AEW Signs Samoa Joe
After appearing at ROH Supercard of Honor
Apr 2, 2022
The Samoan Submission Machine is All Elite.
Samoa Joe returned to Ring of Honor at Friday's Supercard of Honor pay-per-view in Garland, TX following the evening's main event.
After Jonathan Gresham defeated Bandido Jr to become undisputed ROH World champion, both he and Lee Moriarty were beaten down by Jay Lethal and Sonjay Dutt. As Lethal went to stand tall to end the show, Joe suddenly arrived to make the save.
Tony Khan then tweeted, "It’s official! @SamoaJoe is ALL ELITE! See you on Wednesday at #AEWDynamite", complete with the signing graphic.
Joe holds the record for longest ROH World title reign at 645 days, holding the belt from March 2003 to December 2004. During his reign, he battled CM Punk in several critically-acclaimed bouts.
Over the previous year, Joe was released twice from WWE. He was first let go shortly after WrestleMania 37 (which he served as broadcaster for) before getting rehired that summer. Upon return, Joe won the NXT championship from Karrion Kross, but vacated it weeks later, due to both a positive COVID test, and WWE's desire to change NXT's direction. Joe was then released once more in January.
