The new Bloodline is having a hard time getting over. Ever since Solo Sikoa took the mantle from Roman Reigns he has molded the popular faction into his own image, but fans are having a hard time connecting with new additions. Sikoa has lacked the pulling power or the aura of Reigns and Tonga Loa has come under fire for frequent botches and after the latest edition of SmackDown, Tama Tonga found himself in the firing line.

The 23 August edition of SmackDown emanated from the Capital One Arena in Washington, DC. Earlier, in the show, Sikoa announced that Jacob Fatu will be his “enforcer” and hence won’t need to hold the WWE Tag Team titles, asking him to hand the title to Tonga Loa. This obviously is a cover to allow Fatu to heal from the foot injury he suffered at SummerSlam. Hence, we got Tonga Loa teaming up with his adoptive brother Tama Tonga to defend the titles against The Street Profits on the night.

The tag team title match this past Friday, was solid with near falls and energetic action from The Street Profits. Toward the end, with Sikoa distracting the referee, Fatu hit both Dawkins and Montez Ford with superkicks. The finish came shortly after when Tama Tonga hit Dawkins with a flatliner. However, the move left fans less than impressed, adding to the in-ring woes of The Bloodline ever since the faction underwent an overhaul.

There is little doubt that Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa may not be on the level of The Usos, who did the heavy lifting when Reigns led the Bloodline. Still, the in-ring lapses and botches especially by Loa have not helped their cause in any way. Loa botched his debut at Backlash when appearing from beneath the ring. His head got caught up in the apron cloth, leading to a slight delay, where he was meant to pull out the referee from the ring during Sikoa and Tonga’s match against Kevin Owens and Randy Orton. This has been a consistent theme with Loa since his WWE debut.

But on the other hand, Tama Tonga, having wrestled in New Japan for most of his career has been a solid addition. Tonga arrived in WWE on the post-WrestleMania SmackDown, taking out Jimmy Uso, to become the first member of the Sikoa-led Bloodline. But the new The Bloodline has struggled with various issues. From Sikao’s lack of charisma to less engaging storylines and the in-ring work of the faction, all have led to frequent criticism.

Tonga being the most experienced in-ring performer in the faction has held him in good stead. He has largely performed alright, but there have been moments where he has failed to shine through. There has been debate over his finisher earlier as well and this time fans were in a less than forgiving mood.

Not for the first time, Tama Tonga’s finisher leaves fans disappointed

WWE Universe has long-standing issues with Tonga’s finisher. It first came to light when he scored a win at WWE King and Queen of the Ring qualifiers against Angelo Dawkins on SmackDown on May 10, incidentally. Despite winning his first singles bout, the match stole the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. Fans felt that his finisher (Flatliner) didn’t suit his character and looked a bit off the place.

Tonight when Tonga pinned Dawkins with the same finisher for the win, the fans were up in arms again. One of them wondered, “What kind of finisher is this? While another one is straight dubbed as a ‘Lame finisher’.”

Tonga’s current WWE finisher is a variation of  “Gun Stun” he used in NJPW. The “Gun Stun” is basically a jumping cutter, pretty similar to Randy Orton’s famed r.K.o. As the picture-perfect jumping cutter naturally calls for extra agility and perfection, fans wanted it back rejecting the current basic move. One of them wrote, ”I wish Tama can get his finisher back. I know it’s pretty much an RKo but his finisher now is kinda ehh.”

Tonga also used a variety of moves during his wrestling tenure before WWE. He used a Headshrinker, a jumping double underhook DDT, and Tongan Twist, an inverted facelock DDT as his finishers. But for some reason, his moveset seems to be limited in WWE, with particularly, his finisher being unimpressive. A fan criticized his flatliner, writing, “That finisher was garbage.” 

A handful of other social media users also echoed the same sentiment, as one of them targeted both the brothers by writing, “Man, the Tongan brothers can’t even execute their moves properly.” Usually, it has been Tonga’s adoptive brother Loa facing the wrath of fans for not being well-versed in the ring.

Tonga Loa was involved in a botch at Money in The Bank during the six-man tag team match between The Bloodline and Orton, Owens, and Cody Rhodes. Toward the end of the match, Loa interfered and went for a low blow on Owens. However, he messed up the execution, creating an awkward spot, before attempting the move a second time.

It will be interesting to see if WWE listens to the fan demand and makes some changes in Tonga’s typical finisher move on the next show. What are your thoughts about the new Bloodline? Let us know in the comments below.