Tama Tonga Does Not See Eye To Eye With New Japan Management

With Spandex first talked to New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Tama Tonga the day before the G1 Special In San Francisco, at which he, his brother, and their dad, Haku, attacked Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks after the main event. The Bullet Club OGs, now their own distinct faction, went on to have a G1 Climax tournament full of controversy, including seemingly prompting a ban on profanity in NJPW and later being threatened with a three-month suspension. At the end of the tournament, the Guerrillas of Destiny earned an IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship match against the Young Bucks, which will go down at Fighting Spirit Unleashed on September 30.

On September 1, we talked to Tama Tonga at Starrcast in Chicago, “representing New Japan Pro Wrestling, probably not at its best,” about the latest Bullet Club drama, the nature of heat in professional wrestling, the NJPW power hierarchy, and more. This conversation is below and has been edited for length and clarity.

Tama Tonga: Emily, what is up? Last time we talked was July, what, sixth in San Francisco? A lot of things have changed since then, huh?

With Spandex: Yeah, a lot of things have changed… You had, I would say, a very controversial G1. Do you think that’s accurate?

Yes, yes.

Did you have fun though?

I had the time of my life, oh my god…. I had the time of my life, but I can’t say the same about my management team. New Japan bosses and management, I don’t think they were kind of seeing eye to eye with what I was doing, but that’s Bullet Club, right? Well, OG Bullet Club.

You guys pretty much all three wrestled, like, every block.

We were the hardest f*cking working guys that whole f*cking G1. And nobody can f*cking tell me anything else, because I wrestled every f*cking night whether it was A Block or B Block on their singles matches. Yeah, I think I got more air time than, shit, than f*cking Kenny Omega.

There was kind of some internet discourse – whenever there are heels that make people super angry people are like, “Ah, well, is it good heat or bad heat?” Is there such a thing as bad heat? Is there a bad way for people to not like someone they’re not supposed to like?

Oh man, as the – I’m a call myself Bruce Lee – as the young Bruce Lee in this field, that is the ultimate question. What is heat? (Meditative hum) I am the baddest motherf*cker on the planet, and that is not just saying that I’m going to beat everybody’s ass. I’m the one willing to take it, push it to the next f*cking limit, alright? And what I mean by that is that yeah, I’m willing to take a big-ass, fat fine and almost get fired to entertain y’all punk bitches. So, what is heat? That is the question. Bad heat, good heat, side heat, side piece heat, oh shit, you know? What is it? I’m willing to find that question. That is what we are searching! You know when people search in this, you know, they’re growing up like, “What is life?” What is heat?

That’s your mission.

That is me, Tama Tonga, what is f*cking heat? I am the best at finding heat, oh shit. I’ll find heat in the f*cking gutter in New York, I’ll find heat in the streets of f*cking Tokyo. I’ll find heat right here – where the f*ck are we right now? Chicago? In the slum-ass, f*cking Chicago, windy dumbass fart city. Hey, I’ll find heat. Where there’s heat, baby – La Cucaracha heat, Latin heat, Tongan heat, I’m the guy with heat. Enough about heat. What’s your next question?

So if people are like, “Hey, that guy should be fired,” is that concerning to you?

Uh, so when I say to the people, “You can suck my dick,” um, does that – I mean, would they do it?

Probably not.

Okay, yeah, so then the people can just suck my dick then. (laughs)

And then you guys have a tag title match coming up with the Young Bucks! That’s really exciting.

Ah, the Young F*cks… I love the Young F*cks. Or I should say the Dumb F*cks, hey… Alright, this All About Me show, this All Me show, I mean… this All In – this All In show… I think the Young Bucks need to be humbled. I think they really need to be humbled. They’re getting way too cocky. They were white hot, now they’re just hot. They’re hot. You know who’s white hot? (Points to himself) This guy! Oh shit!

Shit’s about to go burning. I’m about to f*cking set this whole f*cking place on fire. Oh man, you think the f*cking Young Bucks talk shit? You think they were cocky? Oh, wait until I f*cking come on scene. I’m gonna burn ROH down because I think they’re a piece of shit. I’m gonna f*cking burn the Elite down because I think they’re all-about-me pieces of shit. I’m a burn New Japan down because they think they can put f*cking rules on me. Uproxx, I’m a burn you down too, right now in person.

We’ll get a fire alarm, I guess, in the office. Check the batteries. Okay, but the whole place does not include All In because you’re not booked.

All About – All Me? Or is it All In?

The All In show?

All In! All In, not All Me. Oh okay. I’m trying to figure it out.

Did you have a favorite match in the G1?

No. I wanted to shit on every f*cking match, you stupid f*cking marks. You fell for the oldest trick in the book. I got you. I win. I shit on every single match. I think my favorite match out of all that was against Yano! I didn’t do a f*cking thing! I beat his dumb ass, he almost got me, but I beat his ass again! And then I got thrown out. And I think that was the highlight of my G1, was getting in that f*cking van and driving back to my hotel, thinking, “Oh shit, I’m going to go home, go to my hotel, take a shower, change, go with a sponsor, and get smashed tonight. That was my favorite part about the G1, and then the rest was just, like, “Yeah, suck my dick.”

In wrestling, I feel like getting followed out of the building with a camera is always good. That usually signifies good things for people.

They’re all a bunch of marks. They really tried to kick us out, and, I mean, they plastered us all over New Japan news… we were in the newspaper – you had nothing else to write about, but you wrote about us in the newspaper, and on Yahoo News! Yahoo! Yahoo News, you had nothing else to write about, like goddamn the President of the United States doing stupid shit, but you had to go on and write about me, and put my most prettiest picture of me looking like a f*cking maniac, which – I really looked like an angel in real life… They painted me like I was a bad guy… Was I bad?

I mean, you definitely broke the rules of sports at the sports tournament, which is bad?

Alright, alright. Point taken. I’ll take that.

And then there was the other thing that happened… they announced that they had banned swearing and, like, flipping the bird on New Japan, and people were like, “Tama Tonga ruined it for everyone.”

Are we still talking about heat? Oh, we’re still talking about heat… Yeah, so, the new president…he banned cursing and flipping the bird and we said, “F*ck that.”

Yeah, it’s continued for sure.

(Laughs) Good work, Mr. President! Cool story, bro.

You’ve been a lot more involved with the president of the company. He’s been on screen a lot more than most [New Japan] authority figures.

Hey, you’ve got it all f*cked up. I haven’t been more involved; he’s been more involved with me. I don’t know what his problem is. I’ve been doing the same f*cking thing I’ve always been doing, alright? He just made it more difficult for me. So he’s getting involved in my shit… I had to figure out ways to get around that. So, I’ve gotten creative, can you tell?

Yeah, you guys didn’t get suspended.

Oh, but did you see that fat-ass fine they did on me? They smacked the shit out of me with that. Man!

How much did you get fined?

Ooh, I already signed a contract I wouldn’t say that out loud! Yeah, they smacked me, but then, did you see the f*cking bag of money I f*cking rolled with after that G1? Who really won, bitches?

I think I saw on your Instagram that you had like a duffle bag of cash in the airport, unchecked?

Always bet on yourself! You are a sure bet, I’m telling you, if you bet on yourself… Man, they pulled me over. They saw that shit, they opened up my bag and the lady… she started stuttering, and I was like, “Is everything okay?” in Japanese, because, you know, my Japanese is pretty f*cking awesome. And she just looked at it and said, “I’ll be right back,” and she walked off, and I saw “Oh shit, this is perfect. Alright.” But then they came and made me sign some forms and – legit, got on a plane with a bag full of money. First class, mind you. (Laughs) And I came flying home.

Ishimori’s with you guys now, and you guys won the trios championship…

We did win it, huh? Oh, that’s when they were, like, hitting us with every move they did and then we turned around, hit ’em with two moves, and we won, right? Oh shit, so they beat our ass the whole entire f*cking match and then we came back, hit ’em twice – yeah, that tells you how awesome we are. We can take a beating, slap you twice with our nuts in your face, and then we win.

Do you have in your mind, like, guidelines for appropriate behavior as a wrestler? Like, your own, I would say, different from other people’s, but – Is it just see where things go, or do you have, like, a framework in there?

Yeah, there is no framework. I come from the military; it’s you adapt to your environment and you overcome. So, I kind of see where I’m at, and I push it, see what I can do and I adapt to whatever the situation is. Now, do I push the limit? Yes. Do I know where the limit is? No. It’s kind of like, you know, hey, I’m in the dark, and I’m going to keep walking, and sometimes I’m going to run hoping there’s no wall in front of me.

And then if you hit a wall you’re just going to keep pushing the wall, still?

And then I’ll keep running into the wall, face-first. (Laughs) That’s finding out your limits. That’s me looking for heat. Now, am I doing it smart? Some say no. But, what is smart, you know? Some say what I’m doing is smart, because it’s organically growing into – well, here we are. Here we are. If I hadn’t done what I’d done at the G1, very controversial – shit, here we are, right? I’m a keep running into that wall in the darkness. Face-first. Just keep bumping into it.

It seemed like you were kind of the standout individual of the group. I mean, you can challenge for the US Title, if you want to. If Cody doesn’t win it.

I really don’t give a f*ck. Honest truth. Juice is the f*cking United States Champion. What the f*ck? What the f*ck, you know? Kenny Omega is the f*cking IWGP New Japan Champion. What the f*ck?

Where I am going right now? I’m a keep running in the dark. Where is that leading me? Who am I going to run into? I’ll deal with that. I’ll adapt and overcome when I come to that… I’m having so much f*cking fun right now. It’s almost like a high of my own supply… Shit, let’s just keep pushing that envelope, and the more the people are up against it… the harder I push. The Pusha T I go. (Laughs) It’s that thing, against the grain, it’s an uncharted path that nobody’s taking that I am willing, I’m f*cking willing, to take headfirst… So, that’s where I’m at in my life right now, in my career. In my wrestling career, I’ve been that supporting role. I’ve been that f*cking loyal guy. I’ve been your workhorse… I’ve been in every position they’ve asked me. I’ve been the pin guy. I’ve been the fall guy. I’ve been the Young Lion. I’ve been the f*cking guy. But I’ve never been The Guy. So, here we go. Here we f*cking go. And f*ck everybody, f*ck you too, f*ck everybody… I’m coming at everybody, you know?

So all levels of title are pretty much the same to you.

I just don’t give a f*ck about any of that. I don’t give a f*ck. That’s like, that is a hallway. Here’s the IWGP, go down that route. Here’s the US Champion hallway, go down that route. And I’m like, f*ck it, I’m a break down this wall, I’m a go down over here. What the f*ck is over here? You know, these are rules, these are f*cking structures that everybody’s built and I’m like, “Nah, you guys are expecting me to go, I have to go this guy, this guy, this guy, to get to this guy. How do I cheat and f*cking break down this wall and pass everybody and get to the f*cking top?” Or, what I think is the top. And I don’t think any of these guys are the top.

Is there somebody you would say is the top?

Okada.

Okada’s still the top.

Okada’s the number one f*cking wrestler in the world. Not Kenny. You blind sheep, all y’all. Okada is the number one f*cking wrestler in the world. Best. Best. Absolute best. Most f*cking versatile, most athletic, young, stud, Japanese stud, handsome. He’s it. He’s the It, you know?

[Hiroshi Tanahashi] Tana’s the man. Tana is the crowned king, and the two who I see is the top is Tana and Okada, but I understand both positions. So as a foreigner that came from New Japan f*ckin’ dojo, that came up through the system, I want to be that guy, that first f*cking guy that came from the dojo to make it up their system and beat them at their own game, beat them at their own shit. I’m not an outside f*cking contracted guy that just came in through a contract. I am somebody who came to the dojo and did just f*ckin’ squats, and washed your f*ckin’ dishes, did your f*ckin’ laundry, stayed, had a curfew. I lived your life. I did all that, and I f*cking came up the ranks… I was everything that they were asking of me. I want to be their guy. You want to go overseas? You can call me Mr. Overseas. You want to be that? I’ll be that.

How did you feel about Tanahashi winning the G1?

Perfect. He represented New Japan style. We are Tanahashi. We are New Japan, and New Japan is Tanahashi. Tanahashi is the one who’s been steering our company, who was brave enough, who had the strength to carry us through hard times and pull us through. He is Mr. New Japan. He’s it. So, him having this, of course. Of course. Of f*cking course. He’s the man. And anybody who has any other words outside of that, f*ck you. F*ck you. You don’t know New Japan. You don’t know what we’ve been through. You don’t know Tanahashi. You don’t know us. So f*ck you.

Was there anyone in the G1 who surprised you, or who you were impressed by?

I’m always impressed by Ibushi. Man… that’s all I’m going to say about that.

Oh hey, you need to fight Roman Reigns in a parking lot or something. Unsanctioned! Solve your Twitter fight.

I enjoyed that shit very much. I was hoping he would keep coming because I was going to keep fist-cocking… Anytime, Big Dog. Anywhere… My yard has no fences… He’s at the top. And when you’re at the top and you take a swing at me, you take the first punch at me, oh, it’s on, motherf*cker. I ain’t no punk bitch. I ain’t no punk bitch, bruh, alright? I know where you’re at. I know what your position is. F*ck you. Don’t think because you’ve got that, that means you shit. Nothing, nothing. Bro, you want to scrap? We can scrap. Anytime, anywhere…