History Wrestling / SamoaJoe

* TheBigGuy: Face, particularly of Steve Corino's Group and TNA's front line, till the nation of violence thing got started.

** In 2019 he's start a feud with Wrestling/ReyMysterio, [[Wrestling/TrevorMann Ricochet]] and Wrestling/KofiKingston.

* FinishingMove: His primary finishers are the Coquina Clutch and the Muscle Buster. On the independent circuit he had the Island Driver (second rope power slam) and Chimera-Plex (german suplex, dragon suplex, straight jacket suplex in succession). On the main roster, he replaces the Muscle Buster with a Uranage.

* SignatureMove: Running back elbow in the turnbuckle then leg lariat or CSC Enziguri. Also the face wash (not to be confused with Delirious's move of the same name). Also an elevated STO Out of the corner which is referred to by Tazz as a "uranage". In UPW he did what was described as a "reverse Samoan cross face". In Ring Of Honor he was known for an elbow suicide dive and a chop to the back transitioned to a victim kick. Also, jabs. Lots and lots of jabs.

* FinishingMove: The (Coquina) Clutch, The Muscle Buster. On the independent circuit he had the island driver (second rope power slam) and chimera suplex (german suplex, dragon suplex, straight jacket suplex in succession).

Samoa Joe (real name Nuufolau Joel Seanoa; born March 17, 1979) is an American troupe dancer and mortgage broker-turned-{{professional wrestl|ing}}er as of 1999. He is the first graduate of the UIWA West Coast Dojo and further boosted his star in Californian Ultimate Pro Wrestling. He is notable for subverting the WildSamoan stereotype by being a submission expert and for being one of the few well-known wrestlers of Polynesian ancestry (he was born in the United States) not to have any ties to the Anoa'i WrestlingFamily.

** His reasoning for abandoning Crimson during a tag team match was that Crimson was on an undefeated streak in TNA and Joe never needed any help during his own TNA undefeated streak.

** Despite being part of the KOI event that inspired the promotion's creation, Ring Of Honor originally planned to only use Joe in one match, but since he immediately caught on they called him back. Joe would go on to become the longest running champion Ring Of Honor had.

* KickThemWhileTheyAreDown: Regarding his ''WWL Idols Of Wrestling'' match tagging with Adam Pearce against Christopher Daniels and Wrestling/FrankieKazarian, Joe insisted this tactic was the only way to deal with men like them.
* {{Leitmotif}}: His final ROH theme was "Tap Out" by Adam Gubman

* MisplacedRetribution: During Joe's warpath against TNA management and the outsiders, he also trashed Matt Morgan's Christmas party and attacked Jeremy Borash, who named Joe the MPV of the company for 2007. However, this turned into RevengeByProxy after he choked out D'Angelo Dinero and said from now all the blood he spilled would be on TNA's hands.
* NickNamingTheEnemy: [[Wrestling/ScottHall The Phantom Of The Impact Zone]]. [[Wrestling/MontelVontaviousPorter Hype man]].

* NotDistractedByTheSexy: {{Double subver|sion}}ed, in the Pure Wrestling Association, as he ended up having to address Crystal Banks after she kept [[EasilyDistractedReferee distracting referees]], allowing Eddie Osbourne to get a chain.

** Samoa Joe is friends with Wrestling/JohnCena, John's CatchPhrase, "The Champ is here?" was also once part of Joe's entrance song ([[OlderThanTheyThink and Muhammad Ali was before both of them]]).

* OffScreenMomentOfAwesome: Initially his signing with TNA did not slow the increase in number of Joe's bookings but then his appearances made a sharp dive and TNA started having his matches cut out of the few shows he still did elsewhere, most famously, ''Ring of Honor Rising Above 2008'' vs [[Wrestling/SethRollins Tyler Black]](after which Joe'd be pulled out of ROH entirely)

* PetTheDog: As much of an ArrogantKungFuGuy Joe is, even he is worried sick of Reigns' well-being after an attempted car crash by a mysterious assailant on the ''RAW'' before ''[=SummerSlam=] 2019''. Granted, since this is mainy due to his TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou mindset, but still...

** Following Joe's return from injury at the hands of the Hardy Boys in TNA, he and Low Ki replaced Lashley in the Wrestling/{{M|ontel Vontavious Porter}}VP Wrestling/BobbyLashley Kenny King trio, becoming the four man "Beatdown Clan".

** Joe's theme almost always starts with the opening notes of the ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'' theme (or an arranged version of same in TNA.

* CombatCommentator: For IWA Mid-South

* WritingAroundTrademarks: Averted. Samoa Joe is one of the few WWE newcomers who was not forced to take a WWE-given name once joining the organization. The last superstars to evade this rule were Wrestling/CMPunk, who got to keep his name thanks to Wrestling/PaulHeyman; Wrestling/DavidOtunga, who probably got to use his real name either because he's engaged to Jennifer Hudson, or, since Otunga is also a lawyer in real life, because he was able to find a loophole; and Wrestling/{{Sting}}, who is too big of a star to undergo a name change.[[note]]Wrestling/AJStyles also averted this fate ''and'' went straight to ''Raw'', thus getting the Sting treatment, and his friends Wrestling/AustinAries and Wrestling/BobbyRoode, as well as Wrestling/ShinsukeNakamura also kept their names in NXT.[[/note]] Doesn't seem WWE 'bought the rights' either.

[[quoteright:310:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/samoa_joe_06_2015.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:310:[[CrowdSong Joe is gonna kill you!]]]]

Samoa Joe (real name Nuufolau Joel Seanoa; born March 17, 1979) is a Polynesian troupe dancer and mortgage broker-turned-{{professional wrestl|ing}}er as of 1999. He is the first graduate of the UIWA West Coast Dojo and further boosted his star in Californian Ultimate Pro Wrestling. He is notable for subverting the WildSamoan stereotype by being a submission expert and for being one of the few well-known wrestlers of Polynesian ancestry (he was born in the United States) not to have any ties to the Anoa'i WrestlingFamily.

* EarlyBirdCameo: A much thinner, blond Joe wrestled Essa Rios in a losing effort on an episode of ''{=WWF=} Jakked'' in 2001.

** His chokehold finisher, the towel he carries with him and the "Joe is gonna kill you!" [[CrowdSong song]] are all straight out of [[Wrestling/{{Tazz}} Taz]]. TNA eventually brought in Taz to be Samoa Joe's manager, explained as Taz trying to live through Joe since he could not wrestle anymore.

[[caption-width-right:310:Joe's gonna kill you!]]

'''*Loud animal roar* JOE! JOE! JOE! JOE!'''

* AntiHero: He claimed to be [[IDidWhatIHadToDo doing what he had to be done during his Nation of Violence]] gimmick. In actuality he ranged more toward PayEvilUntoEvil, or [[NominalHero no better than the Main Event Mafia except that fans cheered for him]].

** {{Defied|Trope}} when he refused to aide Alex Shelley when he came crawling to him for help with Generation Next, because they were a problem Shelley had caused.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: In his own words, he's known for "bending the rules" to the point of being too uncomfortable to watch but he would never go so far as to kill another WWE Superstar, such as the mysterious assailant's (failed) attempt to kill Reigns with a ''car''.

** Wrestling/SethRollins in April and May 2017.

* TokenGoodTeammate: In the Main Event Mafia, more or less. Wrestling/PaulHeyman cited this [[TropesAreNotGood as a bad thing]], saying that the Main Event Mafia were supposed to be the bad guys yet Joe had done nothing to make people want to see his face beaten in and his shoulders pinned to the mat since joining. He was really more villainous before he joined, pretty much threatening to legitimately kill them after adopting a tribal savage gimmick in revenge for breaking his arm; the act of joining itself being the worst thing he did since his supposed heel turn. If the "TNA originals vs. establishment invaders" theme of the Frontline-Mafia feud (or the intended insult to intelligence that was [[ShockingSwerve the Mafia's would-be killer just up and becoming their latest member]]) hadn't come across as well as it did, this likely would've seen the Mafia approach turning face here.

** During an IWA Mid-South match, Joe legitimately beat the absolute shit out of Necro Butcher in retaliation for Necro Butcher beating up a rookie wrestler named Anthony Franco on a Wrestling/{{CHIKARA}} card. Incidentally, this is the promotion where "gonna kill you" started to take off.

* INeedAFreakingDrink: In March 2007 in England, during what was (once again) thought to be Joe's final ROH match, he got thrown out of the ring and decided to go the bar and get a beer before Homicide yelled at him to return.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: In his own words, he's knowing for "bending the rules" to the point of being too uncomfortable to watch but he would never go so far as to kill another WWE Superstar, such as the mysterious assailant's (failed) attempt to kill Reigns with a ''car''.

Samoa Joe (real name Nuufolau Joel Seanoa; born March 17, 1979) is a Polynesian troupe dancer and mortgage broker-turned-{{professional wrestl|ing}}er as of 1999. He is the first graduate of the UIWA West Coast Dojo and further boosted his star in Californian Ultimate Pro Wrestling. He is notable for subverting the WildSamoan stereotype by being a submission expert and for being one of the few well-known wrestlers of Polynesian ancestry (he was born in the United States) not to have any ties to the Anoa'i wrestling family.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: In his own words, he's knowing for "bending the rules" to the point of being too uncomfortable to watch but he would never go so far as to kill another WWE Superstar, such as the mysterious assailant (failed) attempt to kill Reigns with a ''car''.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: In his own words, he's knowing for "bending the rules" to the point of being too uncomfortable to watch but he's would never go as far as to kill another WWE Superstar, such as the mysterious assailant (failed) attempt to kill Reigns with a ''car''.

** TNA' Maximum Impact Tournament over Christopher Daniels and Wild Card Tag Team Tournament in 2011 with Brutus Magnus as his partner.
** TNA Tourney for the vacant X-Division Title in 2014, choking out Seiya Sanada before Low Ki could break it up.