Tanga Loa Reflects on the Split in the Bullet Club, Wanting to See NJPW Working With Other Companies to Support the Tag Division

– Post Wrestling and Andrew Thompson recently interviewed IWGP heavyweight tag team champion Tanga Loa. During the interview, he discussed the time in 2019 when the Guerrillas of Destiny called out teams from outside NJPW, such as The Usos. Below are some highlights from POST Wrestling and some audio of the full interview.

Tanga Loa on the split in the Bullet Club: “One, I think you could see fans could see there was a real difference in the Bullet Club at that time, and Kenny [Omega] and The Bucks are amazing talents, and then Cody of course, was a part of Bullet Club at that time too. Marty [Scurll] was too, and I think when two of the members, the original members of Bullet Club feel like the club is not holding on to its roots, the tradition, that mindset of what started Bullet Club, I think they felt it necessary to pump the brakes and establish what it meant to be a part of Bullet Club, and San Francisco, I think was that point where we had to draw the line in the sand.”

Tanga Loa on how NJPW needs to work with other companies to help support the tag team division: “I know Tama and I talk about it all the time. We truly believe it needs growth in the tag team division. There’s different companies who have really good tag teams but we’re not working alongside them. New Japan works alongside ROH and CMLL and then RevPro, and I do believe we were gonna have — this last Tag League, we were supposed to have Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) as a part of our tag tour. So he [Mark Davis] tore his ACL but we did have a great match with them at the Copper Box in London for our Royal Quest show and they’re a phenomenal team and there’s a lot of phenomenal teams out there. Unfortunately, we’re not in charge of how tag teams come into play but I know whenever Tama and I have off from the New Japan schedule, we talk about trying to get in somewhere with an independent show to test out a tag team. It’s a recruiting tour as well for us to let the office know, ‘Hey, there’s a tag team here or there that you guys should take a look at. We work well with them. They might be good for the junior weight division and/or the heavyweight division, depending on the size and their athletic ability.'”

Tanga Loa on his brother Hikuleo, who is also a wrestler: “I’ll always be proud of all his accomplishments. Even when we were kids and he started playing middle school basketball. He was a phenom in middle school and he was amazing in high school and college. Whatever he decides to do is awesome. His career right now in London is awesome. I’m happy for him. He’s in a groove right now. I can’t speak for him but from the outside looking in, he looks like he’s having a great time which I can only ask for. I want that kid to have as much fun as possible. So when he does get back to Japan, I have no expectations for him. I don’t want him to feel pressured when he gets back. I just want that flow, that groove he’s in to carry on over here and I just want him to f*cking have fun when he gets back.”

On the time the Guerrillas of Destiny called out other teams, such as The Usos: “Oh yeah. One, just wanted to shout out those teams that we recognized as amazing tag teams in our industry right now and they are the essence of what real tag teams are. So, one, that’s respect, name-dropping like that and then two, going back to what you were saying earlier — finding tag teams outside of New Japan to face against, especially for World Tag League, I mean, that’s a great tournament and that’s a great way for a tag team talent who’s not known around the world to jump on something in New Japan, to show their talent amongst New Japan tag teams. So, doing that, I think, besides the respect part, lets New Japan know, ‘Hey, it’s time to look outside our box and really take a look at young talent that’s available out there.’ There’s a lot of hungry guys out there and it’s important to keep an eye out for them.”