Samoa Joe

"King Joe" redirects here. For the monster, see King Joe (Ultra monster). For the New Zealand professional wrestler of the 1970s and 1980s, see Samoan Joe.

Samoa Joe
Samoa Joe in April 2022
Birth nameNuufolau Joel Seanoa[1]
Born (1979-03-17) March 17, 1979 (age 45)[2]
Orange County, California, U.S.[2]
Spouse(s)
Jessica Seanoa
​
(m. 2007)​
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)
Billed height6 ft 2 in (188 cm)[4][5][6]
Billed weight282 lb (128 kg)[5][6]
Billed from
Trained by
DebutDecember 1999[2][6]

Nuufolau Joel "Joe" Seanoa (born March 17, 1979), better known by the ring name Samoa Joe, is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a former AEW TNT Champion and AEW World Champion.

Debuting in 1999, Joe joined Ring of Honor (ROH) soon after its formation in 2002, going on to hold the ROH World Championship for a record 21 months from March 2003 to December 2004 as well as holding the ROH Pure Championship. At Slammiversary in June 2005, he joined Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where he embarked on a 19-month-long undefeated streak that ended in a critically acclaimed feud with Kurt Angle. During his 10-year stint in TNA, he held the TNA World Heavyweight Championship once, the TNA X Division Championship five times, the TNA World Tag Team Championship twice, and the TNA Television Championship once.

After departing TNA in 2015, Joe began wrestling for WWE on its NXT brand. After winning the NXT Championship twice, he joined the main roster in January 2017, going on to win the WWE United States Championship on two occasions and headline several WWE pay-per-views and livestreaming supercards. In 2019, he began working as a color commentator due to accumulated injuries. He was released from his contract in April 2021, but was rehired that June, winning the NXT Championship a third time before being released once again in January 2022.

Joe was named part of the inaugural class of the ROH Hall of Fame in January 2022, and three months later made his debut in AEW, and concurrently returned to ROH, which by then was AEW's sister promotion following its purchase by AEW co-owner/chief executive officer Tony Khan. In AEW/ROH, Joe held the AEW TNT Championship twice and the ROH World Television Championship once (at one time holding both titles simultaneously) and set a new record for the longest reign as ROH Television Champion. He then defeated MJF for the AEW World Championship in December 2023, making him the only wrestler to have held the AEW, ROH, and TNA World Championships.[8]

Outside of wrestling, Seanoa is an actor and voice actor; he is known for playing Sweet Tooth in the 2023 television series Twisted Metal and voicing King Shark in the 2024 video game Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference LATimes was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Cite error: The named reference MilnerKamchen2005 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Saalbach was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference ImpactWrestlingBio was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference WWE was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ a b c d Cite error: The named reference ROHBioOld was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference InokiDojo was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Raimondi2024 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).