Outside The Ring: Samoa Joe

Slimdust

From tnawrestling.com


He’s addicted to “Lost,� the hit ABC-TV show that airs Wednesday nights. He’s also an avid reader, especially Eastern philosophy books. Reading, you see, is Samoa Joe’s personal form of relaxation. Plus, reading outside the ring helps him inside, he claims. “It helps me delve into the mind of a fan or a wrestler,� he said.

Samoa Joe, at first glance, is the last person you’d expect to be a bookworm, but he is, by his own admission. “I don’t really find that as an insult. You can be called a lot worse things than a bookworm,� he said.

Most, though, are now just calling him Champ.

Samoa Joe is the reigning X Division titlist, a brute, brawling monster who’s redefined the X Division. He doesn’t look the part of a high-flyer, but has long silenced his critics and skeptics – including his trainer, Cincinnati Red.

“Most big men in wrestling are told to just club, punch and beat your opponent down, and not worry about jumping over ropes or even think about coming off the top rope,� Samoa Joe said.

But Samoa Joe is a mix of power and speed, agility and annihilation. He punishes some opponents, dazzles others with his speed, quickness and an aerial assault.

“My size has long been criticized by others, and it is a valid criticism,� he said. “But, I transcend what people expect out of a big man. And I think that’s part of the attraction fans have to me. I think people like the fact that I don’t look like I should be hurting people the way I do, but I manage to find a way.

“I’ve heard the criticism since I started in wrestling. I’d like to think I’m changing perceptions a bit. The criticism really doesn’t bother me. If anything, it motivates me when people say I can’t do things because of my size.

“You could come up with 22 million adjectives to describe me, but I’m a husky, large individual. I’m definitely not a lean, trim, run-of-the-mill wrestler. And I don’t think I ever will be. My size is not a problem for me.�

Samoa Joe’s in-ring ability has clearly pushed him to the front of favorites among Internet fans. “One thing you can say about the Internet fans is, they definitely are passionate about wrestling and I think they gravitate to the wrestlers who share their same passion for the business. It’s flattering that they support me so much,� Samoa Joe said. “I think they support me so much because, maybe, they can just relate to me, that I’m a large, very grumpy, irate individual.�

Mr. Kennedy

Samoa Joe seems like a really cool person, and he's not that bad in the ring. It's also not his fault that TNA continues to call him undefeated despite losing a triple threat match in September.

Thanks for posting that Slim.

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Mikk

WC's Sexy Beast

Samoa joe is very cool having met him briefly.

My friend spent a little more time with him and she said he is probably one of the nicest and most down to earth person she has met.

Slimdust

Yeah I met him backstage once. When your backstage, the right thing to do is to go up to everyone and shake there hand and meet them. So I went up to him,nervous cause I didnt know what to think,and he was awesome. He was telling me not to quit. Really cool guy. It was awhile ago. CM Punk was there, he said the same thing to me.

airr233

I was awed when I saw Joe wrestle for the first time on Impact! He created a fan in me and I have never seen anything like it.

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ICEMAN

I'm a big fan of Joe. I just dig his style and am glad he's in TNA b/c I don't think Vince would give him much of push in WWE because he's not muscular enough for Vince's standards of what a top-level guy should look like.