Tama Tonga made a big splash during his WWE debut last Friday night on SmackDown. Tonga and Solo Sikoa attacked Jimmy Uso and then destroyed Paul Heyman’s phone before Heyman was able to make the call to Roman Reigns.
There were rumors for months about Tonga signing with WWE. While speaking on Busted Open Radio, Karl Anderson said that Tonga is exactly what WWE needs because of his look and experience.
“I think he’s got the perfect look,” Anderson said. “He’s got exactly what WWE needs. I think it’s great that Tama has had 15 or 16 years, all in New Japan Pro Wrestling, to come into WWE and show them that experience and that he is ready for prime time. I think that it’s unlimited right now for what Tama Tonga can pull off in the WWE. I’m excited to watch man.”
Anderson said that when Tonga was headed to SmackDown last Friday, he didn’t know that it would be his debut. Anderson said. “Just knowing that he was coming last Friday, he had texted me and told me he was going to show up in the city. He had no clue he was going to debut that night either, which is kind of WWE style. They’ll bring you in and then you gotta debut. They told him he was debuting and it was pretty fun to watch my friend and brother go through the fact that he knows he’s about to go on live national television for the first time ever, really. I’m proud of him.”
Anderson praised what Tonga did during his debut: “I thought he knocked it out of the park. He looked amazing, which he always does and I think he’s ready. I think the world’s ready for Tama. I think his attitude, the way he is, he’s an opinionated guy. He’s a charismatic guy. He’s a bit insane. I’m so glad he’s in that Bloodline storyline because now he’s involved with the tippy top guys. He’s got Paul Heyman right there who’s always creatively the genius that he is. It doesn’t get much cooler, especially if you’re a Bullet Club fan and that has followed for so long.”
It’s unclear what direction the storyline is going because it appears that Solo Sikoa has decided to take over the faction from Roman Reigns. The next chapters in the storyline will play out over the coming weeks and months.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit Busted Open Radio with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription. Quotes were transcribed by Jim for WrestlingNews.co.