Report: WWE Interested In Signing Current NJPW Champion
WWE scouting ANOTHER New Japan talent? Current singles champion in Triple H's sights.
Hikuleo isn't the only New Japan Pro Wrestling star WWE is reportedly interested in signing.
Fightful Select reports that Hikuleo's half-brother, Tama Tonga, is also in WWE's sightlines. The market-leading promotion has expressed an internal interest in the 40-year-old, who recently defeated the WWE-contracted Karl Anderson to become NEVER Openweight Champion at Wrestle Kingdom 17 (4 January).
WWE's interest in Tonga isn't anything new, as talk of it was doing the rounds in the NJPW locker room prior to Wrestle Kingdom.
This story emerges seven years after Tama rejected the chance to jump ship to WWE in 2016, when the likes of Anderson, Luke Gallows, AJ Styles, and Shinsuke Nakamura all made the move. Tonga opted to stay in Japan instead, focusing on his Guerrillas Of Destiny tag team with adoptive brother Tanga Loa.
It is understood that Tama's NJPW contract is due to expire within the next few weeks. There is currently no word, however, on what he might do next.
Tonga has been with NJPW since 2010, when he was brought into the company through the Super Junior Tag Team Tournament, teaming with Davey Richards. He was also a formative Bullet Club member alongside Prince Devitt, Bad Luck Fale, and Anderson in 2013, staying with the stable until being kicked out in-storyline last year.