A popular wrestling star made a shock WWE debut on SmackDown on Friday night, joining the popular Bloodline faction.
The Bloodline, led by former WWE champion Roman Reigns and The Rock, is leaving fans curious regarding its direction after Reigns lost his belt to Cody Rhodes after a near four-year reign on night two of WrestleMania.
With Reigns and The Rock taking time away from WWE programming, some of the lesser dominant stars in the group will be tasked with carrying it forward, and that is what happened on Friday.
Jimmy Uso and Solo Sikoa were on SmackDown, and their segment ended with Uso being beaten down by his real-life brother, Sikoa, and kicked out of the faction.
It wasn’t just Sikoa, though, as a new WWE signing took to the ring to lay waste to the former tag team champion, leaving fans both excited and curious at the role he will play going forward.
A popular wrestling star made his WWE debut on Friday night, joining The Bloodline faction
Tama Tonga, who had been wrestling in Japan for 14 years, joined forced with Solo Sikoa
Tonga arrived in a hood, attacking Jimmy Uso before revealing his identity and continuing the beatdown
Uso and Sikoa made their ways to the ring alongside WWE Hall of Famer Paul Heyman, with Reigns absent as he begins his time off.
Heyman said The Bloodline offered no excuses over Reigns’ loss to Rhodes, with Sikoa and Uso stood either side of him in the ring.
After giving a run down of the main event and the events that led up to the title changing hands, Siko interrupted and said there are consequences for losing before a hooded man attacked Uso.
Pulling his hood down, the man revealed himself to be Tama Tonga, a 41-year-old star who has shone in New Japan Pro Wrestling for over a decade.
Following the orders of Sikoa – seemingly later calling him the ‘Tribal Chief’ – Reigns’ nickname – and performing their signature finger point, it was clear he had joined The Bloodline, which was seemingly being led by Sikoa, who stomped on Heyman’s phone when he tried to call Reigns.
The events leave fans curious, with Sikoa being almost a puppet to Reigns since debuting on the main roster 18 months ago. Now, he is the one calling the shots, progressing the storyline into a fresh direction.
He was ordered around by Solo Sikoa, who had previously been a puppet to Roman Reigns
Fans will be left curious over the direction of the faction as it enters its post-WrestleMania era
The Rock (centre) and Roman Reigns (right) had led The Bloodline but will be taking time away from TV
Tonga, meanwhile, will be a welcomed signing for the company, having starred in Japan for 14 years where he was a founding member of the historical Bullet Club faction.
While he is not related to Sikoa or The Bloodline, he is the son of WWE legend Haku – friend of Sikoa’s father Rikishi – and is viewed as family, as previously explained by Lance Anoa’i, Reigns’ cousin.
‘Not by blood,’ Anoa’i, who is not signed to WWE, previously said via WrestleTalk. ‘We consider him, every time I see Haku, he’s my uncle, lot of respect. I believe it’s just more like the island culture.
‘We’re all from the South Pacific, so the islanders just stick together, man. It’s just one breed.’
