Former NJPW star Hikuleo finally made his on-screen debut for WWE at today's Night of Champions premium live event, showing up to assist Solo Sikoa beat Jacob Fatu to capture the United States title.
The match saw a number of run-ins with JC Mateo out first, followed by Tonga Loa who was returning to action for the first time since Survivor Series. Both were taken out before Fatu looked to pin Sikoa after a moonsault. That brought out Hikuleo, who chokeslammed Fatu onto the announce table, allowing Sikoa to nail Fatu with the Samoan Spike for the win and the title.
Hikuleo was never mentioned by his NJPW name, which was a clear sign that WWE was going to give him a new one. On commentary, Michael Cole noted he was the brother of Tonga Loa and Tama Tonga. Their father is legendary WWE wrestler Haku. On the Night of Champions post-show, WWE aired a graphic which showed Hikuleo's new name as "Tala Tonga" which appears a slight variation of the name - Talla Tonga - that they trademarked a year ago.
