Pro Wrestling Chronicle

Memories of Samoa Joe and his amazing ROH run on this week’s edition of the ROH Apologist.

The first time I saw Samoa Joe live, or anywhere for that matter, was his ROH debut
match against Low Ki back in the fall of 2002. I remember thinking to myself very clearly at the time, “this is the guy? This fat Guy is Samoa Joe? What indy hype! This is gonna be Mike Modest all over again.”

I’d read about Joe in the Observer. I knew he was getting booked in Zero One as King Joe. But I was expecting a little more, um - aesthetic value (you can smirk, I am). I don’t know why. It’s pretty silly when I think about it rationally. After all, I live in Allentown. I’ve met the Samoans. They aren’t beauty contestants with thin wastes or GHG-assisted bodies either. But I wondered why the all star indy promotion I’d already fallen in love with would book the chubby guy all the way from California to face the promotion’s first cover boy. Then the bell rang, and we all found out. My god, did we all find out.

After that legendary stiff match, Joe went on to have some of the most entertaining and well worked matches I’ve ever seen from a “chubby guy” who isn’t even really Samoan (If memory serves me he’s Polynesian). Granted he was over in the Murphy Rec Center the minute his first match had ended, but the true road he took was filled with even more amazing moments and memories. I’d like to take the time to recount just a few, live or otherwise, as a fan:

-First match with Low Ki. God was this stiff. To this day I watch this and love it. This was the wrestling I was waiting to come to America. These were the new stars I was talking about with friends who’d lost interest. I still remember the crowd cringing at the stiffness of the shots, or the pop when they loosened their ring gear in a “time to go to the next level” moment. Unbelievable.

-The First Anniversary Riot. I was half drunk and totally thought this was real at the venue. i was in the balcony, didn’t know the indy workers trained by Homicide or any NYC people, and just remember really buying into Joe marching around killing people, especially some over-sized guy. What’s sadly forgotten, and didn’t get a good reaction thanks to poor card placement, was the Brian Danielson vs Joe match itself. Go find a tape. Very good match. These two would rarely miss as a “duet”.

- Joe wins the belt from Xaiver. You can actually see the delayed reaction of jubilation from the fans in South Philly when Joe Choked out Xaiver for the ROH championship.My old friend Stevie and I can be seen on the hardcam jumping up out of our “Xaiver comas”, happy and excited. The match plays much better on DVD now then it did in the building that night, but I remember people being happy it was off Xaiver.

-Joe’s first two title defenses - one the same night. Joe first beat Hotstuff Hernandez, in an odd note of trivia, who is now part of the successful LAX promotion in TNA. Then he stayed for another match featuring a favorite in my teen years, Tom Carter (Reckless Youth), Colt Cabana, and another person I can’t remember. I can’t remember because my car died on the highway while enroute to the show. A friend texted me the results as they happened. I remember him saying people were really starting to get into Joe.

-Joe and Paul London’s farewell match. Fun match, great crowd, and a respectful vibe that has lasted the entire ROH run so far. If you haven’t seen Punk’s goodbye, or Joe’s U.S. ROH finale, go out of your way to see them both. This was the first, and the tradition of kissing the ROH emblem on the mat was born. Joe’s goodbye is on the 3.3.07 Video Wire located on on main page, by the way. It gets emotional, much like Malenko and Guerrero when ECW and it’s home fans still mattered. For all the knocks of ROH fans and their chants, I’m proud to call myself one when these groups brought back chants of “please don’t go.” That’s a far cry from the pathetic endings of ECW and “You sold out”. I was in the stands in Philly for those embarrassing moments too.

Joe defends against Daniels at the second Glory By Honor. The last Murphy Rec. Center show (overflow crowd), and the night many realized the Joe title run was picking up steam. Some may disagree, but I think each fact is related in some way to the other. The match itself was very entertaining, I watched it again last month. I sat third row and during a Daniels false finish noticed myself and everyone I was with jump up or cover our mouths thinking Daniels had pinned Joe for the belt. He would not pin Joe in an ROH singles match for another three and a half years. Shades of the greatness of Baba booking.

Somewhere in that first year the Ole Ole kick became a staple. i remember watching it slowly get over, with just a few fans doing it at first, and finding it such a unique way for an indy star to connect with the fans. It became a staple, and one of my favorite few seconds of any Joe match.

-I always liked the Briscoe Brothers from the moment i saw there break out match against each other at CZW’s 2001 Best of the Best. But at At Our Best, I saw Joe make these two kids grow up. It was always fun in late ‘03/early ‘04 to watch Joe beat down the brothers and then Mark and Jay come back, but in a steel cage, with a gusher the likes of which you’ll rarely see, Joe took Jay Briscoe to the limit and MADE him. Even in the bleacher seats, far away from the front row, you could see the gash and hear the gasps. When Jay almost escaped through the bottom of the broken cage, his brother pulling, and a possessed Joe grabbing hold of him, it’s an image I won’t soon forget.

-The Series with Homicide. A legendary feud in ROH and matches that were filled with intense work. Probably Joe’s second best ROH feud, which of course had something to do with working with a friend. I was there live for the match in the tent in Philly, but the one that sticks in my head is the St. Paul match. All were good, and keeping joe going over for years was great too.

-Speaking of great friends making great feuds. not only one of the greatest trilogies in ROH, but in wrestling history. Joe vs CM Punk. The first match came out of nowhere. It was almost by mistake that it worked out like it did. and then the second match, possibly my favorite, happened in Chicago months later. Steve Corino canceled his booking, and we got one of the matches of the year. The finale, heavily influenced by Ricky Steamboat and Mick Foley (and by proxy, Ric Flair), both in and out of the ring, was a beautiful ending. Each match told an isolated story, and was part of building to the finish of the third. Brilliant and fun.

-Joe ended his great run dropping the title to a hot up-and-coming Austin Aries in a good match with a VERY hot finish that completed the making of Aries. I found out at 3am on a boat in the Carribean spending 3 bucks a minute for Internet access. Imagine being on a dream Christmas vacation and wanting nothing more then to have been in an ugly armory in Northeast Philly. At least it played well on DVD.

-The Foley feud might have never culminated in a match, but it was great for Joe’s character coming off the huge title run to be able to get in a legends face and have an angle. Foley liked it enough to personally recommend Punk and Joe to WWE.

Joe’s run as a mentor for Jay Lethal was fun, something not seen enough in U.S. wrestling, and developed over time. When Joe did win the Pure Title from his young charge the pop for “the champ is here” was great, as was his attempt to elevate that title.

Feuding again that summer with Homicide, we got glimpses of the title fued that never was. Low Ki and Joe. Great interactions and one very memorable tag match between the teams from Chicago.

All Joe’s matches with American Dragon are must see if you are a true ROH fan or want to be. His title defense from Oct. ‘04 is a forgotten classic in ROH, and a well layed-out different match. The matches they’d have, brilliantly woven over the entire year of 2006, from the first angle Wrestlemania weekend, until the cage match in Chicago in December, is the reason people make personal compilation DVDs. The city of Chicago lucked out in getting the bulk of this feud, though New Jersey may have received their greatest match, the Fight of the Century 60 minute draw. Yes, the big man can go long.

I can not finish this without making reference to one of the other greatest matches (and the best selling DVD in ROH history by far), Joe Vs. Kobashi. It seems that Joe was part of probably 25 of the top 40 ROH matches all time, and if you go top ten, the percentage probably holds up. When a legend was brought in, Samoa Joe was the only guy it made sense to match Kobashi up with. I got a ticket to this show, went up on a bus, and took a female friend of mine who was an actress and a dancer. I’ve never seen someone take to a wrestling match like Joe-Kobashi sold this women. It’s one of my favorite live memories as a fan, and one of the best layed out and worked matches I’ve ever seen. Joe became the physical embodiment of Kobashi’s greatest rivals - Kawada and Misawa - while maintaining the John Wayne last cowboy standing dynamic, and the young new hybrid wrestler versus the man who helped change the style in non-WWE U.S. wrestling. I lost myself in this moment, one of roughly 725 people in a ballroom in Manhattan that can say they saw wrestling euphoria.

Joe was the glue and the man in charge during the feud and angle of the year in 2006, the ROH captain in the ROH/CZW fued. Probably the closest wrestling will come in simpler terms to having a well told story with depth and an ensemble cast that, taken out of wrestling context, could be a classic novel if you changed the names and setting. Joe’s face after the reversal at the 100th Show, or his efforts as the summer wore on, helped play a key component in the overall story. His “injury” at the hands of Danielson in Cage of Death was one of the compelling twists, and well done. He was, for a time, ROH’s version of what TAZ was the night Jerry Lawler invaded the ECW Arena.

I saw my last Joe match in NYC on February 16th. He beat Morishima in the best match I’ve seen so far this year. It was what big man wrestling should be, and once was. not WWE big man style, but hard gritty Terry Gordy, Jumbo Tsuruta, Doc Williams, Bruiser Brody type hard effort. One last ole ole. One last Muscle Buster. One last “Joe Joe Joe” chant. It was everything I wanted as a fan. Satisfaction.

I will finish this tribute by telling everyone to watch the 3.1.07 and 3.16.07 ROH VideoWires. The first one, shot in Chicago, encompasses all the REAL emotion and bonds that develop between a young wrestler who helps carry a company, and adoring fans who have followed and appreciated that effort. Anytime I see genuine tears in wrestling it validates the passion that I feel as a fan. Thanks for everything Joe, and if we never see you in ROH again, it was the best run anyone could ever hope for.