Our resident super-villain, Jay Washington interviewed the former IWGP Tag-Team champion, founding member of the Bullet Club, and all around badass, Tama Tonga. Tonga went over the pandemic, working without fans, and the empty arena matches. Like most of us, he’d love to work in front of fans, but it is what it is. NJPW has done it different. Like Rocky Romero said in our interview yesterday, New Japan has a different style than any other promotion. So their style works with not having fans, it’s a similar feel to working in the gym. In Japan, the fans are normally quiet, out of respect for the art of Pro Wrestling.

Tonga On AEW

When we got to the Q&A portion of the interview, Tonga gave his most telling tidbit. When Jay asked him about if the Tonga’s would show up in AEW, his response was incredibly telling. It wasn’t dismissive of AEW, but it was definitely something that people don’t bring up a lot. All Elite Wrestling is barely a baby at this point. They’ve been around for a year, that’s it. New Japan and Ring Of Honor have been around for years, they have track records. While AEW has been pretty damn good over the past year, they still need time to grow. Tonga said it was “too soon to make all these assumptions about the company.”

NJPW: Strong Takes The Stage

Tonga is one of the most real people in the industry. He’s on the NJPW: Strong show as apart of the New Japan Cup USA Tournament. He had his first round match against Brody King. Jay and Tonga went over the origins of the Bullet Club, and how the Club has some new membership. As with any group in wrestling, the popularity waxes and wanes. What remains is that the Bullet Club is transcending popularity and rising to the ranks of the greatest groups in Wrestling history.

NJPW: Strong airs Fridays on NJPW: World at 7PM/10PM Pacific/Eastern. He goes one-on-one with Dave Finlay in the semifinals of the New Japan Cup USA Tournament.

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