Samoa Joe
| Joe Seanoa | |
|---|---|
| File:Joe seannoa.jpg | |
| Born | March 17, 1979 Samoa |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Samoa Joe King Joe |
| Billed height | 6 ft 2 in (188 cm) |
| Billed weight | 280 lb (127 kg) |
| Billed from | Isle of Samoa Los Angeles, California |
| Trained by | Cincinnati Red Johnny Hemp |
| Debut | 1999 |
Joe Seanoa (born March 17, 1979 in Samoa, now residing in Huntington Beach, California), better known by his ring name Samoa Joe, is an American professional wrestler, currently performing for numerous independent promotions including Ring of Honor, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and Ultimate Pro Wrestling. He is thus far undefeated in TNA.
Career
Joe started his career in September of 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.
Debuting in December of 1999, Joe quickly rose through the ranks of independent grapplers throughout California. He soon signed with former WWE developmental affiliate UPW, where he captured the UPW Heavyweight Championship.
After finding success in UPW, Joe debuted in Japan for Shinya Hashimoto's ZERO ONE promotion, fighting in its "Shingeki" series of pay per views and later the annual "Burning Heart" tournaments.
Joe also wrestles on and off for SoCal promotion Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, where he has a standing rivalry with Super Dragon. Joe currently has two wins over Dragon, while Dragon has beat Samoa Joe only once.
Joe now resides as a member of New Japan Pro Wrestling's Inoki Dojo in Los Angeles. Joe also appeared in the International Assault tour of Australia in October 2005.
Ring of Honor
Back in the United States Joe joined the ranks of the East Coast-based Ring Of Honor promotion. Debuting at "Glory By Honor" as Christopher Daniels' "hired assassin" to take out Daniels's chief enemy, Low-Ki, Joe impressed fans with an extremely stiff and hard-hitting bout that resembled an MMA fight more than a wrestling match.
Joe quickly became the company's ROH Champion, defeating Xavier for the belt in February 2003. He held that title for twenty one months before losing it to Austin Aries on December 26, 2004. In the process, Joe made the ROH Championship a world title by defending it outside of the United States, and established the ROH World Championship as one of the most prestigious titles in North America.
With his historic ROH title reign, Joe also established himself as the face of the company and as 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 protege Jay Lethal for the belt. He would hold the title for several months before losing it to Nigel McGuiness.
In October 2005, the superstar Japanese heavyweight Kenta Kobashi made a once-in-a-lifetime trip to the United States. Much like Jushin Liger and the "Weekend of Thunder", Kobashi was signed to two Ring of Honor shows, and ROH officials selected Joe, as the ROH's top wrestler, to face him in a singles match on the first night and a tag match on the second.
The first show was in New York City in front of an explosive crowd at the New Yorker Hotel. Joe proved to be a formidable opponent for Kobashi. He integrated several moves from Kobashi's famous past opponents into his arsenal, like Mitsuharu Misawa's facelock, Toshiaki Kawada's step kick and Stretch Plum, and Genichiro Tenryu's chop/punch combination. Joe nearly won the match after a Muscle Buster but Kobashi made his famous comeback, unleashing his trademark array of chops and head-dropping suplexes before putting Joe away with a Burning Lariat. Dave Meltzer in his Wrestling Observer would later give this match an extremely rare five-star rating.
The second show was in Philadelphia, and featured Joe teaming with Low Ki to take on Kobashi and Homicide. In another hard-hitting spectacle, Kobashi and Homicide would go on to win, with Homicide taking out Joe on the outside while Kobashi gave Low Ki a Burning Lariat for the win.
Currently, Joe is feuding with former protege, Jay Lethal, who viciously attacked him with a chair and pinned him at "Steel Cage Warfare" in New York City. Joe is set to face Lethal in a grudge at the ROH 4th Anniversary Show in Edison, New Jersey on February 25th. He is also feuding with "The Fallen Angel" Christopher Daniels, with their differences beginning in August 2005 during the main event of the "Redemption" show in Dayton where they both cost each other the ROH world title.
===Total Nonstop Action Wrestling===
On June 19, 2005 Joe debuted in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling at the TNA Slammiversary pay-per-view, defeated Sonjay Dutt in a match that saw him dubbed "The Samoan Submission Machine". 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 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 TNA 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, therefor 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 will continue his feud with Daniels and Styles at the PPV on March 12, Destination X 2006 by defending the X division title in an Ultimate X match.
Finishing moves
- The Choke (ROH) / Coquina Clutch (TNA) (Rear naked choke)
- Muscle Buster (Double leg-capture brainbuster)
- Avalanche Muscle Buster (Second rope Muscle Buster)
- Island Driver (Sitout side powerslam or side reverse piledriver)
Signature moves
- Chimeraplex (Combination German suplex, dragon suplex, and cross-arm German suplex)
- Dragon Suplex Hold (Bridging full nelson suplex)
- C.C.S. Enzuigiri (Enzuigiri)
- Facewash (rubbing the sole of his boot against an opponent's face while the opponent sits in a corner, the last of which usually sees him charge at the opponent)
- Óle kick (Running front kick to the face of an opponent seated on a chair next to a guardrail, while fans chant "Ole Ole Ole Ole")
- Powerbomb with prawn hold pin, using the opponent's kickout to turn the over in to an STF
- Shin hold Boston crab
- Single leg running front dropkick
- Scoop powerslam
- S.T.Joe (Standing one arm side slam, a counter to a running attack)
- Running senton
- Football kick
Championships and accomplishments
- Independent Wrestling Association: Mid South
- 2004 Revolution Strong Style Tournament Winner
- 1-time ROH Heavyweight Champion (21 month reign)
- 1-time ROH Pure Champion
- 2005 Super X Cup winner
- 1-time TNA X Division Champion (current)
- United Independent Wrestling Alliance
- 1-time UIWA Tag Team Champion
- 1-time UPW Champion
- 2-time UPW No Hold Barred Champion
- 2005 Most Outstanding Wrestler
- 2005 Best Brawler
- 2005 Match of the Year (vs Kenta Kobashi)
- 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)
Championship succession
Trivia
- Joe's Coquina Clutch is often misspelled to Kokina Clutch
- Joe appeared on the Comedy Central game show Distraction, along with fellow wrestlers Frankie Kazarian and Curry Man.
- Joe also appeared on Monster Garage with fellow wrestlers Aaron Aguilera, C.M. Punk, & Big Babi Slymm.