Training and early career (2008–2010) In January 2008, the brothers approached the
Dudley Boyz to use the ring they had at the Team 3D Academy of Professional Wrestling and Sports Entertainment
training school they operated in
Kissimmee, Florida. They did not join the school at the time as they were being trained directly by their father and
Ricky Santana, a family friend. To practice more frequently they eventually joined the academy proper and were partly trained by
Bubba Ray Dudley and
D-Von Dudley. The brothers made their professional debut in November 2008, wrestling as a tag team under the name
The Sons of Tonga (referencing their father) in Southern Championship Wrestling (Florida). They continued wrestling under the same name in
World Xtreme Wrestling (WXW) and Puerto Rico's
World Wrestling Council (WWC) until early 2009. Also in November 2008, they took part in a
WWE tryout camp, two months later they were told that Tevita would be offered a contract by the company (he would later appear on television as Camacho) while Alipate would not. He made his NJPW debut in May 2010 under the name "Tama Tonga". His debut match came as part of the
2010 Super Junior Tag Tournament, where he teamed up with
Davey Richards, losing in the first round to
El Samurai and
Koji Kanemoto. Tonga was one of sixteen wrestlers who competed in the
2010 Best of the Super Juniors tournament. He defeated
Nobuo Yoshihashi, and
Akira, and
Yuji Nagata/
Wataru Inoue,
Excursion to CMLL (2012) In September 2012 it was announced that Tonga would go to Mexico from 10 October 2012 and work for NJPW's partner promotion,
Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). His debut match for CMLL saw him participate in the 2012 edition of CMLL's
Leyenda de Azul tournament. The match was a 16-man
torneo cibernetico elimination match, from which Tonga was eliminated when
Atlantis and
Shocker double teamed him. Following the tournament Tonga worked with a number of CMLL's top stars, including the
Leyenda de Azul tournament winner
Diamante Azul. On November 13, Tonga and
El Terrible won the
CMLL World Tag Team Championship from Atlantis and Diamante Azul. Tonga next made it to the finals of the
2012 La Copa Junior Tournament, where, on December 14, he was defeated by
La Sombra in the main event of CMLL's 2012
Sin Piedad ("No Mercy") show.
Bullet Club and Guerrillas of Destiny (2013–2018) in September 2013 Tonga returned to NJPW in early 2013, just in time to compete in
Wrestle Kingdom 7 on January 4 where he teamed up with Captain New Japan and
Wataru Inoue to defeat
Jado, Tomohiro Ishii and
Yoshi-Hashi by pinning Jado. On April 7, Tonga and El Terrible successfully defended the CMLL World Tag Team Championship against
La Máscara and
Valiente at New Japan's
Invasion Attack event. On July 5, Tonga and El Terrible lost the CMLL World Tag Team Championship to Tanahashi and
Jyushin Thunder Liger. On October 18, Tonga and Bucanero were stripped of the CMLL World Tag Team Championship when they were unable to defend the title against La Máscara and
Rush due to Bucanero being sidelined with an injury. Tonga remained in CMLL until the end of the year. Returning to Japan in 2014, Tonga participated almost exclusively in tag matches the next two years, On 4 January 2016, at
Wrestle Kingdom 10, Tonga teamed with Fale and
Yujiro Takahashi to take part in a match to determine the inaugural
NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champions, they were defeated by
Jay Briscoe,
Mark Briscoe and
Toru Yano when Jay pinned Tonga. On February 11 at
The New Beginning in Osaka, Tonga, Fale and Takahashi defeated the Briscoes and Yano in a rematch to win the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship. On March 3, Tonga scored the biggest singles win of his career by defeating former
IWGP Heavyweight Champion and reigning
IWGP Tag Team Champion Togi Makabe in the first round of the
2016 New Japan Cup. The following day, he was eliminated from the tournament in the second round by Hirooki Goto. They lost the title to Jay and Mark Briscoe on June 19 at
Dominion 6.19 in Osaka-jo Hall. In late June 2016, Tonga returned to CMLL with his brother for a month-long excursion and the two competed in the
2016 International Gran Prix, where Tonga was the last eliminated, losing to winner
Volador Jr. Tonga was announced as one of the participants of the
2016 G1 Climax from 18 July 2016. NJPW's most prestigious tournament, it entitles its winner to an
IWGP Heavyweight Championship title match at the next Wrestle Kingdom. Tonga's participation in the G1 was seen as a major step-up. In his third tournament match on 25 July, he scored the biggest win of his career by defeating Hiroshi Tanahashi (who had won the previous year's G1). Tonga finished the tournament on August 12 with a record of four wins and five losses. They reached the final of the
2016 World Tag League but lost to Makabe and Honma on December 10. On January 4, 2017, Tonga and Loa lost the IWGP Tag Team Championship to Tomohiro Ishii and Toru Yano in a three-way match, also involving Makabe and Honma. On June 11 at
Dominion 6.11 in Osaka-jo Hall, Tonga and Loa defeated
War Machine to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship for the third time. They lost the title back to War Machine in a
no disqualification match on July 1 at
G1 Special in USA. Tonga participated in his second G1 Climax by entering the
2017 edition in July. He finished with a record of four wins and five losses. In December, G.O.D. 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. On December 11, they were defeated in the finals of the tournament by
Los Ingobernables de Japón (
Evil and
Sanada). Six days later, G.O.D. and Bad Luck Fale defeated Evil, Sanada and
Bushi to become the new NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champions. 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. The following day at New Year's Dash, they would regain the title from Chaos.
Bullet Club Civil War (2018–2019) At
The New Beginning in Sapporo, Bullet Club stablemate
Cody turned on the leader of the stable,
Kenny Omega. This led to there being two sides to Bullet Club; Team Cody and Team Kenny. While Tonga stayed neutral at
Strong Style Evolved before a tag team match against
Marty Scurll and Cody, Tama stated if he were to be on a team it would not be Team Cody. On the first night of the
Wrestling Dontaku 2018 shows, G.O.D and Fale lost the
NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship to the Super Villains (Marty Scurll and the
Young Bucks). The second night, Tonga debuted the newest member to Bullet Club,
Taiji Ishimori. Later, it was announced that Tonga would be competing in the G1 Climax 28. At the
G1 Special in San Francisco, Tonga, Loa,
King Haku,
Chase Owens, and Yujiro Takahashi defeated
Chaos members
Gedo,
Yoshi-Hashi, and
Roppongi 3K (
Rocky Romero,
Sho and
Yoh), with Tonga pinning Gedo after a Tongan Death Grip by Haku to Gedo followed by a Gun Stun. At the end of the night, following Kenny's victory over Cody in the main event, Tonga, Loa, and Haku came out to seemingly celebrate with Kenny and the Young Bucks in a show of loyalty, only to attack The Elite, as well as fellow Bullet Club members Scurll and
Hangman Page, even Owens and Takahashi, and finally Cody, when they tried to intervene. They then left the ring declaring that they were the true Bullet Club. From then on, Tonga and his associates would be announced during their entrances as members of Bullet Club OG, while the rest would be known as Bullet Club Elite. In the
2018 G1 Climax, Tonga participated in the B Block, where he tied for last place with 6 points, down from the 8 he posted in the previous two years. However, Tonga did manage to defeat the
IWGP United States Champion,
Juice Robinson, as well as that year's B Block winner,
Kota Ibushi. On the night of the G1 Climax finals, Tonga, Loa, and Ishimori won the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship from the Super Villains in what was originally scheduled to be a showcase match but became a title match after Matt Jackson accepted a challenge from Loa to put the belts on the line. With this victory, Tonga became the first four-time NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champion in NJPW history, and later that night, G.O.D. declared their intention to challenge the Young Bucks for the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship as well. G.O.D. would end up dropping the tag team titles at Wrestle Kingdom 13 to
Evil and
Sanada in a three-way Match for the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship that also included The Young Bucks. On January 30, 2019, they lost the Never Openweight 6-Man Championship against Taguchi, Makabe, and Yano.
Seven-time IWGP Tag Team Champion (2019–2022) On February 23, 2019, they would regain the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship by defeating
Evil and
Sanada at
Honor Rising 2019: Day 2, starting their fifth reign. After defending the championships seven times, their reign would end when G.O.D lost to
FinJuice (
Juice Robinson and
David Finlay) at
Wrestle Kingdom 14. They would soon immediately regain the belts at The New Beginning in the USA event in Atlanta, before again losing them without a defence to
Golden☆Ace (
Hiroshi Tanahashi and
Kota Ibushi) on a New Japan Road show in
Korakuen Hall. After the
pandemic, 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. They would go on to win an IWGP Tag Team Championship match at the
Tokyo Dome for the first time, defeating champions
Dangerous Tekkers (
Taichi and
Zack Sabre Jr.) after Tanga Loa hit "ApeSh*t" (a
sitout reverse piledriver) on Taichi after 19 minutes and 18 seconds. They lost the belts back to the Dangerous Tekkers on June 1.
Bullet Club departure, expanding of G.O.D, final days in NJPW (2022–2024) At
No Surrender,
Jay White interfered in G.O.D.'s match against former
Bullet Club stablemates
Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows by hitting his finishing move Bladerunner on Tonga causing them to lose the match. Afterwards, White,
Chris Bey, and the Good Brothers all gave the 'too sweet' hand gesture in the middle of the ring signalling that Tonga and Loa had been kicked out of the group. In the 2022
New Japan Cup, Tonga faced
Evil in the second round. During the match,
House of Torture attacked Tonga, only to briefly be saved by the Japanese division of Bullet Club, before they also turned on G.O.D. and
Jado. The following night, after losing to Bullet Club in a six-man tag team match, Tonga announced that Guerrillas of Destiny would become a stable. In March, Tonga, Loa and Jado formed an alliance with
Ryusuke Taguchi and
Master Wato (and later
Hiroshi Tanahashi), and joined the Hontai stable which represents New Japan. At
Wrestling Dontaku, Tonga defeated Evil to win the
NEVER Openweight Championship, his first New Japan singles championship. He lost the title to
Karl Anderson at
Dominion 6.12 in Osaka-jo Hall, ending his reign at 42 days. Also at the event, Tonga was announced to be a part of the
G1 Climax 32 tournament in July, where he would compete in the B Block. He finished with 10 points, defeating
IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Jay White to advance to the semi-finals. In the semi-finals match, Tonga was defeated by A Block winner
Kazuchika Okada, therefore failing to make the finals. Due to knocking White out of the tournament, Tonga earned an IWGP World Heavyweight Championship match on October 10 at Declaration of Power, however failed to capture the title from White at the event. Tonga later defeated Anderson to regain the NEVER Openweight Championship at
Wrestle Kingdom 17, becoming the first to win a NJPW title from a WWE contracted wrestler since the two companies' past partnership ended in 1985. At
Wrestling Dontaku on May 3, he lost the title to
David Finlay, ending his second reign at 119 days. Two months later, Tonga would participate in the 2023
G1 Climax, competing in the C Block. Despite avenging his loss to Finlay, Tonga finished the tournament with 9 points, narrowly missing out in a place in the quarterfinals. On October 9 at
Destruction in Ryogoku, Tonga defeated Finlay to win the NEVER Openweight Championship for the third time. On October 28 at
Fighting Spirit Unleashed, Tonga lost the title to
Shingo Takagi in his first title defense. On January 4, 2024, at
Wrestle Kingdom 18, Tonga defeated Takagi to win the NEVER Openweight Championship for the fourth time. In a post-match press conference, Tonga announced he would be leaving NJPW due to his contract expiring and wanting to be closer to his family. On January 22 at
The New Beginning in Nagoya, 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 a
lumberjack match, where Tonga lost the title to EVIL. 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 appearance for the promotion. At
The New Beginning in Sapporo: Night 2, he wrestled his final NJPW match alongside his brother Tanga Loa against fellow G.O.D members
El Phantasmo and
Hikuleo, ending his near 14-year tenure with the company.
WWE (2024–present) (center) and
Tonga Loa (right) at a
house show in November 2024 On the April 12, 2024 post-
WrestleMania XL episode of
SmackDown, Tonga made his debut for
WWE attacking
Jimmy Uso, establishing himself as a
heel and in the process, becoming the newest member of
The Bloodline stable. Then, The Bloodline started a feud with
Kevin Owens assaulting him the following week on SmackDown and again on the April 26 episode of SmackDown, before
Randy Orton made the save. As part of the stable, Tonga also received the moniker "MFT" (short for "Mother F'n Tonga") and "The Right Hand Man" (formerly used by
Jey Uso). Later that night, it was announced that Orton and Owens would face The Bloodline (Sikoa and Tonga) in a
tag team match at
Backlash France. This would mark Tonga's in-ring debut in WWE. On May 10 episode of SmackDown, Tonga defeated
Angelo Dawkins in the first round for the King of the Ring tournament. The following week he would defeat
LA Knight in the quarterfinals, but lost to Orton in the semifinals, marking his first pinfall loss in WWE. At
Money in the Bank on July 6, Tonga along with Sikoa and the debuting
Jacob Fatu defeated
Cody Rhodes, Orton and Owens at in a
Six-man tag team match with Sikoa pinning Rhodes. In the main event of the August 2 episode of
SmackDown, the night before
SummerSlam, Tonga and Fatu defeated
DIY (
Johnny Gargano and
Tommaso Ciampa) to win the
WWE Tag Team Championship marking Tonga's first title win in WWE. On the October 25 episode of SmackDown, Tonga and Loa lost the titles to
The Motor City Machine Guns (
Alex Shelley and
Chris Sabin) ending their reign at 84 days. At
Crown Jewel on November 2, Tonga along with Sikoa and Fatu defeated the original incarnation of The Bloodline
Roman Reigns and
The Usos in a
Six-man tag team match with Sikoa pinning Reigns. At
Survivor Series: WarGames on November 30, Tonga along with The Bloodline and
Bronson Reed lost to Reigns, Usos,
Sami Zayn and
CM Punk in a
WarGames match. On the April 18 episode of
SmackDown before
WrestleMania 41, Tonga was assaulted by
LA Knight in the parking lot and had his hand smashed through a door. This was used to write Tonga off television as he had suffered an undisclosed injury. After a six-month hiatus, Tonga returned on the October 10 go-home episode of
SmackDown before
Crown Jewel: Perth sporting the face paint he wore during his time with NJPW, taking out
Sami Zayn and
Shinsuke Nakamura in the process, thus joining the new MFT stable. On the January 23, 2026 episode of
SmackDown, Sikoa and Tama won the
WWE Tag Team Championship by defeating
Dexter Lumis and
Joe Gacy of
The Wyatt Sicks. On the March 20 episode of
SmackDown, Tama with
JC Mateo defending the title on the
behalf of Sikoa, would lose the titles to
Damian Priest and
R-Truth, ending their reign at 56 days. ==Personal life==