Fale Simitaitoko (born January 8, 1982) is a Samoan professional wrestler and former rugby player. Fale is currently signed to the WWE where he performs on the Raw. Fale is best known for his time in New Japan Pro Wrestling where he is a former IWGP Intercontinental Champion and a one-time NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champion. Fale is also known as a founding member of the Bullet Club.
Professional wrestling career[]
New Japan Pro-Wrestling[]
Early Career (2010–2012)[]
Simitaitoko, working under the ring name "King Fale", made his in-ring debut on 4 April 2010, when he was defeated by Manabu Nakanishi. Fale's earned his first win in New Japan just over a month after his debut, defeating Kyosuke Mikami. Fale and Super Strong Machine entered the 2010 G1 Tag League, finishing last in their block and overall with zero wins and zero points. Fale also took part in the 2010 J Sports Crown Openweight 6 Man Tag Tournament alongside Giant Bernard and Karl Anderson, making it to the second round before being eliminated. Fale later faced fellow young lion Hiromu Takahashi in a three match series, winning all of them.
In February 2011, Fale joined Yuji Nagata's Seigigun ("Blue Justice Army") stable along with Wataru Inoue and Super Strong Machine. At The New Beginning on 20 February, Nagata, Inoue, Fale and Hiroyoshi Tenzan faced Chaos (Shinsuke Nakamura, Toru Yano, Takashi Iizuka, and Yujiro Takahashi) in losing effort. In the prelude to the 2011 J Sports Openweight 6 Man Tag Tournament, Fale again teamed with Inoue and Tenzan, losing to Bad Intentions (Giant Bernard & Karl Anderson) & Jushin Thunder Liger. In the actual tournament, they were eliminated in the second round by Great Bash Heel (Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma) & Satoshi Kojima. In April 2011, Fale took part in All Together, a joint show between New Japan Pro-Wrestling, All Japan Pro Wrestling and Pro Wrestling Noah in the wake of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, unsuccessfully competing in The Destroyer Cup battle royal. Fale teamed with Nagata in the 2011 G1 Tag League, finishing with one win and two points. Fale lost his first match of 2012, when he teamed with Tama Tonga to take on Okumura and Yoshi-Hashi. At NJPW's 40th Anniversary Show, Fale teamed with Tomoaki Honma to take on Chaos (Yoshi-Hashi and Yujiro Takahashi) in a losing effort. On 10 February 2012 at NEVER.8: Go to the Next Level, Fale unsuccessfully faced Yuji Nagata in singles action. Afterwards, he left for a fourteen-month learning excursion to the United States. On 8 June 2012, Fale debuted for NWA Houston, losing to Mysterious Q.
Bullet Club (2013–2015)[]
On 7 April 2013, at Invasion Attack, Fale, now performing as a heel, returned to New Japan as Prince Devitt's "bouncer" under the new ring name of "The Underboss" Bad Luck Fale. Fale wrestled his return match on 3 May at Wrestling Dontaku, teaming with Devitt to defeat Captain New Japan and Ryusuke Taguchi. Later that night, Fale and Devitt joined forces with Karl Anderson and Tama Tonga, forming a stable and dubbing themselves "Bullet Club". Later in the year, Fale began his first major feud in New Japan with former IWGP Heavyweight Champion Togi Makabe, who had been eliminated from the 2013 G1 Climax following interference from Fale during a match with Devitt. From 23 November to 7 December, Fale and Devitt took part in the 2013 World Tag League, where they finished with a record of three wins and three losses, with a loss against the previously winless Captain New Japan and Hiroshi Tanahashi on the final day costing them a spot in the semifinals. The rivalry between Fale and Makabe culminated in a King of Destroyer match on 4 January 2014, at Wrestle Kingdom 8 in Tokyo Dome, where Makabe was victorious. Fale and Makabe again faced off on 15 March in the first round of the 2014 New Japan Cup, where Fale was victorious. Fale made it to the final of the tournament before losing to Shinsuke Nakamura on 23 March.
On 21 June at Dominion 6.21, Fale defeated Nakamura in a rematch to become the new IWGP Intercontinental Champion. From 21 July to 8 August, Fale took part in his first G1 Climax, where he finished third in his block with a record of six wins and four losses with a loss against Nakamura on the final day preventing him from making it to the finals. On 21 September at Destruction in Kobe, Fale lost the IWGP Intercontinental Championship back to Nakamura in his first defense. In November, Fale entered the 2014 World Tag League, alongside stablemate Tama Tonga. The team finished at the bottom of their block with a record of three wins and four losses. In early 2015, Fale started feuding with Kazuchika Okada, which led to him picking up a major win on 5 March, defeating the former two-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion in the first round of the 2015 New Japan Cup. Fale was eliminated from the tournament in the second round by Tetsuya Naito. The rivalry between Fale and Okada culminated on 5 April at Invasion Attack 2015, where Fale was defeated by Okada. From 20 July to 14 August, Fale took part in the 2015 G1 Climax. Despite scoring a major win over eventual tournament winner Hiroshi Tanahashi, Fale finished fourth in his block with a record of five wins and four losses and thus failed to advance to the finals. Due to his win over Tanahashi, Fale was granted a shot at the Wrestle Kingdom 10 IWGP Heavyweight Championship match contract, but was defeated by Tanahashi on 27 September at Destruction in Kobe.
WWE (2015–present)[]
Bullet Club (2015–2016)[]
Fale debuted in the WWE on the December 7, 2015 episode of Raw as part of the debuting Bullet Club. He made his in-ring debut that night in a singles match with Dean Ambrose in which he won.
Injury (2016–2017)[]
Return and world championship pursuits[]
In Wrestling[]
- Finishing moves
- Bad Luck Fall (Throwing crucifix powerbomb) – 2013–present
- Choke Lariat Slam / Grenade (Chokeslam transitioned into a thumb thrust to the opponent's throat) – 2013–present
- Samoan drop – 2010–2012; used as a signature move thereafter
- T-Shock (Double underhook overhead gutwrench backbreaker rack drop) – 2010–2012
- Tombstone piledriver – 2017; parodied from Kazuchika Okada
- Signature moves
- Boston crab
- Cliff Hanger (Diving clothesline)
- Falling Coconut (Diving splash)
- Headbutt drop
- Running splash
- Nicknames
- "The Underboss"
- "Tonga-ban Gojira" (Japanese for "Tongan Godzilla")
- Entrance themes
- "Let's Get Crazy" by Yonosuke Kitamura
- "The Underboss" by Yonosuke Kitamura
- "Last Chance Saloon" by Deviant and Naive Ted (Used while a part of Bullet Club)
- "Shot'Em" by [Q]Brick (Used while a part of Bullet Club)
Championships and Accomplishments[]
- New Japan Pro-Wrestling
- IWGP Intercontinental Championship (1 time)
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- PWI ranked him #71 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2017
- WWE
- WWE Hardcore Championship (1 time)
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