Major League Wrestling RING OF VICTORY V Night 2: Tribal Combat

The initial cinematic scene shows the final moments of IWGP where Roman Reigns and Ahmed Johnson are faced off …. A messenger approaches the ring, which gets everyone’s attention …. He hands Reigns a scroll, which Reigns reads and immediately knows what it is …. Without another move, Reigns leaves the ring and heads quickly to the back ….

We cut to King Haku on the shores of ʻAta as he sits cross-legged on the beach surrounded by lit torches …. Haku stares out into the ocean and speaks in Polynesian as we hear a voice over translating …. He talks about his family and how the Anoa’i have always thought they were better than the Tongans …. Reigns tried to use his sons as his henchmen but they are proud Tongans …. They will bow to no one and would rather die first ….

We cut to a scene of Reigns standing at the front of a small boat as it crosses the ocean, and the camera pans to show a small island in the distance where Haku is waiting for him …. Reigns reaches down and tightens his red gloved hand …. Reigns then talks about how his family are the ones responsible for the Tongans having opportunities in this business …. As High Chief, he tried to give the Guerrillas opportunity after opportunity…. And they stuck the knife in his back …. Now he promises to represent his heritage to the fullest like all of the High Chiefs before him, because he’s the best to ever do it …. His entire bloodline is depending on him, and he will force King Haku to bow to him and acknowledge his position as the head of the table …. Justice will be served …. Believe that ….


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THE SETTING:  we see a helicopter shot of a small island in the South Pacific …. The camera fades to waves crashing on the shore, and of a solitary bird soaring on the wind ….

Tribal Combat takes place on ʻAta, a depopulated volcanic island in the far southern end of the Tonga archipelago, situated approximately 160 kilometres (99 mi) south-southwest of Tongatapu …. The Island has been abandoned for centuries, with the ruins of the abandoned village of Kolomaile the only proof that it was once inhabited …. Most of ʻAta's land is a high plateau 60 to 100 metres (200 to 330 ft) above sea level, with steep cliffs and rocky beaches ringing the shoreline of the entire island.

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We see a shot of a boat approaching, with Roman Reigns standing at the front looking out …. Reigns disembarks the boat and it immediately pulls away and leaves, leaving Reigns alone on the shore as he surgery’s the scene …. Reigns makes his way along the beach and into the island interior ….

Some time later, Reigns emerges into a small clearing …. He looks up as a helicopter buzzes overhead, hovering over the clearing where we see a solitary ring  set up …. The ring is only prefunctionatory as the men come and go as they please and can theoretically battle over the entire island …. Cameras are placed on platforms distant from the ring, and aerial shots from the helicopters capture the incredible cinematography and scenery …. …. The only people on the island are the camera crew, wrestling journalists that are there by invitation only, the two combatants, and a referee that is there to render the decision …. There are two large tents set up on opposite sides of the clearing, and these serve as makeshift locker rooms for the combatants ….

The match is scheduled to start ‘At Dawn’ and it is a fight to the finish, devoid of rules or traditional match structure …. It has more of an ancient pankration or something even more primitive than your average wrestling match …. We see an exterior shot of the island, then we get the cinematic time lapse shot as the shot fast-forwards showing the sun setting and then starting to rise ….

At Dawn, Reigns emerges from his tent and makes his way to the ring …. Reigns screams out “FIFITA!  TAU MAI IA TE AU!!!!” (Fight Me! In Samoan) …. King Haku plays mind games, waiting for several moments before emerging from his tent …. he takes his time walking to the ring just to fuck with Reigns …. Haku enters the ring, and it is time for Tribal Combat to begin!




Both men circle and don’t rush in …. When you're trapped on an island with an incredibly dangerous opponent, the last thing you want is to find yourself gassed out …. Reigns moves in and nails some right hands, but Haku stops him with a throat thrust …. The first half of the match is built around both guys using wear-down holds, being careful to expend too much energy at the beginning …. It is reminiscent of some early 20th century catch wrestling or boxing match, which neither man is known for …. Eventually it all breaks down into just raw fighting as the action spills out of the ring and into the environment of the island ….

A major part of Haku’s strategy is to target the body of Reigns, as well as using nerve holds …. It’s a strategy that pays off with Reigns selling exhaustion from the body work and having trouble breathing …. Haku is working the hell out of every hold, wrenching it for long periods of time …. Reigns battles back, and shows his power by battering Haku back with right hands …. It breaks down into both guys trading blows ….


Dusk falls upon the men, leading their handlers on the island setting off large fires to light the action. And peak when they burn a bunch on wood on fire to provide lightning for them, really showing their dedication to evoke a scene of cavemen fighting.  It's also during that nighttime portion that the ring itself, a special white one constructed for this match with normal padding removed, comes into view as the crucial 3rd character in this match. Bumps, which they'd smartly avoided taking until the finish stretch, are accompanied with a louder than usual thud to put an exclamation point on the sense of brutality.

You go from the surreal aesthetic of daylight and how it at points looks like it could be 2 dudes grappling in a backyard, to a more ritualistic aesthetic of dusk with the torches being lit as the sky turns a beautiful blue, to finally the eeriness of night as the raw savagery comes to the forefront.  The only light the combatants have are the torches that light the area ….


The men eventually incorporated the flames into the match as Reigns tosses Haku into one of the torches, causing wood and oil to spill on the ground catching the grass on fire …. Reigns approaches but Haku grabs a piece of burning firewood and hits Reigns in the head with it!  Tongan Death Grip locked in, but Reigns breaks it and locks on the guillotine …. Haku powers him up and tosses both of them into the fire!!!!  Reigns let’s go and rolls away, his tactical vest on fire …. Reigns rips the vest off and tosses it aside, and the fight continues …. Reigns is thrown into the turnbuckle in the ring so hard that the top rope breaks, and Haku uses the broken turnbuckle to attempt to dig the eye of Reigns out of his head!  Reigns counters by using a piece of fire wood and smashing the hand of Haku with it, possibly breaking his hand and eliminating the threat of the Tongan Death Grip ….

Reigns and Haku are bloody messes at this point, but they have cuts not just on their heads but on their bodies as well from the terrain they are rolling around on …. Reigns is favoring his ribs still, selling the work Haku did in the beginning of the match, and Haku further does damage by hitting Reigns in the ribs with a huge log of wood … At this point these guys aren’t doing hyperchoreographed spots, it’s just fists and forearms and wrenching at each other’s limbs …. they’re pushing each other’s faces close to open flames, teasing either man being burned alive …. They are just fighting until one of them can’t get up ….

Reigns would suffer a dislocated shoulder while absorbing Haku’s offense, including taking a few Saito suplexes that drop him right in his head/ neck …. Both men end up pouring out blood and sweat as they struggled for supremacy, staggering around, crazed and dazed, nearly collapsing in exhaustion …. . Looking at the two of them there, it appears as if they’ve gone through a war.  Reigns hits 4 straight spears on Haku, and now Haku is bleeding from the mouth selling ‘internal injuries’ …. Reigns then picks up a large stone (gimmicked), and shatters it across the head of Haku!!!!  Haku will not stay down, and Reigns is able to lock in the Guillotine choke!  This time Haku is too exhausted to power Reigns up, and he is trapped in the hood as Reigns squeezes the life out of Haku …. Haku will not give up!  Instead, he passes out!  Reigns refuses to let go of the hold, seemingly willing to end Haku in order to earn victory in Tribal Combat …. Haku is unable to continue, and the ref mercifully calls an end to this before something terrible happens …. After (perceived) hours of combat, Roman Reigns has emerged victorious in Tribal Combat!!!!

Even in victory, Reigns sells the long struggle by collapsing on the ground …. Trainers and medical personnel come in and tend to both men, even covering both men with blankets because of the drop in temperature at night and the exhausted state of both men …. An unconscious Haku is placed on a gurney and has a blanket put over him, selling he is near death after going through this war …. Reigns refuses medical attention, standing defiantly on his own power and stumbling back to the tent that serves as his makeshift locker room ….