Guerrillas of Destiny

Guerrillas of Destiny
Tama Tonga (left) and Tanga Loa (right) in November 2016
Tag team
Members Tama Tonga/Kava
Tanga Loa/Nuku
Name(s) Guerrillas of Destiny
Sons of Tonga[1]
Heights Tonga:
1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[2]
Loa:
1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[3]
Combined
weight		 195 kg (430 lb)[2][3]
Years active 2008–2009
2016–present
Promotions CMLL[4]
NJPW[3]
PWF[5]
ROH[6]
SCW[7]
WC[8]
WM[9]
WWC[10]
WXW[11]
Trainer Bubba Ray Dudley[12]
D-Von Dudley[12]
Ricky Santana[12]
Tonga Fifita[12]

The Guerrillas of Destiny, sometimes shortened to G.O.D., is a Tongan-American professional wrestling tag team of real-life brothers Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa. The two originally began wrestling together in 2008 under the team name Sons of Tonga, a reference to their father, professional wrestler Tonga Fifita. After a seven-year break, the team reunited in March 2016, when Loa joined Tonga in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). As members of the Bullet Club stable, they are former three-time IWGP Tag Team Champions.

History

Training and early career (2008–2009)

Alipate Leone and Tevita Fifita are sons of professional wrestler Tonga Fifita, better known by the ring names Haku, Meng and King Tonga.[12] The two brothers decided to pursue their own careers in professional wrestling, when Alipate was stationed at Whiteman Air Force Base with the United States Air Force, while Tevita was attending University of Texas at El Paso.[12] The brothers started training under their father and Ricky Santana in a ring owned by the Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley) at their Team 3D Academy of Professional Wrestling and Sports Entertainment training school in Kissimmee, Florida.[12] Eventually the brothers signed up with the Team 3D Academy, where they would continue their training for a year under the Dudley Boyz.[12]

In 2008, Alipate and Tevita began wrestling under the names Kava and Nuku, respectively, and the team name "Sons of Tonga".[1][10] In 2009, the brothers took part in a WWE tryout camp, which resulted in Tevita being signed to a contract.[1][12] Tevita eventually made it to WWE television under the ring name "Camacho", while Alipate traveled first to Puerto Rico and then to Japan, joining New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) in May 2010, where he became a founding member of the Bullet Club stable in 2013 as "Tama Tonga".[2][12]

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2016–present)

On February 14, 2016, at NJPW's The New Beginning in Niigata event, Bullet Club's Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson unsuccessfully challenged G.B.H. (Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma) for the IWGP Tag Team Championship. Following the match, Gallows and Anderson's stablemate Tama Tonga, entered the ring to challenge Makabe and Honma, stating that his partner would be a new Bullet Club member. The challenge was accepted by Makabe and Honma.[13][14] On March 12, Tonga revealed that his partner would be his brother Tevita,[15] who was given the ring name "Tanga Loa"* with their tag team dubbed "Guerrillas of Destiny" (G.O.D.).[1][12] The brothers together came up with their team name, which references their feeling of "fighting for a cause" and the belief that destiny had brought them back together. The team's acronym stemmed from Alipate's ring name meaning "God of War" and Tevita's ring name meaning "Family of God" in the Polynesian Islands.[1][12]

Loa made his NJPW debut on March 27, attacking Togi Makabe during his match with Tonga.[16][17] This led to his first match with the promotion on April 1, where the Bullet Club quintet of Loa, Tonga, Bad Luck Fale, Kenny Omega and Yujiro Takahashi were defeated by Makabe, Tomoaki Honma, Juice Robinson, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Michael Elgin in a ten-man elimination tag team match.[18] On April 10 at Invasion Attack 2016, G.O.D. defeated G.B.H. to become the new IWGP Tag Team Champions.[19][20] They made their first successful title defense on May 3 at Wrestling Dontaku 2016, defeating G.B.H. in a rematch.[21][22] Later that month, G.O.D. took part in a North American tour, co-promoted by NJPW and the American Ring of Honor (ROH) promotion.[12] During the War of the Worlds event on May 14, ROH wrestler Jay Briscoe pinned Loa to win an eight-man tag team match between Team ROH and Bullet Club and afterwards announced that he and his brother Mark were coming to NJPW to take the IWGP Tag Team Championship from Loa and Tonga.[23] On June 8, NJPW officially announced that the win had earned the Briscoe Brothers a shot at the IWGP Tag Team Championship.[24] The title match took place on June 19 at Dominion 6.19 in Osaka-jo Hall and saw the Briscoe Brothers end G.O.D.'s title reign and become the new champions.[25][26]

On September 22 at Destruction in Hiroshima, after the Briscoe Brothers had successfully defended the IWGP Tag Team Championship against Bullet Club's The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson), they were attacked by G.O.D., who demanded a title rematch.[27] This led to a match on October 10 at King of Pro-Wrestling, where G.O.D. defeated the Briscoe Brothers to regain the IWGP Tag Team Championship. Following the match, G.O.D. and The Young Bucks attacked the Briscoe Brothers as well as Tomohiro Ishii, who tried to save the former champions.[28][29] This led directly to G.O.D.'s first title defense on November 5 at Power Struggle, where they defeated Ishii and Yoshi-Hashi.[30] From November 18 to December 10, G.O.D. took part in the 2016 World Tag League.[31] After winning their block with a record of six wins and one loss, G.O.D. advanced to the finals of the tournament,[32] where they were defeated by G.B.H., setting up another title match between the two teams.[33][34] However, before the match could take place at Wrestle Kingdom 11 in Tokyo Dome, G.O.D.'s title belts were stolen by Toru Yano, which resulted in him and Tomohiro Ishii being added to the match.[35][36] On January 4, 2017, at Wrestle Kingdom 11 in Tokyo Dome, G.O.D. lost the IWGP Tag Team Championship to Yano and Ishii in the three-way match.[37][38] On June 11 at Dominion 6.11 in Osaka-jo Hall, G.O.D. defeated War Machine (Hanson and Raymond Rowe) to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship for the third time.[39] They lost the title back to War Machine in a no disqualification match on July 1 at G1 Special in USA.[40]

In wrestling

Guerrillas of Destiny performing the Guerrilla Warfare on Mark Briscoe

Championships and accomplishments

Notes

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 【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 December 31, 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 タマ・トンガ. New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved December 31, 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 4 タンガ・ロア. New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved December 31, 2016.
  4. 1 2 "El Bullet Club ya está en México…". Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (in Spanish). June 23, 2016. Archived from the original on July 2, 2016. Retrieved December 31, 2016.
  5. ↑ Martin, Adam (January 31, 2009). "1/31 Southeastern Wrestling News". Wrestleview. Retrieved December 31, 2016.
  6. 1 2 "The Guerrillas of Destiny make their ROH Debut in May". Ring of Honor. April 18, 2016. Retrieved December 31, 2016.
  7. ↑ Martin, Adam (November 10, 2008). "Southeastern wrestling news, notes, and nostalgia: 11/09-10/2008". Wrestleview. Retrieved December 31, 2016.
  8. ↑ Meltzer, Dave (January 15, 2017). "Daily Update: WWE UK tournament, Snuka death, UFC Fight Night". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved January 19, 2017.
  9. ↑ "WrestleMerica". Cagematch. Retrieved December 31, 2016.
  10. 1 2 Boutwell, Josh (January 9, 2009). "Viva La Raza! # Ocho: Lucha Weekly". Wrestleview. Retrieved December 31, 2016.
  11. ↑ Martin, Adam (January 20, 2009). "1/20 Southeastern Wrestling News, Notes and Nostalgia". Wrestleview. Retrieved December 31, 2016.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Oliver, Greg (April 24, 2016). "Tama Tonga finally getting a shot in North America with ROH". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved December 31, 2016.
  13. ↑ Meltzer, Dave (February 13, 2016). "NJPW New Beginnings: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Kenny Omega for the IWGP IC Title". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved December 31, 2016.
  14. ↑ ＜ＩＷＧＰタッグ＞真壁、本間組が初防衛. Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). February 15, 2016. Retrieved December 31, 2016.
  15. ↑ "New Japan Cup 2016". New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Archived from the original on March 13, 2016. Retrieved December 31, 2016.
  16. ↑ Rose, Bryan (March 27, 2016). "NJPW Road to Invasion Attack results: New Japan vs. Bullet Club best of 5 series". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved December 31, 2016.
  17. 1 2 タマ・トンガ弟が電撃乱入 兄弟でＩＷＧＰタッグ狙う. Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). March 28, 2016. Retrieved December 31, 2016.
  18. ↑ Rose, Bryan (April 1, 2016). "NJPW Road to Invasion Attack results: Okada and Naito square off in 6-man tag action". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved December 31, 2016.
  19. 1 2 Meltzer, Dave (April 9, 2016). "NJPW Invasion Attack live results: Kazuchika Okada vs. Tetsuya Naito for the IWGP Championship". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved December 31, 2016.
  20. 1 2 【新日・両国】ＩＷＧＰタッグはトンガ＆ロア兄弟が新王者. Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). April 11, 2016. Retrieved December 31, 2016.
  21. ↑ Rose, Bryan (May 3, 2016). "NJPW Wrestling Dontaku results: Super Juniors lineups; IWGP champ Naito vs. Ishii". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved December 31, 2016.
  22. ↑ 【レスリングどんたく】真壁＆本間　ＩＷＧＰタッグ王座奪還ならず. Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). May 4, 2016. Retrieved December 31, 2016.
  23. ↑ Lam, Jeff (May 11, 2016). "Four weeks of ROH TV tapings from Toronto, ONT: June PPV main event announced". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved December 31, 2016.
  24. ↑ 【DM16】6月19日（日）大阪城ホールの全カード決定！ケニーvsエルガン！タマ＆タンガvsブリスコ兄弟！Kushidavsオスプレイ！Jr.タッグ4Way戦！. New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). June 8, 2016. Archived from the original on June 8, 2016. Retrieved December 31, 2016.
  25. ↑ Meltzer, Dave (June 18, 2016). "NJPW Dominion live results: Tetsuya Naito vs Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP HW Championship". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved December 31, 2016.
  26. ↑ 【新日・大阪大会】ＩＷＧＰタッグ戦“兄弟組対決”はブリスコ組が新王者. Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). June 20, 2016. Retrieved December 31, 2016.
  27. 1 2 Rose, Bryan (September 22, 2016). "NJPW Destruction in Hiroshima results: Kenny Omega defends his title shot". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved December 31, 2016.
  28. 1 2 Rose, Bryan (October 9, 2016). "NJPW King of Pro Wrestling live results: Kazuchika Okada vs. Naomichi Marufuji". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved December 31, 2016.
  29. ↑ 【新日本・両国】トンガ組がＩＷＧＰタッグ奪取. Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). October 11, 2016. Retrieved December 31, 2016.
  30. ↑ Rose, Bryan (November 4, 2016). "NJPW Power Struggle live results: Tetsuya Naito vs. Jay Lethal". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved December 31, 2016.
  31. ↑ Meltzer, Dave (November 7, 2016). "NJPW reveals full World Tag League lineup, four Wrestle Kingdom matches". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved December 31, 2016.
  32. ↑ 戦国炎舞 -Kizna- Presents World Tag League 2016. New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved December 31, 2016.
  33. ↑ Meltzer, Dave; Currier, Joseph (December 9, 2016). "NJPW World Tag League finals live results: The winners are crowned". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved December 31, 2016.
  34. ↑ 【新日】真壁＆本間がタッグリーグ連覇　１・４ドームでＩＷＧＰタッグ王座挑戦へ. Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). December 11, 2016. Retrieved December 31, 2016.
  35. ↑ 矢野が強硬手段で連日ベルト挑戦要求. Daily Sports Online (in Japanese). Kobe Shimbun. December 18, 2016. Retrieved December 31, 2016.
  36. ↑ Currier, Joseph (December 19, 2016). "NJPW announces change in Wrestle Kingdom 11 tag title match". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved December 31, 2016.
  37. ↑ 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.
  38. ↑ 【新日１・４ドーム】ＩＷＧＰタッグ選手権3Way戦は逃げて逃げて最後に…矢野が盗った！. Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). January 5, 2017. Retrieved January 5, 2017.
  39. 1 2 Rose, Bryan (June 10, 2017). "NJPW Dominion live results: Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved June 11, 2017.
  40. ↑ Witner, Arya (July 1, 2017). "NJPW G1 Special live results: Kazuchika Okada vs. Cody". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved July 1, 2017.
  41. ↑ "Road to Invasion Attack 2016". New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Archived from the original on April 7, 2016. Retrieved December 31, 2016.
  42. ↑ 戦国炎舞 -Kizna- Presents New Japan Cup 2017. New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved March 17, 2017.
  43. ↑ 戦国炎舞 -Kizna- Presents World Tag League 2016. New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved January 6, 2017.
  44. ↑ 戦国炎舞 -Kizna- Presents World Tag League 2016. New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved January 6, 2017.
  45. ↑ 戦国炎舞 -Kizna- Presents Wrestle Kingdom 11 in 東京ドーム. New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved January 6, 2017.
  46. ↑ Metzger, Mike (September 21, 2016). "9/21 ROH TV Results – Metzger’s Report on Team Okada vs. ROH tag champions, more ROH vs. New Japan matches; Overall Reax". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved December 31, 2016.
  47. ↑ レスリングどんたく 2016. New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved December 31, 2016.
  48. ↑ Kushida、タマ兄弟がCMLLの大会に初登場！両者、見事に初勝利をゲット！！【6.24CMLL・アレナメヒコ大会結果】. New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). June 26, 2016. Retrieved December 31, 2016.
  49. ↑ "Invasion Attack 2016". New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved December 31, 2016.
  50. ↑ 戦国炎舞 -Kizna- Presents Power Struggle. New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved December 31, 2016.
  51. ↑ 【3月1日（水）発売！】エルガン、オスプレイ、Sanada、高橋ヒロムの曲も収録!! 入場テーマ曲集「NJPWグレイテストミュージック V」が登場!!. New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). January 30, 2017. Retrieved January 30, 2017.
  52. ↑ "02/19/2017 - WrestleCircus Presents: Taking Center Stage". WrestleCircus. Retrieved February 21, 2017.
  53. ↑ Meltzer, Dave (February 20, 2017). "Daily Update: The Rock at Raw, Pete Dunne, Payback". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved February 21, 2017.
  54. ↑ "Results from Global Wars". Ring of Honor. May 9, 2016. Retrieved December 31, 2016.
  55. ↑ タンガ・ロア. New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Archived from the original on March 16, 2016. Retrieved August 12, 2017.
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