Samoa Joe to be newest inductee in ROH Hall of Fame

BALTIMORE, Md. — Ring of Honor Wrestling (ROH) is adding another member to its inaugural Hall of Fame class, according to its press release Monday.

ROH is inducting Samoa Joe, the most dominant ROH World Champion in company history in its first Hall of Fame class.

Samoa Joe first stepped into ROH in 2002, becoming an intimidating force with a hard-hitting offense, intensity, and relentlessness. This led to his becoming one of the sport’s most dangerous competitors.

Joe became the World Champion in March 2003 after only ten matches. Two months later, the championship was taken to world-class status, defending it in London.

During his 645-day reign, Joe defended the title successfully 31 times. At the time, it marked the longest world championship reign in any U.S.-based wrestling promotion in 15 years. He also held the Pure Championship during his time in ROH.

He left ROH for Impact Wrestling, then TNA Wrestling, winning the world title off Kurt Angle.

After a series of matches in 2015, he once again left for WWE. While in the NXT developmental territory, he was a two-time NXT Champion.

Joe joins The Briscoe Brothers and Bryan Danielson in this inaugural class. One final inductee will be announced next week.

A career in retrospect on Samoa Joe is a feature in this weekend’s ROH Wrestling broadcast, with a special airing on YouTube next Monday, Feb. 21 at 9 a.m. Eastern. Additionally, a special Hall of Fame broadcast will air the weekend of March 5.

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Jake Leonard

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Jake Leonard, a broadcast media and journalism veteran, is the editor-in-chief of Heartland Newsfeed. Leonard is also GM and program director of Heartland Newsfeed Radio Network, wrestling editor and contributing writer for Ambush Sports, a contributing writer for My Sports Vote and Midwest Sports Network, and a former contributor to Bleacher Report and Overtime Heroics. He resides at home in Nokomis, Ill. with his dog Buster.

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