Nuufolau Joel Seanoa

Biography

Nuufolau Joel Seanoa, better known as Samoa Joe, is an American professional wrestler who debuted in 1999 and signed with All Elite Wrestling (AEW) in 2022. As the leader of The Opps, he is a two-time AEW World Champion, two-time AEW TNT Champion, and one-time AEW World Trios Champion. Joe first made his name in Ring of Honor shortly after the promotion's launch in 2002, holding the ROH World Championship for a record 645 days and becoming one of its defining stars through unforgettable rivalries with CM Punk and Nigel McGuinness, as well as his legendary match against Kenta Kobashi. He carried that momentum to TNA in 2005, where a 19-month undefeated streak and his iconic rivalry with Kurt Angle cemented his legacy as one of the promotion's all-time greats while he captured the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, five X Division Championships, two World Tag Team Championships, and the Television Championship. Along the way, he won Wrestling Observer Newsletter's Most Outstanding Wrestler award in 2005, was ranked No. 4 in the Pro Wrestling Illustrated 500 in both 2006 and 2008, and was named PWI Feud of the Year in 2007 for his rivalry with Angle. Joe joined WWE in 2015, becoming the first three-time NXT Champion before winning the WWE United States Championship twice and spending the next several years as one of the company's top heavyweights. After returning to ROH and debuting in AEW in 2022, he became the longest-reigning ROH World Television Champion before defeating MJF to win the AEW World Championship, becoming the only wrestler to have held the world championships of AEW, ROH, and TNA. Outside the ring, he has also found success as an actor and voice actor, portraying Sweet Tooth in Twisted Metal, voicing King Shark in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, and playing Raymond Law in Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii.