Overview
- Tama Tonga, who confirmed Wednesday on X that he was fined, called the punishment deserved and said it was a lesson learned.
- Reporters from Fightful Select and Andrew Zarian have described the penalty as significant, with Fightful characterizing it as a five-figure fine.
- The issue stemmed from a short rehearsal clip he posted before a SmackDown taping, which breaks an unwritten WWE rule against filming run-throughs even as the company releases curated behind-the-scenes content like its Unreal series.
- In a live video, Tonga said he would take the hit and keep moving, joking that he lives like he is always in the doghouse.
- WWE has not confirmed the fine on the record, and Tonga has continued to work on SmackDown, including a recent tag title loss to Damian Priest and R-Truth.