Tama Tonga almost became a WWE Superstar.
In 2016, AJ Styles, Karl Anderson, Luke Gallows, and Shinsuke Nakamura departed from NJPW and headed to WWE; however, the original Bullet Club member also came close to joining those four men in the biggest wrestling company in North America.
Speaking on his podcast, Tama’s Island, the New Japan Pro-Wrestling star details the ordeal and claims that he verbally agreed to sign with WWE (Transcript courtesy of Fightful.com):
"At the end of 2015, this is the time we start hearing about contracts, nobody approached nobody. We're the hottest thing in wrestling and nobody approached us to lock us down. They didn't think we could go anywhere, that was the problem. That was the word from one of the higher-ups to me. Me and [Karl Anderson] were drinking with [the higher-up] and I was like, 'Why haven't you signed us?' He goes, 'You always talking money' 'Yeah, cause we're always busting our ass for you guys. What if we get up and leave?' 'Where you gonna go?' I said, 'Okay, watch us,”
However, the 38-year-old describes how Bad Luck Fale managed to get officials to entice him with an offer that he couldn’t refuse, which in turn got his brother Tanga Loa into the mix:
"Once they were confirmed gone, we did Wrestle Kingdom and after Wrestle Kingdom, I was contacted and I went and had a meeting with Triple H," he recalled. "I gave a verbal agreement and said, 'Give me one more tour, I need to tell New Japan that I'm leaving.' I came in, told [NJPW] it would be my last tour and they were stunned. I was stunned I hadn't got a contract after six years. They tried to negotiate and I was like, 'No negotiation, I already gave [a verbal agreement].' That night, me, Karl, Gallows, and Fale went drinking to celebrate. Next day, we go to work, Fale had a meeting with the higher-ups and they asked, 'What can we do?' He said, 'I think if you bring in his brother [Tanga Loa], he'll stay.' That's how it happened."
Check out the full podcast where Tonga explains the reaction from Anderson, Gallows, and AJ, his mindset going into the WWE, and so much more!