Tama Tonga’s recent absence from WWE programming has been explained, and it has nothing to do with last week’s roster cuts.
Bryan Alvarez reported that Tonga is out with an undisclosed injury but is expected back fairly soon. His absence raised immediate questions among fans, given that it coincided with WWE’s April 24 release of 25 wrestlers, and he was not mentioned at all on last Friday’s SmackDown, despite the MFTs being a faction in ongoing storylines. The combination of his absence from the show and the wave of releases that day naturally led to speculation that he might have been part of the cuts.
Tonga was last seen on the April 17 edition of SmackDown, where he competed in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal ahead of WrestleMania 42 weekend. His absence from the following SmackDown was the first indication that something might be off, but the timing of the roster cuts made it difficult to distinguish a legitimate injury absence from a potential release without further clarification.
The MFTs, Solo Sikoa’s faction on SmackDown, are in an ongoing rivalry involving R-Truth and Damian Priest for the tag team titles, as well as the broader friction with Jacob Fatu. JC Cobb and Tonga were scheduled to challenge for those titles.
