Samoa Joe

In 2000, Samoa Joe made a lone appearance on *WWF Jakked* against Essa Rios.

On May 20, 2015 at NXT TakeOver: Unstoppable, Joe made his debut during the main event, stopping Kevin Owens from attacking an injured Sami Zayn with a chair and having a stare-down with Owens.

Joe made his in-ring debut on the June 10 episode of *NXT*, defeating Scott Dawson. On the June 17 episode of *NXT*, a match between Joe and Owens ended in a no contest, with the two continuing to brawl after the match until they were separated. At NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn, Joe defeated Baron Corbin by technical submission. Joe was then paired with NXT Champion Finn Bálor to enter the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament, which they won after defeating The Lucha Dragons (Kalisto and Sin Cara) in the first round, Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady) in the quarter-finals, The Mechanics (Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson) in the semifinals and Baron Corbin and Rhyno in the finals at NXT TakeOver: Respect. On the November 4 episode of *NXT*, Joe turned heel by attacking Finn Bálor after Bálor's match against Apollo Crews. On the November 11 episode of *NXT*, it was explained that Joe was not granted a NXT Championship match against Bálor despite his verbal commitment. On December 16 at NXT TakeOver: London, Joe was unsuccessful in his title match against Bálor. On the January 13, 2016 episode of *NXT*, Joe challenged Corbin and the returning Sami Zayn to a number one contender's match. The match took place on the January 27 episode of *NXT*, but ended in a no contest when Corbin submitted to both opponents at the same time. Joe and Zayn then had a #1 contender rematch on the February 17 episode of *NXT*, which ended in a draw. This led to a two out of three falls match on the March 9 episode of *NXT*, which Joe won the match two falls to one to earn another NXT Championship match against Bálor at NXT TakeOver: Dallas on April 1, which he lost after suffering a large laceration to his right cheek minutes into the match.

On April 21 at an NXT live event, Joe defeated Bálor to win the NXT Championship. In his first title defense, Joe defeated Bálor in a steel cage match on June 8 at NXT TakeOver: The End. Joe then engaged in a feud with Shinsuke Nakamura, who defeated him in a title match on August 20 at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn II, ending his reign of 121 days. During the match, Joe suffered a legitimate dislocated jaw. On November 19 at NXT TakeOver: Toronto, Joe defeated Nakamura in a rematch to win back the title and became the first ever two-time NXT Champion. However, he lost the title back to Nakamura on December 3, 2016 in Osaka, Japan, ending his reign at 14 days and the shortest in the title's history. On December 8, 2016, in Melbourne, Australia, Joe and Nakamura's feud would come to an end with Nakamura successfully defending his NXT Championship against Joe in a steel cage match. On the January 25, 2017, episode of *NXT*, Joe would team with Bobby Roode in an unsuccessful effort against Nakamura and Tajiri. Joe would appear in the crowd at NXT TakeOver: San Antonio.

On the January 30, 2017 episode of *Raw*, Joe made his official main roster debut, as part of the *Raw* brand, attacking Seth Rollins from behind and aligning himself with Triple H. The following week on *Raw*, he defeated Roman Reigns in his main roster in-ring debut after a distraction by Braun Strowman. The same week, in an interview with Michael Cole, Cole attempted to warn Joe that Triple H turned on prior cohorts. Joe claimed that he was not his heavy, and hurt people only because he has done so for all of his career. He then went on to attack Sami Zayn, who took offense to Joe's remarks concerning him. On March 5, at Fastlane, Joe defeated Zayn by technical submission. Joe then faced Rollins at Payback, in a losing effort, giving Joe his first singles loss on the main roster. Joe retaliated by costing Rollins an Intercontinental Championship opportunity on *Raw* the following night against Finn Bálor and The Miz, which also saw Bray Wyatt interfere.

On June 4, Joe defeated Bàlor, Rollins, Reigns, and Wyatt in an Extreme Rules match at Extreme Rules to become the number one contender to Universal Championship. The following night on *Raw*, Joe would confront Paul Heyman, where he would choke him out with the Coquina Clutch as a message to Brock Lesnar. At Great Balls of Fire, Joe would unsuccessfully challenge Lesnar for the Universal Championship. On the July 17 episode of *Raw*, Joe faced Reigns to determine the next number one contender for the Universal Championship, however, the match would end in a no contest after Braun Strowman interfered and attacked both men. At SummerSlam, Joe, Reigns and Strowman all challenged Lesnar for the title in a fatal-four-way match, in which Lesnar pinned Reigns.

After suffering a knee injury in August at a house show, Joe would return on the October 30 episode of *Raw*, defeating Apollo Crews. At Survivor Series, Joe would team with Finn Bálor, Braun Strowman, Triple H and Kurt Angle as part of Team Raw in a Men's 5-on-5 traditional Survivor Series tag team elimination match against Team SmackDown, which Team Raw won. Joe would then enter a feud with The Shield, where he would cost Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose a Raw Tag Team Championship match against Cesaro and Sheamus on the December 4 episode of *Raw*. On the December 25 episode of *Raw*, Joe would challenge Roman Reigns for the Intercontinental Championship, where Joe would win the match by disqualification, however, Reigns would retain the title. On the January 1, 2018, episode of *Raw*, Joe would get a rematch for the title against Reigns in a losing effort. Next week, Joe suffered a foot injury during a match with Titus O'Neil rendering him out of action for 3–4 months. Joe returned to the *Raw* after WrestleMania 34, challenging Roman Reigns to a match at Backlash.

On April 17, Joe was traded to the SmackDown brand in the 2018 Superstar Shake-up. Despite the trade, Joe faced Seth Rollins for Raw's Intercontinental Championship at the Greatest Royal Rumble event in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in a Ladder Match also involving The Miz and Finn Balor but did not win the title. At Backlash, Joe was defeated by Roman Reigns. At SummerSlam, Joe defeated WWE Champion AJ Styles by disqualification but lost to Styles at Hell in a Cell in controversial fashion. On October 6, Joe received another match for the title at WWE Super Show-Down in a no disqualification, no count-out match, where he was defeated by Styles via submission. At WWE Crown Jewel, Joe again lost to Styles in a title match.

Joe was a part of Team SmackDown against Team Raw at Survivor Series in a 5-on-5 tag team elimination match but was quickly eliminated by Drew McIntyre. On the November 27 episode of *SmackDown*, Joe attacked Jeff Hardy during the latter's 20th Anniversary celebration. Joe entered the 2019 Royal Rumble match but was eliminated by Mustafa Ali. Joe failed to capture the WWE Championship inside the Elimination Chamber at the namesake event after being pinned by Styles.

On the March 5 episode of *SmackDown*, Joe, alongside Andrade and Rey Mysterio, answered United States Champion R-Truth's open challenge, and subsequently defeated Truth, Andrade, and Mysterio to capture the US title, marking his first championship on the main roster. Joe successfully defended the title against Truth, Andrade and Mysterio at Fastlane and against Mysterio at WrestleMania 35. In the 2019 Superstar Shake-up, Joe moved to Raw. Joe lost the title to Mysterio at Money in the Bank. On the June 3 episode of *Raw*, Joe became a two-time United States Champion after Mysterio was forced to relinquish the championship due to a separated shoulder, and handed the title to Joe, before Joe subsequently attacked Mysterio. At Stomping Grounds, Joe lost the title to Ricochet. Joe would turn his attention to the WWE Champion Kofi Kingston and assaulted him on the 24th June's edition of *Raw* and a match was later scheduled between the two at Extreme Rules for the championship where Kingston defeated Joe. On July 27, Kofi Kingston successfully defended the title against Samoa Joe and Dolph Ziggler at WWE Smackville in a triple threat match. In August, Joe was announced as a competitor in the 2019 King of the Ring tournament. Joe defeated Cesaro in the first round, facing Ricochet in the quarter-finals, but the match ended in a double pinfall, with both men advancing to the semi-finals. Joe lost to Baron Corbin in the semi-finals in a triple threat match, also involving Ricochet. It was reported that Joe suffered a broken thumb, while working a match several weeks back. Due to his injury, Joe made sporadic appearances as a commentator on *Raw*.

On the December 23 episode of *Raw*, Joe was attacked by AOP. The following week on *Raw*, Joe returned from injury, saving Kevin Owens from an attack by AOP and Seth Rollins, turning face for the first time since November 2015. On February 24, 2020, Joe was suspended for thirty days for violating WWE's wellness policy. On the April 27 episode of *Raw*, Joe returned from injury and suspension, replacing Jerry Lawler on *Raw* commentary. Joe would remain on the *Raw* commentary team until the April 12, 2021 episode, when he was replaced by Corey Graves. Joe made his last appearance with the WWE on commentary at WrestleMania 37, and was released by the company on April 15, 2021.

Joe made his return to WWE on the June 15, 2021 episode of *NXT* as the enforcer of *NXT*'s General Manager William Regal. Throughout the next few weeks, Joe became at odds with both Adam Cole and NXT Champion Karrion Kross, both of whom accused Joe of being biased against them. During the July 13 episode of *NXT*, Joe was the special guest referee for Kross' title defense against Johnny Gargano, in which Kross managed to retain. After the match, Kross forced Joe to pass out with a chokehold. After Kross attacked Regal the following week, Regal intended to fire him the next episode, however, Joe had a different plan. Joe resigned as Regal's enforcer, was reinstated as a member of the active roster, and was then scheduled to face Kross for the NXT Championship at TakeOver: 36, marking Joe's first match since February 2020. At the event, Joe defeated Kross to win the NXT Championship for the third time in his career. However, on September 12, 2021, Joe was forced to relinquish the title due to an undisclosed injury. On January 6, 2022, Joe was once again released from his WWE contract without ever reappearing on television.