Samoa Joe
| Joe Seanoa | |
|---|---|
| File:Samoajoe2.jpg | |
| Born | March 17, 1979 Samoa |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Samoa Joe King Joe Joe Seanoa |
| Billed height | 6 ft 3 in (191 cm) |
| Billed weight | 290 lb (132 kg) |
| Billed from | American Samoa Huntington Beach, California |
| Trained by | Cincinnati Red Johnny Hemp John Delayo |
| Debut | September 1999 |
Nuufolau Joel (Joe) Seanoa (born March 17, 1979), better known by his ring name Samoa Joe, is an American professional wrestler, currently performing for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) and Ring of Honor (ROH). He holds the record for longest reigning ROH World Champion, holding the belt for 21 months.
Joe is most notable for his ongoing winning streak in TNA. Although he has lost two triple threat matches, a four-way match, a battle royal, and an Ultimate X match, none of these losses have come by Joe being pinned or forced to submit. Due to this Joe is still referred to as being "undefeated", in singles competition in his TNA tenure (16 months as of October 2006).
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. He became a California State Junior Judo Champion and was an all league football player while attending Ocean View High School.
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 occassionally John Delayo.
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 Entertainment (WWE) developmental affiliate Ultimate Pro Wrestling (UPW), where he feuded with real life friend and future WWE champion John Cena and eventually captured the UPW Heavyweight Championship. 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 and the annual "Burning Heart" tournaments.
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.
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. Joe impressed fans with his extremely stiff and hard-hitting style that resembled an MMA fighter more than a wrestler.
Joe quickly rose through the ranks and became ROH Champion, defeating Xavier for the belt in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on March 22, 2003. 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 Joes 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. It was also at this event that Joe developed his infamous "Olé Kick" move; an idea which got after watching a commercial during the English FA Cup (soccer) final. Low Ki challenged Joe to "get the crowd to chant Ole Ole Ole," which Joe accepted, and during his match with Zebra Kid he positioned the Kid on a chair, and performed the move thus the Ole Kick was born[1].
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 series of title defenses against CM Punk and his match with Japanese wrestler Kenta Kobashi.
Soon after losing the ROH World Championship to Aries, Joe became the promotion's fifth Pure Champion, defeating his (kayfabe) protege Jay Lethal for the belt on May 7, 2005 at "Manhattan Mayhem" in New York City. He held the title for several 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, and ROH officials selected Joe, ROH's top wrestler, to face him in a singles match on the first night and a tag match the second. 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 would later give an extremely rare "Five Star" rating, Kobashi walked away with the win.
In 2006, Joe helped ROH to fight off CZW, but was later replaced by Homicide on May 13th. Joe is currently teaming with Homicide to fight against The Briscoes and he's back in the hunt for the ROH World title.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
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On June 19, 2005 Joe debuted in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling at the Slammiversary 2005 pay-per-view, defeated Sonjay Dutt in a match that saw him dubbed "The Samoan Submission Machine" by announcer Mike Tenay. On the July 22 episode of TNA iMPACT!, Joe defeated Sonjay Dutt, this time in the quarterfinal round of the Christopher Daniels Invitational Super X Cup. Joe advanced to the tournament finals at the TNA Sacrifice pay-per-view on August 14, 2005, by defeating Alex Shelley in his semifinal match on the August 5 episode of iMPACT!. Joe won the tournament by defeating A.J. Styles at Sacrifice, despite interference from Daniels which both wrestlers fended off, and thus became the number one contender to Daniels' TNA X Division Championship. However, as a result of Daniels' interference, TNA Director of Authority Larry Zbyszko made the title defence, scheduled for TNA Unbreakable on September 11, a three way dance, placing Styles in the match.
Samoa Joe proved his worth against Styles and Daniels in the three way dance, which was the main event at Unbreakable. However, A.J. Styles pinned Christopher Daniels to become the first 5-time TNA X Division Champion. Although he failed to win the title, Samoa Joe's undefeated streak at TNA remained intact. At TNA Bound For Glory on October 23, Joe defeated the veteran Japanese junior heavyweight Jushin "Thunder" Liger with the rear-naked choke, causing Liger to pass out. At TNA Genesis 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 a victory by Daniels and Joe (Shelley and Strong were eliminated earlier in the match), Joe viciously attacked Daniels, first by beating Daniels around the ringside area until he had busted Daniels open, then throwing a bloody Daniels in the ring and delivering a Musclebuster. Joe then went out to grab a steel chair from ringside and brought it into the ring, leading to Joe giving Daniels a 2nd Musclebuster, this time onto the chair and apparently giving Daniels a level-3 concussion.
A.J. Styles called him out at an episode of iMPACT!, saying his attack of Daniels violated an unwritten code of respect in the X Division. On another episode prior to Turning Point 2005, Joe attacked Styles, saying he does 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.
Daniels was later slated to face Joe at Final Resolution 2006 for the X Division Championship. During the build-up to the match, Joe spoke for the first time in a TNA promo, stating how he intended to end Daniels's career. During the match, AJ Styles come 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's head. AJ Styles, concerned about Daniels's health, called for the match to be stopped by throwing in the towel, therefore allowing Samoa Joe to retain his title.
Joe was then scheduled to face the number 1 contender, AJ Styles, at Against All Odds 2006 but Daniels complained that he didn't want to throw in the towel and wanted his shot at the title. Larry Zybszko then made it a rematch of the Unbreakable three-way match, with Joe, Styles and Daniels. In that match Joe used a Muscle Buster on Styles, pinning him, and retaining the title, with Daniels screaming at the end that it wasn't over between them. Joe continued his feud with Daniels and Styles at the PPV on March 12, Destination X 2006 defending the X division title in an Ultimate X match, ultimately coming up short, losing the title to Daniels.
Larry Zbyszko then proceeded to take Samoa Joe out of the X Division, and placed him with an unannounced opponent outside the X Division. Then on the March 25th, 2006 edition of Impact!, it was announced that Samoa Joe would take on Sabu at Lockdown 2006 where all matches take place inside a steel cage.
On the April 13, 2006 episode of 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 successfully defended his X Division title against Sabu at Lockdown 2006.
During the May 11, 2006 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 Deal or No Deal to choose his partner for a tag match against Jarrett/Scott Steiner (in the interview link below, Joe confirms this is real, not kayfabe).
At TNA Sacrifice 2006, Samoa Joe tagged with Sting against Jeff Jarrett and Scott Steiner. Joe and Sting were victorious, but after the match, Joe left the ring and allowed Jarrett and Steiner to attack Sting. On the June 1, 2006 iMPACT! episode, Joe explained his actions 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.
During the iMPACT! tapings on May 15, 2006, 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 2 weeks.
During this time TNA released a DVD on Samoa Joe entitled "Unstoppable: The Best of Samoa Joe".
At Slammiversary 2006, Samoa Joe added Scott Steiner to his undefeated streak.
On the June 22, 2006 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 layed out Joe with a steel chair. Due to this Joe still has never been defeated in TNA by pin or submission.
At Victory Road 2006 on July 16, 2006, Joe took part in a Four-Way #1 Contender Match for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship along with Sting, Christian Cage, and Scott Steiner. Sting won the bout by pinning Steiner.
On the following edition on iMPACT!, Samoa Joe answered an open challenge made by Rhino. Claiming that he felt frustrated over the events at Victory Road, Joe said he was answering Rhino's challenge because he had "heard he was the best brawl in town." A match between the two was set for the following week. However, this match was interrupted by Monty Brown, who was very vocal about the issues he had with both men. Monty Brown disliked Samoa Joe for his quick rise to stardom, and had been attempting to duplicate Joe's unbeaten streak in earlier editions of iMPACT! Brown had also engaged in a brawl with Rhino at Victory Road that ended in a no-contest. As a result of all attempts to put these men in matches ending in chaos, TNA Managing Director Jim Cornette announced Samoa Joe vs. Monty Brown vs. Rhino in a Falls Count Anywhere Match for Hard Justice, the upcoming TNA PPV.
At Hard Justice 2006 on August 13, 2006, Samoa Joe defeated Monty Brown and Rhino in the Falls Count Anywhere Match. The match ended when Samoa Joe pinned Monty Brown following an STO through a table from the Impact Zone ramp.
Samoa Joe would go on to beat Jeff Jarrett at No Surrender 2006 in a "Fan's Revenge Lumberjack Match", following a Muscle Buster. After the match, he ended up taking the NWA World Heavyweight Championship belt with him, which he refused to give up on the September 28 episode of TNA iMPACT!, telling Jim Cornette that if Jarrett or Sting (who Jarrett was scheduled to defend the title against at TNA's Bound For Glory pay-per-view in October) want the belt, they can take it from him ; later in the episode Jim Cornette agrees to give Abyss a title shot if he can take the belt from Joe, and Eric Young – in a rare act of courage and a great deal of common sense – tells Jarrett that he won't get the belt from Joe for him. On the October 12 episode, Samoa 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.
On the October 19, 2006 edition of iMPACT!, Samoa Joe would be given the choice of giving back the NWA 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. During the brawl, Jeff Jarrett would come out and take the belt back.
Wrestling facts
- Finishing moves
- The Choke (ROH) / Coquina Clutch (TNA) (Rear naked choke)
- Muscle Buster
- Avalanche Muscle Buster
- Island Driver (Sitout side powerslam or side reverse piledriver)
- Avalanche Island Driver (Second rope sitout side powerslam)
- Chimeraplex (Combination German suplex, followed by a dragon suplex and finished with an X-Plex)
- Samoan Elbow (Feint leg drop to elbow drop)
- Signature moves
- C.C.S. Enzuigiri (Enzuigiri)
- Olé Kick (Running yakuza kick to the face of an opponent seated on a chair next to a guardrail, while fans chant "Olé, Olé Olé, Olé, Olé, Olé")
- Facewash
- S.T.Joe (STO, as a counter to a running attack)
- Backhand chop to the back of a sitting opponent, followed by a football kick to the chest knocking the opponent down, then bouncing off the ropes and landing on the opponent with a running knee drop
- Lariat
- Inverted atomic drop, then bounces off ropes and leaps up to hit a single leg running front dropkick to down the opponent, followed by performing a running senton on the downed opponent
- Powerbomb with prawn hold pin, using the opponent's kickout to turn the over in to an STF, from here Joe often converts it to a crossface hold
- Repeated open hand slaps and palm strikes to the face of an opponent followed by continuous knee lifts
- Scoop powerslam, sometimes into a pin using the opponent's kickout to turn it into a crucifix armbar
- Thigh hold Boston crab
- Suicide dive into forearm smash
- Nicknames
- "The Samoan Submission Machine"
- Quotes
- "I am Samoa Joe, and I am pro wrestling"
- "The baddest motherfucker on the planet"
- "The champ is here!"
- "Joe is Gonna Kill You"
- "With me, it's not about who's next... but who's left."
Championships and accomplishments
- 1-time Natural Heavyweight Champion (current)
- Extreme Wrestling Federation
- 2006 EWF Xtreme 8 Tournament Winner
- Independent Wrestling Association: Mid South
- 2004 Revolution Strong Style Tournament Winner
- Ranked #4 in the 2006 PWI 500
- 1-time ROH World Champion (21 month reign)
- 1-time ROH Pure Champion
- Twin Wrestling Entertainment
- 1-time TWE Heavyweight Champion (current)
- United Independent Wrestling Alliance
- 1-time UIWA Tag Team Champion
- 1-time UPW Champion
- 2-time UPW No Hold Barred Champion
- 5 Star Match: vs CM Punk (ROH Joe vs Punk 2, October 16, 2004)
- 2005 Most Outstanding Wrestler
- 2005 Best Brawler
- 2005 Match of the Year (vs Kenta Kobashi)
- 5 Star Match: vs Christopher Daniels vs A.J. Styles (TNA Unbreakable, September 11, 2005)
- 5 Star Match: vs Kenta Kobashi (ROH Joe vs Kobashi, October 1, 2005)
Trivia
- Joe's theme is a remix of Akira Infukube's Godzilla Orchestral.
- Joe's Coquina Clutch is often misspelled to Kokina Clutch
- Joe used to freestyle rap along with John Cena and Frankie Kazarian while on the road in UPW. His quote "The Champ is here!" is also the same as Cena's.
- Joe appeared on the Comedy Central game show Distraction, along with fellow wrestlers Kazarian and Curry Man.
- Joe also appeared on Monster Garage with fellow wrestlers Aaron Aguilera, CM Punk, & Big Babi Slymm.
- Joe is one of the few Samoan wrestlers to not be a part of the Anoa'i wrestling family.
- Joe has achieved three matches rated Five Stars by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter within a one year time period. His first five-star match was on October 16, 2004, the second was on September 11, 2005, and the third was on October 1, 2005.