10 Real-Life Wrestling Feuds You Totally Didn't Know About

3. Tama Tonga Vs. Michael Elgin

PAC MIRO
Impact Wrestling

Tama Tonga is great value for this sort of irresistible sh*te.

He loves it. He loves to get in on the work, he loves to talk sh*t, he simply loves getting amongst it. The petty dramas of pro wrestling seem to sustain him. He always has one eye and a big mouth on everything because it might one day make him money. A carny with decent patter, it's little wonder that he finds himself on this list.

Michael Elgin meanwhile is just a bit weird and problematic and never could find a home for very long. Almost destined to clash with a man of Tonga's no-f*cks disposition - Elgin is cursed to take himself much too seriously - this confrontation realised itself last year.

Elgin claimed that Tonga took liberties with him in a 2018 post-match angle in which Tonga battered him with a steel chair. Tonga claimed in response that Elgin was wrong to piss and moan about it. Tonga reckons he used a plastic chair and hit the mat more often than not. It looked brutal, mind, but...that's the point.

Elgin claims he left New Japan as a result, then mixed up his story to confirm that he wished to spend more time at home with his son. Before accepting gigs with Impact Wrestling and All Japan Pro Wrestling, which, funnily enough, is in the same place as New Japan Pro Wrestling.

"Maybe they won't know," Elgin must have thought lol.

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Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!