Bully Ray Discusses Training Newest WWE Star Tama Tonga

The newest member of The Bloodline and founding member of the Bullet Club in NJPW, Tama Tonga, made his debut alongside Solo Sikoa on "WWE SmackDown," taking out Jimmy Uso. While new to WWE, Tonga is well-known in Japan and Mexico, where he wrestled for CMLL, and has held multiple titles, including IWGP Tag Team Championship, the ROH World Tag Team Championship, and the NEVER Openweight Championship four times. 

He also trained under WWE Hall of Famers the Dudley Boyz at their school in Kissimmee, Florida. Bully Ray spoke about training Tonga and his brother at their school, the Team 3D Academy, after Tonga's debut on "Busted Open Radio." He said they got started in 2009 when Tonga and Tanga Loa's father, Haku, came to the academy and asked the Dudley Boyz to train his two sons.

"Haku said he also wanted to be involved in their training, so they trained with me and Devon three days a week at the academy, and then I gave Haku the keys to our school so he could come in on Sundays and work privately with his sons," Bully Ray said. "I saw a lot in the both of them very, very early on. As a matter of fact, to me, Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa they were The Usos before The Usos. As far as a Samoan, Polynesian type of team. I saw them as a modern day SST — Samoan SWAT Team."

Bully Ray said the brothers had the same look, feel, and vibe as the Samoan SWAT Team, though they weren't necessarily the same size. He said Tonga's facial expressions, including his "Haka" look are "really good." He also said that Tonga had the "majority" of the personality between the two, and that's what he is looking forward to most with the former NJPW star in WWE.