Wrestler Retrospect: Samoa Joe

I've been debating for a while now about doing a TNA guy and which one I should start with.

That should've been a no brainer.

I should start with my favorite. Samoa Joe.

Joe is a unique wrestler. Like many of my favorite wrestlers Joe has one area of expertise, submission, but dabbles in all areas. To me Joe is special in that respect because I've never see a man of his size move the way he does.

The man could have an opponent in a STF one minute, then kicking him in the head while his opponent is on the top rope the next. Here was this huge guy, with a towel across his shoulders covered in his opponents blood, beating down opponents one minute and flying through the ropes in a suicide dive another.

I can't remember the first match I saw with Joe, but I remember being amazed by him. It was during his infamous winning streak. One that rivaled Golberg's in WCW, but was a step above in my opinion. Why? Joe was unstoppable, but not in the same way as Golberg. They weren't squash matches like Goldberg's was. Joe was awesome because his matches were a great back and forth, but in the end Joe overcame to win.

It wasn't until Joe lost that my respect for him really skyrocketed. Joe's first loss came at the hands of Kurt Angle, then debuting in TNA. I kinda saw it coming as much as I didn't want it to happen. There was no way they were going to have Joe lose to the Olympic Gold medalist. Probably TNA's biggest acquisition to date. As sad I was to see Joe lose the match was one of the best I'd ever seen. A great back and forth that eventually lead to loss of my favorite wrestler at the time, but one that elevated him to the next level.

Joe and Kurt went on to have many matches after that. The next even better than the last. Joe eventually won the TNA championship from Kurt which was probably the high point in Joe's TNA career. He even went on to become the first, and if memory serves, the only champion to retain his title in King of the Mountain.

A little down the road Joe ended up being put out by the Main Event Mafia. A group of main eventers from other companies, now in TNA, one of those being his old rival Kurt Angle. Joe's return both harkened back to his original angry, blood thirsty Joe, but with a new look and his Nation of Violence. Joe returned with Samoan inspired face paint, new ring gear and a large tribal knife. He returned and went on a path of destruction attempting to take out all of the MEM. What finally stopped him was the MEM recruiting him because they couldn't keep him from running through them.

Sadly enough that's when I stopped following Joe as closely. It's not that I didn't like him as a heel. As many of you that follow this blog know that I root for the heels as much, if not more, than the faces. It was just a let down to see Joe be told what to do. He had become the underling of those he was trying to overcome. Even more sadly is the fact that after a while Joe went back to his old ring gear and look and has become buried in the mid-card. He hasn't had any notable

feuds and even recently has been on a losing streak.

This last weeks Impact held promise though. Joe won a match and because he didn't break the hold the decision was reversed. His back stage promo hearkened back to an older Joe. He talked about how the higher ups were keeping him down and how he promised to go on a path of destruction that the higher ups only had themselves to be blamed for.

Joe's being pushed to mid-card has saddened me. It seems that no one in charge remembers that Joe is a former Heavyweight champ or his awesome win streak. He seems to have been pushed down to make way for those wrestlers from other organizations instead of utilizing him for what he is, a wrestler doing everything he can in the ring to please the fans. I mean how can you not root for a wrestler that instead of just signing your autograph starts a conversation with you. I should know it happened to me.