Bruce Orlando Leaupepe (born January 30, 1991) is an American

professional wrestler Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to real-life wrest ...

. He is signed to

All Elite Wrestling All Elite Wrestling (AEW) is an American professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida. It is owned and operated by Shahid Khan, Shahid and Tony Khan, with the latter serving as President (corporate title), president an ...

(AEW), where he performs under the ring name Toa Liona and is one-half of the

tag team Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establis ...

Gates of Agony. He also wrestles for AEW's sister promotion,

Ring of Honor Ring of Honor (ROH) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. The promotion was founded by Rob Feinstein on February 23, 2002, and was operated by Cary Silkin from 2004 until 2011; the promotion was subs ...

(ROH), where he is a former two-time

ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champion The ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling world tag team championship owned by the Ring of Honor (ROH) promotion. It is defended by three-man tag teams, also referred to as trios. The current champions are The Sons o ...

Early life

Leaupepe was born in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is ...

. He attended Oak Grove High School, where he played

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

. After graduating in 2009, he attended the

City College of San Francisco City College of San Francisco (CCSF or City College) is a public community college in San Francisco, California, United States. Founded as a junior college in 1935, the college plays an important local role, enrolling as many as 1 in 35 San Franc ...

and

De Anza College De Anza College is a public community college in Cupertino, California, United States. It is part of the Foothill-De Anza Community College District, which also administers Foothill College in nearby Los Altos Hills, California. The college i ...

. In 2011, he enrolled in

San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Diego, California, United States. Founded in 1897, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CS ...

, majoring in

criminal justice Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes. The criminal justice system is a series of government agencies and institutions. Goals include the rehabilitation of offenders, preventing other ...

. He played football for the

San Diego State Aztecs The San Diego State Aztecs are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent San Diego State University (SDSU). The university fields 17 varsity teams (6 men's, 11 women's) in National Collegiate Athle ...

until being forced to quit after suffering a popped disc in his lower back. He worked as a

personal trainer A personal trainer is an individual who creates and delivers safe and effective exercise programs for healthy individuals and groups, or those with medical clearance to exercise. They motivate clients by collaborating to set goals, providing m ...

before deciding to become a professional wrestler.

Professional wrestling career

Early career (2020–2021)

Liona was trained to wrestle by

Rikishi A , or, more colloquially, , is a sumo wrestler. Although used to define all wrestlers participating in sumo wrestling matches, the term is more commonly used to refer to professional wrestlers, employed by the Japan Sumo Association, who par ...

. He began wrestling on the

independent circuit In professional wrestling, the independent circuit (often shortened to the indie circuit or the indies) is the collective name of independently owned promotions which are deemed to be smaller and more regionalized than major national promotions. ...

in 2020, wrestling primarily for promotions in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

and

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

. In early-2021, he formed a tag team with Juicy Finau named "Toko Uso".

All Elite Wrestling / Ring of Honor (2021–present)

On October 23, 2021, Liona made his

debut on '' AEW Dark: Elevation'', teaming with Mike Reed in a loss to FTR. On October 24, he appeared on ''

AEW Dark ''AEW Dark'', or simply ''Dark'', is an American professional wrestling streaming television program that was produced by the American promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW), running from October 8, 2019, to April 25, 2023, on AEW's YouTube channel. ...

'' teaming with Bison XL, losing to

2point0 Angelo Parker and Matt Menard, also formerly known as 2.0 (stylized as 2point0) and 3.0, and later Ever-Rise in WWE, are a Canadian professional wrestling tag team signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), both as wrestlers and, in Menard's case, an o ...

. On April 1, 2022, Liona was named as one of

Tully Blanchard Tully Arthur Blanchard (born January 22, 1954) is a Canadian-American professional wrestler and manager. He is best known for his appearances with Jim Crockett Promotions and the World Wrestling Federation in the mid-to-late 1980s as a member of ...

's new clients, teaming with

Kaun Kaun may refer to: Art and entertainment * '' Kaun?'', a 1999 Hindi film * '' Kaun? Kaisey?'', a 1983 Hindi film * Kaun (song), a song by Indian Ocean from album '' Kandisa'' Other uses * The Old Norse name of the ''k'' rune; see Kaunan ...

to form the Gates of Agony. The team defeated Shinobi Shadow Squad (

Cheeseburger A cheeseburger is a hamburger with one or more slices of melted cheese on top of the meat patty, added near the end of the cooking time. Cheeseburgers can include variations in structure, ingredients and composition. As with other hamburgers, ...

and Eli Isom) at the event. On May 25, Liona teamed with Juicy Finau in a

GCW Tag Team Championship The GCW Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling world tag team championship created and promoted by the American promotion Game Changer Wrestling. Established on April 1, 1999 as JCW Tag Team Championship, the inaugural champions were ...

match, losing to BUSSY. On July 6, Gates of Agony made their AEW Television debut on ''

AEW Rampage ''AEW Rampage'', also known as ''Friday Night Rampage'' or simply ''Rampage'', is an American professional wrestling television program that was produced by the American promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW), running from August 13, 2021, to Dece ...

'', defeating

Jonathan Gresham Jonathan Gresham (born March 20, 1988) is an American professional wrestler. He performs on the independent circuit. He has previously wrestled for All Elite Wrestling (AEW), Ring of Honor (ROH), where he is a former ROH World Champion, ROH Pure ...

and Lee Moriarty. On July 23, 2022, at Death Before Dishonor, Prince Nana announced he had purchased Tully Blanchard Enterprises and reformed The Embassy, with Cage, Kaun and Liona. They would go on to defeat the team of

Alex Zayne Alex Zayne Brandenburg (born October 28, 1986) is an American professional wrestler primarily working on the independent circuit under the ring name Alex Zayne. He is best known for his tenure with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). He has also ap ...

, Blake Christian and

Tony Deppen Anthony Deppen (born May 3, 1988) is an American professional wrestler currently working for Major League Wrestling (MLW), Ring of Honor (ROH), where he is a former ROH World Television Champion; and on the independent circuit. Professional wre ...

during the preshow. At

Final Battle Final Battle is a professional wrestling event, held annually by the Ring of Honor promotion. The event was initially held in 2002. It is held in December, and is the promotion's last show of the calendar year. The 2009 edition of the show was ...

, The Embassy defeated

Dalton Castle Dalton Castle may refer to: * Dalton Castle, Cumbria * Dalton Castle (wrestler) {{disambiguation ...

and The Boys, to win the

ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship The ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling world tag team championship owned by the Ring of Honor (ROH) promotion. It is defended by three-man tag teams, also referred to as trios. The current champions are The Sons o ...

. Gates of Agony suffered a loss to FTR at Battle of the Belts IV when they challenged for the

ROH World Tag Team Championship The ROH World Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling World Tag Team Championship, world tag team championship contested for in the United States, American professional wrestling promotion Ring of Honor (ROH). The current champions are D ...

. At ''Rampage'':Grand Slam, The Embassy lost the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championships to The Elite members

"Hangman" Adam Page Stephen Blake Woltz (born July 27, 1991), better known by his ring name "Hangman" Adam Page, is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) where he is a former AEW World Champion and AEW ...

and

The Young Bucks The Young Bucks are an American professional wrestling tag team consisting of brothers Matthew Massie and Nicholas Massie, who perform under the ring names Matthew Jackson and Nicholas Jackson. , they are signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), whe ...

. On November 1, 2023, on

AEW Dynamite ''AEW Dynamite'', also known as ''Wednesday Night Dynamite'' or simply ''Dynamite'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by the American Professional wrestling promotion, promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW). It air ...

, The Embassy regained the titles. On the May 8, 2024 episode of ''Dynamite'', Cage and the Gates of Agony turned on Swerve Strickland, disbanding the Mogul Embassy in the process. On the May 25 episode of ''Rampage'', Gates of Agony and Cage revealed their new team name to be "

Cage of Agony Gates of Agony is a professional wrestling tag team consisting of Bishop Kaun and Toa Liona. They are signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and its sister promotion, Ring of Honor (ROH). They are two-time former ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champion ...

". After Cage left the group, Kaun and Liona were left as a tag team. On April 16 at ''Dynamite'': Spring BreakThru, Gates of Agony unsuccessfully challenged

The Hurt Syndicate The Hurt Syndicate is a professional wrestling stable in All Elite Wrestling (AEW). The group consists of Bobby Lashley, Shelton Benjamin, Maxwell Jacob Friedman, MJF, and Montel Vontavious Porter, MVP, who serves as their manager. Lashley and B ...

for the

AEW World Tag Team Championship The AEW World Tag Team Championship is a men's professional wrestling world tag team championship created and promoted by the American promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW). It is a standard tag team championship, being contested by teams of two wr ...

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2023)

On November 13, 2023, it was announced that Gates of Agony (Liona and Kaun), would make their

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) is a Puroresu, Japanese professional-wrestling Professional wrestling promotion, promotion founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, and based in Nakano, Tokyo. It is currently majority owned by card-game company Bushiroad, with TV As ...

(NJPW) debut, by competing in the 2023 World Tag League. The duo were announced to be competing in the A-Block. On November 29, Gates of Agony would seemingly join

House of Torture House of Torture is a villainous professional wrestling stable primarily appearing in the Japanese promotion New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW); it was formerly a sub-grouping of the stable Bullet Club. The stable is led by Evil and also consists of ...

, but would reveal it to be a trick on the following December 1 show. The duo finished with 4 points and were unable to qualify for the semi-finals.

Personal life

Liona is of Samoan and Puerto Rican descent.

Championships and accomplishments

*Future Stars of Wrestling ** FSW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Juicy Finau *KnokX Pro Entertainment ** Urban Empire Championship (1 time) *

(

2 times "2 Times" is the debut single of English singer Ann Lee. It was released in Italy in December 1998 by X-Energy as the lead single from her debut album, ''Dreams'' (1999), and was issued worldwide the following year. The single peaked at number tw ...

) – with

Brian Cage Brian Christopher Joseph ButtonKaun Kaun may refer to: Art and entertainment * '' Kaun?'', a 1999 Hindi film * '' Kaun? Kaisey?'', a 1983 Hindi film * Kaun (song), a song by Indian Ocean from album '' Kandisa'' Other uses * The Old Norse name of the ''k'' rune; see Kaunan ...

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Liona, Toa American male professional wrestlers American professional wrestlers of Samoan descent Living people Entertainers from San Jose, California Professional wrestlers from California 1991 births ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champions All Elite Wrestling personnel American sportspeople of Puerto Rican descent San Diego State Aztecs football players Players of American football from San Jose, California American football defensive tackles San Diego State University alumni