SAMOA JOE

'Nuufolau Joel "Joe" Seanoa' (born March 17, 1979), is an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name, 'Samoa Joe', and currently performing for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). Prior to debuting in TNA, Joe was most well known for his achievements in Ring of Honor, most notably holding the ROH World Championship for a record long 21-months. In TNA Joe came to prominence after he sustained an 18-month long undefeated streak in which he never lost a match by being pinned or forced to submit.

Career

Joe's family founded a Polynesian dance troupe in the United States called ''Tiare Productions''. He made his on stage debut at the 1984 Summer Olympics opening at the age of 5.³ He became a California State Junior Judo Champion and was an all league football player while attending Ocean View High School.^[5]
Joe started his professional wrestling career in September 1999 as the first graduate of the UIWA's now-defunct West Coast Dojo. He was trained under the guidance of West Coast indy legend Cincinnati Red, along with Johnny Hemp and occasionally John Delayo.^[6]
Debuting in December 1999 in a match against "Uncle" Jess Hansen just three months after beginning training, Joe quickly rose through the ranks of independent grapplers throughout California. He soon signed with former World Wrestling Federation (WWE) developmental affiliate Ultimate Pro Wrestling (UPW), where he feuded with his real life friend John Cena and made an appearance on WWE television (WWF Jakked) against Essa Rios, ^[7] and eventually captured the UPW Heavyweight Championship^[8]. He later became the longest reigning UPW Heavyweight Champion ever.
After finding success in UPW, Joe made his way to Japan, wrestling for Shinya Hashimoto's ZERO ONE promotion, fighting in its Shingeki series of pay per views^[9] and the annual Burning Heart tournaments^[10]. During this time Joe also began wrestling (and continues to do so off and on) for Southern California promotion Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, where he has a standing rivalry with Super Dragon.
Joe now resides as a member of New Japan Pro Wrestling's Inoki Dojo in Los Angeles, California.

Ring of Honor

Back in the United States Joe joined the ranks of the East Coast-based Ring of Honor promotion in 2002. He made his debut at "''Glory by Honor''" as Christopher Daniels' "hired assassin", brought in to take out Daniels' chief enemy, Low-Ki^[11]. Originally booked for just the one match against Low Ki (due to the cost of flying him from California to Pennsylvania, which ROH had to pay), Joe impressed fans with his extremely stiff and hard-hitting style that resembled an MMA fighter more than a wrestler, which led to ROH booking him full time ^[12].
Joe quickly rose through the ranks and became ROH Champion, defeating Xavier for the belt in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on March 22, 2003^[13]. He held that title for twenty one months before losing it to Austin Aries at "''Final Battle'' 2004", also in Philadelphia, on December 26. During Joe's reign, ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' officially elevated the ROH Championship to the status of "world title" after Joe defended it against English wrestler Zebra Kid at a joint ROH/Frontier Wrestling Alliance show, ''Frontiers of Honor'', in the United Kingdom on May 17, 2003^[11]. It was also at this event that Joe developed his infamous "Olé Olé Kick" move; an idea which got after watching a commercial during the English FA Cup Final between Arsenal and Southampton (which was being held on the same day of the Frontiers of Honor show). Low Ki challenged Joe to "get the crowd to chant Olé Olé Olé," which Joe accepted, and during his match with Zebra Kid he positioned the Kid on a chair, and performed the move thus the Olé Kick was born.^[15]
With his historic ROH title reign, Joe also established himself as the face of the company and a perennial main-eventer in North America. He elevated the title from a mid-card attraction, secondary to established independent stars like Low-Ki, Daniels, and A.J. Styles, to the ultimate prize in Ring of Honor. Especially famous are his trilogy of title defenses against CM Punk^[11]^[11]^[11] (the second match earning "Five Stars" from Dave Meltzer's Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the first American match in 7 years to do so), and his match with Japanese wrestler Kenta Kobashi.
Soon after losing the ROH World Championship to Austin Aries, Joe became the promotion's fifth Pure Champion, defeating his (kayfabe) protegé Jay Lethal for the belt on May 7, 2005 at ''Manhattan Mayhem'' in New York City^[19]. He held the title for over three months before losing it to Nigel McGuiness on August 27 at ''Dragon Gate Invasion'' in Williamsville, New York.
In October 2005, when Japanese heavyweight superstar Kenta Kobashi made a "once-in-a-lifetime" trip to the United States, he was signed to two Ring of Honor shows. ROH officials selected Joe, ROH's top wrestler, to face him in a singles match on the first night^[20] and a tag match on the second^[11]. The first show was in New York City at the New Yorker Hotel. Joe proved to be a formidable opponent for Kobashi, and, after a back and forth match, which Dave Meltzer again gave "Five Stars", Kobashi walked away with the win.
In 2006, Joe was one of the principal wrestlers representing Ring of Honor in their war against rival Philadelphia promotion Combat Zone Wrestling. The war culminated in a five-on-five Cage of Death match at ''Death before Dishonor IV''. Joe helped ROH dominate in the match, until, after picking up CZW wrestler Chris Hero for a Muscle Buster, he was attacked by fellow ROH wrestler Bryan Danielson. Danielson repeatedly hit Joe's bad knee with a steel chair, forcing him to quit the match. Joe was later replaced in the match by Homicide, who went on to win the match for ROH.^[22] Joe later teamed with Homicide to fight against the Briscoes, and, like Homicide, found himself back in the ROH world title hunt. Joe, however, came up short against champion Bryan Danielson in several matches, the final one being a cage match on December 8^[11].
At the December 9 show, Samoa Joe called out the Pro Wrestling NOAH promotion, claiming "Ring of Honor is right here!" This was not Joe's first encounter with NOAH; at the September 16, 2006 ROH show, after a speech by wrestling legend Bruno Sammartino, Joe got into an argument and pull-apart brawl with NOAH star Takeshi Morishima. Subsequently a match was signed for February pitting Joe against Morishima which Joe won^[11].
On January 31, Joe announced on the ROH Video Wire that he would no longer be a full time performer in ROH after March 4^[25]. All shows that led up to that date would be billed as the "Samoa Joe Farewell Tour". On March 4, he beat long time rival Homicide in his final ROH match with a Muscle Buster from the second rope^[11].

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling

2005

On June 14, 2005 Joe was announced as having signed a contract with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.^[27] He made his official debut five days later at the Slammiversary pay-per-view, defeating Sonjay Dutt in a match that saw him dubbed "The Samoan Submission Machine" by announcer Mike Tenay.^[28] Joe was a participant in the Christopher Daniels Invitational ''Super X Cup'', defeating Sonjay Dutt and Alex Shelley to advance to the tournament finals at Sacrifice. Joe won the tournament by defeating A.J. Styles, but only with help from Daniels.^[29] As a result of Daniels' interference, however, TNA Director of Authority Larry Zbyszko made the title defence, scheduled for Unbreakable on September 11, a three way dance, placing Styles in the match.
Joe proved his worth against Styles and Daniels in the match. However, Styles pinned Daniels to win the title. Though he did not win the match, this finish allowed Joe's undefeated streak in TNA to remain intact.^[30] At ''Bound for Glory 2005'' on October 23, Joe defeated the veteran Japanese junior heavyweight Jushin "Thunder" Liger with the rear-naked choke.^[31] At ''Genesis 2005'' on November 13, he teamed with Daniels, Alex Shelley, and Roderick Strong (a team that Daniels called "the Ministry") against Sonjay Dutt, Chris Sabin, Matt Bentley, and Austin Aries in an eight man elimination match. Following the victory by Daniels and Joe (Shelley and Strong were eliminated earlier in the match), Joe viciously attacked Daniels, beating Daniels around the ringside area until he had busted him open. He then threw Daniels into the ring, and delivered a Musclebuster. Joe then went out to grab a steel chair from ringside and brought it into the ring, after which he gave Daniels a second Musclebuster, this time onto the chair, supposedly giving Daniels a level-3 concussion.^[32]
In response to these actions, A.J. Styles called Joe out on an episode of ''iMPACT!'', saying his attack of Daniels violated an unwritten code of respect in the X Division. Prior to Turning Point 2005, Joe attacked Styles, saying he did not respect the X Division code (a vast departure from his Ring of Honor persona, who is a stalwart defender of their written Code of Honor). Joe defeated Styles at Turning Point and won the X Division Championship. Before Joe could injure A.J., however, Christopher Daniels came out and stopped him^[33].

2006

Daniels was later slated to face Joe at Final Resolution 2006 for the X Division Championship. During the build-up to the match, Joe stated that he intended to end Daniels' career. During the match, Styles came down to the ring to cheer Daniels on. Not long after making Daniels bleed from his head, Samoa Joe stopped going for the pin, instead dropping knee after knee on Daniels' head. Styles, concerned about Daniels' health, signaled for the match to be stopped by throwing in the towel, allowing Joe to retain the X Division title^[34].
Joe was then scheduled to face the next number 1 contender for the X Division Championship, A.J. Styles, at Against All Odds 2006. Daniels, however, complained that he hadn't wanted the towel thrown in, and still wanted his unfairly aborted title shot. The match thereafter was made into a rematch of the Unbreakable three-way match, with Joe, Styles and Daniels. In the match, Joe pinned Styles after delivering a Muscle Buster, and retained the title.^[35] Joe continued his feud with Daniels and Styles until Destination X 2006, when he lost the title to Daniels in an Ultimate X match.^[36]
Joe was then taken out of the X Division, and matched with an initially unannounced opponent. On the March 25 edition of ''Impact!'', it was announced that he would take on Sabu at Lockdown 2006. Despite that, he still had a scheduled X-Division title match, and, on April 13, 2006's ''iMPACT!'' (TNA's Thursday debut), Samoa Joe regained the X-Division title after delivering an Island Driver from the middle turnbuckle to Christopher Daniels. Joe then successfully defended his X Division title against Sabu at Lockdown.^[37]
At Sacrifice, Joe partnered with Sting in a tag team match against Jeff Jarrett and Scott Steiner. Joe and Sting were victorious, but after the match, Joe left the ring and allowed Sting to be attacked.^[38] Joe explained this by stating that he agreed to only watch Sting's back "from bell to bell" (implying that once the second bell rang, his duties were over), but still had issues with Steiner. Joe added Scott Steiner to his undefeated streak, at Slammiversary 2006.^[39]
During the May 11, episode of iMPACT!, it was revealed that Joe was a former mortgage broker when Sting gave details about his past life in a wrestling variation of Let's Make a Deal to choose his partner for a tag match against Jarrett and Scott Steiner. ^[40]
During the ''iMPACT!'' tapings on May 15, Joe was injured as he performed a kick, and it was reported that he tore every knee ligament except the Anterior Cruciate Ligament. He suffered a first degree tear to the Posterior Cruciate Ligament and a second degree tear to the Medial Collateral Ligament. Joe would remain out of action for two weeks.
On the June 22 episode of TNA iMPACT! Samoa Joe lost his X Division Championship in a triple threat match with Sonjay Dutt and Senshi. Senshi pinned Dutt to win the championship after Scott Steiner laid out Joe with a steel chair. Joe would have his chance at revenge when he participated in a Four-Way #1 Contender Match for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship along with Sting, Christian Cage, and Scott Steiner at Victory Road 2006 on July 16. Joe lost this match when Sting pinned Steiner.^[41]
On the following edition on iMPACT!, Joe answered an open challenge made by Rhino. A match between the two was set but was interrupted by Monty Brown, who was very vocal about the issues he had with both men. Joe defeated Brown and Rhino in a Falls Count Anywhere Match at Hard Justice when he pinned Monty Brown following an STO through a table from the stage ramp.^[42]
Joe beat Jeff Jarrett at No Surrender 2006 in a "Fan's Revenge Lumberjack Match". After the match, he took Jarrett's World Title belt with him, telling Jim Cornette that if Jarrett or Sting (Jarrett's scheduled opponent at Bound For Glory) want the belt, they can take it from him.^[43] On the October 12 episode, Joe agreed to return the belt to the Jarrett-Sting winner under one condition – the winner had to agree to give him a title shot. This offer was turned down, and finally Joe was given the choice of giving back the title or being removed from the TNA roster. Kurt Angle would make his debut and get into a brawl with Joe after Joe refused to give back the belt, and during the brawl, Jarrett took the belt back.
At Bound for Glory 2006 on October 22, Samoa Joe defeated Raven, Brother Runt and Abyss in a Monster's Ball match. The match ended when special referee Jake Roberts DDTed Raven, allowing Joe to deliver the Muscle Buster to Raven for the pinfall. Later in the night, Joe was involved in a pull-apart brawl with Kurt Angle after Jim Cornette announced that Joe would be removed from the TNA roster if he interfered in the main event match that involved Angle as special enforcer.^[44]
He would get his chance at Genesis 2006, where he would lose to Kurt Angle after tapping out to Angle's Ankle Lock. This would end his 18 month undefeated streak.^[45] Throughout the rest of 2006 into 2007, Joe continued to feud with Angle picking up a victory by submission in their rematch at TNA Turning Point 2006^[46] before suffering a legitimate knee injury in a tag team match that pitted Rhino and Kurt Angle against Samoa Joe and AJ Styles.

2007

On January 14 2007 at Final Resolution, Joe faced Angle in a thirty minute Iron Man match. With seconds remaining, Joe had Angle in the Ankle Lock. Although Angle tapped out, he did so just after time had expired. As a result, Angle won the match three falls to two.^[47]
On the February 14 edition of iMPACT!, Joe won a gauntlet match, last eliminating Tomko via pinfall, to become the number one contender to Christian Cage's NWA World Heavyweight Championship at Destination X. Joe lost to Cage after Cage reversed the Coquina Clutch into a pinning combination and used the ropes for leverage^[48].
Joe was a member of the victorious Team Angle in a Lethal Lockdown match at Lockdown 2007.
At Sacrifice, Joe pinned A.J. Styles after converting his Coquina Clutch into a suplex. On the May 24, 2007 edition of TNA iMPACT!, Joe qualified for the King of the Mountain match at Slammiversary by defeating Sting with a Samoan drop after Christopher Daniels hit Sting with a baseball bat; Joe lost the King of the Mountain match when Kurt Angle hung the belt. He would then qualify to compete in the Match of Champions at Victory Road by defeating Jay Lethal and Chris Sabin for the X Division title on iMPACT!. On the July 12th episode of IMPACT! Samoa Joe competed in the 8 man tag team war along with Kurt Angle and Team 3D he took on Christian Cage, Robert Roode, A.J. Styles and Tomko. He had A.J. Styles in the Muscle Buster but Kurt Angle tagged himself in and hit Joe's leg making him unwillingly hit Styles with the Muscle Buster so Angle could pick up the win. At the Match of Champions, Samoa Joe scored the winning pinfall on Brother Ray after Kurt Angle hit the Angle Slam and won the TNA World Tag Team Championships from Team 3D, making him the first wrestler in TNA to hold multiple TNA championships. He later opted to hold both the titles by himself. At Hard Justice, Samoa Joe put up the X Division title and both Tag Team titles against Kurt Angle's TNA World title as well as the IWGP World Championship (IGF version). However, Joe lost all his titles thanks to Karen Angle, who turned on Joe by handing her husband a steel chair, enabled Kurt to pin him and become the second TNA Triple Crown Champion.

Japan

Zero-One

Joe began competing for Pro Wrestling ZERO-ONE, the promotion run by the late Shinya Hashimoto, in June, 2001. He continued to work for the promotion throughout 2002, participating in a number of their biggest shows and tournaments. After forming a team with Keiji Sakoda, they became the first-ever holders of the NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Championship
. He worked as both Samoa Joe and later King Joe, but ultimately chose to leave the promotion when he was asked to take on a more gimmicky character.

Pro Wrestling NOAH

Ryu Nakata, director of Pro Wrestling NOAH, announced on Samurai TV that Samoa Joe would debut for NOAH at the show in Yokohama on October 25th.

Personal life

Joe got married July 27, 2007.^[49]

Wrestling facts

★ 'Finishing moves'
:
★ '''The Choke''' / '''Coquina Clutch''' / '''The Clutch''' (Rear naked choke)
:
★ '''Sleeper Suplex''' / '''Coquina-Plex''' (Rear naked choke suplex)
:
★ 'Muscle Buster'
:
★ 'Avalanche Muscle Buster'
:
★ '''Island Driver''' (Sitout side powerslam or side reverse piledriver)
:
★ '''Avalanche Island Driver''' (Second rope sitout side powerslam)
:
★ ' Avalanche Death Valley Driver'
:
★ '''Chimera-Plex''' (German suplex followed by a Dragon suplex and finished with an X-plex)

★ 'Signature moves'
:
★ ''C.C.S. Enzuigiri'' (Jumping enzuigiri)
:
★ ''Olé Kick'' (Running arched big boot to the face of an opponent seated on a chair next to a guardrail)
:
★ STJoe'' (Standing one arm side slam, as a counter to a running attack most often in the corner)
:
★ ''Samoan Elbow'' (Feint leg drop to elbow drop)
:
★ Facewash
:
★ Forearm suicida
:
★ Lariat
:
★ Dragon suplex
:
★ Overhead suplex
:
★ Exploder suplex
:
★ Death Valley driver
:
★ Spinning samoan drop
:
★ Stiff kicks
:
★ Yokosuka Cutter

★ 'Signature combination moves'
:
★ Backhand chop to the back of a sitting opponent, followed by a football kick to the chest that knocks the opponent down, finished by bouncing off the ropes and landing on the opponent with a running knee drop
:
★ Inverted atomic drop, followed by bouncing off the ropes and hitting a single leg running front dropkick to knock the opponent down, finished by performing a running senton to the prone opponent
:
★ Repeated open hand slaps and palm strikes to the face of an opponent followed by continuous knee lifts
:
★ Powerbomb/submission sequence^[50]
::
★ Powerbomb with Prawn Hold pin
::
★ Then, usually using the momentum from the opponent's kick-out, the Prawn Hold is turned over into a Boston Crab (held at the thighs)
::
★ One leg is released and the hold is easily twisted into an STF
::
★ Often, the leg scissor in the STF is released and then applied to the opponent's near arm to form a Crippler Crossface
::
★ Sometimes, the facelock is released and the opponent's far arm is wrenched to form a Scissored Armbar; the attacker can keep this hold on with either hand, the opponent is thus open to a flurry of backhand chops, overhead chops, or palm strikes
:
★ Snap scoop powerslam, often into a pin, sometimes using the opponent's kickout to turn it into a Crucifix Armbar

★ 'Nicknames'
:
★ "The Samoan Submission Machine"

Championships and accomplishments

★ 'Ballpark Brawl'

★
★ Natural Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[51]

★ 'Extreme Wrestling Federation'

★
★ EWF Xtreme 8 Tournament winner in 2006

★ 'Independent Wrestling Association: Mid-South'

★
★ Revolution Strong Style Tournament winner in 2004

★ 'Pro Wrestling ZERO1-MAX'

★
★ NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Keiji Sakoda^[52] '(First)'

★ 'Pure Wrestling Association'

★
★ PWA Pure Wrestling Championship (1 time)
:After being stripped of the title his reign was stricken from their records and the title returned to the man Joe defeated, Eddie Osbourne.^[53]

★ 'Ring of Honor'

★
★ ROH Pure Championship (1 time)

★
★ ROH World Championship(1 time)

★ 'Total Nonstop Action Wrestling'

★
★ TNA World Tag Team Championship (1 time)

★
★ TNA X Division Championship (3 times)

★
★ Super X Cup winner in 2005

★
★ "Feud of the Year" award in 2006 – vs. Kurt Angle

★
★ "Mr. TNA" award in 2006

★
★ "X Division Wrestler of the Year" award in 2006

★ 'Twin Wrestling Entertainment'

★
★ TWE Heavyweight Championship (1 time, current)

★ 'Ultimate Pro Wrestling'

★
★ UPW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[54]

★
★ UPW No Hold Barred Championship (2 times)⁵⁴

★ 'United Independent Wrestling Alliance'

★
★ UIWA Tag Team Championship (1 time)

★ 'FIGHTING SPIRIT magazine

★
★ The Franchise award in 2006

★ 'Pro Wrestling Illustrated'

★
★ PWI Most Popular Wrestler of the Year award in 2006^[55]

★
★ PWI ranked him # '4' of the 500 best singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2006^[56]

★ 'Wrestling Observer'

★
★ Best Brawler award in 2005

★
★ Most Outstanding Wrestler award in 2005

★
★ Best Brawler award in 2006

★
★ 5 Star match: vs. CM Punk (ROH Joe vs Punk 2, October 16, 2004

★
★ 5 Star Match: vs. Christopher Daniels vs. AJ Styles (TNA Unbreakable, September 11, 2005)

★
★ 5 Star Match: vs. Kenta Kobashi (ROH Joe vs. Kobashi, October 1, 2005)

Media

★ ''Best of Samoa Joe: ROH World Champion'' [DVD]. (2003). Ring of Honor.^[57]

★ ''Straight Shootin' with Samoa Joe'' [DVD]. (2004). Ring of Honor.^[58]

★ ''Best of Samoa Joe Vol. 2: The Champ is Here'' [DVD]. (2004), Ring of Honor.^[59]

★ ''Straight Shootin' with Samoa Joe & CM Punk'' [DVD]. (2005). Ring of Honor.^[60]

★ ''Best of Samoa Joe Vol. 3: ROH Legend'' [DVD]. (2005). Ring of Honor.^[61]

★ ''Unstoppable: The Best of Samoa Joe'' [DVD]. (2006). Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.^[62]

References

External links

★ The Official Website Of Samoa Joe

★ The Official Forum of Samoa Joe

★ TNA Profile

★ SLAM! Wrestling: Samoa Joe

★ The Whit Online: Ring of Honor legend on his farewell tour by Neil Borenstein

★ Samoa Joe at WrestlingRevealed.com

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