Tag: The Bloodline

Tama Tonga Joins The Bloodline, Helps Destroy Jimmy Uso In WWE SmackDown Debut

Post-WrestleMania, the winds of change tend to blow in WWE. Last night on “WWE SmackDown,” Solo Sikoa took charge and seemingly ushered in a new era, booting Jimmy Uso from The Bloodline with the help of a debuting Tama Tonga, all to “The Wiseman” Paul Heyman’s apparent surprise.

Heyman, Sikoa, and Uso took the ring with newly-crowned WWE-Hall-of-Famer stating that they were there on the orders of “The Tribal Chief” Roman Reigns, who ordered that they give no excuses for coming up short against the new Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. After giving Rhodes his due and singling out his focus, Heyman was interrupted by Sikoa, who asked if winning and losing matters, if there are consequences to losing, and if consequences mean change. Answering in the affirmative to all, Heyman looked beyond concerned as Sikoa pushed him aside, hugged his brother Jimmy, telling him he loved him, all just to set him up for an attack from behind by an invading hooded figure, soon revealed to be Tonga. After Sikoa hit a series of Samoan Spikes, Tonga held up “the one,” and was joined by Sikoa first, and then a hesitant Heyman, who then told his iPhone to “call Roman Reigns.” Sikoa then ripped the phone away and smashed it before finishing Jimmy with a Hip Attack while Uso had a chair draped around his head.

Tonga, technically, is not family to The Samoan Dynasty but it has long been recognized that the Anoa’i-Maivia-Fatu bloodline considers him as much, as they do his father Haku and brothers Hikuleo and Tanga Loa of New Japan Pro-Wrestling Fame. With Loa, Tonga is a seven-time IWGP Tag Team Champion and a Ring of Honor Tag Team Champion, a four-time NEVER Openweight Champion, and a four-time NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champion with Loa and various other partners.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

According to a report from Fightful Select, WWE has been interested in Tonga for a long time now. This dates all the way back to 2016 when they first signed AJ Styles, Karl Anderson, Luke Gallows and Shinsuke Nakamura. While WWE was interested, Tonga chose to stay in NJPW at the time in order to work with his brothers, Hikuleo and Tonga Loa.

WWE had interest in Hikuleo and Tama last year as well, but a hiring freeze occurred when Vince McMahon worked his way back into the company and prevented any new signings from taking place. As of this writing, there isn’t any word on whether Tonga had any talks with AEW. Additionally, it was added that it was pretty much a foregone conclusion that he was WWE-bound due to the positive relationship the two sides have.

It remains to be seen whether WWE is still interested in bringing in Hikuleo or Tonga Loa. Jacob Fatu has signed with WWE and was backstage at WrestleMania 40, so he’ll likely be added to the mix in the near future. One idea was discussed regarding Fatu and Tonga teaming up much like their fathers Tonga Kid and Haku did, but there’s no word on if that’s still the working plan.

Fox Blacks Out WWE SmackDown Bloodline Segment In Reported Effort To Avoid Crowd Sign

The Bloodline were once again the focal point of “WWE SmackDown” this week, as The Rock declined Cody Rhodes’ recent challenge for a match at WrestleMania. Instead, Rock thought it would be a better idea to have himself and Roman Reigns face Rhodes and Seth Rollins in a tag team match as one of WrestleMania 40’s main events. “The Great One” has been playing up his heelish antics as of late, so much so that Fox had to work around the crowd who weren’t happy to see Rock on “SmackDown.”

PWInsider reports that the random blackouts fans in the United States kept experiencing on the March 1 “Smackdown” wasn’t a technical problem, but was Fox themselves trying to censor a sign in the crowd that read “Die Rocky Die.” The fans also chanted “Die Rocky Die” at the former WWE Champion, causing the crowd to be dubbed over, and in some cases, completely muted due to the hostility of the chant.

The “Die Rocky Die” chant became infamous not too long after Rock’s 1996 WWE debut, as the fans didn’t respond well to the bland Rocky Maivia character being forced upon them. The chant would eventually lead to Dwayne Johnson shedding his babyface persona of Rocky Maivia and evolving into The Rock. He would join The Nation of Domination in 1997 to revolt against the WWE fans who booed him, deciding to forge his own path of not caring about anyone but himself. However, his natural charisma and attitude proved too much for the fans to remain against, and his entertaining villainy launched him into WWE’s main event scene and eventually becoming one of the most popular stars of all time.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

The Rock Acknowledges Roman Reigns, Lays Out WrestleMania Challenge On WWE SmackDown

Cody Rhodes, World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins, and Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns may be pulling double duty WrestleMania 40 weekend, following Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson issuing a challenge with set stipulations during the opening of Friday’s “WWE SmackDown.” The Rock also acknowledged his cousin, Reigns, as his Tribal Chief during the segment after Reigns interrupted Rock’s iconic “if you smell” catchphrase.

Rhodes had previously challenged the Rock to a one-on-one match during “The Grayson Waller Effect” at Elimination Chamber. Rollins did him one better and said he would team with Rhodes to take on the Rock and Reigns. On “SmackDown,” Rock said he wouldn’t be facing Rhodes one-on-one because everyone wants to challenge “The Great One.” He did challenge both Rhodes and Rollins to the tag team match the World Heavyweight Champion previously suggested at the premium live event, but with added stipulations.

Rock said that if Rhodes and Rollins win on WrestleMania Night One, the Bloodline would be barred from ringside during Rhodes’ match for Reigns’ title on Night Two. However, if the babyface team loses, Rock said the title match would be a “Bloodline Rules” match where anything goes. Rock said he was giving Rhodes the option to accept the challenge, but if he doesn’t, he said he is going to make sure Rhodes does not win the title.

There’s currently no word on if Rollins and Rhodes will acknowledge the challenge on “WWE Raw” on Monday, but Rhodes is scheduled to appear on the next three episodes of “SmackDown” alongside the Rock on the “Road to WrestleMania.”

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Jey Uso Says “I’m Out” Of The Bloodline After WWE Royal Rumble 2023

Sami Zayn’s tenure as the Honorary Uce has ended, and Jey Uso is leaving The Bloodline with him.

At this past weekend’s Royal Rumble 2023 pay-per-view event, Zayn was ejected from the group after refusing to attack Kevin Owens and for striking Roman Reigns with a steel chair.

While Reigns, Jimmy Uso, and Solo Sikoa all attacked Zayn, Jey refused to do so and instead walked away from his family.

Taking to Instagram, Jey shared an image from the night, with the simple caption “I’m out.”

Jey had been at odds with Zayn for months, but came to Sami’s defense during the ‘trial’ on last week’s “RAW is 30” show.

Source: eWrestlingNews

Reason Why The Bloodline Segment Changed For WWE Raw Is XXX

It was announced last week that an acknowledgment ceremony for The Bloodline would be held on tonight’s historic “WWE Raw” 30th anniversary episode. However, plans changed over the weekend when WWE revealed that “Honorary Uce” Sami Zayn — whose actions have been failing to satisfy his “Tribal Chief” Roman Reigns in recent weeks — would face a trial in Tribal Court instead. More details have now emerged regarding why the initially planned segment was nixed. 

According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the alteration was made because Afa and Sika of the Wild Samoans and WWE Hall of Famer Rikishi could not be in Philadelphia for the show. The legendary tag team and popular Attitude Era star are part of The Bloodline (Anoaʻi) family tree. The report indicated that Afa, 80, and Sika, 77, were not ready for the trip. At the same time, Rikishi got sick this past week, ultimately ruling the trio out of the event and forcing WWE to go in a new direction. That deviation saw the promotion modify the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship contract signing on Friday’s “WWE SmackDown” to set up the Tribal Court segment penciled in for this evening’s episode of “Raw.”

It’s said that rumors suggesting Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson had pulled out or that Vince McMahon — who recently returned to WWE as Executive Chairman — had changed the acknowledgment ceremony are false. It was pointed out that Johnson was never booked for the original segment. Speculation has been rife for many months that Johnson could return to face Reigns at WrestleMania 39 in April. However, recent reports indicated “The Great One” would not have time to get in ring shape for the potential showdown.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

John Cena Set To Get ‘Ucey’ In WWE In-Ring Return, SmackDown 12/30/2022

WWE is set to cap off 2022 with a match of epic proportions, as John Cena & Kevin Owens square off against The Bloodline’s Roman Reigns & Sami Zayn on the 12/30 episode of “WWE SmackDown” in Tampa, Florida.

The match was set up during the closing stages of last night’s “WWE SmackDown,” where Reigns announced that he & Zayn will face Owens & a mystery partner at WWE’s last show of 2022. Just then, Cena appeared on the TitanTron to read out a text message he received from Owens.

“Surprise!” Cena addressed The Bloodline via satellite. “I bet you’re a little surprised to see me. Well, it’s the holiday season, and everybody loves a good holiday surprise, and boy was I surprised when I got a text message, out of the blue, from my longtime friend Kevin Owens.

“He said, ‘sup, Peacemaker. Did you know you’ve had a WWE match every year for the past 20 years except this one. Your streak is about to be broken. Mind-blown emoji. Do you want to be my tag team partner December 30 in Tampa, Florida?'”

Cena continued, “So, let me get this straight – I haven’t had a match in 2022, and we’re running out of chances. And you’re asking me if I want to partner with Kevin Owens against the Uciest Sami Zayn and The Tribal Chief in a main event match that can’t be missed? Hell yes, I’ll be there! Hell yes, we’ll bring the fight to The Bloodline in the final SmackDown of 2022. Make your list, check it twice – The Bloodline has been naughty, and won’t it be nice when Cena-clause is coming to town? Ho Ho Ho Holy S**t!”

The show went off the air with Reigns & The Bloodline fuming in the ring, while reacting to Cena’s announcement.

Cena last wrestled in an untelevised WWE dark match at Madison Square Garden on September 10, 2021, teaming up with Rey & Dominik Mysterio against Reigns & The Usos in a six-man match. Prior to that bout, he lost to Reigns at SummerSlam on August 21, 2021.

Source: Wrestling Inc.