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106-523: Nuufolau Joel " Joe " Seanoa (born March 17, 1979), better known by the ring name Samoa Joe , is an American professional wrestler . He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a former AEW TNT Champion and AEW World Champion . Debuting in 1999, Joe joined Ring of Honor (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

212-607: 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 (UIWA) 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

318-676: A King of the Mountain match . At Victory Road in July 2008, Joe defended his title against Booker T in a singles match, with the match ending in a no contest after Sting hit Joe with a baseball bat and Booker T pinned him while Booker T's valet Sharmell made the three count. At Hard Justice in August 2008, Joe defeated Booker T in a steel cage weapons match to retain his title. At No Surrender in September 2008, Joe defeated Christian Cage and Kurt Angle in

424-576: A Six Sides of Steel match . At Sacrifice in May 2006, Joe teamed with Sting to defeat Jeff Jarrett and Scott Steiner in a tag team match ; after the match, Joe left the ring and allowed Sting to be attacked. In late-May 2006, Joe was absent for two weeks while rehabilitating a major tear to his posterior cruciate ligament . At Slammiversary in June 2006, Joe defeated Steiner. On June 19, Joe defended his X Division Championship against Senshi and Sonjay Dutt in

530-557: A six-man tag team match . Later that month, Joe was announced as a member of the reformed Main Event Mafia alongside Sting and Kurt Angle. In October 2013 at Bound For Glory , Joe competed in an Ultimate X match that was won by Chris Sabin . On November 7, 2013, the Main Event Mafia was disbanded by Sting due to Aces & Eights having been defeated. In November 2013, Joe was announced as an entrant in an eight-man tournament for

636-403: A steel cage match . In April 2011, Joe began feuding with the undefeated Crimson . In June 2011 at Slammiversary IX , Joe lost to Crimson, and afterwards shook Crimson's hand. Subsequently, Joe went on a losing streak with losses to Rob Van Dam , Devon , Kazarian and Bobby Roode. After losing all nine of his matches in the 2011 Bound for Glory Series to determine the number one contender to

742-581: A tag team tables match . Daves returned to the Empire Wrestling Federation in 2005, where he assumed the roles of booker and agent. On February 18, 2006, at The Battle At Bethel event, he made his in-ring return for the promotion under his Cincinnati Red name, where he and Greg Valentine defeated Syrus and Puma. On May 14, 2006, Red won the first Great Goliath Battle Royal, an annual battle royal held in honor of Pablo Crispin, who competed as The Great Goliath and trained Jesse Hernandez. As

848-568: A three way match to retain his title. At Bound for Glory IV in October 2008, Joe lost to Sting, ending his reign as TNA World Heavyweight Champion at 182 days. During the match, Joe suffered an injury after landing back-first on a flight of cement stairs while executing a dropkick ; the Wrestling Observer Newsletter stated that subsequently Joe "was never the same [...] His work noticeably slowed down, he gained weight". Writing for

954-455: A three-on-one handicap match , which he, RJ Rodriguez and The Wild Renegade lost to SWAT . Later that night, Red lost to The Thug. Red would continue to be used as an enhancement talent in the NWC, losing to the likes of Jim Neidhart , Don Juan and Larry Power. On August 25, Red teamed with Billy Anderson to form The Mercenaries, but they lost to Aerial Assault (Bobby Bradley and Rob Van Dam ) in

1060-467: A three-way match for Daniels' X Division Championship at Unbreakable in September 2005. The match was won by Styles, though Joe's undefeated streak remained intact as it was Daniels who was pinned. The match received an elusive " five star " rating from journalist Dave Meltzer . At Bound for Glory in October 2005, Joe defeated New Japan Pro-Wrestling star Jushin Liger ; prior to the match, Joe danced to

1166-593: A triple threat match ; after Steiner interfered in the match and gave Joe a chair shot , Senshi pinned Dutt to win the Championship, ending Joe's second reign. At Victory Road in July 2006, Joe, Steiner, Sting, and Christian Cage took part in a four-way match to determine the number one contender to the NWA World Heavyweight Championship ; the match ended when Sting pinned Steiner. At No Surrender in September 2006, Joe defeated Jeff Jarrett in

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1272-649: A 10-minute time limit draw on the July 22 episode of Impact . After the match with Hardy, Joe was upset with TNA's production crew for displaying a countdown to the time limit draw which Joe had specifically requested not be done to avoid spoiling the ending of the match; the "blow-up" resulted in Joe being suspended from TNA. Joe returned from his suspension in August 2010, aligning himself with Hulk Hogan and Jeff Jarrett in their feud with Kevin Nash and Sting. At No Surrender in September 2010, Joe and Jarrett defeated Nash and Sting in

1378-570: A 30-minute Iron Man match . The feud between Joe and Angle was named PWI Feud of the Year for 2007 by Pro Wrestling Illustrated , while Joe was named PWI Most Popular Wrestler of the Year for 2006 by Pro Wrestling Illustrated . In February 2007, Joe won a Gauntlet for the Gold match to become the number one contender for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship ; the following month at Destination X he unsuccessfully challenged champion Christian Cage . On

1484-485: A back and forth match, which Dave Meltzer again gave a five-star rating. The match went on to win 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

1590-845: A bout promoted by the German Wrestling Association in Bad Schwalbach , Germany with both Joe's ROH World Championship and the vacant GWA Heavyweight Championship on the line, defeating Ares to win the GWA Heavyweight Championship (the title was deactivated later that year). In March 2004, Joe successfully defended the ROH World Championship against Ahmed Chaer in a bout promoted by German Stampede Wrestling in Lennestadt in Germany. In June 2004, Joe successfully defended

1696-433: A contract with TNA in June 2005. He debuted later that month at Slammiversary , defeating Sonjay Dutt . Joe subsequently entered the 2005 TNA Super X Cup Tournament , defeating Sonjay Dutt and Alex Shelley before defeating AJ Styles in the tournament finals at Sacrifice in August 2005 following interference from Christopher Daniels . As a result of Daniels' interference, TNA Director of Authority Larry Zbyszko booked

1802-462: A few others, their real name. One notable exception was made for David Otunga because of his real marriage to singer Jennifer Hudson at the time, which gave WWE some mainstream exposure. Low Ki used the alias "Senshi" during his second TNA stint to reserve his primary ring name for other use. A similar example is the team known as The Dudley Boyz in ECW and WWE and Team 3D elsewhere. WWE trademarked

1908-506: A fifth and final time. At Hardcore Justice in August 2014, Joe successfully defended the X Division Championship against Low Ki. However, he vacated the title the following month due an injury. At Bound for Glory in the Korakuen Hall in Tokyo , Japan in October 2014, Joe defended the title against Kaz Hayashi and Low Ki by in a three way dance despite not being the champion at the time, as

2014-532: A four-way twelve-man tag team match pitting various factions against one another; the match was won by Lucha Libre AAA World Wide representatives Octagón , La Parka , and Vampiro . Joe returned to the promotion in September 2006 at Verano de Escándalo in Naucalpan , where he teamed with AJ Styles, Homicide, and Low Ki to defeat Abismo Negro , Charly Manson , Electroshock , and Histeria in an eight-man tag team match , then teamed with Styles and Low Ki to defeat

2120-454: A full-time contract due to his impressive merchandise sales. Joe made his in-ring debut on the June 10 episode of NXT , defeating Scott Dawson . On June 1, Joe wrestled Tyson Kidd ; the match ended when Kidd suffered a legitimate career-ending spinal cord injury when Joe gave him a muscle buster . On the June 17 episode of NXT , a match between Joe and Kevin Owens ended in a no contest, with

2226-541: A loss to Aaron Aguilera and American Dragon , then later that month wrestled Aguilera to a time limit draw. Joe made a handful of appearances with Inoki Dojo in June and July 2004, including successfully defending the ROH World Championship against Shinya Makabe . Joe made his final appearance with Inoki Dojo in December 2004, teaming with Chad Malenko in a loss to Katsushi Takemura and Osamu Nishimura . After being courted by both Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), Joe signed

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2332-579: A loss to Drago , Electroshock and Heavy Metal . The matches were broadcast on AAA Sin Limite on Televisa Deportes the following month. On October 25, 2007, Joe made his debut for the Japanese promotion Pro Wrestling Noah as part of its "Autumn Navigation" tour. Wrestling in Yokohama , he teamed with Yoshihiro Takayama to defeat Mitsuharu Misawa and Takeshi Morishima . Two days later, Joe challenged Misawa for

2438-450: A match at Slammiversary 10 the following month where Joe unsuccessfully challenged Aries. Joe subsequently entered the 2012 Bound for Glory Series , ultimately being eliminated after losing to Jeff Hardy at No Surrender in September 2012. On the September 27, 2012 episode of Impact Wrestling , Joe defeated Mr. Anderson to win the vacant TNA Television Championship , making him the third TNA Grand Slam Champion . At Bound for Glory

2544-554: A match pitting Joe and Nash against TNA World Tag Team Champions AJ Styles and Tomko . The match saw Nash refuse to tag himself in, leading to Styles and Tomko defeating Joe. At Against All Odds in February 2008, Joe served as the special enforcer for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship match between champion Kurt Angle and challenger Christian Cage. During the match, AJ Styles interfered and fought Joe away from

2650-538: A new contract. Joe returned on the January 6, 2011 episode of Impact , confronting D'Angelo Dinero in a storyline where Okato (in a gimmick inspired by Kato of The Green Hornet ) was hired by Joe to follow Dinero and film his activities in an attempt to prove he was a "scumbag". At Against All Odds in February 2011, Joe defeated Dinero with the help of Okato. At Lockdown in March 2011, Joe defeated Dinero by submission in

2756-515: A new villainous stable, Immortal . At Turning Point in November 2010, Jarrett defeated Joe after choking him out with a baton following interference from Immortal. The following month at Final Resolution , Joe lost to Jarrett in a submission match , again following interference from Immortal. In December 2010, it was reported that Joe's contract with TNA had expired. However, later that month TNA president Dixie Carter announced that Joe had signed

2862-409: A non-title "fan's revenge lumberjack match ". After the match, he took Jarrett's title belt. On the October 12 episode of Impact , Joe agreed to return the belt to the winner of the forthcoming bout between Jarrett and Sting at Bound for Glory on the condition that the winner give him a title shot. This offer was turned down by TNA Management Director Jim Cornette, who gave Joe the choice of returning

2968-444: A pull-apart brawl with Angle after Cornette announced that he would be fired if he interfered in the match between Jarrett and Sting that involved Angle as special enforcer. At Genesis in November 2006, Joe lost to Angle after submitting to Angle's ankle lock . This ended his 18-month undefeated streak. At Turning Point in December 2006, Joe defeated Kurt Angle by submission. At Final Resolution in January 2007, Joe lost to Angle in

3074-638: A rematch. At Genesis in November 2007, Joe defeated Robert Roode . That same month, Joe won the inaugural TNA Turkey Bowl . At Turning Point in December 2007, Joe was scheduled to team with Kevin Nash and Scott Hall to face the Angle Alliance . However, Hall, no-showed the event. Before the match, Joe was asked to cut a promo introducing Eric Young as Hall's replacement. Joe went five minutes overtime and criticized Hall, Nash and several other wrestlers, legitimately angering Nash and TNA president Dixie Carter , The match saw Joe, Nash, and Young defeat

3180-598: A result of winning the match, he was awarded both a trophy and also a match for the Heavyweight Championship . Instead, he forfeited his title match and gave his trophy to Paloma Crispin, Goliath's daughter. Daves remained with the company until 2010, when he was placed on their website's alumni list. After leaving the EWF, Daves returned to Millennium Pro Wrestling on May 29, 2010, for their Not Another Pointless Reboot event. He faced his former protégé "Lethal" Logan X in

3286-661: 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 . 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

Samoa Joe - Misplaced Pages Continue

3392-513: 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. 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,

3498-685: A singles match following interference from Mike Knox . At Lockdown in March 2013, "Team TNA" (Joe, Eric Young, James Storm, Magnus, and Sting) defeated Aces & Eights (Devon, DOC, Garett Bischoff, Mike Knox, and Mr. Anderson) in a Lethal Lockdown match . On the April 18 episode of Impact Wrestling , Joe challenged Devon for the Television Championship, but lost after interference from Aces & Eights. At Slammiversary XI in June 2013, Joe teamed with Jeff Hardy and Magnus to defeat Garett Bischoff, Mr. Anderson, and Wes Brisco of Aces & Eights in

3604-412: 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. 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

3710-438: A tag team match. At Bound for Glory in October 2010, Joe and Jarrett faced Nash, Sting, and D'Angelo Dinero in a handicap match after Hogan, who was scheduled to team with Joe and Jarrett, pulled out of the match due to injury. Joe lost the match after being abandoned by Jarrett; subsequently, it was revealed that Hogan's injury had been a ruse as he helped Jeff Hardy win the vacant TNA World Heavyweight Championship and formed

3816-751: A variation of it, sometimes modifying the spelling to better fit their gimmick , such as Dave Bautista becoming Batista (later reverting to his real name for his Hollywood acting career), Patricia Stratigeas becoming Trish Stratus , Jonathan Good becoming Jon Moxley , Bryan Danielson becoming Daniel Bryan (when he wrestled in WWE), Richard Fliehr becoming Ric Flair and Randall Poffo becoming Randy Savage . Others simply use part of their name, such as Bill Goldberg using Goldberg , Nicole Garcia-Colace using Nikki Bella , Mike Mizanin using The Miz , Cody Runnels using Cody Rhodes , and Michael Wardlow using Wardlow . Many female wrestlers go solely by their first name such as. It

3922-590: Is a highly respected tradition in Mexican lucha libre for performers to hide their true identities, usually wrestling under masks, and revealing a luchador's identity without their permission is considered a serious offence with real-life consequences. Professional wrestlers are often referred to by their contemporaries by their ring name. In interviews, Bret Hart regularly referred to Mark Calaway, Curt Hennig, and Kevin Nash by their ring names ( The Undertaker , Mr. Perfect , and Diesel ). Ring names are often trademarked by

4028-448: Is also common for wrestlers of all genders to use a nickname in addition to their real name for marketability and other reasons. Ricky Steamboat is an atypical instance of a wrestler adopting a ring name to sound less intimidating, as his legal name of Richard Blood was considered unfitting for his babyface persona. Some (mostly independent ) wrestlers still go to great lengths to ensure that their real names are not publicly known. It

4134-513: Is known for playing Sweet Tooth in the 2023 television series Twisted Metal and voicing King Shark in the 2024 video game Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League . 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

4240-530: 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

4346-844: The GHC Heavyweight Championship in a one-on-one match at the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo , losing by pinfall after Misawa struck the back of Joe's head with his elbow . On July 22, 2012, Joe returned to Pro Wrestling Noah as part of its "Great Voyage" tour. Teaming with Magnus , he defeated Special Assault Team ( Akitoshi Saito and Jun Akiyama ) to win the GHC Tag Team Championship in the Ryōgoku Kokugikan in Tokyo. Joe made his final appearance with Pro Wrestling Noah several months later on October 8, when he and Magnus lost

Samoa Joe - Misplaced Pages Continue

4452-603: 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 (its second every pay-per-view), defeating Tyler Black in a dark match . After departing Total Nonstop Action Wrestling in February 2015, Samoa Joe briefly returned to ROH the following month. After defeating Kyle O'Reilly , ACH , and Michael Elgin in successive matches, Joe unsuccessfully challenged ROH World Champion Jay Briscoe in

4558-573: The Maximum Impact Tournament ; he subsequently received a title shot against TNA World Heavyweight Champion Bobby Roode in the MEN Arena in Manchester , England, but was unsuccessful. In December 2011, Joe began teaming with Magnus , with Magnus stating in 2013 that booker Vince Russo put them together because "we were both always pissed off, so we could be pissed off together". The duo won

4664-643: The ROH Pure Championship . At Slammiversary in June 2005, he joined Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where he embarked on a 19-month-long undefeated streak that ended in a critically acclaimed 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

4770-632: The TNA Television Championship once . 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

4876-400: The Wrestling Observer Newsletter , Kyle Johnson stated "Joe’s standing as a main event star in the company entered a downward spiral from 2009 on and never recovered. His TNA World Heavyweight Championship run was almost completely unmemorable, ending at Bound for Glory 2008 in a match where he attempted a dropkick from a press box onto concrete stairs to horrifying effect. Joe was truly never

4982-482: The promotion that creates a character or gimmick for a performer. It is common to see one performer use a variety of ring names throughout their career, even if their overall persona remains similar. This is especially true in WWE , which has largely forced most wrestlers that have debuted since 2006 to use a WWE-owned ring name instead of a ring name that they used on the independent circuit or, such as with Daniel Bryan and

5088-728: The "Dudley Boyz" name, leading them to have to change their name when they went to TNA. The members' individual names were also trademarked by WWE, forcing them to have to change their names. WWE partially repealed the policy in 2015, allowing wrestlers who were well known in other promotions such as Samoa Joe , A.J. Styles , Shinsuke Nakamura , Austin Aries , Bobby Roode , and Eric Young to use their long-standing ring names (or, in Nakamura's and Roode's cases, their real names) as well as wrestlers who sign "Tier 2" NXT brand contracts such as Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa , who wrestle both on NXT and

5194-670: The AEW TNT Championship twice and the ROH World Television Championship once (at one time holding both titles simultaneously) and set a new record for the longest reign as ROH 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

5300-489: The Angle Alliance when Joe pinned Tomko . After the match, Joe and Nash briefly argued and shoved one another backstage, with Joe apologizing at a talent meeting the following day. The incident was parlayed into a storyline where Joe directed his frustrations towards TNA management, After complaining to TNA Management Director Jim Cornette that he did not have a match at Final Resolution in January 2008, Cornette scheduled

5406-615: The Beat Down Clan, prompting the Beat Down Clan to attack him. At Lockdown later that month, the Beat Down Clan lost to Lashley, Austin Aries , Gunner , and Kurt Angle in a Lethal Lockdown match . Writing for the Wrestling Observer Newsletter , Kyle Johnson described Joe as "relegated to little more than a henchman in a cumbersome heel stable". Joe wrestled his final match for TNA on January 31, 2015, losing to Austin Aries in Wembley Arena in London , England (due to broadcast delay

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5512-551: The Bound for Glory Series by attacking various participants, including Crimson, who was forced to withdraw from the Series after suffering a storyline ankle injury at the hands of Joe. In the final week of the Bound for Glory Series, Joe attempted to interfere in a match between Gunner and Rob Van Dam, but was stopped by guest color commentator Matt Morgan. This led to a grudge match at No Surrender in September 2011 where Joe lost to Morgan. On

5618-554: The Championship by himself rather than choosing a tag team partner. At Hard Justice in August 2007, Joe put up the X Division Championship the TNA World Tag Team Championship against Kurt Angle's TNA World Heavyweight Championship and IWGP Heavyweight Championship , losing the match (and both his titles) thanks to interference by Karen Angle . At No Surrender in September 2007, Joe lost to Christian Cage. The following month at Bound For Glory , Joe defeated Cage in

5724-490: The Championship. After successfully defending the Championship against teams including Mexican America , the Motor City Machine Guns , and Jeff Hardy and Mr. Anderson , Joe and Magnus lost the TNA World Tag Team Championship to Christopher Daniels and Kazarian at Sacrifice in May 2012. On the May 31, 2012 episode of Impact Wrestling , Joe had a confrontation with X Division Champion Austin Aries , leading to

5830-446: The December 18 episode of Impact , Joe and Styles defeated Sting and Nash in a Six Sides of Steel match . Following the match, Joe was attacked by the Main Event Mafia; the attack was billed as having left him with injuries that would sideline him for the rest of the year. On the January 29, 2009 episode of Impact , a video aired in which Joe – sporting a buzz cut , face paint , and a much heavier frame – stated he wanted to introduce

5936-609: The GHC Tag Team Championship to No Mercy ( Kenta and Maybach Taniguchi ) in Yokohama. In 2015, Samoa Joe was signed to a non-exclusive developmental contract by WWE . On May 20, 2015, during the main event of NXT TakeOver: Unstoppable , he made what was his first appearance with WWE since February 2001, stopping Kevin Owens from attacking an injured Sami Zayn with a chair. While initially Joe's contact enabled him to continue working outside WWE, on June 1, WWE signed him to

6042-469: The July 12 episode of Impact , Joe defeated Jay Lethal and Chris Sabin to win the X Division Championship. His victory entitled him to take part in the "Match of Champions" at Victory Road later that month; during the Match of Champions, Joe pinned Brother Ray to win the TNA World Tag Team Championship , making him the first wrestler in TNA to simultaneously hold multiple TNA championships. He opted to hold

6148-409: The June 25 episode of Impact , Joe officially joined the Main Event Mafia. At Victory Road in July 2009, Joe defeated Sting by submission in a grudge match with the assistance of the debuting Taz , who was announced as Joe's new adviser. The relationship between Joe and Taz ended the following month when Taz became a color commentator . At Hard Justice in August 2009, Joe defeated Homicide to win

6254-480: The Main Event Mafia in a Lethal Lockdown match . Joe went to feud with Main Event Mafia member Kevin Nash, defeating him at Sacrifice in May 2009. At Slammiversary Seven in June 2009, Joe competed in a King of the Mountain match for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship; at the climax of the match, instead of winning himself, Joe handed the title belt to Kurt Angle, enabling him to win. On

6360-430: The Main Event Mafia to his "Nation of Violence". Joe subsequently began feuding with Main Event Mafia member Scott Steiner, including a controversial angle where he menaced Steiner with a large knife. At Destination X in March 2009, Joe quickly lost to Steiner by disqualification after throwing the referee out of the ring. At Lockdown in April 2009, Joe teamed with Styles, Christopher Daniels, and Jeff Jarrett to defeat

6466-587: The Mexican Powers ( Crazy Boy , Joe Líder and Juventud Guerrera ) in a six-man tag team match . Joe returned to Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide in July 2011 as a member of the villainous faction La Sociedad . On 16 July in Orizaba , he teamed with L.A. Park and Scott Steiner to defeat Dr. Wagner Jr. , Electroshock , and El Zorro . On July 31 in Guadalajara , he teamed with Silver King and Último Gladiador in

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6572-583: 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 finally ended after 645 days when he lost to Austin Aries at Final Battle 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

6678-494: The TNA World Heavyweight Championship, Joe initially ended his losing streak on the August 4 episode of Impact Wrestling by defeating D'Angelo Dinero via submission; however, the decision was reversed after Joe refused to release the Coquina Clutch after the bell rang. Joe then gave a promo in which he accused TNA management of being against him and stated "the blood would be on [their] hands". Joe went on to attempt to disrupt

6784-916: 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. In 2002, Samoa Joe joined the ranks of the nascent Philadelphia, Pennsylvania -based promotion Ring of Honor (ROH), 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

6890-608: The UK. After being off TV for several weeks, Joe returned on the February 4 episode of Impact , attacking Styles. At Against All Odds later that month, Joe unsuccessfully challenged Styles in a no disqualification match refereed by Eric Bischoff . On the following episode of Impact , Joe was attacked and abducted by " ninjas ". Joe returned on the April 19, 2020 episode of Impact as the surprise partner of "Team Hogan" (Abyss, Jeff Jarrett, and Rob Terry ) in an eight-man tag team match against "Team Flair" ( Desmond Wolfe , James Storm , Robert Roode , and Sting); his abduction never

6996-409: The X Division "code", Joe defeated Styles to win the X Division Championship at Turning Point in December 2005. At Final Resolution in January 2006, Joe defended the X Division Championship against Daniels, winning by technical knockout after Styles threw in the title on behalf of Daniels. At Against All Odds in February 2006, Joe defeated Daniels and Styles in a rematch from Unbreakable to retain

7102-420: The X Division Championship for the fourth time. At No Surrender the following month, Joe successfully defended the X Division Championship against Christopher Daniels . On the October 8 episode of Impact , Joe lost the X Division Championship to Amazing Red after Bobby Lashley interfered in the match. At Bound for Glory later that month, Lashley defeated Joe in a submission match via referee stoppage. On

7208-430: The X Division Championship. At Destination X in March 2006, Joe lost the title to Daniels in an Ultimate X match (a match in which there is no pinfall or submission, thus preserving Joe's undefeated streak). On the April 13, 2006 episode of Impact , Joe defeated Christopher Daniels to win the X Division Championship for a second time. At Lockdown later that month, Joe successfully defended his title against Sabu in

7314-463: 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 [the WWF]". 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

7420-441: 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 . Seanoa became involved in professional wrestling after attending

7526-417: The angle in which he vacated the title did not air until November 2014 due to a broadcast delay . On the January 7, 2015 episode of Impact Wrestling , Joe, MVP, Kenny King, Low Ki, and Eric Young helped Bobby Lashley win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship from Bobby Roode. MVP subsequently named the group the Beat Down Clan and declared Lashley to be a founding member. However, Lashley refused to join

7632-508: The company's peak in terms of creative, match quality, business, and production coming together". The win also made Joe the third TNA Triple Crown Champion . At Sacrifice in May 2008, Joe successfully defended the TNA World Championship against Kaz and Scott Steiner in a three way match . At Slammiversary the following month, Joe successfully defended the title against Booker T , Christian Cage, Rhino , and Robert Roode in

7738-458: The event, he debuted for the promotion under his Cincinnati Red name and had the distinction of wrestling in the first match in the promotion's history, where he competed against Brian Rodgers. While on hiatus from in-ring competition, Daves and fellow wrestler Gary Key opened up The Grappler's Den, a wrestling school based in Oxnard, California . The Grappler's Den soon expanded into a promotion and

7844-484: The finals at NXT TakeOver: Respect in October 2015. Ring name Ring names are much more common in professional wrestling than any other sport; famous examples include Terry Bollea becoming Hulk Hogan , Michael Shawn Hickenbottom becoming Shawn Michaels , Roderick Toombs becoming Roddy Piper , Dwayne Johnson becoming The Rock , Christopher Irvine becoming Chris Jericho , and Phillip Jack Brooks becoming CM Punk . A number of wrestlers adopted their real name or

7950-485: The first round of a tournament for the Tag Team Championship. After leaving the NWC soon after, Red returned on March 28, 1997, losing to Neidhart. On July 12, he made his final appearance for the promotion in a losing effort to The Suicide Kid. After a few years on the independent circuit , Daves traveled to Southern California to take part in the Empire Wrestling Federation 's debut show on May 5, 1996. At

8056-498: The following episode of Impact , the Main Event Mafia was disbanded by Kurt Angle. In November 2009 at Turning Point , Joe unsuccessfully challenged TNA World Heavyweight Champion AJ Styles in a three-way match that also involved Christopher Daniels. At Final Resolution in December 2009, Joe took part in the " Feast or Fired " match, winning the briefcase containing a title shot at the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. In January 2010, Joe took part in TNA's "Maximum Impact" tour of

8162-402: The following episode of Impact Wrestling , Joe definitively ended his losing streak by defeating Morgan in a submission match . Joe then resumed his feud with the returning Crimson, who defeated Joe in a singles match on the October 6 episode of Impact Wrestling , and then again in a three-way match , also involving Matt Morgan, at Bound for Glory later that month. In November 2011, Joe won

8268-747: The following month, Joe successfully defended the title against Magnus. At Turning Point in November 2012, Joe again successfully defended the title against Magnus, this time in a no disqualification match . On the December 6, 2012 episode of Impact Wrestling , Joe lost the TNA Television Championship to Devon after DOC of Aces & Eights hit him with a ball-peen hammer . At Final Resolution in December 2012, Joe teamed with Garett Bischoff , Kurt Angle, and Wes Brisco to defeat Devon, DOC, and two masked members of Aces & Eights in an eight-man tag team match . At Genesis in January 2013, Joe lost to Aces & Eights member Mr. Anderson in

8374-511: The four week-long Wild Card Tournament to become the number one contenders to the TNA World Tag Team Championship. At Genesis in January 2012, Joe and Magnus unsuccessfully challenged Crimson and Matt Morgan for the TNA World Tag Team Championship. In a rematch the following month at Against All Odds , Joe and Magnus defeated Crimson and Morgan to win the TNA World Tag Team Championship. Joe and Magnus then defeated Crimson and Morgan in rematches on Impact Wrestling and at Victory Road to retain

8480-477: The independent circuit to keep their ring names (or, in Gargano's case, his real name). Gargano and Ciampa have since signed exclusive WWE contracts. "In-house" WWE wrestlers still use WWE-owned ring names. In rare cases, the rights to a wrestler's ring name may be owned by a company with little or no connection to professional wrestling, such as Marvel Comics ' ownership of the name Hulk Hogan until early 2003, which

8586-451: The main event of Supercard of Honor IX on March 27. On June 20, Joe teamed with AJ Styles to defeat ROH World Tag Team Champions Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian in a non-title match. Joe subsequently left Ring of Honor once again. In 2004, Joe appeared with Inoki Dojo , an American offshoot of New Japan Pro-Wrestling based in Santa Monica, California . He made his first appearance in April 2004, teaming with Bobby Quance in

8692-604: The match did not air until March 2015). In February 2015, Joe announced his departure from TNA after his contract expired and he failed to come to terms with TNA on a renewal, ending his run of nearly a decade with the company. In March 2006, Joe debuted in the Mexican Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide promotion as a member of the villainous La Legión Extranjera stable. At Rey de Reyes in Ciudad Madero , Joe teamed with Konnan and Ron Killings to take part in

8798-609: The prefix "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. Numerous boxers have used ring names or nicknames as their mode of identification during their professional boxing careers, particularly during the late 19th century and the early 20th century. The ring name "Kid" was particularly popular, indicating the boxer's comparative youth. Since the mid 20th century, ring names for boxers have typically been less common, although nicknames have become more popular in recent years. Famous examples of boxers who used ring names include: Cincinnati Red Gregory Scott Daves (October 17, 1974 – March 20, 2015)

8904-579: 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

9010-487: The ring as the promotion's top heel. He defeated Little Guido on May 19, 2001, to capture the MPW World title. He held the title for 168 days. On June 1, 2001, Daves and The Dog defeated Big Red Machine and Fake Scotty 2 Hotty by disqualification in a match for All Star Wrestling . He made his second and final appearance for ASW two days later, where he and Joe Kimble lost to The British Legend of Doom and Zebra Kid in

9116-669: The ring name "Samoa Joe". In 2000, Joe began appearing with the California-based Ultimate Pro Wrestling (UPW) promotion, then a developmental affiliate of the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), 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

9222-416: The ring with his family's dance troupe. At Genesis in November 2005, Joe teamed with Christopher Daniels, Alex Shelley, and Roderick Strong to face Austin Aries , Chris Sabin , Matt Bentley , and Sonjay Dutt in an eight-man elimination match . After Joe's team won the match, Joe attacked Daniels, supposedly giving him a grade 3 concussion . After AJ Styles criticized Joe, claiming he did not respect

9328-433: The ring, enabling Tomko to interfere to help Angle win the match. On the February 14 episode of Impact , Joe formed a stable with Cage and Kevin Nash to compete with Angle's Angle Alliance . At Lockdown in April 2008, Joe defeated Angle in a title versus career match to win his first and only TNA World Championship. Writing in 2015, the Wrestling Observer Newsletter described the bout between Angle and Joe as "arguably

9434-552: The same after that bump." On the October 30, 2008 episode of Impact , Joe and AJ Styles formed a faction of younger wrestlers called the " Front Line ", to oppose the Main Event Mafia of Kurt Angle, Sting, Kevin Nash, Booker T, and Scott Steiner. At Turning Point in November 2008, Nash defeated Joe by cheating. At Final Resolution in December 2008, the Front Line lost to the Main Event Mafia in an eight man tag team match . On

9540-403: The title or be fired. After Joe again refused to return the belt, he got into a brawl with the debuting Kurt Angle , allowing Jarrett to retrieve the belt. At Bound for Glory later that month, Joe defeated Abyss , Brother Runt , and Raven in a Monster's Ball match after guest referee Jake Roberts performed a DDT on Raven, allowing Joe to defeat Raven. Later that night, Joe was involved in

9646-402: The title to Nigel McGuinness at "Dragon Gate Invasion" in August 2005. 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. Joe proved to be a formidable opponent for Kobashi, in

9752-488: 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 critically acclaimed trilogy of title defenses against CM Punk (the second of which received a "five star" rating from veteran journalist Dave Meltzer , the first match in the United States in seven years to do so). In October 2003, Joe faced Ares in

9858-473: 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

9964-455: The tournament. Magnus went on to win the tournament, and the title, at Final Resolution the following month with the assistance from Rockstar Spud and Carter's storyline nephew, Ethan Carter III . Joe went on to feud with " Team Dixie ". At Genesis in January 2014, Joe defeated Rockstar Spud by submission, then unsuccessfully attempted to help Sting defeat Magnus for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. At One Night Only:#OldSchool (which

10070-565: The two continuing to brawl after the match until they were separated. At NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn in August 2015, Joe defeated Baron Corbin by technical submission. Joe then entered the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament with NXT Champion Finn Bálor as his partner, defeating the Lucha Dragons in the first round, Enzo and Cass in the quarter-finals, The Mechanics in the semi-finals, and Baron Corbin and Rhyno in

10176-404: The vacant TNA World Heavyweight Championship by TNA president Dixie Carter, who had stripped AJ Styles of the title. Joe subsequently angered Carter by announcing that, if he won the tournament, he would defend the title it against Styles, "whether it's here or anywhere else in the world". At Turning Point later that month, Magnus defeated Joe in a falls count anywhere match , eliminating him from

10282-455: The wrestler's gimmick changes, either subtly or dramatically. After debuting in WWE as the " Connecticut Blueblood " Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Paul Levesque's character later morphed into Triple H . A more drastic change sometimes occurs when a wrestler turns heroic or villainous , such as when Hulk Hogan joined the villainous nWo (New World Order) and became "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan. His new attitude

10388-490: Was an American professional wrestler. He was best known by his ring name Cincinnati Red . After training with Bill Anderson and Jesse Hernandez , Daves debuted under the ring name Blackjack Daniels, based on The Blackjacks ( Blackjack Mulligan and Blackjack Lanza ) tag team . He soon renamed himself to Cincinnati Red and joined the National Wrestling Conference , where he debuted on March 17, 1995, in

10494-596: Was due to Hogan being advertised as " The Incredible Hulk Hogan" early in his career, while Marvel owned the trademark for their comic book character. Sometimes, a wrestler will buy the rights to their own ring name; for example, Steve Borden owns the rights to the name Sting and licenses it to the musician of the same name . The wrestler formerly known as Test took this one step further and legally changed his name to "Andrew Test Martin". Jim Hellwig, known as The Ultimate Warrior , had his name legally changed to simply "Warrior". In many cases, ring names evolve over time as

10600-595: Was enhanced by changing his costume color scheme from his famous red and yellow to nWo's black and white. Steve Williams adopted the ring name Steve Austin to avoid confusion with the then-more established performer "Dr. Death" Steve Williams . Austin would wrestle under that name for several years before signing with the WWF and being given the name "the Ringmaster". This gimmick failed to catch on, and Austin reverted to his established name, reaching his greatest level of success with

10706-405: Was explained. In the following weeks, Joe randomly attacked wrestlers including Brian Kendrick , Douglas Williams , and Matt Morgan . In May 2010, Joe was ranked number 10 in the inaugural TNA Championship Committee rankings to determine the number one contender for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. Joe subsequently climbed the rankings, ultimately wrestling number two ranked Jeff Hardy to

10812-465: 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" in July 2006. Joe helped ROH dominate in the match, until, after picking up CZW wrestler Chris Hero for the muscle buster , he was attacked by fellow ROH wrestler Bryan Danielson . Danielson repeatedly hit Joe's injured knee with

10918-431: Was recorded in December 2013, but aired in February 2014) Joe unsuccessfully challenged Magnus for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship following interference from Ethan Carter III. At Lockdown in March 2014, Joe unsuccessfully challenged Magnus in a cage match following interference from Abyss. In June 2014, Joe defeated Low Ki and Sanada in the finals of a tournament to win the TNA X Division Championship for

11024-578: 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, and three months later made his debut in AEW, and concurrently returned to ROH, which by then was AEW's sister promotion following its purchase by AEW co-owner/chief executive officer Tony Khan . In AEW/ROH, Joe held

11130-701: Was subsequently named the Impact Wrestling Federation. The IWF would go on to run shows within and throughout Ventura County , including Simi Valley , Oxnard, and Port Hueneme . In late 1999, Red and Key sold the IWF to fellow wrestler Steve "Navajo Warrior" Islas, who subsequently renamed the promotion to Impact Zone Wrestling. After the sale of the IWF, Daves continued to teach in wrestling schools, with one of his most notable students being future world champion Samoa Joe . When his former student Paul Ventimiglia started Millennium Pro Wrestling, Daves returned to

11236-425: Was won by American Dragon . 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 ;

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