Smark Out Moment

The Samoan Submission Specialist, Samoa Joe, has been in the industry for nearly two decades and is quite the seasoned veteran. Like many of the great WWE Legends, he started in the indie circuit and dominated Ring of Honor. He eventually held the ROH World Championship for a record (which still stands) 21 months and four days. When he jumped ship to TNA in 2005 when the company was on the rise, he embarked on a 19-month-long undefeated streak. He became a TNA Triple Crown and Grand Slam winner, holding the Television Championship, Tag Team Championship, X Division Championship, and TNA World Heavyweight Championship in his ten year tenure. Joe made quite the name for himself in TNA and became one of the company's top stars. He departed with TNA and made rounds in the indie circuit before he ended up where we all knew he would...WWE.


At NXT TakeOver: Unstoppable, Samoa Joe made his WWE debut and was immediately a sensation. Soon enough, he won the NXT Championship from Finn Balor and held it for 121 days.

After losing the title to Shinsuke Nakamura, he would win it back, becoming the first two-time NXT Championship winner before dropping it back to Nakamura once again.

Like all great stars in NXT, a call-up to the main roster was nearing.


Seth Rollins was at his peak on Monday Night Raw when he had attacked his brothers and disbanded The Shield, aligning himself with Triple H and The Authority. This would continue from June 2, 2014 until August 29, 2017, when Triple H abandoned Rollins in favor of Kevin Owens, leading to a feud between Rollins and The King of Kings.

On January 30, 2017, Samoa Joe made his long-awaited main roster debut and attacked Rollins, taking his place beside Triple H. The NXT superstar made an immediate impact and took Raw by storm.

In his first match ever on Raw, Joe was against another top dog in WWE, Roman Reigns. He won his debut match by pinning Reigns after a distraction. This night started Joe's rise in WWE, in which he never looked back on. Joe has rivaled several of the best that Raw had to offer and went toe-to-toe with Brock Lesnar on several occasions for WWE Universal Championship. The man he beat in his first main roster match, Roman Reigns, has never defeated him and that match sparked Joe's impressive run.

Most recently, Samoa Joe competed against Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman in the main event of SummerSlam for the Universal Championship, cementing his status as a main event player for the future.


What are your thoughts on Samoa Joe's debut match on Raw? Be sure to leave a comment below.