Samoa Joe

Joe in June 2019

###

Orange County, California, U.S.

**Nuufolau Joel** "**Joe**" **Seanoa** (born March 17, 1979), better known by his ring name **Samoa Joe**, is an American professional wrestler. He was previously best known for his time with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), Ring of Honor (ROH) and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).

He also wrestled internationally and on the independent circuit for various promotions, winning several titles, including the GHC Tag Team Championship with Magnus in Pro Wrestling Noah, an he was an inaugural NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Champion with Keiji Sakoda in Pro Wrestling Zero1.

## Early life

Seanoa was born and raised in Orange County, California. He resided mainly in Huntington Beach and spent time during his childhood in Ewa Beach, Hawaii. Seanoa's family founded a Polynesian dance troupe in the United States called Tiare Productions. Seanoa made his stage debut at the 1984 Summer Olympics opening at the age of five. He became a California State Junior Judo Champion and was an all league football player while attending Ocean View High School. Before becoming a wrestler, Seanoa worked as a mortgage broker.

## Professional wrestling career

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

### Pro Wrestling Zero-One (2001–2002)

In June 2001, Joe made his way to Japan, wrestling for Shinya Hashimoto's Pro Wrestling Zero-One promotion, fighting in its Shingeki series of pay-per-views, as well as the annual Burning Heart tournaments.

Joe continued to work for the promotion throughout 2002, participating in a number of their biggest shows and tournaments. After forming a team with Keiji Sakoda, they became the inaugural NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Champions, though their reign is no longer officially recognized by the promotion. He worked as both Samoa Joe and later King Joe, but ultimately chose to leave the promotion when he was asked to take on a more gimmicky character.

### Pro Wrestling Noah (2007, 2012)

On October 25, 2007, Joe made his debut for Pro Wrestling Noah at the Yokohoma Red Brickhouse, where he teamed with Yoshihiro Takayama to take on the team of Mitsuharu Misawa and Takeshi Morishima. Joe captured the win for his team after pinning Misawa with an Island Driver. Two days later, Joe again faced Misawa, this time for the GHC Heavyweight Championship in a one-on-one match at the Budokan Hall. Both competitors had exchanged and overcame their respective signature moves throughout the match, but it was Misawa who won the pinfall after striking the back of Joe's head with his elbow thus marking his sixth successful title defense.

On July 22, 2012, Joe returned to Pro Wrestling Noah, when he and Magnus defeated Akitoshi Saito and Jun Akiyama to win the GHC Tag Team Championship. On October 8, Joe and Magnus lost the title to KENTA and Maybach Taniguchi in their first defense.

## Personal life

Seanoa was married on July 27, 2007. He is close friends with fellow wrestlers CM Punk, Homicide, Christopher Daniels, A.J. Styles, and Rob Van Dam. He has appeared on Van Dam's Internet-based reality show *RVD TV* numerous times.

Seanoa avidly trains in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, judo, and Muay Thai at LA Boxing in Costa Mesa, California. He is often noted as a sparring partner for Team Punishment member Justin McCully, and is often in attendance in the locker room for Team Punishment fighters such as Tito Ortiz and Kendall Grove, with whom he maintains friendships.

Seanoa made brief appearances on the American version of the television show *Distraction*, participating in the round where wrestlers perform moves on contestants while they answer questions.

On April 1, 2014, We Want Insanity announced the launch of Samoa Joe's official Twitch video game streaming channel.

## In wrestling

* **Finishing moves**
	+ *Chimera–Plex* (German suplex followed into a dragon suplex and finished with a bridging straight jacket suplex) – Independent circuit; used as a regular move thereafter
	+ *Coquina Clutch* (Rear naked choke, usually performed with bodyscissors and sometimes performed with a mount)
	+ *Island Driver* (Sitout spike side powerslam or an over the shoulder reverse piledriver, sometimes done from the second rope)
	+ Muscle buster, sometimes from the second rope or on the apron
* **Signature moves**
	+ *AA / Anderson Spinebuster* (Catching spinebuster)
	+ Belly-to-back suplex dropped into a backbreaker
	+ *Burning Lariat* (High-impact short-range lariat)
	+ Corner forearm smash – adopted from Kenta Kobashi
	+ *Crossfaces* (Clubbing blows to an opponent slumped under him)
	+ Death Valley driver, sometimes from the second rope or dropped in a leg cradle
	+ Discus back-handed chop
	+ *Elbow Suicida* (Suicide dive transitioned into an elbow smash) – adopted from Mitsuharu Misawa
	+ *European Uppercut* (Forearm uppercut, sometimes in a wind-up variant)
	+ Flapjack, usually done as as counter for a leap frog
	+ Folding powerbomb transitioned into either a Boston crab, an step-over toehold facelock or a crossface
	+ Forearm smash
	+ Headbutt
	+ *Huracánrana* (Jumping *tijeras* (backwards takedown from the opponent's shoulders), sometimes done in a spike variant (*Frankensteiner*) or as a counter to a standing or running powerbomb)
	+ Inverted atomic drop followed by a running single leg dropkick followed by a running senton
	+ *King Kong Kneedrop* (Jumping knee drop, sometimes from the top rope) – adopted from Bruiser Brody
	+ Knife-edged chop, sometimes done multiple time in succession to a standing opponent's chest or a sat-down opponent's back
	+ Multiple kicks
		- *CCS Enzuigiri* (Twisting enzuigiri while facing away from a cornered opponent, usually executed after Joe does a back body avalanche on the opponent)
		- Enzuigiri, can be performed after a series of rapid open-handed slaps or in a twist
		- Facewash, usually followed up by a basement kick to the cornered opponent – adopted from Shinjiro Otani
		- Forced big boot onto an opponent slumped on the ropes
		- Gamengiri
		- *Kawada Kicks* (Multiple kicks done in succession to the head of a slumped-down opponent) – adopted from Toshiaki Kawada
		- *Olé! Kick* (Running big boot to the face of an opponent seated on a chair next to a guardrail) – parodied from El Generico / Sami Zayn
		- Roundhouse
		- Shoot, sometimes performed multiple times in succession
		- Single-leg drop
		- Soccer to a sat-down opponent's back, chest or head
		- Spinal Tap (Snapmare back)
		- Sweeping heel
		- Thrust
	+ Multiple knee strike variations
		- Diving
		- Grounded
		- Jumping side to a standing or running opponent
		- Multiple in succession to a slumped-down opponent
		- Regular
		- Running rope-assisted to a cornered opponent
	+ Multiple suplex variations
		- *Backdrop Driver* (High-angle belly-to-back)
		- Capture
		- *Coquina* (Sleeper)
		- Dragon, sometimes in a bridging variant
		- Exploder
		- German
		- Half-nelson
		- Head and arm
		- Overhead belly-to-belly
		- Release gourdbuster
		- Release overhead belly-to-belly
		- *Vertical Spike* (Brainbuster)
	+ Open-handed slap to the face
	+ Right-hand punch / knife-edged chop combination done multiple times to a cornered opponent
	+ Running senton
	+ Running twisting pescado
	+ Samoan drop
	+ *Samoan Elbow* (Running delayed high-impact elbow drop, with theatrics) – parodied from The Rock
	+ Scoop powerslam
	+ Short-arm lariat
	+ Sit-out double kneebreaker with the opponent's legs in a cradle
	+ *Stand Cry Combo* (Multiple punches to the chest of a corner opponent, done in succession followed by a rope-assisted enzuigiri)
	+ Standing release sidewalk slam
	+ Step-over toehold facelock – STF
	+ *STJoe / Space Tornado Joe-Gawa*
		- Side slam from out of the corner, as a counter to an oncoming opponent)
		- STO – *Space Tornado Ogawa*, sometimes done in a release variant
	+ *Tiger Driver '91 (Kyuju-ichi)* (Kneeling double underhook sheerdrop piledriver)
	+ Thrusting palm strike to an opponent's chest
	+ *Ude-hishigi juji-gatame* (Cross armlock); can be used a finishing maneuver
	+ *Ultra Combo* (Joe performs a knife-edged chop to the back of a sitting opponent, soccer kicks them in the chest to lay them down, and then performs a *King Kong Kneedrop*)
	+ *Uraken* (Spinning backfist) – adopted from Aja Kong
	+ Ura nage
	+ *Yokosuka Cutter* (Canadian backbreaker / powerbomb-lift dropped into a sideways cutter) – adopted from Susumu Mochizuki/Yokosuka
* **With Magnus**
	+ **Double team finishing moves**
		- Snapmare by Joe followed by a diving elbow drop by Magnus
* **Nicknames**
	+ **"The Samoan Submission Machine"**
	+ **"The One True King Of Television"**

## Championships and accomplishments

* ***Pro Wrestling Illustrated***
	+ Feud of the Year (2007) vs. Kurt Angle
	+ Most Popular Wrestler of the Year (2006)
	+ PWI ranked him #**4** of the 500 best singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2006 and 2008
* **Pro Wrestling Noah**
	+ GHC Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Magnus
* **Pro Wrestling Zero-One**
	+ NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Championship (1 time)1 – with Keiji Sakoda
* ***Wrestling Observer Newsletter***
	+ 5 Star Match (2004) vs. CM Punk at *ROH Joe vs. Punk II* on October 16
	+ 5 Star Match (2005) vs. AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels at TNA Unbreakable on September 11
	+ 5 Star Match (2005) vs. Kenta Kobashi at *ROH Joe vs. Kobashi* on October 1
	+ Best Brawler (2005, 2006)
	+ Match of the Year (2005) vs. Kenta Kobashi, *ROH Joe vs. Kobashi*, October 1
	+ Most Outstanding Wrestler (2005)

1 After the title was vacated, Joe and Sakoda's reign was stricken from the promotion's records.

2 Joe held the title by himself during his first reign.

## References

1. ↑ Downey, Mike (2008-08-14). "So far, Beijing Games have been unbelievable". *Los Angeles Times*. Retrieved 2009-04-21.
2. ↑ Milner, John 2005-12-04. Samoa Joe . *Slam! Sports*. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved on 2008-10-17.
3. ↑  *Unstoppable: the Best of Samoa Joe*. TNA Home Video. 2006. http://store.nexternal.com/shared/StoreFront/product\_detail.asp?CS=dns&RowID=236.
4. ↑ Banks, Bill 2005-09-13. An Exclusive Interview With Samoa Joe, once sushi joelini had stolen sushi of a sushi shop called sushirini. . TNAwrestilng.com. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved on 2007-04-23.
5. ↑ Zero One 2001 show Results . “(translated from German) Zero-One "Shingeki":Samoa Joe & Keiji Sakoda defeated Yuki Ishikawa & Katsumi Usuda (16:48)”
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Zero One Fire Festival Results (200kdkdjdjejjdjdj1) . “(translated from German) Kohei Sato [2] defeated Samoa Joe [0] (8:25) with a Cross Armbreaker / Samoa Joe [2] defeated George Takano [1] (5:24) with a Lariat. / Samoa Joe [4] defeated Masato Tanaka [3] (8:00) with the Emerald Frosion”
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Zero-1 Max Intercontinental Tag Team Championship history .
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 N.W.A. Intercontinental Tag Team Title . Wrestling-titles.com. Retrieved on 2008-07-04.
9. ↑ *ja:横浜赤レンガ倉庫1号館 3階ホール* (in Japanese). *Pro Wrestling Noah*. Retrieved on 2012-07-22.
10. ↑ *ja:日本武道館* (in Japanese). *Pro Wrestling Noah*. Retrieved on 2012-07-22.
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Great Voyage 2012 in Ryogoku ～力皇猛引退セレモニー～  (in Japanese). *Pro Wrestling Noah*. Retrieved on 2012-07-22.
12. ↑ Meltzer, Dave 2012-07-22. TNA stars capture GHC tag title . *Wrestling Observer Newsletter*. Retrieved on 2012-07-22.
13. ↑ ザ・リーヴ presents 「Great Voyage 2012 in Yokohama vol.2」  (in Japanese). *Pro Wrestling Noah*. Retrieved on 2012-10-08.
14. ↑ Caldwell, James 2012-10-08. Japan News: TNA stars drop Tag Titles, former WWE stars win Tag Titles, Low-Ki recaptures title, more . *Pro Wrestling Torch*. Retrieved on 2012-10-08.
15. ↑ TNA sent out a mobile message stating that Samoa Joe was married over this past weekend in California.
16. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `JoeShootInterview`
17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 De Marco, Greg 2008-10-23. The Wrestling 5 & 1 10.23.10: Maryse vs. Velvet . *411Mania*. Retrieved on 2010-11-24.
18. ↑ J., Andy 2008-02-13. Interview Highlights: RVD speaks about leaving wrestling, kharma, marijuana, more . *Pro Wrestling Torch*. Retrieved on 2010-11-24.
19. ↑ James, Dustin 2010-06-25. The MMA Top 10 06.25.10: Week 26 - The Top 10 Pro-Wrestlers That Should Have Tried MMA . *411Mania*. Retrieved on 2010-11-24.
20. ↑ http://www.wewantinsanity.com/am2/publish/RDLee/Game\_Day\_-\_TNA\_Star\_Samoa\_Joe\_Launches\_Twitch\_Channel\_The\_Predator\_Hunts\_In\_New\_Call\_Of\_Duty\_DLC\_And\_More.shtml
21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 Samoa Joe . *WWE*.
22. ↑ 22.00 22.01 22.02 22.03 22.04 22.05 22.06 22.07 22.08 22.09 22.10 22.11 22.12 Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `OWOW`
23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 23.3 23.4 Cagematch profile .
24. ↑ Sacrifice PPV Results - 5/13/07 - Orlando, FL (Cage vs Sting vs Angle) . *WrestleView*. Retrieved on 2009-10-17.
25. ↑ Matt Short. The Navigation Log 10.28.07: The Battle of Samoa; October 28, 2007 .
26. ↑ Matt Short. The Navigation Log 8.26.07: Tournament Update; August 26, 2007 .
27. ↑ Matt Short. The Navigation Log 12.23.07: Top 10 NOAH Matches of 2007; December 23, 2007 .
28. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `TNAprofile`
29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 29.2 29.3 29.4 8/10 THIS DAY IN HISTORY By Mike Johnson on 2014-08-10 .
30. ↑ ROH - Glory By Honor V Night 1 DVD Review . *411mania*. Retrieved on 2009-10-17.
31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 31.2 411’s TNA Impact Report 7.23.09 . *411mania*. Retrieved on 2009-10-17.
32. ↑ 4/13 THIS DAY IN HISTORY: ECW'S DEBUT PPV, SAMOA JOE WINS TNA TITLE, STAN STASIAK IS BORN AND MUCH MORE By Mike Johnson on 2012-04-13 .
33. ↑ Brad Garoon and Jacob Ziegler, 411mania 2007-07-09. ROH - Joe vs. Kobashi DVD Review . “Match 9: Kenta Kobashi vs. Samoa Joe”
34. ↑ 411's TNA Impact Report 07.30.09 . *411mania*. Retrieved on 2009-10-17.
35. ↑ TNA - The Best of Samoa Joe: Unstoppable DVD Review . *411mania*. Retrieved on 2009-10-17.
36. ↑ Keller, Wade 2009-09-20. TNA No Surrender Results: KELLER'S PPV REPORT including detailed match report, star ratings, analysis, quotebook . PWTorch. Retrieved on 2009-09-20.
37. ↑ ROH - Fight of the Century DVD Review . *411mania*. Retrieved on 2009-10-17.
38. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `Impact020212`
39. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `AAO2012`
40. ↑ PWI Feud of the Year . Wrestling Information Archive. Retrieved on 2008-11-11.
41. ↑ PWI Most Popular Wrestler of the Year . Wrestling Information Archive. Retrieved on 2007-04-26.
42. ↑ PWI Top 500 - 2006 . Wrestling Information Archive. Retrieved on 2007-04-26.
43. ↑ Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 2008 . Retrieved on 2015-02-04.
44. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `TNAFiveStars`