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143-591: The cutter was innovated by Johnny Ace , who called it the Ace Crusher . It was later popularized by Diamond Dallas Page , who called it the Diamond Cutter , which is where the move got its name. The most famous of all the cutters is the RKO , the finishing move of Randy Orton. The cutter also formed the base for the later development of another professional wrestling move known as the stunner . The attacking wrestler gets

286-481: A 3 ⁄ 4 facelock and fall backwards, dropping the opponent face-first into the mat. It is used by Penelope Ford , Fénix and Jay Lethal , the latter of whom calls it Lethal Injection . This variation sees the attacking wrestler execute an inverted suplex lift on the opponent before bringing them down face first with the cutter. Also known as the Osaka Street Cutter . This cutter variation sees

429-677: 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

572-580: 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

715-502: 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 a new contract. Joe returned on the January 6, 2011 episode of Impact , confronting D'Angelo Dinero in

858-615: A corporate stooge during the main event of the Money in the Bank pay-per-view the following month. At the climax of the WWE Championship match, under McMahon's orders, Laurinaitis tried to duplicate the Montreal Screwjob , but defending WWE Champion John Cena then proceeded to knock Laurinaitis out, not wanting to win the match that way. This interference allowed CM Punk to win the match and

1001-496: 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 a new villainous stable, Immortal . At Turning Point in November 2010, Jarrett defeated Joe after choking him out with

1144-561: 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

1287-540: 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 the Maximum Impact Tournament ; he subsequently received a title shot against TNA World Heavyweight Champion Bobby Roode in

1430-525: A text message to the returning Kevin Nash telling him to attack CM Punk after his victory at SummerSlam, causing him to lose the WWE Championship to Alberto Del Rio who cashed in his Money in the Bank contract immediately afterwards. On the August 15 episode of Raw , Laurinaitis asked Nash for a private meeting in his office, and on the September 5 episode of Raw , after Triple H fired Nash, Laurinaitis

1573-520: 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

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1716-471: 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

1859-596: 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

2002-729: 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 the TNA Television Championship once . After departing TNA in 2015, Joe began wrestling for WWE on its NXT brand. After winning

2145-462: A 3-on-1 Handicap Match , teaming up with Big Show and David Otunga against Cena. During the match, both Big Show and Otunga walked out on Laurinaitis, which allowed Cena to hit Laurinaitis with three Attitude Adjustment s before making him submit to the STF . Following his tenure as an on-screen performer in 2012, Laurinaitis was relieved of his backstage executive duties and returned to his original role as

2288-575: 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

2431-537: A Spinebuster and a People's Elbow. Laurinaitis appeared at Survivor Series , alongside Los Matadores , R-Truth, Santino Marella and Fandango , and at the 2013 Slammy Awards , presenting the Rookie of the Year award to The Shield . On SmackDown's 15th Anniversary Special on October 10, 2014, Laurinaitis formed a team to face Teddy Long's team to be determined as the greatest general manager in SmackDown history. The match

2574-487: 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

2717-846: 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

2860-437: 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

3003-631: 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 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

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3146-508: 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

3289-532: 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

3432-461: 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

3575-902: 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 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

3718-667: A lawsuit was filed by Janel Grant, who had been employed at WWE headquarters between 2019 and 2022. Grant alleged that Vince McMahon had coerced her into a sexual relationship, and along with John Laurinaitis sexually trafficked her and repeatedly sexually assaulted her during 2020–2021. On February 1, 2024, Laurinaitis responded by releasing a statement through his attorney that accused McMahon of sexual misconduct, where he accused McMahon of holding "Power, [and] control" over him and of making "dictatorial sexual demands with repercussions if not met." Samoa Joe Nuufolau Joel " Joe " Seanoa (born March 17, 1979), better known by

3861-593: 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

4004-582: 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

4147-479: 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

4290-547: 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 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

4433-409: 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

Cutter (professional wrestling) - Misplaced Pages Continue

4576-540: A permanent foreign fixture on the roster. In AJPW, he found a lot of success, teaming with Kenta Kobashi , "Dr. Death" Steve Williams and Bart Gunn . Laurinaitis enjoyed significant championship success and acclaim during his tenure, becoming a two-time All Asia Tag Team Champion , a four-time World Tag Team Champion , and the winner of the New Year's Heavyweight Battle Royal on January 2, 1991, at Korakuen Hall . Two of his matches received 5 Stars from Dave Meltzer, he won

4719-447: 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

4862-640: 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

5005-617: A road agent. It was later stated in a 2022 Wall Street Journal investigative report into hush money payments made by Vince McMahon that his demotion occurred around the time the company reached a $ 1.5 million non-disclosure agreement to a woman who alleged misconduct against Laurinaitis for having an affair with her and then demoting her after their affair ended. On the March 29, 2013 episode of SmackDown , Laurinaitis offered The Rock his services as manager for his match at WrestleMania 29 against John Cena. Rock responded by giving Laurinaitis

5148-664: 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

5291-516: 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,

5434-688: 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

5577-561: A singles match. Laurinaitis continued his feud with Long until WrestleMania XXVIII , where both Long and Laurinaitis chose a team of six wrestlers to represent them, with the winning team earning general manager control over both brands. Team Johnny defeated Team Teddy, resulting in Long losing his position as General Manager of SmackDown . On the April 6, 2012 edition of SmackDown, Laurinaitis forced Long to become his new assistant after threatening to discontinue Long's grandchildren's trust fund. On

5720-414: 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

5863-401: 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 a steel cage match . In April 2011, Joe began feuding with

Cutter (professional wrestling) - Misplaced Pages Continue

6006-498: A tag team with Shane Douglas called "The Dynamic Dudes". They were managed by Jim Cornette until Cornette turned on them for Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane 's version of The Midnight Express . In his last televised WCW match, Ace lost to Mean Mark Callous, later known as The Undertaker , at Capital Combat on May 19, 1990. As All Japan Pro Wrestling was cutting its ties with the NWA in 1990, Laurinaitis chose to stay in it, thus becoming

6149-550: A title shot. The following week on Raw SuperShow , Laurinaitis distracted Punk once again, causing him to be counted-out in his title match against Ziggler, thus retaining the championship. Laurinaitis then scheduled a WWE Championship match between Punk and Ziggler at the Royal Rumble , in which he named himself guest referee . Laurinaitis continued to cause Punk to lose to Ziggler throughout January which ultimately led to Punk attacking Laurinaitis in retaliation, claiming that he

6292-439: Is also a springboard version in which the wrestler dives from the ropes in a backflip position and delivers a cutter to the standing opponent. Chris Bey uses this move, calling it The Art of Finesse . With an opponent placed on an elevated surface, a wrestler applies a 3 ⁄ 4 facelock and then draws the opponent away, leaving only the opponent's feet over the elevated surface. The wrestler then falls backwards so that

6435-544: Is also the uncle of James Laurinaitis , former linebacker for the St. Louis Rams and New Orleans Saints . On September 3, 2015, Laurinaitis became engaged to Kathy Colace, who is the mother of The Bella Twins and the mother-in-law of former WWE champion Bryan Danielson . The two were married in a private ceremony on March 24, 2016. On the October 16th, 2024 episode of "The Nikki & Brie Show" Podcast, Colace confirmed that she and Laurinaitis were now divorced. In January 2024,

6578-437: Is an American retired professional wrestler and business executive. He has wrestled for such promotions as World Championship Wrestling (WCW), All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) and WWE . He is the brother of Joe (Road Warrior Animal; one half of the former wrestling tag team The Road Warriors ) and Marcus , and is also the uncle of former National Football League player James Laurinaitis . In WWE, Laurinaitis worked in

6721-729: Is another elevated cutter variation in which the opponent is first raised over the shoulders of a wrestler in the fireman's carry position. From here, the attacking wrestler twists the opposite way and quickly switches back, throwing the opponent's legs out backwards and drops down to the mat while taking hold of the opponent's head to force them to fall into a high impact cutter. Nikki Bella used this move, calling it Rack Attack 2.0 . Scorpio Sky and Sanada use this move, calling it TKO . WWE wrestler Austin Theory used to use this move, calling it ATL and later A-Town Down . Karl Anderson also uses this move, naming it Swivel Gun Stun . This move

6864-506: Is of Lithuanian ancestry. John Laurinaitis started wrestling in 1986 as Johnny Ace. At first, while wrestling in NWA 's Florida Championship Wrestling , Ace frequently teamed with his brother The Terminator . He was also a flag-bearer for The Sheepherders and followed them to another NWA territory, Jim Crockett Promotions . Later, after JCP had been bought out by Turner Broadcasting Systems and become World Championship Wrestling , he formed

7007-511: Is used by Tama Tonga as the Tongan Twist . WWE wrestler Bo Dallas used this move, calling it Rollin' the Dice . This variation occurs when the wrestler runs up to the distracted/stunned opponent, applies a 3 ⁄ 4 facelock while parallel to the ground, and then slams the opponent's face to the mat in a cutter. This variation of the cutter occurs when the wrestler puts the opponent in

7150-498: The 3 ⁄ 4 facelock , then usually runs towards the ropes, then jumps onto the second or third rope to bounce off it, turning in the air to land the cutter. This move was popularized by Spike Dudley , originally calling it the Acid Drop , and later Dudley Dog in WWE . David Finlay uses this move as the Acid Drop. Another variation of this cutter, called Sliced Bread Number 2 ,

7293-478: 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 the following month, Joe successfully defended the title against Magnus. At Turning Point in November 2012, Joe again successfully defended

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7436-631: The Ace Crusher . He created the move while training with Barry Windham in 1987 and began using it a year later in All Japan Pro Wrestling. Later practitioners of the cutter include Diamond Dallas Page (who called it the Diamond Cutter ) and Randy Orton (who called it the RKO ). Laurinaitis' brothers Joe , who was Animal of The Road Warriors , and Marcus were also professional wrestlers. He

7579-449: 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

7722-847: 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

7865-533: The Gun Stun and Matt Riddle has used the RKO since he started teaming with Randy Orton. Also known as a powerslam cutter, this variation sees the wrestler lifting the opponent onto their shoulders as in a front powerslam . Then, as the opponent is on the shoulder, the wrestler holds the head of the opponent and jumps and slams the opponent face-first to the mat in a cutter. The facebuster variation also exists. Also known as an Yokosuka Cutter. In this variation,

8008-675: 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 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

8151-554: 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 a match at Slammiversary 10 the following month where Joe unsuccessfully challenged Aries. Joe subsequently entered

8294-656: 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

8437-400: 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

8580-648: 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 the ROH Pure Championship . At Slammiversary in June 2005, he joined Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where he embarked on

8723-427: The "Match of the Year" award from the Wrestling Observer , and was ranked #77 in Pro Wrestling Illustrated ' s (PWI) top 500 wrestlers for 1997. On February 28, 1998, Laurinaitis would reach the highest point of his singles career as he challenged Mitsuharu Misawa for the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship . It would be Laurinaitis' only shot at those three prestigious belts. Following his retirement in 2000, he

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8866-408: 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 (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

9009-433: 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

9152-502: The April 23, 2012 episode of Raw SuperShow , Laurinaitis appointed Eve Torres as Executive Administrator of Raw and SmackDown. On the April 30, 2012 episode of Raw SuperShow , Laurinaitis, with the aid of Tensai , attacked John Cena, before declaring himself as Cena's opponent at Over the Limit . On the May 14 episode of Raw SuperShow , Laurinaitis publicly humiliated and fired Big Show from WWE after Big Show disrespected him by constantly making fun of his voice. That same night,

9295-443: 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 the Bound for Glory Series by attacking various participants, including Crimson, who

9438-504: 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

9581-427: The Board of Directors sent Laurinaitis a letter stating that he would be fired if he lost the no disqualification match against Cena at Over the Limit. At Over the Limit, Laurinaitis defeated Cena despite taking a heavy beating after Big Show interfered and attacked Cena. The following night on Raw SuperShow , Laurinaitis, now using a power chair and crutches for mobility purposes, rehired Big Show after helping him win

9724-481: 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

9867-447: 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

10010-496: 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

10153-423: 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

10296-412: 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

10439-616: 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 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

10582-484: 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

10725-432: 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

10868-590: 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

11011-589: 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

11154-405: 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 the Championship. After successfully defending the Championship against teams including Mexican America ,

11297-873: 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

11440-447: 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

11583-561: 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 the ring name "Samoa Joe". In 2000, Joe began appearing with the California-based Ultimate Pro Wrestling (UPW) promotion, then

11726-460: The WWE board began investigating nondisclosure agreements related to misconduct claims by women in the company against Laurinaitis and Vince McMahon. On June 21, Laurinaitis was removed from his post and replaced by Bruce Prichard . Laurinaitis was officially let go by WWE on August 8, ending his 21-year employment with the company. Laurinaitis is the innovator of the cutter maneuver, which he dubbed

11869-412: 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

12012-424: 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

12155-433: 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

12298-473: 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

12441-401: The championship. The next night on Raw , Laurinaitis appeared alongside McMahon as McMahon announced an 8-man tournament to decide a new WWE Champion following Punk's departure from the company. On the August 1 episode of Raw , Laurinaitis interrupted Triple H, telling him to strip Cena of his WWE Championship, which led Cena to interrupt him and threaten to hit him again before Laurinaitis fled

12584-511: 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

12727-473: 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 a tag team match. At Bound for Glory in October 2010, Joe and Jarrett faced Nash, Sting, and D'Angelo Dinero in

12870-535: The facelock, twisting them into the cutter position. This move has two major variants. The first is an inward rolling cutter, in which the attacking wrestler rolls under the opponent while using their free arm to grab the opponent's nearest free arm or strikes their back in an upward motion to power the move, is widely referred to as the Roll of the Dice and was popularized in North America by Reno and Christopher Daniels ,

13013-501: 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

13156-627: The following month. After defeating Kyle O'Reilly , ACH , and Michael Elgin in successive matches, Joe unsuccessfully challenged ROH World Champion Jay Briscoe in 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

13299-454: 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

13442-618: The latter of whom calls it the Last Rites . Chris Hero also popularized the move as his finisher, called the Hero's Welcome . Most famously, WWE wrestler Cody Rhodes uses this variation as a finisher, calling it Cross Rhodes . During his time as Stardust, the move was known as the Queen's Crossbow . Damian Priest used this move as his finisher, calling it The Reckoning , prior to Rhodes returning to WWE in 2022. A modified version which involves hoisting

13585-447: The main event in an attempt to have Triple H removed from power but was stopped by The Miz and R-Truth , who attacked both Triple H and CM Punk, believing there to be a conspiracy . Nash also interfered in the match after Laurinaitis sent a text at ringside. On the October 10 edition of Raw SuperShow , following a kayfabe strike by members of the WWE roster as a result of Triple H's management, Vince McMahon introduced Laurinaitis as

13728-456: The mat. A stunner variation is also possible. This move was innovated by Jason Kincaid , calling it Grave of the Fireflies . Jillian Hall used this move at one point. WWE wrestler Charlotte Flair uses this move as her finisher, calling it Natural Selection . During his tenure as Stardust, Cody Rhodes used this move as a signature move. This cutter variation sees the wrestler first lock

13871-612: The match against Cena. On the June 11, 2012 episode of Raw SuperShow , Vince McMahon gave Laurinaitis a job evaluation. Before McMahon could fire Laurinaitis, Big Show hit the WMD on McMahon by accident. At No Way Out , Cena defeated Big Show in a Steel Cage match . After the match, McMahon fired Laurinaitis, followed by Cena hitting the Attitude Adjustment on Laurinaitis through a broadcast table. The next night on Raw SuperShow , in his final show in charge, Laurinaitis booked himself in

14014-606: 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

14157-443: The new Interim General Manager of Raw . That same night, Laurinaitis fired Jim Ross and reinstated The Miz and R-Truth, who had been suspended following repeated attacks. After a few weeks of impartiality during which he pledged that he would listen to the WWE fans using his slogan of "People Power", Laurinaitis began showing bias against WWE Champion CM Punk, who had repeatedly criticized Laurinaitis and questioned his integrity over

14300-416: The number one contender for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. Joe subsequently climbed the rankings, ultimately wrestling number two ranked Jeff Hardy to 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

14443-494: The opponent in a front facelock or an inverted front facelock. The wrestler then pivots 180° and catches the opponent in a 3 ⁄ 4 facelock with their free arm before falling down into the cutter. This move is commonly known as the Twist of Fate and is associated with Matt and Jeff Hardy , as well as their former teammate, Lita . The wrestler performs a handspring and, as they jump backwards, they grab their opponent in

14586-524: The opponent in the Argentine backbreaker position as to execute the Argentine Backbreaker drop. The attacking wrestler then pushes the opponent's legs so that they flip horizontally 180 degrees. As the opponent's weight is being shifted to one side, the attacking wrestler applies the 3 ⁄ 4 facelock and drops the opponent. Also known as a Piggyback cutter, in this elevated cutter variation,

14729-488: The opponent is first raised up in a piggy-back position. From here, the attacking wrestler pushes both the opponent's legs backwards with enough strength to force them into a near horizontal position. The wrestler applies a 3 ⁄ 4 facelock and drops down back first while still holding the opponent's head to force them to fall into the cutter. Diamond Dallas Page used this version against Billy Kidman in an August 16th, 1999 episode of Nitro . This variation sees

14872-451: The opponent is forced to dive forward onto the top of their head due to the angle at which they are dropped. The elevated cutter can also be performed as a double team maneuver, including several variations such as the doomsday-style elevated cutter and the 3D . It is used by Danny Burch and Nigel McGuinness . Also known as the TKO (short for Total Knock Out), and innovated by Marc Mero . It

15015-465: The opponent off their feet before beginning the spin has also been used by other wrestlers. Hero also uses this lifting version called the Super Hero's Welcome . The second major variation, which is known as an outward rolling cutter and referred to as a Whirling Dervish in Japan, sees the wrestler spin in the opposite direction while holding onto the opponent's free arm while twisting for leverage. This

15158-505: The opponent up in a crucifix hold before rotating them into the cutter. Another variation involves the opponent lifted in a reverse crucifix and dropped into the cutter. This particular version was innovated and popularized in America by Tommy Dreamer , who called it the TommyHawk . In this version, a wrestler dives from the top rope and nails a cutter to a standing opponent from the front. There

15301-520: The past few months. On the December 26 edition of Raw SuperShow , Laurinaitis placed Punk in a gauntlet match against three opponents; whoever pinned Punk would earn a shot at the WWE Championship the following week on Raw SuperShow . Punk agreed to the match under the condition that if he beat all three, then he would receive a match against Laurinaitis himself afterwards. During the match, Laurinaitis distracted Punk, allowing Dolph Ziggler to pin Punk and earn

15444-539: The promotion when wrestlers OVW were using at the time were going to be called up to the main roster or when wrestlers from the main roster were set to appear for OVW but never did. Eventually WWE would end their relationship with OVW. On the June 27, 2011 episode of Raw , Laurinaitis was described by CM Punk during his infamous 'pipe bomb' promo as a "glad-handing, nonsensical, douchebag yes-man" who would "tell Vince McMahon everything he wants to hear". Laurinaitis subsequently made an appearance alongside McMahon as

15587-482: The reins to her husband, Paul Levesque ("Triple H") , Laurinaitis moved down from his executive duties to being senior vice president of talent operations. Laurinaitis's tenure in this role has received criticism from those who have worked for him, including Jim Cornette who, in his interviews with Kayfabe Commentaries, described how Laurinaitis failed to work in the same capacity with Ohio Valley Wrestling (WWE's developmental territory) as Ross did, often failing to warn

15730-419: 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

15873-434: 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

16016-589: The ring. The following week on Raw , Laurinaitis helped Triple H officiate the contract signing between CM Punk and John Cena for their match at SummerSlam . After signing the contract, Cena flipped the table over and moved to go face to face with Punk, but was stopped by Laurinaitis. As Laurinaitis talked to Cena, Punk kicked Laurinaitis in the back of the head, causing Cena to accidentally hit Triple H instead of Punk. Following SummerSlam, Laurinaitis began to make regular appearances on WWE programming as part of an angle in which Triple H attempted to find out who had sent

16159-655: The ropes and bounces back. As they fall, they catch the opponent into a 3 ⁄ 4 facelock and drop them in the cutter. This variation is popularized by Cody Rhodes and is called the Cody Cutter , as well as Will Ospreay , who calls it the OsCutter . It is used by Sol Ruca which is called the Sol Snatcher . John Laurinaitis This is an accepted version of this page John Hodger Laurinaitis (born July 31, 1962), also known by his former ring name Johnny Ace ,

16302-554: 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

16445-458: 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 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

16588-502: The talent relations office for eight years, and as occasional professional wrestler from 2011 until 2012. After his on screen firing, he stepped down from his corporate backstage role to being a producer. He was promoted again to Head of Talent Relations in 2021 until his release in 2022. Prior to joining WWE, Laurinaitis worked as an executive for WCW. John Hodger Laurinaitis was born on July 31, 1962 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania . He

16731-608: 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

16874-403: 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

17017-408: 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

17160-493: 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

17303-459: 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

17446-567: 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

17589-428: 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 the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, Joe initially ended his losing streak on

17732-658: 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

17875-405: 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

18018-472: The wrestler first lifts the opponent so that they are lying face up across one of the wrestler's shoulders, as in a Canadian backbreaker rack , before flipping the opponent over into the cutter. It is common for the wrestler to not properly apply the 3 ⁄ 4 facelock and the move to end up more in a DDT position. The move was innovated by Susumu Yokosuka and has since been used by several other wrestlers like Bobby Lashley and Buddy Matthews . This

18161-468: The wrestler jumping towards the opponent and grabbing the opponent's head in a 3 ⁄ 4 facelock while parallel to the ground, and then slamming the opponent's face to the mat in a cutter. This move was innovated by Johnny Ace as the Ace Crusher, popularized by Diamond Dallas Page as the Diamond Cutter and made even more popular by Randy Orton as his finishing move the RKO . Karl Anderson and Tama Tonga also use this variation, calling it

18304-410: The wrestler lift an opponent from behind as with a belly to back suplex . Then, instead of falling backwards, the wrestler pushes the opponent's legs so that the opponent turns over in mid-air, so that they are now face-down and parallel to the ground. As the opponent falls, the wrestler reaches back and seizes the opponent's head in order to perform the cutter. In this version, the wrestler first lifts

18447-514: Was abusing his power. Laurinaitis began to declare himself as the soon to be permanent General Manager. In response to this, the Board of Directors ordered that his position as Interim General Manager would be taken under review by Chief Operating Officer Triple H. At the Royal Rumble, Laurinaitis brought in another official and Punk defeated Ziggler. On January 30 edition of Raw SuperShow , Laurinaitis

18590-399: Was also the finisher of former WCW and WWE Wrestler Chuck Palumbo as Full Throttle . The wrestler first pops the opponent up and then applies the 3 ⁄ 4 facelock and drops them into the cutter. It is used by Sanada which is also called TKO . This version of a cutter sees the wrestler place an opponent in an inverted facelock , then spinning under the opponent while holding

18733-479: Was also used by former FCW/NXT/WWE superstar Alex Riley calling this move You're Dismissed . Samoa Joe used a jumping version of the this move while pushing the opponent backwards. A standing variation of the Diamond Dust in which the attacking wrestler jumps forward into a somersault over a seated or kneeling opponent while applying an inverted facelock , landing back-first with the opponent's face driven into

18876-470: 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 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

19019-492: Was escorted off the stage by Shane McMahon . On January 22, 2018, Laurinaitis was one of the guests that appeared on stage during the 25th Anniversary episode of Raw . At Money in the Bank on May 10, 2020, Laurinaitis made a cameo appearance during the Men and Women's Money in the Bank match , which was filmed inside the WWE headquarters. In March 2021, Laurinaitis was re-hired by WWE as Head of Talent Relations. In April 2022,

19162-578: 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 the following episode of Impact Wrestling , Joe definitively ended his losing streak by defeating Morgan in

19305-625: 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 the AEW TNT Championship twice and the ROH World Television Championship once (at one time holding both titles simultaneously) and set

19448-465: 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

19591-566: Was placed #203 in PWI's top 500 all time rankings. Laurinaitis retired from the ring in June 2000 after the split between All Japan Pro Wrestling and Pro Wrestling Noah . He soon returned to World Championship Wrestling, where he replaced Vince Russo as head booker. Laurinaitis was responsible for booking the highly acclaimed one-night single elimination tournament held for the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship that

19734-411: Was popularized by Brian Kendrick . In this cutter the opponent and the attacker are in the corner, the attacker puts the opponent in the 3 ⁄ 4 facelock then runs up the turnbuckle, becoming vertical, then turns in mid-air to land the cutter. The move is similar to the shiranui . There is a variation where both wrestlers faces the ropes or turnbuckle. The attacking wrestler runs and jumps on

19877-434: 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

20020-449: Was seen entering Nash's limo with him, leaving the arena. During this period Laurinaitis was also regularly shown sending text messages backstage and at ringside. After Nash claimed that he had sent the text message to himself, it was implied that Laurinaitis was working to try and undermine Triple H in his new role as chief operating officer , presumably because he wanted the job for himself. At Night of Champions , Laurinaitis interfered in

20163-786: Was set to have a performance review by Triple H. During the review, Triple H degraded Laurinaitis and his actions, but before the final decision he was interrupted by The Undertaker . The Board of Directors then decided on February 7, 2012, to retain Laurinaitis as Interim General Manager. Laurinaitis subsequently began a feud with SmackDown general manager Theodore Long . The respective General Managers of Raw and SmackDown swapped places for one night only with Laurinaitis in charge of SmackDown for March 9, 2012 and Long in charge of Raw for March 5, 2012. On that week's edition of SmackDown , Laurinaitis wrestled his first match in eleven years (as well as his first for WWE), losing to Theodore Long in

20306-524: Was won by Teddy Long's team. He appeared at the Slammy Awards in December and, on March 28, 2015, he inducted The Bushwhackers into the WWE Hall of Fame . Preceding the return of the brand split , Laurinaitis was one of several former authority figures to unsuccessfully apply for the general manager positions of either Raw or SmackDown . He made his appearance during the June 20, 2016 episode of Raw but

20449-515: Was won by the debuting Lance Storm . Laurinaitis was hired in as a road agent after WWF's acquisition of certain assets of WCW in March 2001 and in June on the same year, Laurinaitis was promoted to director of talent relations. In June 2004, Laurinaitis replaced Jim Ross as vice president of talent relations, then being promoted to senior vice president in February 2007 and finally to executive vice president in March 2009. However, when Stephanie McMahon took over talent relations and handed over

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