For well over a decade, Nuufolau Seanoa has dominated several major professional wrestling companies and obtained many accolades across the globe. He is more well known by his in ring name, Samoa Joe. Dubbed the ‘Samoan Submission Machine’, Joe has been signed to and is formerly associated with Ring of Honor, TNA Wrestling (now IMPACT), and UPW. The latter promotion being a now retired WWE developmental territory where Joe met with John Cena to train.

Some of the former accolades of the 6’2″ Samoan include being a TNA Grand Slam Champion, ROH World Champion, and two time NXT Champion. Samoa Joe traveled the world and wrestled for many companies before finding his place in Vince McMahon’s WWE. But first, came the “developmental brand”, NXT.

Samoa Joe joined NXT to the shegrin of Triple H, who had been keeping an eye out on the independent scene and Joe for a while. After defeating Baron Corbin at a NXT Takeover pay-per-view Joe had worked his way up to the main event scene in NXT. Now it was time for him to battle Shinsuke Nakamura for the NXT Championship, which he was able to obtain twice while on the NXT roster.

While Samoa Joe is most known for his notorious skills on the microphone, he is well rounded as an in-ring competitor as well. Fans who watch his matches can’t mistake the influence Muay Thai, jiu-jitsu, judo, and kickboxing have had on Joe’s technique inside the squared circle. The rear-naked chokehold he calls the ‘Coquina Clutch’ connects pro wrestling to mixed martial arts, and has garnered Joe many wins in the past.

Samoa Joe locking the ‘Coquina Clutch’ submission in on Seth Rollins (2017)

There’s a variety of ways to describe how Samoa Joe has been booked on the main roster so far- underwhelming, bestial, and/or can’t win in important scenarios. While Joe vanquished Rey Mysterio in a minute at WrestleMania 35, we can’t forget that he lost multiple matches for the WWE Championship against AJ Styles last year.

Luckily for Joe though, he has the ability to make the crowd view him as a threat even if he hasn’t been booked too vigorously in the last few years. It’s his killer mic skills and undeniable passion he possesses for the artform. His most recent feud with Rey Mysterio saw Joe cut an intimidating promo on Mysterio’s son Dominic to stay far away from his dad during Rey’s matches, which eventually got in the mind of Mysterio.

Now, after loosing the U.S. Title, Joe has another chance at gaining his first world title in the WWE. Although in storyline this could’ve been earned or explained better, I am all for Joe being Kofi’s next challenger. This is due to my belief that Joe is one of the few heels in the world today that can make a babyface out of any of his opponents. Kofi is obviously already a babyface that the crowd loves to cheer for; which makes this feud even better.

When the two men went face to face to cut promos on eachother on the July 2nd edition of Smackdown Live, I could sense the tension building in the ring. After an exchange of threats and witty insults Kofi flipping Joe off was the icing on the cake. Joe looked like a man possessed, and you could tell at that moment his professional wrestling character would do anything to make Kofi pay for the offensive hand gesture.

This is the kind of feud I want for Samoa Joe- a personal rivalry with a vendetta. Joe’s storyline right now is trying to convince the fans that Kofi has been a liar for far too long, and that we aren’t seeing the reality. This meshes so well with the fact that Kofi is still riding a high-wave of momentum from winning the WWE Championship at WrestleMania. During Kofi’s reign so far Kingston has faced numerous heels that would do anything for a win-whether that be Owens, Zayn, or Ziggler. None of these opponents have been as critical and ruthless as Samoa Joe.

At Extreme Rules this Sunday Samoa Joe is the challenger for Kofi Kingston’s WWE Championship. These two will not be holding back, and I can already tell this feud won’t end right after this match. I believe it is best to keep the title on Kofi till SummerSlam, and to make this work the finish of Sunday’s match would have to end without Kofi pinning or submitting Joe (roll-up would be different).

Not only would this give more time for Kofi’s historic reign but it would also allow for these two to air their rivalry on the second largest WWE pay-per-view of the year. Hopefully the match will conclude with Joe standing tall, facing the disapprobation of the thousands in Toronto that evening.

Many rank Samoa Joe as one of the best heels of this era, and rightfully so. The man plays a fantastic character that exudes confidence and no remorse. He controls the crowd with his effective verbiage and has a moveset that connects the pro-wrestling world to mixed martial arts and other combat sports. From my viewing, it is evident that Samoa Joe is a future world champion in the WWE.

The information regarding the beginning of Nuufolau Seanoa's career in professional wrestling was obtained from the following sources:

“WWE Profile – Samoa Joe.” ESPN, ESPN Internet Ventures, 31 Jan. 2017, http://www.espn.com/wwe/story/_/id/18590139/wwe-profile-page-samoa-joe.

Campbell, Brian. “WWE Star Samoa Joe Respects MMA but Uninterested in ‘Cash Grab’ Crossover Fight.” CBSSports.com, 16 Jan. 2018, http://www.cbssports.com/wwe/news/wwe-star-samoa-joe-respects-mma-but-uninterested-in-cash-grab-crossover-fight/.