He sits... alone, Tama Tonga’s hands are drawn over his head, covering his matted hair. It casts a long shadow over his face, but his features are still clear. Circles, marred with dark lines, border his eyes. Tama Tonga’s eyes themselves are without the slightest glimmer or spark to them. They are dull, and uncaring. He is there, alone... waiting... unkempt, unshaven, stained and dirty without a care to the world. The camera frames him in all of his glory.
Tama Tonga:"I... have seen the world through the looking glass. I have traveled the ocean. I have seen a land beyond my own from the tallest towers to the highest peaks. I have hit the bottom of pits with no end. I am a man who has given hope to the hopeless. I have helped those who were broken fix themselves. I have broken others. I have stood before trials and overcome them. I have had challenges I struggled against with every ounce of my strength, hoping to prevail... and met a wall, which I cannot pass. I have seen the world... through the looking glass.
Even his voice... It grates. Like gravel. Like a man who has had nothing but sand in throat.
Tama Tonga:"Doors open and doors close... twists and turns. I've never dreamt of stardom, but I have dreamt of stars. I've dreamt of places I'll never see. Imagined people that I'll never meet. Expected myself... to be someone else, somewhere else. And that's what they call life. We grow up young and immortal. Nothing but clouds to dream upon and life takes us through twists and turns. One door opens, and another closes...
He breathes in. Slow. The cool air makes him feel the rhythm of every breath. He draws it in deep. He speaks. Slow. Rhythmic.
Tama Tonga:"Every man... journeys. He rises. He falls. He conquers. He loves and grows old. I have journeyed, but I am not yet old. I have been called many things... but when I see myself, all I will ever see is the kid who was once so innocent. The future uncertain, I had nothing but wind in my hair and the horizon upon my eyes. The world was mine. Could have done anything. Been anything. All I had to do was... decide.
His eyes linger. He sees something. But is not there. He does not look at the stadium, where he sits alone. He looks...
Tama Tonga:"C'est la vie. It is a gift, is it not? And we're meant to share it. Friends, family, lovers those who are around us may reflect on our encounters. As iron sharpens iron, so does one man sharpen another? I've always held myself to this principle. Do well. Be good. Live a life worth sharing with others. On the surface, it seemed a notion that was complex. But in actuality, nothing could be simpler. I thought...
Tama Tonga looks up again. Tama Tonga’s voice trails off. His eyes. They see nothing, and everything. He sees the past, the present, and the future. He sees himself. Framed for the camera.
Tama Tonga:"I have journeyed. Seen the world. Through doors open and closed. C'est la vie...I thought that might be enough. Standing here, on top of it all. A star fighting for every inch who does well. That's what they teach you. That's what you learn. And you think that's enough. You think that people can reflect and learn from your example. But they don't. I came here, to the EBWF, a fresh face. And after I proved myself, shared with the entire world my goals aspirations... no one cared. No one noticed. No one even knew who I was.
He exhales. Color flushes to his face. The faintest glimmer of light dances in his eyes
Tama Tonga:"Then eventuality you realize... none of it matters. The journey. The decisions you've made. The person you are. Doesn't matter. Everything I've said. Doesn't matter. Not a word. In the end, it's all about who you are to other people. And perspective is an uncontrollable beast. I've let beast gnaw at me...tear me apart and eat me through and through, for far too long. I wanted to be known as a man, as a good man. I tried to show people those qualities, and all they cared about was that I was A MONSTER. Or was I? That became the question. My matches, my success and my failure did not matter.
His hand runs over his face. The lines stretch and fade, falling back into place a moment later. He closes his eyes, and relaxes a moment. The stress was fading. He is himself. Whoever that may be.
Tama Tonga:"Am I? Do I? Does it matter? The question... the controversy... that's what I've become. Stripped of my journey. My choices. My reflection. A joke. I am no more than a label to those who look to me. A cultural icon, they call me. It's just a gimmick. And I've hated it. Tried to fight against it. Tried to dissuade the rumors. Present the truth. But the more I've concentrated on it, the stronger it seems to get. And at the end of it all, I'm still just Haku’s Baby Boy. Never left home. Never seen the world...That...That suits me just fine, as I think to it. I would gladly have the horizon in my eyes, possibilities just ahead. And you can call me whatever you like. Ponder the question, if that's all you can ask. All you can see. I will always be Tama Tonga. Born and raised in the squared circle A warm breeze rushing just through my fingertips...And it won't bother me at all.
Tama smiles. There is warmth. Layered beneath the surface. There is the sun, the beach, the ocean, the stars and the moon. There is a man all of this written on his lips.
Tama Tonga:"If there is something I want to say. A point I want to drive home... it's this. Bray Wyatt... I remember walking back in the hallway when you single handedly dismantled Edge and Orton at Wrestlemania . I remember looking at the monitor and seeing you championed as the new face of the company. And I shook my head in disgust. I thought that you were the wrong kind of man. But I also thought that maybe... just maybe, I was being unfair. Because what kind of man you were shouldn't have mattered. What mattered later is that you proved yourself. You are a phenomenal character, and I grew to respect you. But I never liked you. I could never like you. And that... doesn't mean anything. We're not in a social club. I'm not sending you a friend request. What we do is challenge each other. And I respect the level of challenge you bring to the ring. I respect the athlete, and dislike the man. And I think... I think that's exactly what you want. Not just from me, either from everyone.
Tama Tonga single handedly begins to pet his matted hair
Tama Tonga:”The thing is Bray... We're alike, in some manner. I present myself in one manner, and you in another. Anything else we might be is ignored. Where we differ, is the controversy. You live off it, while I have fought against it. I've hated controversy in this sport. Detested it. Did my damnedest to take a stand against it. And it was all for nothing, for I have become an icon of controversy. As have you. I did everything to not be what I am seen as...You do everything, to be seen as only what you want to be known for a Fiend. I am afraid of only being that. Bray I’m afraid of becoming no more than a gimmick, and less that of a man. I think... I think you're afraid, too. Afraid to be the man who enters Tama Tonga’s abyss. We're opposite, you and I, you see? And that was always the point. That is why we're here. I have not the strength to be reduced to NOTHING more than controversy. You have not the strength to be anything more. All the words, the stories, and the little skits between us otherwise... it won’t matter come Warfare.
He takes a good hard look at the camera. There is more...
Tama Tonga:"If I am just a gimmick, then so be it. C'est la vie Bray. Here we stand against each other. Call it what you want. But that's all I need. So let's get this over with. Let's give them the controversy. And let them see, what they want to see. I am not afraid. Not afraid to be a question. A gimmick. A joke. Only question I ask to you Bray are you afraid of the Fiend not being enough to stop my accession to the throne ?
He stands as the world stands with him. Tama Tonga smirks one last time flips his hair out of his eyes then exits the scene