Yesterday, Tama Tonga and Kenny Omega met in the round-robin of the G1 Climax 28. Omega went into the match with a 2-0 record with victories over Tetsuya Naito and Hirooki Goto. Tonga went into the match 1-1, winning his first bout against Juice Robinson but dropping his next to SANADA.
A win for Tama Tonga likely would have led to an IWGP Heavyweight Championship opportunity for him and a big-time main event match for the Bullet Club civil war angle. It was not to be, however, as Tonga was disqualified after repeated interference by Tanga Loa and Bad Luck Fale.
Omega responded to the match result recently on Twitter.
I’m very indifferent about these 2 points, but I get it, I really do. You’re not trying to ruin it just me but for everyone. You won’t ruin it for Ibushi. Onward and upward. #g128
— Kenny Omega (@KennyOmegamanX) July 21, 2018
“I’m very indifferent about these 2 points, but I get it, I really do,” Omega Tweeted. “You’re not trying to ruin it just me but for everyone. You won’t ruin it for Ibushi. Onward and upward.”
Tama Tonga and Kota Ibushi will meet on August 8th, 2018.
Kenny Omega vs Tama Tonga
Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, Bad Luck Fale, King Haku, and HIKULEO (out with leg injury) currently comprise the Bullet Club “Firing Squad”. The Bullet Club sub-faction is still introduced in NJPW as the Bullet Club OGs, however.
Tama Tonga explained his actions in an interview shortly after the G1 Special in San Francisco.
“This has been a long time coming,” Tonga said to Sports Illustrated. “Kenny Omega started a subgroup, ‘The Elite,’ within Bullet Club. No one is the head of Bullet Club, no one ever has been, and we had a self-proclaimed leader focusing on his own ‘Super Kliq’ or whatever else nerd ass name it’s called. This war was sparked the moment ‘The Elite’ was formed.”
“We tried, over time, to give them the benefit of the doubt, but it kept getting worse,” he continued. “The ideals of Bullet Club working together, being a team, and watching each other’s backs was no longer what we stood for. We were a divided club. It was just too much to ignore.”
