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Whether he's
wrestling in Ring of Honor or Total Nonstop Action, the
Samoan Submission Machine remains one of the sport's most
feared and respected athletes. His pound and ground mat
style coupled with incredible resilancy has led Samoa Joe to
several major championships during his short tenure in
professional wrestling.
His success in the squared circle
is yet another one of Samoa Joe's many accomplishments.
At the age of 5, he participated in the opening ceremonies of
the 1984 Summer Olympics as part of his family's Polynesian
dance troupe. In high school, Joe was the California
State Junior Judo Champion as well as an accomplished high
school football player.
In late 1999, Joe began working as
a professional wrestler. He worked in a number of
independent circuits such as Ultimate Pro Wrestling (UPW)
and Pro Wrestling Guerilla (PWG) as well as wrestling in Japan
for the Zero One Promotion.
In 2002, Samoa Joe entered Ring of
Honor (ROH) after being brought in by "Fallen Angel"
Christopher Daniels to take out Daniels' arch-rival
Low-Ki. Less than a year later, Joe earned the
promotion's top prize, the ROH Heavyweight Championship when
he defeated Xavier for the title on March 22, 2003. For
nearly two years, Joe maintained a stranglehold on the belt,
defending it against top contenders such as Christopher
Daniels, Homicide, Jay Briscoe, Paul London, A.J. Styles,
Trent Acid, Colt Cabana, C.M. Punk, Mark Briscoe, Bryan
Danielson, and Chris Hero.
Joe's ROH reign ended on December
26, 2004 when he lost to Austin Aries. It didn't take
Joe long to rebound from his defeat though and on May 7, 2005,
Joe defeated Jay Lethal for the ROH Pure Title. Joe
would hold the title for three months before dropping it to
Nigel McGuinness in Buffalo, NY on August 27, 2005.
In June 2005, Joe entered the
national stage when he debuted for Total Nonstop Action (TNA)
Wrestling at their Slammiversary PPV. Joe
quickly built up an undefeated streak, defeating some of the
top names in TNA's X Division such as Sonjay Dutt, Alex
Shelley, and A.J. Styles. Joe earned a title
shot for the X Division Championship and at the
Unbreakable PPV, he met A.J. Styles and X Division
champ Christopher Daniels in a three way match.
Styles pinned Daniels to win the X Division Championship but
this was just the beginning of many matches between the three
wrestlers.
Since his debut in TNA, Joe
has continued wrestling in ROH as well. In the fall
of 2005, Joe participated in a historic match against
legendary Japanese Kenta Kobashi. Kobashi (making his
second ever appearance in North America), defeated Joe in a
much celebrated battle. The two met in tag competition
the next night with Joe teaming with Low Ki to battle Kobashi
and Homicide.
As of March 2006, Samoa Joe has
maintained his undefeated streak in TNA. On December 11,
2005, Joe defeated "The Phenomenal" A.J. Styles at the
Turning Point PPV to win the X Division Title.
Joe successfully defended the title against Chrisopher Daniels
at the Final Resolution PPV and against Styles and
Daniels in a three way match at the Against All
Odds PPV. The battles between Joe, Daniels, and Styles
continued at TNA's Destination X PPV where they met
in an "Ultimate X" Match. Unaccustomed to the unique
style of the Ultimate X Match, Joe was at a disadvantage and
Daniels went on to win the title in that match. However
since Joe was not pinned or forced to submit, his undefeated
record remained intact.
Samoa Joe continues to play an
important role in ROH. After ending a feud with Jay
Lethal, he has helped his fellow ROH wrestlers battle the
recent invasion of ROH by Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW).
This culminated in the "Cage of Death" match between five
ROH wrestlers (including Joe) and five CZW wrestlers with
Joe's team getting the win.
Recently, TNA authority figure
Larry Zbyszko signed a match at the Lockdown PPV
between Joe and Sabu to test Joe's abilities. Samoa Joe
was outraged at Zbyszko as he wanted his rematch with
Christopher Daniels. On a recent episode of
Impact, Joe earned another shot at the X Division
Championship. On the April 13, 2006 episode of
Impact, Joe regained the belt from
Daniels.
When Sting was looking for a tag
partner to battle Jeff Jarrett and Scott Steiner, he secured
the services of Samoa Joe. Despite the lack of
friendship with Sting, Joe gladly teamed with him and together
the two defeated Steiner and Jarrett. However when
Steiner and Jarrett beat up Sting in a post-match attack, Joe
refused to help Sting and simply walked away.
Recently, Samoa Joe found himself the
target of "Big Poppa Pump" Scott Steiner. The two
powerhouses battled at the 2006 Slammiversary PPV
with Joe getting the win. Steiner was livid and he
took his revenge on Joe by costing him the X Division
Championship. Thanks to interference from Steiner, Joe lost
the X Division Championship in a three way match between
himself, Low-Ki, and Jay Lethal after Steiner knocked him
out with a chair shot (allowing Low-Ki to pin Lethal).
Joe's winning ways led to him being
named one of four participants in a Number One Contender
Match for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. At
TNA's 2006 Victory Road PPV, Joe squared off against Sting,
Christian Cage, and Scott Steiner. While Joe was not
pinned or made to submit, he did not win the match as Sting
pinned Steiner to get the victory.
After answering Rhino's open
challenge, Joe found himself challenged by "Alpha Male"
Monty Brown. Brown was trying to build up a Samoa
Joe-like win streak of his own and he seemed jealous of
Joe's incredible success in TNA. As a result, all
three men battled at the 2006 Victory Road PPV with
Joe pinning Brown in a Three Way "Falls Count Anywhere"
Match.
Joe's winning ways have continued both
in and out of TNA. At the Ballpark Brawl VII in
Buffalo, NY, Joe competed for "The Natural" Championship,
facing and defeating "The Extreme Horsemen" Steve Corino.
Joe went on to win the independent championship by defeating
Low-Ki, Homicide, and "Fallen Angel" Christopher Daniels in
a four way ladder match.
Joe lays in to Steve Corino at the
Ballpark Brawl VII.
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