Why Talla Tonga Has Been Missing From WWE TV

There had been questions from fans around Talla Tonga's future with WWE after the giant suddenly disappeared from TV following WrestleMania 42 despite The MFTs continuing to be featured on both Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown in the aftermath of WWE's biggest weekend of the year.

Tonga's absence fuelled speculation that he may have been released by WWE, but that is not the case. Bryan Alvarez of the Wrestling Observer has reported that Talla Tonga is simply sidelined with an undisclosed injury and he is expected to be back "fairly soon."

Talla Tonga's most recent match took place on the go-home episode of SmackDown before WrestleMania 42 when he competed in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. He has only had nine televised matches since making his WWE debut at Night of Champions 2025, and Tonga has only had 29 total matches since signing with WWE.

Talla Tonga signed with WWE in the summer of 2024 after several years with New Japan Pro-Wrestling. WWE simply didn't use Tonga for a year prior to him joining the MFTs at Night of Champions 2025.

WWE released 25 wrestlers on Friday, April 24, including the whole of the Wyatt Sicks, Kairi Sane, Aleister Black, Zelina Vega, and the Motor City Machine Guns.