When it comes to professional wrestling in 2024, few performers have seen, let alone experienced, more than Samoa Joe.
From his current spot as the AEW World Champion, to his top-shelf runs in TNA and Ring of Honor, and even his time in WWE, where he became an NXT Champion twice but was largely squandered on the main roster due to a mixture of booking choices and injuries, Joe has done just about everything a performer can in the squared circle – or the TNA hexagon – and has lived to talk about it some 24 years into his professional career.
So naturally, when Joe makes a statement on the state of the industry, fans are going to listen, including an appearance on 98.5 The Sports Hub, where the “Samoan Submission Machine” revealed that he's happy AEW is a professional wrestling company, as he simply isn't a fan of the “dumb” term sports entertainment.
“We call it pro wrestling. We’re very proud of that label. The sports entertainment thing, it’s a very debated thing, either or,” Samoa Joe said via Fightful. “I give credence to both. I think both are wonderful art forms, but when it comes to AEW, we’re pro wrestling, and we’re pro wrestlers, and we’re proud to say that. We’re not trying to morph it into something else that maybe is more palatable to the mainstream. I think the mainstream is totally fine with the label ‘pro wrestling.’ At this point, I think it’s just silly semantics on both sides, to be honest with you. I think both sides are just kind of being dumb about it. I think the major reason why they were being dumb about it on the other side is probably gone, so maybe they’ll switch up their tone.”
While in the past, WWE's idea of calling their product sports entertainment had more to do with a preconceived notion that wrestling was low-brow or that it limited the company's ceiling, at this point, WWE is as popular as it has ever been and so is the rest of the industry, with wrestling promotions all over the world doing excellent business post-pandemic. Considering the person behind the “dumb change” is “probably gone” – jeez, I wonder who that could be – maybe fans will see a change in the not-too-distant future in the World Wrestling Entertainment's phrasing too.
Samoa Joe always knew he'd get back on top in AEW.
Speaking of Samoa Joe's less-than-legendary run in WWE, the “Samoan Submission Machine” was asked at the AEW Revolution media scrum if he ever thought he'd get back to the top of the industry after being largely relegated to a spot on commentary in WWE and as a heater gimmick on NXT.
For Joe, the answer was simple, really: he always thought he'd be back in a top spot largely because of his technical excellence and main event pedigree.
“Obviously, I was planning and taking the time to recover so that I could be back here at this capacity competing at this level. Far too many dumber athletes in this industry don't take the time to heal, don't bet on themselves and say, ‘Hey, listen, I'm gonna step away from things a little bit, and I'm going to come back, not 90% not 80%, 110%.' I took that time, and I came back 110%. Now, I'm the AEW World Champion. So I mean, this is just indicative of me understanding what I need to do to get things done,” Samoa Joe told Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.
“I'm playing this on a very different level than everybody else. Everybody else out here just hoping to get their shot. Hoping they're doing things. I'm planning dynasties. I mean, it starts with me, and that's not going to change anytime soon. They're playing checkers, I'm out here playing chess. I mean, it's a totally different game, man. Doing commentary in ponchos, I am still a millionaire. I don't know what he's talking about. So I mean, he may not like that issue, but, hey, that guy in the poncho just whipped his ass tonight and is still World Champion. So I mean, you tell me, you tell me who's running things around here.”
When AEW signed Samoa Joe in April of 2022, fans around the world wondered how much juice the 25-time champion had left in the tank. As it turns out, the answer is a lot, as Joe has worked plenty of fantastic matches, set the record for the longest Ring of Honor Television Championship reign of all time, and unseated MJF to become the AEW World Champion at Worlds End. All in all, an incredible resurgence for one of the best performers in the business today.
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