despite O-Khan stating that Loa was not up to the task, this led on March 18, O-Khan finally accepting Loa's challenge leading to the match becoming official three days later. On March 25, ahead of their match, a fan vote was held by each men proposing each stipulation, Jado, on the behalf of Loa, proposed a “King of Kaiju match". Afterwards, O-Khan proposed a "Rural Revitalization Match in Hamamatsu", with O-Khan stating that the match would be a ‘two out of three falls’, but with very different interpretations of falls. The first fall would be held under a ten minute time limit most covers rules, with every pinfall attempt counting as a point in the scenario. The second round would be an eating contest, with the local specialty of eel being the focus for five minutes, while the third would a strap match with two wrestlers connected via a strap with the winner having to touch all four corners consecutively to win the match. O-Khan then reiterated the only way to watch the match was to be live in person; although suggested that fans would be able to see the match later at NJPW World. Two days later, it was announced that O-Khan and Loa would face each other in a Rural Revitalization Match in Hamamatsu, following the result of a fan poll. On March 31, Loa unsucessfully challenged O-Khan for the KOPW Championship, despite Loa winning the first fall. This was also his last appearance for NJPW.

Personal life[]

Fifita is a second generation professional wrestler; his father Tonga was the professional wrestler better known as Meng or Haku. His adopted brothers Alipate and Taula are also wrestlers; currently, all three brothers, as well as cousin Fale Simitaitoko, wrestle together in New Japan Pro-Wrestling as part of the Bullet Club stable. The Anoa'i family such as The Usos, The Rock and Roman Reigns are considered family to the Tongans despite no blood relation after Peter Maivia helped train his father Haku and the close bond the family shares with one another.

In wrestling[]

  • Finishing moves
    • Apeshit[15] (Over the shoulder reverse piledriver)[16]
    • OJK-Operation Jado Killer (Crossface) - Adopted from Jado
    • The Sacrifice (Double wrist-clutch knee strike to a kneeling opponent's face) – 2024–present
  • Signature moves
    • Backbreaker[17]
    • Diving leg drop[17]
    • Headbutt
    • Multiple suplex variations
    • Powerbomb
    • Running powerslam[18]
    • Running Samoan drop[2]
    • Sitout inverted suplex slam[17]
    • Spinning spinebuster[17]
    • Spear
    • Standing moonsault - 2021-present
  • With Tama Tonga
    • Double team finishing moves
      • Guerrilla Warfare (Aided double arm DDT)[19][20][21]
      • Nightfall (Belly-to-back suplex (Loa) / Neckbreaker (Tonga) combination)[22]
      • Killshot (Flapjack (Loa)/Jumping Cutter (Tonga) Combination)
      • Super Powerbomb (Double Powerbomb to a cornered opponent)
  • Nicknames
    • "Tongan Terrorist"
    • "The Silverback"
  • Entrance themes
    • "Shot'Em" by [Q]Brick[23] (NJPW; 2016–present; used while a part of Bullet Club)
    • "Guerrilas of Destiny" by Yonosuke Kitamura (used while teaming with Tama Tonga)
    • "G.O.D (Firing Squad)" by No Name Tim and Kashis Keyz (used while teaming with Tama Tonga and singles)

Championships and accomplishments[]

References[]

  1. ↑ ja:タンガ・ロア (in Japanese). New Japan Pro Wrestling. Archived from the original on 2016-03-16. Retrieved on 2016-03-15.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 ja:タンガ・ロア (in Japanese). New Japan Pro Wrestling. Retrieved on 2017-08-12.
  3. ↑ The Guerrillas of Destiny make their ROH Debut in May . Ring of Honor. Retrieved on 2016-04-18.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 OWW profile . Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2012-02-25.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named WWE
  6. ↑ Tanga Roa English NJPW Profile . New Japan Pro Wrestling. Retrieved on 2016-04-21.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Oliver, Greg 2016-04-24. Tama Tonga finally getting a shot in North America with ROH . Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved on 2017-01-01.
  8. ↑ NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 11 live results: Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega . Wrestling Observer Newsletter (2017-01-03). Retrieved on 2017-01-04.
  9. ↑ Rose, Bryan 2017-06-10. NJPW Dominion live results: Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega . Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved on 2017-06-11.
  10. ↑ Witner, Arya 2017-07-01. NJPW G1 Special live results: Kazuchika Okada vs. Cody . Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved on 2017-07-01.
  11. ↑ 鉄拳Presents World Tag League 2017 (in Japanese). New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Retrieved on 2017-12-08.
  12. ↑ 鉄拳Presents World Tag League 2017 (in Japanese). New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Retrieved on 2017-12-11.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 JRA presents Road to Tokyo Dome (in Japanese). New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Retrieved on 2017-12-17.
  14. ↑ Renner, Ethan 2018-01-03. NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 12 live results: Okada-Naito, Omega-Jericho . Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved on 2018-01-04.
  15. ↑ Sengoku-Enbu -Kizna- Presents New Japan Cup 2017 (in Japanese). New Japan Pro Wrestling. Retrieved on 2017-03-12.
  16. ↑ 3/12 SHOCKING FIRST ROUND ELIMINATION AND MORE: NEW JAPAN CUP REPORT . Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved on 2017-03-13.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 17.4 17.5 Trionfo, Richard. WWE NXT REPORT: KIDD/CAMACHO; BRAY WYATT'S NXT DEBUT; USOS VERSUS PRIME TIME PLAYERS; ARE YOU AFRAID OF A BLACK OUT; RAQUEL DIAZ DEBUTS NEXT WEEK . PWInsider. Retrieved on 2013-07-14.
  18. ↑ Trionfo, Richard. WWE NXT REPORT: HEAVYWEIGHT AND TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS IN ACTION; NEW CHALLENGERS FOR TAG TITLES?; ARE THE BFFs SHOWING SOME CRACKS IN THE FOUNDATION?; AND MORE . PWInsider. Retrieved on 2014-03-20.
  19. ↑ 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 2016-06-24.
  20. ↑ Road to Invasion Attack 2016 (in Japanese). New Japan Pro Wrestling. Archived from the original on 2016-04-07. Retrieved on 2016-06-24.
  21. ↑ Road to Invasion Attack 2016 (in Japanese). New Japan Pro Wrestling. Retrieved on 2016-06-24.
  22. ↑ ja:戦国炎舞 -Kizna- Presents New Japan Cup 2017 (in Japanese). New Japan Pro Wrestling. Retrieved on 2017-03-17.
  23. ↑ [Q]Brick 2014-05-22. "Shot'Em" Bullet Club 2nd Theme . SoundCloud. Retrieved on 2014-11-10.
  24. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named InvasionAttack2016
  25. ↑ 02/19/2017 - WrestleCircus Presents: Taking Center Stage . WrestleCircus. Retrieved on 2017-02-21.
  26. ↑ Meltzer, Dave 2017-02-20. Daily Update: The Rock at Raw, Pete Dunne, Payback . Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved on 2017-02-21.
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