Samoa Joe talks the impact Ring of Honor made on his career

Samoa Joe credits Ring of Honor as being the company in which he came into his own. In interview on the AEW Unrestricted Podcast, Joe spoke in detail about his return to ROH at Supercard of Honor in April.

“When you talk about the length of my career and kinda where things started, I really came into my own in Ring of Honor,” Joe said. “The championship reign there and the incredible amount of talent crossing paths within the promotion on their way up, on their way down, or somewhere in between making their rebound, I mean it was such an interesting place in the business at that time because there were no alternatives, there was nowhere anywhere outside of WWE to really express themselves. It kinda was the forerunner to Impact or TNA at the time.”

Joe debuted for ROH in 20o2. In May of 2003, Joe defeated Xavier to win the ROH World Championship. He’d go on to have a historic 21 month title reign, facing a vast array of different opponents including C.M. Punk, Bryan Danielson, Homicide, and others. Joe lost the championship to Austin Aries at the Final Battle 2004 event.

Samoa Joe returned to ROH at Supercard of Honor over WrestleMania weekend in early April. Joe appeared after the main event in which Jonathan Gresham became the undisputed ROH World Champion. Gresham defeated Bandido to claim that crown. Jay Lethal confronted Gresham after his win and Joe walked out to even the odds. Soon after, it was revealed that Joe had signed with AEW and would work for that company and ROH.

Joe is currently the ROH World Television Champion.

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