Tama Tonga regains NEVER Openweight Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 18, says it’s his last month with NJPW

For the fourth time, Tama Tonga is NEVER Openweight Champion. 

The NEVER Openweight Championship was on the line at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 18 as Shingo Takagi and Tama Tonga clashed over the title. 

Takagi and Tonga wrestled for 30 minutes and in the end, it was Tama scoring a pin fall victory to win the NEVER Openweight Championship for a fourth time. 

It was in October at NJPW STRONG Fighting Spirit Unleashed that Takagi defeated Tama to become champion. 

While Tonga was giving his backstage comments, he stated that January is his last month with New Japan, per @IssitaMarie on X. Tama said he wants to find work closer to home and misses his family. He does not want to continue leaving them at home without him as that was something he experienced growing up.

Tonga added that he has the utmost respect for New Japan and their wrestlers. He said having grown up in this life, he now understands how his father felt. 

About Andrew Thompson 8307 Articles
A Washington D.C. native and graduate of Norfolk State University, Andrew Thompson has been covering wrestling since 2017.