Karl Anderson is very happy to see Tama Tonga as a member of the SmackDown roster.
WWE Superstar Karl Anderson was a recent guest on Busted Open Radio. When asked about his former Bullet Club stablemate Tama Tonga making his SmackDown debut last week, Anderson revealed that Tonga didn’t know he was debuting that night until he was backstage at the show.
“Just knowing that he was coming last Friday, he texted me and told me he was going to show up in the city,” Karl Anderson said. “He had no clue he was going to debut that night either, which is kind of WWE’s style. They’ll bring you in, and then you got to debut, and they told him he was debuting, and it was pretty fun to see.
“I’m just watching my friend and brother go through the fact that he knows he’s about to go on live national television for the first time ever, really. And I’m proud of him. I thought he knocked it out of the park. He looked amazing, which he always does. And I think he’s ready, and I think the world’s ready for Tama.
“And I think his attitude, the way he is; he’s an opinionated guy. He’s a charismatic guy. He’s a bit insane, which is part of what we all need. I’m so glad he’s in that Bloodline storyline because now he’s involved with the tippy-top guys; he’s got Paul Heyman right there, who’s always creatively the genius that he is. It doesn’t get much cooler, especially if you’re a Bullet Club fan and have followed for so long.”
Karl Anderson reached out to Triple H about Tama Tonga following Wrestle Kingdom 17
Anderson also revealed that after his match at Wrestle Kingdom in 2023, he texted Triple H to inform him that Tama Tonga’s contract with New Japan was coming up. This conversation set the wheels in motion for him to join the company over a year later.
“After my Tokyo Dome match in 2023, which Triple H let me do because we signed back with WWE, and I was still a champion in New Japan, he still allowed me to go back and do two more dates with New Japan Pro-Wrestling with no issue at all,” Karl Anderson recalled. But I remember texting Triple H and telling him, ‘Tama Tonga’s contract is coming up, and I think Tama is a full-blown, can’t miss if you ask me.’
“And he wrote back right away, and it took a year to get it done. But like I said, I’m a big believer in stuff happening for a reason, and now he’s here. And yeah, the changes and being able to — I think Vic [Joseph] called me The Machine Gun on NXT recently. Even just hearing that, it’s still kind of crazy. And being able to debut in 2016 as Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson was always kind of trippy to me that we were able to keep all those names. And they referenced The Bullet Club a couple of times. I think, especially with the way WWE is right now, it’s crazy.”
More must-reads: