Samoa Joe on AEW title win over MJF, facing Hook and the CM Punk-Jack Perry fight

Samoa Joe is 44 years old and has been in professional wrestling since 1999. He has held championship and main event cards just about everywhere – from Ring of Honor to TNA to WWE to Japan and now AEW.

On December 30, Joe defeated MJF to win the AEW World Championship, making him one of the few to hold top titles in AEW, NXT, ROH and TNA. The Orange County, California native has also been busy outside of wrestling. He plays Sweet Tooth in the streaming series “Twisted Metal” and is set to voice the character King Shark in the upcoming Suicide Squad video game.

Samoa Joe will defend the AEW title for the first time Wednesday on AEW Dynamite against Hook, the 24-year-old rising star and son of former ECW and WWE star (and AEW commentator) Taz. Joe talks about winning the belt after so many years in the industry, his victory over MJF, the match with Hook, what happened with CM Punk and Jack Perry at Wembley Stadium last August during from the pay-per-view show All In and much more.

This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

Marc Raimondi: What does that mean to you, Joe? Samoa Joe, AEW World Champion.

Joe Samoa: It sounds good. It just rolls off the tongue. GOOD. It's nice to let it pass your lips.

M: You have been a champion in many places. What does being AEW World Champion mean to you at this point in your career?

SJ: It's about becoming the standard bearer for one of the most exciting companies in the industry today. I have said it several times. AEW is a touchstone for the wrestling world. We don't limit ourselves to a small corner of the wrestling universe. We will go there. We will fight your champions from any other promotion. And that gives me a unique opportunity to build on that championship legacy.

M: You've been a pretty busy guy outside of the ring. You were recently in Twisted Metal, the adaptation of the video game into a television series. And you'll also voice King Shark in the Suicide Squad video game, which is pretty cool. How did you get them? How's it going ? How is it different from wrestling?

SJ: Twisted Metal was born from a long-time good friend: Carter Swan. He is a producer at PlayStation Pictures. They were in pre-production for Twisted Metal. He was actively looking [someone to play the] Gourmand [character]. He thought back to the time he was sitting on the couch with another friend of ours (Hollywood producer), Jeff Katz, watching pay-per-view shows. And he goes, “Ah, I should call Joe.” » So he called me a little out of the blue. And we tested it: it was a success. Next thing you know, I'm in an ice cream truck, putting on the mask and having a lot of fun.

M: You won the championship a few weeks ago against MJF. It was an interesting situation for you to find yourself in because it's a huge pay-per-view main event, but everyone knows MJF is injured before he walks in, right? The match was great, but you have a guy who can't do things with his shoulder, which is pretty important. How do you handle this situation?

SJ: To his credit, you go, and it's go time despite all the physical deficiencies he had before this match. He knew he had to go out there and play, and he did his best. You can't think about a lot of these things at that level. The guys need to go out there, smile and bear it, and pay their respects to Max. He was one of those individuals that evening.

M: You have a big game coming up on Wednesday against Hook, and it got controversial last week with stuff on X with [AEW owner] Tony Khan [posting about WWE’s] Jinder Mahal. What happened there?

SJ: I don't know. It had nothing to do with me. I mean, it's just a really cute little debate. I'm glad everyone participated. But on paper, Hook seems like the ideal challenger. I mean, he's 29-1. He's got the stats, but let's see if he's got the heart. And I think that's really the point of this match. We've set a new standard for who gets championship shots here. And that's going to spark a lot of discussion and disagreement. So, I'm more than happy with this opening chapter. And as for Hook, I mean, he's a tremendous young athlete. When you look at this guy, you look at a guy with unlimited potential. He has the pedigree. We will welcome him and find out what he is made of.

M: Tell me about this new championship protocol and do you have a list of targets? Do you have a list of names you want to face and defend that AEW World Title against?

SJ: That's the beautiful thing about being a champion. They're all coming for you. They all come to the door and try to take what's yours. And that’s the environment I welcome. This is the one I propagate. Let's just move the pipeline from real challenges to the champion and stop all the extraneous games and stupid stuff. Let's have some matches and see who is the best in the world.

M: You've been at the top of every promotion you've been in, Ring of Honor or TNA, WWE main events in Japan. There was a period where I think the critics – maybe people from certain promotions – were saying, “Maybe Joe's a little older, maybe he's crossed the line, we're going to do it.” come as a coach. Maybe he won't make the main roster. Being here in 2024 as the world champion of a major promotion, what does that mean to you?

SJ: This proves to me that there have always been two sets of perspectives. There was the world's point of view, and there was mine. And mine was right every time. I think a lot of people just don't have the confidence and wherewithal to bet on themselves, to understand everything that's been dealt to you and understand that it's not good enough and you're going to take ownership. yours. And that has legitimately been the hallmark of my career. No one ever wanted me until I showed up at their door. It's no different here, and it won't be different in the future, and I'm very comfortable with that. Being at this stage where I am in my career and as a world champion, for me it was expected. And so, whenever I hear people say they're surprised or, “You silenced the naysayers,” why were you listening to them in the first place?

M: What I find strange about professional wrestling right now is that when AEW started, there was a honeymoon period where it was like, “Yeah, there's still a number two promotion in the United States, it’s going to be great for the athletes.” Because there are more options, which means more money for everyone. The products are always better. If history is to be believed, it will be better for the fans if there is competition. And that has It was better for the fans. Still, there seems to be a lot of negativity.

SJ: Because online fandom isn't about sharing an experience with someone. It's about being right. It's about having a point of view, then finding every element to support that point of view and attacking other people who might have an opposing point of view. It's another type of fandom that I think people don't recognize, and it's not really about the product, the fighters, or people in general. It's just about beating that other person on the other end of the Twitter account, or whatever it is. That's really what it comes down to. I summarize things better this way. I've never heard someone say, “Man, I really changed a lot of people's minds with that tweet.” »

M: You go back a long way with MMA. Please share your best Tito Ortiz story while training with Team Punishment in Huntington Beach, CA.

SJ: I would like to. A lot of these things shouldn't be talked about. Mostly just pranks and stuff. It takes a lot of history to understand why this was a prank. But always funny moments, when the cops are called into the locker room. Maybe one or two coaches will be arrested, but not really. Stuff like that. “Hey, last night we got this report, we heard you did something weird.” And, of course, the police will come in, maybe grab said coach, escort him out, and eventually he'll realize, “Oh, you guys are kidding me.”

M: Best John Cena story from the UPW independent wrestling era in Southern California.

SJ: People think freestyling started in WWE, but it all started back then on road trips to Northern California and John would freestyle rap for hours. I mean, I'm just leaving. We would have whatever evening mix, drive time mix would be on, and we would drive up to San Francisco, and John would just be killing it. The brother knows how to rap.

M: You recently received a shout out from DJ Whoo Kid. He was backstage at Wembley Stadium and saw the incident before your match against CM Punk (which led to his firing from AEW) at All In. What happened with CM Punk and Jack Perry ?

SJ: There was a small incident. We broke it. We went out there and wrestled, man. It is essential. Everyone wants it to be so much more than what it is, but it is what it was. And talking about it any further would be pointless unless you're trying to get a scorecard and all that – but trust me, it wasn't that kind of fight.

M: It was not a big deal ?

SJ: Not for me. I saw fights break out. Things happen. But again, that's me. I've been in these situations, I've seen this. I'll think it's funny when people say, “Oh, Joe's cool with that.” I mean, no man, it was a very stressful situation. Of course. But I mean, it's a phenomenon that I've seen happen many times. We crush it. We had a show to do. We have had [81,035] the fans are waiting there. And that was my goal, because that's what it was about at that time. We are about to go out and have the best night of our lives.

M: Many people said you were the voice of reason.

SJ: Hey, look, we all understood that there was something to be done. There was a mission awaiting us and everyone was focused. And hey, if I was part of it, cool. But my intention was to go out there and take this show on the road.