Since the turn of the millennium, few men have been more feared or respected than Samoa Joe. Whenever the question of who the greatest wrestler of the 21st century is brought up, you will hear more than a smattering of mentions for the “Samoan Submission Machine” as he has dominated companies all over the country since his debut. He is the longest-reigning ROH World Champion, longest-reigning ROH World Television Champion, and a former TNA and AEW World Champion who can genuinely make the claim of having the single greatest year that any wrestler has had with the body of work he put together in 2005.

Joe debuted for WWE in 2015, and it’s not like the company saw him as someone who was too old to be in the main event scene as he won the NXT Championship twice, the WWE United States Championship twice, and was involved in high-profile world championship feuds with both Brock Lesnar and AJ Styles. However, WWE never pulled the trigger on Joe, and after he broke his thumb in 2019, he followed in the footsteps of Jerry Lawler and Mr. Perfect by transitioning into commentary before being released not once, but twice in the space of 12 months. The WWE Championship is the one prize that alluded Joe, but given his recent success in AEW, not being the WWE Champion probably isn’t something he loses sleep over.