5 AEW stars Samoa Joe wrestled in WWE
AEW would do well to keep an eye on WWE's latest batch of releases. The biggest names were William Regal and Samoa Joe. The latter has the dubious distinction of being released twice a year.
Joe was initially let go earlier in the year as part of WWE's infamous budget cuts post-WrestleMania. Before that, he mainly worked as a color commentator for RAW while recovering from his latest injury setback.
The Samoan Submission Machine was rehired at Triple H's request and soon won the title from Karrion Kross. He relinquished the NXT Championship days before the launch of NXT 2.0. It seemed like the writing was on the wall as the company moved towards a focus on younger talents. Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful broke the news on Twitter this past week:
Samoa Joe has been released by WWE, Fightful has confirmed with the company.
More details to come on FightfulSelect.com this evening. https://t.co/qmr6AC8mpR
Now that Samoa Joe has been released for a second time, AEW could use an asset like him once the veteran is cleared. He has a history with several former WWE talents currently on the AEW roster. Joe was involved in Adam Cole and Kyle O'Reilly's rivalry in his last NXT run while he also faced CM Punk numerous times on the independents. But here are five wrestlers he wrestled on WWE TV.
#5. AEW tag team FTR | Samoa Joe & Finn Balor vs. Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder, NXT TakeOver: Respect 2015
Finn Bálor e Samoa Joe vs The Mechanics (Scott Dawson e Dash Wilder). Luta de Duplas. (1º Semifinal, Torneio) http://t.co/74X9Fs5ERA
During his initial NXT run, Joe debuted as a badass babyface. He teamed up with then-NXT champion Finn Balor for a makeshift tag team that entered the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic in 2015. The duo opened NXT TakeOver: Respect in a semi-final bout against AEW's FTR.
Previously named Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder in WWE, The Mechanics were still relative newcomers at the time. They hadn't earned the accolade of the best tag team in the world yet that they now possess in AEW. But the future AEW Tag Team Champions showed off their massive potential and gave the two veterans a run for their money.