Professional wrestling career

Joe was the first graduate of the UIWA West Coast Dojo, training under Cincinnati Red, along with Johnny Hemp and, occasionally, John Delayo. He debuted in December 1999 in a match against "Uncle" Jess Hansen just three months after beginning training.

Joe 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, though their reign is no longer officially recognized by the promotion.[13][14] 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.

In October 2007, he made his debut for Pro Wrestling Noah at the Yokohoma Red Brickhouse, Joe teamed with Yoshihiro Takayama to take on the team of Mitsuharu Misawa and Takeshi Morishima. Joe captured the win for his team after pinning Misawa with an Island Driver, one of his finishing maneuvers. Two days later, on October 27, Joe again faced Misawa, this time for the GHC title in a one-on-one match at the Budokan Hall. Both competitors had exchanged and overcame their respective signature moves throughout the match but it was Misawa who won the pinfall after striking the back of Joe's head with his elbow thus marking his sixth successful title defense.

Ring of Honor (2002–2007)

Back in the United States, Joe joined the ranks of the East Coast-based Ring of Honor (ROH) promotion in 2002. He made his debut at "Glory by Honor" as Christopher Daniels's "hired assassin", brought in to take out Daniels's chief enemy, Low Ki.[15] Originally booked for just the one match against Low Ki, Joe impressed fans with his extremely stiff and hard-hitting style that resembled a mixed martial arts fighter more than a wrestler, which led to ROH booking him full time.[16]

Joe quickly rose through the ranks and became ROH Champion, defeating Xavier for the belt, which soon became the ROH World Championship on May 17, 2003 after defeating The Zebra Kid at "Frontiers of Honor" in London, England.[17][18] He held that title for twenty one months before losing it to Austin Aries at "Final Battle 2004" on December 26, 2004.[18] During this time, he had a trilogy of title defenses against CM Punk (the second match earning a 5 star rating from Dave Meltzer's Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the first American match in seven years to do so).[15] Soon after losing the ROH World Championship to Austin Aries, Joe became the promotion's fifth Pure Champion, defeating his on-screen protégé Jay Lethal for the belt on May 7, 2005 at "Manhattan Mayhem" in New York City.[17][19] He held the title for over three months before losing it to Nigel McGuiness on August 27 at "Dragon Gate Invasion".[19]

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 to face him in a singles match on the first night and a tag match on the second.[15][20] Joe proved to be a formidable opponent for Kobashi, and, after a back and forth match, which Dave Meltzer again gave "Five Stars" and the scripted match went on to win the Wrestling Observer Newsletter award for "Match of the Year". In 2006, Joe was one of the principal wrestlers representing Ring of Honor in their war against rival Philadelphia promotion Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW). 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 one of his finishers, the Muscle Buster, he was attacked by fellow ROH wrestler Bryan Danielson. Danielson repeatedly hit his injured 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.[21] 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, including a match that went to a 60 Minute Draw and the final one being a cage match on December 8.[15] At the December 9 show, Joe called out the Pro Wrestling Noah promotion, claiming "Ring of Honor is right here!" This was not his 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.[15]

On January 31, Joe announced that he would no longer be a full time performer in ROH after March 4.[22] 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.[15] On November 22, Joe made a one night only return for Rising Above, defeating Tyler Black in a non-pay-per-view main event.

At 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 the victory by Daniels and Joe (Shelley and Strong were eliminated earlier in the match), Joe attacked Daniels, beating him around the ringside area until he had busted him open. He then threw Daniels into the ring, and delivered a Muscle Buster. Joe then went out to grab a steel chair from ringside and brought it into the ring, after which he gave Daniels a second Muscle Buster, this time onto the chair, supposedly giving Daniels a level-3 concussion.[27] In response to these actions, 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, 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.[28] Joe couldn't injure Styles, however, Daniels came out and stopped him.[29] Daniels was later slated to face Joe at Final Resolution in 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 for Daniels. Not long after making Daniels bleed from his head, 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.[30] Joe proceeded to win rematch of the three-way at Unbreakable, thus retaining his title.[31] This three-way feud continued until Destination X, when he lost the title to Daniels in an Ultimate X match, a match in which there is no pinfall or submission, thus keeping his undefeated streak.[28][32]

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. Despite that, he still had a scheduled X Division title match, and, on April 13's Impact! (TNA's Thursday debut), Joe regained the X Division title after delivering an Island Driver from the middle turnbuckle to Christopher Daniels.[28] Joe then successfully defended his X Division title against Sabu at Lockdown.[33] 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.[34] 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.[35]

Contender and Champion (2006–2008)

Joe beat Jeff Jarrett at No Surrender in a "Fan's Revenge Lumberjack match". After the match, he took Jarrett's NWA World Heavyweight Championship with him, telling Jim Cornette that if Jarrett or Sting (Jarrett's scheduled opponent at Bound For Glory) wanted the belt, they could take it from him.[37] 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 be fired. Kurt Angle made his debut and got into a brawl with Joe after he again refused to give back the belt, and during the brawl, Jarrett took the belt back. At Bound for Glory on October 22, Joe defeated Raven, Brother Runt and Abyss in a Monster's Ball match. The match ended when special referee Jake Roberts performed a DDT to 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 he would be fired if he interfered in the main event match that involved Angle as special enforcer.[38] At Genesis, Joe lost to Angle after tapping out to Angle's ankle lock. This ended his eighteen month undefeated streak.[39] Throughout the rest of 2006 into 2007, Joe continued to feud with Angle picking up a victory by submission in their rematch at Turning Point,[40] before suffering a legitimate knee injury in a tag team match that pitted Rhino and Kurt Angle against Joe and A.J. Styles. 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.[41]

On the February 14 edition of Impact!, Joe won a gauntlet match 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.[42] On the May 24 edition of 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 then qualified to compete in the Match of Champions at Victory Road by defeating Jay Lethal and Chris Sabin for the X Division title on the July 12 episode of Impact!.[28] At the Match of Champions, 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.[28] He later opted to hold both the titles by himself. At Hard Justice, 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 (Third Belt). Joe, however, lost all his titles thanks to interferences by Karen Angle, enabling Kurt to become the second TNA Triple Crown Champion. Joe became the first man to defeat Christian Cage by pinfall or submission in TNA, forcing him tap out to the Coquina Clutch at Bound for Glory, thus ending Cage's twenty-three month undefeated streak by pinfall or submission in TNA.

Joe was then announced as the teammate of Kevin Nash and Scott Hall in their match against the Angle Alliance at Turning Point. Hall, however, no-showed the event. Before the match, Joe was asked to cut a promo alleviating heat from the company and introducing Eric Young as Hall's replacement. Joe went five minutes overtime and ranted against Hall(whom he sarcastically referred to as "The Phantom of the Impact Zone"), Nash and some other superstars, which legitimately upset Nash and TNA President Dixie Carter at ringside. Before calling Young to come to the ring he told the TNA ringside staff, "Are you mad? Go ahead, fire me, I don't care". Joe, Nash and Young defeated the Angle Alliance when Joe pinned Tomko after a Muscle Buster. After the match, Joe and Nash briefly argued and shoved one another backstage, with Joe apologizing at a talent meeting the following day.[43] On-screen, though, Joe continued to direct his frustration towards TNA management, going as far as to trash a Christmas party organized by Matt Morgan. In storyline, after complaining to Jim Cornette that he did not have a match at Final Resolution, Cornette decided to team Joe with Kevin Nash, who was to receive a title shot with Scott Hall when he returned. At Final Resolution, Joe, along with his tag team partner Kevin Nash lost to the team of A.J. Styles and Tomko. This occurred after Nash refused to tag himself into the match leaving Joe to fend for himself. In addition, Nash "flipped off" Joe whilst leaving the ringside area. After Nash had screwed Joe at Final Resolution, a furious Joe stormed to the backstage area on the hunt for Nash, only to find him welding a baseball bat for protection and refusing to fight Joe unless they got paid. Nash explained to Joe that he was teaching him a lesson about the wrestling business and told Joe he could help him to the top if he followed his direction. In good faith, Nash gave Joe the bat and implored to hit him if he wasn't satisfied with his explanation. Joe was still fuming, but let Nash go without incident. On the January 24 edition of Impact!, Joe went on a rampage, attacking several TNA employees, culminating in his attacking of Jeremy Borash after being announced as the MVP of 2007.

At Against All Odds, Joe served as the special enforcer for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship match where Kurt Angle defended his title against challenger Christian Cage. During the contest, A.J. Styles interfered and Joe fought Styles to the back, but Tomko came out and attacked Cage giving Angle the win. On the February 14 edition of Impact!, Joe formed an alliance with Cage and Kevin Nash, to compete with Kurt Angle's Angle Alliance. It was also announced that Joe would be given the next TNA World Heavyweight Championship opportunity against Angle. Over the next few weeks, Joe and his new found alliance would attack the Angle Alliance leading up to their match at Destination X. Joe vowed that he would eliminate the Angle Alliance so he would receive a fair title match with Angle at Lockdown. On the March 6 edition of Impact!, Joe, Christian, and Nash faced a member of the Angle Alliance to determine who would get a five minute advantage during their match at Destination X. Joe lost his First Blood match to Tomko, but Nash defeated Styles in a Street Fight while Cage defeated Angle in a Six Sides of Steel match. Joe's team won the match when he made Tomko tap out to the Coquina Clutch. Achieving his goal to eliminate the Angle Alliance, nothing now stood in the way of Joe getting a fair title shot at Lockdown.

At Lockdown, Joe defeated Angle to win his first TNA World Championship and become TNA's third Triple Crown Champion.[28] The stipulation of the match was if Joe had lost, he would have had to retire from professional wrestling. He successfully defeated Angle in a rematch on Impact! and then retained against Scott Steiner and Kaz at Sacrifice. At Slammiversary, Joe became the first champion to ever retain his title in a King of the Mountain match.[44] Joe was then challenged to a match by Booker T at Victory Road, which he accepted. At Victory Road the match went to a No Contest when Sting hit Joe with a baseball bat and Booker pinned him while Sharmell made the three count. At Hard Justice, Joe defeated Booker after a guitar shot, thus reclaiming physical possession of the title belt, which Booker had kept after Victory Road. At Bound for Glory IV, he fought Sting in a losing effort to defend the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, ending his reign at 182 days.

On the October 30 edition of Impact!, Joe and AJ Styles formed a faction of younger wrestlers also featuring Jay Lethal, Consequences Creed, Petey Williams, Eric Young, ODB and The Motor City Machineguns, calling themselves "The Frontline", to oppose the The Main Event Mafia of Kurt Angle, Sting, Kevin Nash, Booker T and Scott Steiner. At Turning Point Nash defeated Joe by pinning him with his feet on the ropes following a steel chair shot, a low blow and after ramming Joe's head to an exposed turnbuckle. At Final Resolution, The Front Line lost to The Main Event Mafia in a 4-on-4 tag match and Styles failed to win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship.[45] On the December 18 edition of Impact!, Joe and Styles defeated Sting and Nash in a Six Sides of Steel match. Following the match, Joe was attacked by the members of the Main Event Mafia and suffered injuries which would sideline him for the rest of the year.[46]

Nation of Violence; Heel turn (2009)

On the January 29 episode of Impact!, a short video was shown in which Joe, sporting a new buzzcut hairstyle, tribal facepaint, and much heavier frame stated he would like to introduce the Main Event Mafia to both the "real" Joe and his "nation of violence".[47] At Destination X, Joe got himself disqualified in his return match against his old rival and Main Event Mafia member Scott Steiner. That same week on Impact!, Joe once again got disqualified this time in a match with Sheik Abdul Bashir. He took him backstage, hung him upside down, and tortured him.

The following week, he competed in a 20-man Six Sides Of Steel match where the last two men standing would be determined the captains of the Lethal Lockdown Match at Lockdown. He entered last and won the match by pinning rival Kurt Angle via the Muscle Buster. He then later stated backstage that he didn't wish to be captain, but would still be part of the team. His teammates were Jeff Jarrett, A.J. Styles and the returning Daniels. They faced off against The Main Event Mafia at Lockdown, and won the match.[48] At this time he also revealed that he was taking orders from a "secret advisor" who he was seen talking to many times backstage although the person's identity was not revealed. He then feuded with Kevin Nash as his next victim of the Mafia and finally beat his old mentor at Sacrifice.[49]

At Slammiversary, Joe betrayed A.J. Styles and turned on all the fans by helping Kurt Angle win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship in the King of the Mountain match, and thus turned heel.[50] On the June 25 episode of Impact!, Joe officially joined The Main Event Mafia after having spent the last five months taking them out. This was revealed by Angle, to be a master plan to fool the TNA Frontline and the attacks were all planned by Joe and the Mafia in advance. Joe then went on to explain that he joined the Mafia for the money that was invested by Jenna Morasca and for the power and also debuted a new rap themed, entrance music. Throughout the night, he carried out attacks with the Mafia on Styles and Daniels and the leader of the Mafia, Sting, who was kicked out of the Mafia as leader and once again replaced with Kurt Angle.[51] At Victory Road, Joe faced Sting in a grudge match. Late in the match, Taz made his TNA debut and helped Joe beat Sting, thus revealing himself as his new adviser.[52] At Hard Justice Joe defeated Homicide to win the X Division title for the fourth time.[53] After winning this title, Joe feuded with his long time rival Daniels and defeated him at No Surrender.[54] On the October 8 edition of Impact! Joe lost the X Division title to Amazing Red after Bobby Lashley interfered in the match.[55] At Bound for Glory Lashley defeated Joe in a submission match with a referee stoppage.[56] On the following edition of Impact! Kurt Angle turned into a fan favorite, thus signaling the end of the Main Event Mafia.[57] The following month at Turning Point Joe unsuccessfully challenged TNA World Heavyweight Champion A.J. Styles for the title in a three-way match, also involving Daniels.[58]

Face turn (2009–present)

At Final Resolution Joe took part in the "Feast or Fired" match and won the briefcase containing a shot at the TNA World Heavyweight Championship.[59] After being off TV for several weeks, Joe returned on the February 4 edition of Impact!, by attacking A.J. Styles, who had recently turned heel with Ric Flair, and announcing that he would be using his "Feast or Fired" briefcase to get a shot at Styles' World Heavyweight Championship at Against All Odds, turning face in the process.[60] At the pay-per-view Styles retained his title against Joe in a match refereed by Eric Bischoff.[61] After losing a match against Orlando Jordan on the following Impact!, Joe was seen abducted by a group of masked men from the parking lot of the Impact! Zone.[62]