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Tanga Loa
Loa in September 2016
Birth nameTevita Tu'amoeloa Fetaiakimoeata Fifita
Born (1983-05-07) May 7, 1983 (age 41)[1]
Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
Alma materUniversity of Texas at El Paso[2]
FamilyTonga Fifita (father)
Tama Tonga (brother)
Hikuleo (brother)
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Agent T[2]
Camacho[2][3]
Donny Marlow
Micah[4]
Tanga Roa[5]
Tanga Loa[6][7]
Tevita Fifita
Tonga[2]
Billed height6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[2][3]
Billed weight230 lb (100 kg)[2][3]
Billed fromFlorida[8]
Honolulu, Hawaii
Juárez, Mexico[2]
Trained byD-Von Dudley[2]
Bubba Ray Dudley
Florida Championship Wrestling[2]
Ricky Santana[9]
Tonga Fifita[9]
Debut2008[2][6]

Tevita Tu'amoeloa Fetaiakimoeata Fifita (born May 7, 1983) is an American professional wrestler, currently working for New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) under the ring name Tanga Loa (originally Tanga Roa). He is also known for his tenure in WWE between 2011 and 2014 under the name Camacho. He previously worked in WWE's developmental territory, Florida Championship Wrestling, under the name Donny Marlow where he was a one-time FCW Florida Tag Team Champion with CJ Parker. He has also worked for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) under the name Micah. Fifita is part of a large wrestling family, as he is the brother of Tama Tonga and Hikuleo and the son of Haku. He and Tonga are former three-time IWGP Tag Team Champions and former two-time NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champions with Bad Luck Fale.[10]

Early years

Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, Fifita attended the University of Texas at El Paso, where he played football as a defensive end[2]. Fifita graduated with a degree in liberal arts with major in Communications Electronic Media and minor in criminal justice.[citation needed]

Professional wrestling career

World Wrestling Entertainment / WWE

Florida Championship Wrestling (2009–2011)

After taking part in a World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) tryout alongside his adoptive brother Alipate,[11] Fifita signed a developmental contract with the promotion on February 10, 2009, and was assigned to its developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) as Tonga.[2] In March, he became known as Agent T, as part of Abraham Washington's Secret Service stable, alongside Agent D and Agent J.[12] He later changed his name to Donny Marlow. On July 21, 2011, Marlow and CJ Parker defeated Calvin Raines and Big E Langston to win the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship. On November 3, Marlow and Parker lost the Tag Team Championship to Brad Maddox and Briley Pierce.

Alliance with Hunico (2011–2013)

Camacho and Hunico in November 2013

On the December 15, 2011 episode of Superstars, Fifita came to the ring as the new enforcer of Hunico,[3][13] and his new ring name was revealed as Camacho.[14] Hunico and Camacho first teamed together on the April 26 episode of Superstars where they beat the Usos.[15] Camacho made his pay-per-view debut at Over the Limit, where he was defeated by Ryback in a singles match.[16] Camacho began appearing again on WWE's developmental territory, the former FCW, which had been rebranded into NXT Wrestling;[17] He made his NXT debut on the July 4, 2012 episode of the rebooted NXT, first losing to Seth Rollins but emerging victorious later that episode in a six-man tag match while teaming with Hunico and Michael McGillicutty against Rollins, Bo Dallas, and Tyson Kidd.[18] On the next episode of NXT, Camacho defeated Kidd in a singles match following a distraction from McGillicutty.[19] In the pre-show of Money in the Bank, he and Hunico lost to the WWE Tag Team Champions, Kofi Kingston and R-Truth in a non-title match.[20] At Raw 1,000, Camacho, along with Hunico and four other wrestlers attempted to ambush Kane to make a statement, but The Undertaker's return resulted in the Brothers of Destruction disposing of all six would-be attackers.[21] With Hunico out injured, Camacho continued to compete on NXT; after a $5,000 bounty was promised to anyone who could put Big E Langston "on the shelf"; Camacho attempted to claim the bounty in late-2012 so that he could "get Hunico out of Mexico", but he was squashed by Langston.[22][23] On April 4, 2013, Camacho reunited with Hunico at the WrestleMania Axxess live event.[24]

Singles competition (2013–2014)

On the November 6, 2013 episode of Main Event he and Hunico made their first televised tag team match since July 2012, losing to The Usos. He and Hunico then started a feud against The Ascension, defeating them in a non-title match, but were then defeated in a championship match. Once Hunico started portraying Sin Cara again, Camacho started to wrestle solo on NXT and scored a rare victory over the returning Oliver Grey at the March 13 television tapings.[25] His last feud in WWE was with Adam Rose on NXT, which began when he attacked one of Rose's followers after a match and ended at NXT TakeOver when Camacho lost to Rose.[26][27] On June 12, 2014, Camacho was released from his contract.[28]

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2015–2016)

Main article: The Rising (professional wrestling)

On February 16, 2015, Fifita participated at Total Nonstop Action Wrestling's TNA One Night Only's Gut Check, where he won a tournament to earn a spot in the company. On March 15, 2015, Fifita, under the ring name of Micah and announcing himself as the son of Haku, made his debut at Impact Wrestling as a member of The Rising, a stable consisting of himself, Drew Galloway, and Eli Drake. On the April 24 edition of Impact Wrestling, Micah defeated Kenny King. On the May 22 episode of Impact Wrestling, Micah wrestled against Kenny King for his TNA X Division Championship, but failed to win the title. On the June 3 episode of Impact Wrestling, The Rising defeated The Beat Down Clan. On the July 1 edition of Impact Wrestling, The Beat Down Clan defeated The Rising in a 4-on-3 handicap match, forcing The Rising to dissolve. On the September 9 edition of Impact Wrestling, Micah, Tigre Uno and Robbie E defeated Jessie Godderz, Kenny King and his former partner Eli Drake in a six man tag team match. From October to November (during which Impact Wrestling had been taped from July 22-July 25), Micah participated in the TNA World Title Series in the "Future 4" group, during which he earned 4 points and thus failed to qualify for the successive round of 16. On the December 16 edition of Impact Wrestling, Micah wrestled his final match for TNA, where he teamed up with Eli Drake, Jessie Godderz and Crimson in a losing effort against Tigre Uno, DJ Z, Manik and Mandrews in a Eight-Man Tag Team match. Micah did not appear after this leading to his release.

New Japan Pro Wrestling (2016–present)

Main articles: Bullet Club and Guerrillas of Destiny

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.[29] Two days later, Fifita was given the new ring name Tanga Loa (sometimes spelled "Tanga Roa"), while his team with his brother was dubbed Guerrillas of Destiny (G.O.D).[30][31] Fifita's ring name was taken from Tangaloa, a family of gods in Tongan mythology.[9] Loa made his NJPW debut on March 27 by attacking Togi Makabe during his match with Tonga, causing a disqualification.[32] Loa'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.[33] On April 10 at Invasion Attack 2016, G.O.D defeated Makabe and Honma to become the new IWGP Tag Team Champions.[34] They lost the title to The Briscoe Brothers (Jay and Mark) on June 19 at Dominion 6.19 in Osaka-jo Hall.[35] On October 10 at King of Pro-Wrestling, the Guerrillas of Destiny regained the IWGP Tag Team Championship from the Briscoe Brothers.[36] 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.[37] On December 10, the Guerrillas of Destiny were defeated in the finals of the tournament by Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma.[38] On January 4, 2017, Loa and Tonga lost the IWGP Tag Team Championship to Tomohiro Ishii and Toru Yano in a three-way match, also involving Makabe and Honma.[39] On June 11 at Dominion 6.11 in Osaka-jo Hall, Loa and Tonga defeated War Machine (Hanson and Raymond Rowe) to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship for the third time.[40] They lost the title back to War Machine in a no disqualification match on July 1 at G1 Special in USA.[41] In December, Guerrillas of Destiny 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.[42] On December 11, they were defeated in the finals of the tournament by Los Ingobernables de Japon (Evil and Sanada).[43] 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.[44] 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.[45] The following day at New Year's Dash, they would regain the title from Chaos.[46]

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 Tama 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 wouldn't 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, Tama debuted the newest member to Bullet Club, Taiji Ishimori. Later, it was announced that Tama will be competing in the G1 Climax 28.

At the G1 Special in San Francisco, Tama, Loa, King Haku, Chase Owens, and Yujiro Takahashi defeated CHAOS members Gedo, Yoshi-Hashi, and Roppongi 3K (Rocky Romero, Sho and Yoh), with Tama 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, Tama, 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 Hangman Page, Marty Scurll, even Chase and Takahashi, and finally Cody, when they tried to intervene. They then left the ring declaring that they were the true Bullet Club.

Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (2016)

On June 1, 2016, the Mexican Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) promotion announced Roa and Tonga as participants in the 2016 International Gran Prix.[47] On June 24, Roa, Tonga and Sam Adonis defeated Atlantis, Diamante Azul and Volador Jr. in Arena México.[48] On July 1, Roa took part in the 2016 International Gran Prix, from which he was eliminated by Último Guerrero.[49]

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.

Championships and accomplishments

Loa as one half of the IWGP Tag Team Champions in November 2016

References

  1. ^ "Tanga Loa profile". New Japan Pro Wrestling. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "OWW profile". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved February 25, 2012.
  3. ^ a b c d "WWE profile". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved February 25, 2012.
  4. ^ "Micah TNA Profile". Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. Archived from the original on April 28, 2016. Retrieved April 21, 2016. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ タンガ・ロア. New Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). Archived from the original on March 16, 2016. Retrieved March 15, 2016. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ a b タンガ・ロア. New Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved August 12, 2017.
  7. ^ "The Guerrillas of Destiny make their ROH Debut in May". Ring of Honor. Retrieved April 18, 2016.
  8. ^ "Tanga Roa English NJPW Profile". New Japan Pro Wrestling. Retrieved April 21, 2016.
  9. ^ a b c Oliver, Greg (April 24, 2016). "Tama Tonga finally getting a shot in North America with ROH". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved January 1, 2017.
  10. ^ Jaeger, Guilherme. "The Characters of NJPW, Part 22: Guerrillas of Destiny". Medium. Retrieved 6 Dec 2017.
  11. ^ "【IA16】"渦中の男"タマ・トンガにインタビュー！「俺にとって最大のチャンス！ Bullet Clubの"穴"は俺たちが埋めるしかない！」ウワサの"弟"タンガ・ロアとは？". New Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). March 26, 2016. Archived from the original on March 26, 2016. Retrieved March 26, 2016. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  12. ^ "Florida Championship Wrestling (2009)". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2010-12-23.
  13. ^ James, Justin (2011-12-16). "JAMES'S WWE SUPERSTARS REPORT 12/16: Tag champs in main event, Riley vs. Swagger, Haku's son debuts". Wrestleview. Retrieved 2013-06-08.
  14. ^ James, Justin (2011-12-23). "James's WWE Superstars report 12/22: Tag champs in main event, Riley vs. Hennig, Gabriel vs. Slater, FCW call-up gets a name". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2011-12-26.
  15. ^ James, Justin. "JAMES'S WWE SUPERSTARS REPORT 4/26: Miz lands on Superstars, faces old nemesis; K2 vs. NXT Diva, more". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
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  19. ^ James, Justin. "JAMES'S WWE NXT REPORT 7/11: PTP vs. Usos main event, transformation of Husky Harris to Bray Wyatt continues, Seth Rollins promo". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
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  23. ^ James, Justin. "JAMES'S WWE NXT REPORT 12/12 - Week 25: Rollins defends NXT Title, Paige in action, Overall Reax". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 6 July 2013.
  24. ^ "Matches of Hunico in April 2013". Wrestling Data. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
  25. ^ 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 March 20, 2014.
  26. ^ Namako, Jason (June 12, 2014). "WWE announces the releases of six talent on Thursday". WrestleView. Retrieved June 12, 2014.
  27. ^ Howell, Nolan (May 29, 2014). "Neville tops Kidd at NXT Takeover". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved June 12, 2014.
  28. ^ "WWE releases Superstars". WWE. June 12, 2014. Retrieved June 12, 2014.
  29. ^ "New Japan Cup 2016". New Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). Archived from the original on March 13, 2016. Retrieved March 12, 2016. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  30. ^ 【4.10両国・主要カード決定！】オカダvs内藤のIWGPヘビー戦がついに実現！ タマ・トンガが兄弟タッグ結成！ Kushidavsオスプレイ！リコシェ＆サイダルが防衛戦！. New Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). March 14, 2016. Archived from the original on March 14, 2016. Retrieved March 14, 2016. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  31. ^ Tonga, Tama (March 23, 2016). "G.B.H vs G.O.D". Twitter. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
  32. ^ Rose, Bryan (March 27, 2016). "NJPW Road to Invasion Attack results: New Japan vs. Bullet Club best of 5 series". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved March 27, 2016.
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  34. ^ a b Meltzer, Dave (April 9, 2016). "NJPW Invasion Attack live results: Kazuchika Okada vs. Tetsuya Naito for the IWGP Championship". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved April 10, 2016.
  35. ^ Meltzer, Dave (June 19, 2016). "NJPW Dominion live results: Tetsuya Naito vs Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP HW Championship". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved June 19, 2016.
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  37. ^ 戦国炎舞 -Kizna- Presents World Tag League 2016. New Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved December 7, 2016.
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  39. ^ Rose, Bryan; Currier, Joseph (January 3, 2017). "NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 11 live results: Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved January 4, 2017.
  40. ^ a b Rose, Bryan (June 10, 2017). "NJPW Dominion live results: Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved June 11, 2017.
  41. ^ Witner, Arya (July 1, 2017). "NJPW G1 Special live results: Kazuchika Okada vs. Cody". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved July 1, 2017.
  42. ^ "鉄拳Presents World Tag League 2017". New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved December 9, 2017.
  43. ^ "鉄拳Presents World Tag League 2017". New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved December 11, 2017.
  44. ^ a b "JRA presents Road to Tokyo Dome". New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved December 17, 2017.
  45. ^ Renner, Ethan (January 3, 2018). "NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 12 live results: Okada-Naito, Omega-Jericho". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved January 4, 2018.
  46. ^ Denney, Brian (January 6, 2018). "NJPW NEW YEAR'S DASH RESULTS: JERICHO APPEARS, BULLET CLUB FRICTION". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved January 9, 2018.
  47. ^ "El Grand Prix. La mayor competencia de lucha libre a nivel global". Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (in Spanish). June 2, 2016. Retrieved June 10, 2016.[permanent dead link]
  48. ^ "Primera llamada extranjera en el CMLL". MedioTiempo (in Spanish). June 25, 2016. Retrieved June 26, 2016.
  49. ^ Dark Angelita (July 2, 2016). "CMLL: Resultados Viernes de Grand Prix – 01/07/2016 – Bárbaro Cavernario salva su melena; Volador Jr. gana la copa para México". Superluchas (in Spanish). Retrieved July 2, 2016.
  50. ^ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 2017". The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved 2017-09-01.
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