Major Free Agent Is WWE-Bound

This top free agent is expected to sign with WWE.

by Andrew Pollard
Tama Tonga
NJPW

Having now officially departed New Japan Pro-Wrestling, Tama Tonga is said to be heading to WWE.

First reported by the Wrestling Observer, Tama is said to finally be signing with WWE after the company has shown interest in him at several points over the past decade. Most notably, the two parties had talks last year about bringing Tama in, but the talent ultimately ended up re-signing with NJPW for one more year.

Tama Tonga finished up with New Japan at this past weekend's The New Beginning in Sapporo show, where he teamed with his brother Tanga Loa in a loss to their other brother Hikuleo and El Phantasmo. This brings an end to Tama's 14 years with NJPW, with the star explaining earlier this year how he wanted to sign with a US-based company so that he could spend more time with his family.

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Of course, there are plenty of WWE names who Tama Tonga has history with. Famously, Tama, like Finn Balor and Karl Anderson, was a founding member of Bullet Club. Not just does that give him ties to Balor and Anderson, but those BC days also connect Tonga to Luke Gallows and AJ Styles. Away from Bullet Club, while not direct blood relatives, Tama Tonga and his family - including his legendary father Haku - are considered family by the members of the Bloodline.

There's no word on when Tama Tonga will be starting up with WWE, but given the expiration of his NJPW contract, that means he can turn up on WWE programming immediately.

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Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.