Samoa Joe
Nuufolau Joel Seanoa, better known by the ring name Samoa Joe, is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling, where he is the leader of the Opps. He is a former two-time AEW World Champion and one-time AEW World Trios Champion. He is also known for his work with Ring of Honor, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, and WWE.
Debuting in 1999, Joe joined ROH soon after its formation in 2002, going on to hold the ROH World Championship for a record 21 months from March 2003 to December 2004 as well as holding the ROH Pure Championship. At Slammiversary in June 2005, he joined TNA, where he embarked on a 19-month-long undefeated streak that ended in a feud with Kurt Angle. During his 10-year stint in TNA, he held the TNA World Heavyweight Championship once, the TNA X Division Championship five times, the TNA World Tag Team Championship twice, and the TNA Television Championship once, and headlined the 2008 edition of TNA's flagship annual event, Bound for Glory.
After departing TNA in 2015, Joe began wrestling for WWE on its NXT brand. After winning the NXT Championship twice, he joined the main roster in January 2017, going on to win the WWE United States Championship on two occasions and headline several WWE pay-per-views and livestreaming supercards. In 2019, he began working as a color commentator due to accumulated injuries. He was released from his contract in April 2021, but was rehired that June, winning the NXT Championship a third time before being released once again in January 2022.
Joe was named part of the inaugural class of the ROH Hall of Fame in January 2022. Three months later he made his debut in AEW, and concurrently returned to ROH, which by then became AEW's sister promotion following its purchase by AEW founder and co-owner Tony Khan. In AEW/ROH, Joe held the AEW TNT Championship twice and the ROH World Television Championship once and set a new record for the longest reign as ROH World Television Champion. He then defeated MJF for the AEW World Championship in December 2023, making him the only wrestler to have held the AEW, ROH, and TNA World Championships.
Outside of wrestling, Seanoa is an actor and voice actor; he is known for playing Sweet Tooth in the 2023 television series Twisted Metal, voicing King Shark in the 2024 video game Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, and lending both appearance and voice to antagonist Raymond Law in ''Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii.''
Early life
Seanoa was born on March 17, 1979 to Pete and Portia Seanoa. He was raised in Orange County, California. As a child, Seanoa performed for "Tiare Productions", a Polynesian dance troupe founded by his parents in 1965. At the age of five, Seanoa performed in the opening ceremony of the 1984 Summer Olympics at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. He became a California State Junior Judo Champion and was an all league football player while attending Ocean View High School. Seanoa attended college, where he played football. Before becoming a wrestler, he worked as a mortgage broker.Professional wrestling career
Early career (1999–2001)
Seanoa became involved in professional wrestling after attending a Jiu-Jitsu class and being encouraged by instructors to attend a professional wrestling school taking place afterwards, whereupon he "fell in love with it" and began training regularly. Seanoa attended the United Independent Wrestling Alliance West Coast Dojo, where he trained under Cincinnati Red, Johnny Hemp and, occasionally, John Delayo. He debuted in December 1999 in a match against "Uncle" Jess Hansen three months after beginning his training, adopting the ring name "Samoa Joe". In 2000, Joe began appearing with the California-based Ultimate Pro Wrestling promotion, then a developmental affiliate of the World Wrestling Federation, after being scouted by Brett Wagner. While in UPW, Joe feuded with John Cena and held the UPW No Holds Barred Championship from March to April 2001. He was named Southern California's Rookie of the Year for 2000. In February 2001, he appeared on an episode of WWF Jakked, losing to Essa Rios; he was subsequently told by WWF personnel that he "didn't have a future in ". In March 2001, Joe defeated Christopher Daniels to win the UPW Heavyweight Championship; he held the title for a record 258 days before losing to Mikey Henderson in November 2001. In October 2001, Joe competed in All Pro Wrestling's "King of Indies" tournament that was won by American Dragon.Pro Wrestling Zero-One (2001–2003)
As part of a working arrangement between Ultimate Pro Wrestling and Shinya Hashimoto's Pro Wrestling Zero-One promotion, Joe made his first appearance in Japan in June 2001 during Pro Wrestling Zero-One's "Shingeki" pay-per-view. In his debut match he teamed with Keiji Sakoda to defeat Katsumi Usuda and Yuki Ishikawa to become the inaugural Intercontinental Tag Team Champions; the titles were awarded to Mike Rapada and Steve Corino the following month. Joe went on to take part in the 2001 Fire Festival, finishing second in his block with four points after defeating George Takano and Masato Tanaka but losing to Kohei Sato.Joe returned to Pro Wrestling Zero-One in January 2002, where Masato Tanaka and Shinjiro Otani defeated him and Tom Howard to win the vacant Intercontinental Tag Team Championship. He continued to work for the promotion throughout 2002, participating in a number of its biggest shows and tournaments as "Samoa Joe" and later "King Joe". He tagged with several other American wrestlers, including Samoan Savage. Joe took part in the 2002 Fire Festival, finishing last in his block with two points after defeating Kintaro Kanemura but losing to TAKA Michinoku, Masato Tanaka, and eventual overall winner Shinjiro Otani.
Joe made his final appearances with Pro Wrestling Zero-One in August 2003 as part of its "Summer Festival 2003" tour. Wrestling as "King Joe", he competed in a series of tag team matches and six-man tag team matches, including teaming with King Adamo to unsuccessfully challenge Kohei Sato and Hirotaka Yokoi for the All Asia Tag Team Championship.
Independent circuit (2001–2015)
Joe wrestled for many independent promotions from 2001 to 2015, including IWA Mid-South, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, Jersey All Pro Wrestling, the United Wrestling Federation, Full Impact Pro, and Major League Wrestling. In 2004, Joe won IWA Mid-South's Revolution Strong Style Tournament. In 2006, Joe won the Twin Wrestling Entertainment Championship and the Ballpark Brawl Natural Heavyweight Championship. In the same year, he won the Extreme Wrestling Federation's Xtreme 8 Tournament.Ring of Honor (2002–2008)
In 2002, Samoa Joe joined the ranks of the nascent Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-based promotion Ring of Honor, which had been impressed by his work in Japan and on the United States independent circuit. He debuted in October 2002 at "Glory By Honor" as Christopher Daniels's "hired assassin", brought in to defeat Daniels's chief enemy, Low Ki. Originally booked for a single 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, resulting in ROH booking him full-time.Image:Samoa Joe in March 2015.jpg|thumb|Joe in March 2015 upon his return to Ring of Honor.
Joe quickly rose through the ranks and became ROH Champion by defeating Xavier at Night of Champions in March 2003. After he defeated The Zebra Kid at "Frontiers of Honor" in London, England in May 2003, the title was renamed the ROH World Championship. Joe held the title for a record 645 days, defending the title 29 times in the United States and in Europe. During this time, he had a trilogy of title defenses against CM Punk. In June 2004, Joe successfully defended the ROH World Championship against Shinya Makabe in a bout promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling at the Inoki Dojo in Santa Monica, California. Joe's reign ended after 645 days when he lost to Austin Aries at Final Battle 2004 in December 2004.
Soon after losing the ROH World Championship to Aries, Joe became the ROH Pure Champion by defeating his on-screen protégé Jay Lethal in May 2005. He lost the title to Nigel McGuinness at "Dragon Gate Invasion" in August 2005. In October 2005, when Japanese wrestler Kenta Kobashi made a 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. They had a highly acclaimed match, which won the Wrestling Observer Newsletter award for "Match of the Year", with the Wrestling Observer Newsletter also naming Joe "Most Outstanding Wrestler" for 2005. In 2015, the Wrestling Observer Newsletter described the match as being "widely considered one of the company's defining moments".
In 2006, Joe was one of the principal wrestlers representing Ring of Honor during an interpromotional feud with the Philadelphia promotion Combat Zone Wrestling. The feud culminated in a five-on-five "Cage of Death" match at "Death before Dishonor IV" in July 2006. At the September 16, 2006 ROH show, Joe got into an argument and pull-apart brawl with Pro Wrestling Noah star Takeshi Morishima. Subsequently, a match was signed for February 2007 pitting Joe against Morishima which Joe won. Joe later teamed with Homicide to fight against the Briscoes, and, like Homicide, found himself back in the ROH World Championship hunt. Joe, however, came up short against champion Bryan Danielson in several matches, including a match that ended in a time limit drawn after 60 minutes and a cage match in December 2006.
Joe ceased to be a full-time performer in ROH on March 4, 2007. His appearances leading up to that date were billed as the "Samoa Joe Farewell Tour". On March 4, he defeated long-time rival Homicide in the Liverpool Olympia in Liverpool, England in his final ROH match. On November 22, 2008, Joe made a one night return to ROH at Rising Above, defeating Tyler Black in a dark match.