Ring of Honor is known for producing stars and helping bring eyes to many of today’s biggest names in wrestling. From AJ Styles, Bryan Danielson (Daniel Bryan), and Christopher Daniels, to CM Punk, Samoa Joe, and Kevin Steen (Kevin Owens), all have found themselves in ROH.
The one prize that all of those men sought while in ROH was the Ring of Honor World Championship. The ROH World Championship was held by every single person on the above list, except for one (AJ Styles), but it can be argued that only one man has set the standard that all the others have since had to follow. That man is Samoa Joe.
In the entire history of the ROH World Championship, there have only been 29 champions since it’s inauguration in 2002. In ROH’s 17 years in business, only 4 men have held the title more than once (Jay Lethal, Adam Cole, Austin Aries, and Jay Briscoe), with Adam Cole having the most reigns at 3. Matt Taven is the current ROH World Champion, and Jay Lethal has been the champion for the most amount of days when looking at combined reigns.
However, as it stands at the moment of writing this, there is only one man who holds the longest single title reign in ROH history. That man is Samoa Joe. Joe’s reign towers over the rest in ROH, despite the fact that Joe has only held the title once. Joe’s reign lasted a staggering 645 days – a length of time in modern wrestling that is extremely rare.
While ROH was known early on for producing good shows and highlighting top independent talent like Low Ki, AJ Styles, Bryan Danielson, and Christopher Daniels, it can be argued that the promotion only started to get noticed on a wide scale during the reign of Samoa Joe. In fact, it’s the foundation that Joe laid that help build Ring of Honor into the promotion it is today, and helped them sell out Madison Square Garden for the ROH/NJPW G1 Supercard.
In its first year of existence (2002), ROH drew 5,300 fans, with an average attendance of 442 (Attendance numbers were supplied by Lavie Margolin). The first ROH Champion was crowned at ROH’s 5th show, seeing Low Ki win the title in a match against Spanky (Brian Kendrick), Doug Williams, and Christopher Daniels.
Low Ki’s reign was short-lived though, and he lost the title after only one successful title defense against AJ Styles. On September 21, 2002, Xavier defeated Low Ki, and went on to defend the title 4 times, defeating Jay Briscoe, AJ Styles, and Paul London twice before the fateful day on March 22, 2003, when Samoa Joe claimed the title that would soon be the talk of the independent wrestling world.
Throughout this article, I will have videos of various matches from Joe’s ROH career. Not all of them are the title matches mentioned, but they should help give you a taste for what Joe did in Ring of Honor to make himself a legend there.
Samoa Joe vs. Low Ki (October 5, 2002)
A few months before that, though, Joe made his Ring of Honor debut. He was brought in as a “hired assassin” to take out Low Ki by Christopher Daniels. The match was a brutal, hard-hitting affair that is absolutely must see, and while Joe lost his debut match against Ki, he only lost two more matches in ROH against Bryan Danielson and Homicide, and they would stand as the only 3 blemishes on his record for a long time to come.
Title Win: Xavier vs. Samoa Joe (March 22, 2003)
Xavier’s run as champion was underwhelming, as he was not the quality of performer that Low Ki was, and when put in the ring against the likes of AJ Styles and Paul London, it was abundantly clear that he was not the right man to hold the championship.
In 2003, it was looking to be a year of poor matches in the main event if Xavier continued to work at the top of the card. Thankfully, it was only March when ROH made the change, and Samoa Joe’s title reign began. Joe’s reign as champion started with a bang when he crushed Xavier in less than 12 minutes.
1. Samoa Joe vs. Colt Cabana vs. Matt Stryker vs. “Reckless Youth” Tom Carter (April 12, 2003)
However, the next defense of the title was overshadowed greatly, as Joe was placed in a Four Corner Survival match that didn’t even main event the show. Joe, previous to the match, defeated Hotstuff Hernandez in less than seven minutes. Joe then went on to face Colt Cabana, Matt Stryker (not to be confused with the Commentator and wrestler Matt Striker), and Tom Carter, all of which were midcarders in ROH at the time.
While Colt Cabana was easily the biggest star in the match outside of Joe, Cabana was still relatively new to ROH. The primary focus of the show was a best 2 out of 3 falls match between Bryan Danielson and Paul London that went for nearly 40 minutes.
While Joe succeeded in defending his title, there is no way that it could be considered a true main event match-up when it did not close the show, or even come close to being the main event.
2. Samoa Joe vs. Doug Williams (April 26, 2003)
At Ring of Honor Retribution, the focus was, again, not on Joe and the ROH Title, but on Christopher Daniels, Amazing Red, and Paul London, who all competed in a Round Robin Challenge against each other. The semi-main event was the finals of the challenge as Christopher Daniels defeated Paul London and left as easily the biggest star on the show. Homicide earned an ROH Title shot by defeating CM Punk, and Samoa Joe now had a contender for the future.
While Joe was overshadowed by Daniels and London, Joe’s match with Williams was fantastic and definitely pointed towards things to come for the new ROH Champion.
3. Samoa Joe vs. The Zebra Kid (May 17, 2003)
On May 17th, ROH held their first international show while working with the FWA out of England. Joe was again overshadowed by a main event between Jody Fleisch and Christopher Daniels. However, this title defense is notable not only for the utter destruction of Zebra Kid (which saw Joe literally kick his foot through fenced barricades while beating on Kid), but led to Samoa Joe cutting a promo after the match declaring the ROH Championship to be the ROH World Championship.
Slowly, but surely, Samoa Joe was beginning to carve out a legacy with this championship that no others have been able to match since.
4. Samoa Joe vs. Homicide (May 31, 2003)
Finally, Homicide had his chance at the ROH World Championship. The title was no longer just a regional title, but one that would be defended worldwide, and suddenly the stakes were higher in every single title match going forward. Homicde was unable to defeat Joe, and Joe’s reign continued.
However, this was not the last Joe would see of Homicide in his title reign, and the next encounter was one that was significantly more brutal. In the meantime, Homicide continued his feud with Steve Corino, that culminated in a No Ropes, Barbed Wire Match that ended with Homicide on top.
5. Samoa Joe vs. Dan Maff (June 28, 2003)
Samoa Joe continued to knock down every challenger to date, Dan Maff included. Maff was a member of the stable led by Christopher Daniels called The Prophecy. The Prophecy was against everything ROH stood for – Honor, sportsmanship, and quality wrestling. Maff worked his way up to a title shot after destroying much of his own competition in a similar way to Joe. Joe was in the ring with a man that was physically his equal, a situation that Joe hadn’t experienced yet in his ROH World title reign.
This match was a physical one with both big men hitting hard, and continuing to try and top one another. However, Joe’s toughness and sheer physical dominance continued, as Joe went from being a champion that defended the title in the midcard to being the man who closed the show.
Slowly, but surely, Joe’s reign was becoming one that the ROH World title was being defined with.
6. Samoa Joe vs. Paul London (July 19, 2003)
Paul London was one of ROH’s early homegrown stars. He was known to have outstanding matches with AJ Styles, Bryan Danielson, and the like throughout his early ROH career. He was well on his way to becoming a superstar, but there was one thing that eluded him. The ROH World Championship. The time finally came for London to challenge Joe, another one of ROH’s homegrown stars.
While it can be argued that London was ROH’s first homegrown star, Joe was quickly becoming the star by which the promotion was defined. It was inevitable that the two would clash and, goodness, did they ever. On the very first ROH Death Before Dishonor (one of ROH’s biggest shows of the year), Joe managed to defeat London in an excellent main event. However, there was a feud lower in the card that was seeing the rise of a new star in ROH, and one that would take Joe’s reign to the limit later, as CM Punk was in an absolute war with Raven, but Punk is still awhile down the road yet.
7. Samoa Joe vs. BJ Whitmer (August 9, 2003)
BJ Whitmer made his debut in Ring of Honor earlier in the year, and had a few excellent matches. One such match saw him take a German suplex off the apron through a table from CM Punk that caused the match to end in a draw because both men couldn’t continue. Whitmer’s feud with Punk continued off and on as Whitmer helped Raven against the then heel Punk. Whitmer earned a title match by winning two Four Corner Survival matches in a row and earning the Number 1 Contender’s trophy.
Whitmer, however, was not ready for Joe, but we have not seen the end of his run here in Ring of Honor.
8. Samoa Joe vs. Christopher Daniels (September 20, 2003)
While there were several matches prior to this on in Joe’s reign that could be considered big, there is no question that this was the biggest one to date. Christopher Daniels had been a main event player in Ring of Honor since the very first show, and he was on a mission to win the ROH World title from that day forward to prove the truth of his Prophecy.
Joe, who was originally brought in as the Prophecy’s hired assassin, had a long history with Daniels. This was the culmination of a long build, and it did not disappoint as Joe and Daniels went to war. Sadly for Daniels, his prophecy was left unfulfilled, for the time being, and Joe continued to establish himself as the top guy in ROH and the standard that everyone had to meet.
9. Samoa Joe vs. Ares (October 3, 2003)
Samoa Joe’s mission to take the ROH World title around the world, representing Ring of Honor on a global scale, continued here. Joe took the title to Germany, and defended it in a Title vs. Title match, where he defeated Ares and became the GWA Heavyweight Champion alongside being the ROH World Champion. Joe’s reign has gone international more than once now, further cementing himself as the one name that people began to associate with ROH.
10. Samoa Joe vs. Jay Briscoe (October 16, 2003)
Jay Briscoe was destined to be come one of the bigger stars in ROH, but that legend had a rough beginning, as Samoa Joe was able to defeat Briscoe. Briscoe was put in a position to shine, and looked like a future star for ROH, but Samoa Joe was still too much to handle, as Joe collected another victory over the Briscoe clan. Mark and Jay were both crushed by Joe in their matches, and Joe’s reign of destruction continued. This isn’t the last time we see Briscoe on this list, but the first one set in motion a story that would eventually pay off a few months later.
11. Samoa Joe vs. AJ Styles (November 29, 2003)
AJ Styles was already a major wrestling star in 2003, as a former NWA World Heavyweight Champion, and multi-time NWA:TNA X-Division Champion. He was the first ever triple crown champion in TNA history, and he also helped build ROH. Styles was a legitimate main eventer, and a match against Joe was considered an independent dream match, even back in 2003.
When Joe and Styles met, it did not disappoint, as they went to war. Ultimately, Joe earned the biggest win of his career, and a feud that still goes on until this day was born.
12. Samoa Joe vs. Mark Briscoe (December 27, 2003)
After the defeat of his older brother, Mark Briscoe wanted a shot at Joe and Joe was happy to oblige. Joe destroyed the Briscoe clan, and while the younger of the Briscoe brothers gave Joe a run for his money, the then 18-year-old Mark was unable to overcome Joe, and Joe’s reign continued.
But this night ended up being significant for BJ Whitmer as well. After the main event, CM Punk came out and confronted The Prophecy. While Punk was absolutely a heel, he was a heel with honor. He would keep the Code of Honor, shaking the hand of his opponent before and after the match. He was not a good man, but he was honorable.
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Sometime earlier in the year, someone from The Prophecy attacked Lucy, Punk’s manager, taking her out of Ring of Honor. Punk wanted to know who it was, and BJ Whitmer walked down to the ring, announcing that it was him – thus joining The Prophecy and turning heel in the process. Punk’s feud with The Prophecy began, turning Punk babyface in the process. This turn will have a major role in 2004.
Earlier, it was mentioned that ROH drew 5,300 fans in 2002, with an average attendance of 442. In 2003, ROH more than doubled (and almost tripled) that number with drawing 14,000 with an average attendance of 636. This can be partially attributed to ROH running more shows, but it cannot be denied that Joe’s reign, combined with strong booking of other feuds (CM Punk vs. Raven, Homicide vs. Steve Corino, and others) had led to ROH’s popularity increasing. Joe’s strong reign was a centerpiece of this increase in business.
13. Samoa Joe vs. Balls Mahoney (January 9th, 2004)
Joe continued to bring the ROH World title all over the place, defending the title against the ECW legend, Balls Mahoney in JAPW. In a very hostile environment, Joe stood tall against the Hardcore Chair Swinging Freak, showing himself to be more than capable of taking the title wherever he wanted, defeating Balls after 16 minutes of war. Joe, however, didn’t have a break, and his 2004 continued to intensify as he next faced off against 3 challengers.
14. Samoa Joe vs. BJ Whitmer vs. Dan Maff vs. Low Ki (February 14, 2004)
ROH turned two, with their second anniversary show, entering into their third year of existence. Meanwhile, Joe was one month away from holding the ROH title for an entire year. ROH didn’t make it easy for Joe, having a match with three of the toughest guys in ROH. Whitmer was young, but proven himself to be a killer, especially since he joined the prophecy. Dan Maff was a big man that brought it in any match, and Low Ki was looking to go to war again with Joe.
Joe met all challengers and went to war, managing to win again, proving that he was, without any question, the most dominant champion in ROH history.
15. Samoa Joe vs. Ahmed Chaer (March 5, 2004)
Joe took the title to international wrestling shows again, as he went to Germany yet again and defeated Ahmed Chaer at GSW Fatal Friday II. Samoa Joe proved himself again, further establishing the ROH title as a real World title that meant something. Joe’s frequency of defenses all around the world went a long way towards establishing ROH as a must see company, and making the title matter in a global scale.
Just one week later, Joe defended the title again, and it was no walk in the park, as the champ didn’t take it easy.
16. Samoa Joe vs. Jay Briscoe (Steel Cage Match) (March 13, 2004)
Jay Briscoe had another chance at Joe here. After both Jay and Mark lost their first matches against Joe, Jay Briscoe showed flashes of being a legit main event star and worked his way back to a title match with Joe. This time, Briscoe wanted no escape. Joe agreed. Samoa Joe and Jay went to war. Blood was spilled, and Joe was put to the test. It seemed like the young Briscoe would finally be able to defeat the monster, but Briscoe fell just short and Joe was able to walk out with his title. Jay Briscoe, however, made his mark, and it was clear that the time would be coming where he would be a champion in ROH, it was only a matter of when.
17. Samoa Joe vs. Homicide (April 23, 2004)
This will remain one of the most memorable matches in ROH history for how it ended. Joe and Homcide went to war. Homicde and Joe were both fan favourites, so the fans were delighted to see them after a bit of turmoil behind the scenes that saw the ownership of ROH change leaving the future of the company in question. Joe and Homicide hit hard, as Homicide gave everything he had to try and beat Joe, but Joe kept kicking out. Homicide then lived up to his name, and did something that started a blood feud in ROH. Homicide threw a fireball at Joe, burning his face, and leading to a DQ that saw Joe retain his title. Joe kept his title, but Homicide won the battle. At least for now.
18. Samoa Joe vs. Matt Stryker (April 24, 2004)
If you look at the date on this one, you’ll realize that this was one day after the previous defense. Joe came out with a bandage on his face, indicating the burns that Homicide inflicted the night before. Joe was weakened and damaged, but that didn’t stop him from fighting. This match went for 19:16 seconds, with Joe almost tasting defeat against a challenger that shouldn’t have been able to take him that far. However, Joe would not give up and ultimately overcame and defeated the young Stryker (not to be confused with Matt Striker, wrestler with WWE, and commentator that seems to drag down every broadcast he’s on).
19. Samoa Joe vs. Homicide: Relaxed Rules, There Must be a Winner (May 22, 2004)
Joe and Homicide met again in a wild no rules brawl that saw the rivals turned hated enemies go to battle one more time. Joe and Homicide not only delivered a huge match for both men that firmly established Homicide as a main event heel, but was a significant main event for ROH to establish that they were not going anywhere.
When the future of ROH was in question, ROH wanted everyone to know that Joe was there to stay. The franchise of the company was sticking around, and not losing his title anytime soon, even with the troubles at the management level. However, there was still one more match that firmly established ROH as being a company that was here to stay, and it was called the World Title Classic.
20. Samoa Joe vs. CM Punk (June 12, 2004)
CM Punk was a rising star in ROH. He had feuds with Christopher Daniels, Raven, and Ricky Steamboat. Punk was legitimately becoming one of the hottest acts on the independent scene with his killer promos and air of legitimacy in that it was so easy to believe the stories he told. His matches often featured great psychology and storytelling, even though Punk was not the best athlete. When it came time for Punk to face Joe, people felt like change was in the air.
Punk, while still a heel, was starting to get cheered. Joe, being a babyface, was facing someone that the fans wanted to beat him, regardless of him being a heel.
Joe and Punk proceeded to wrestle in an absolute classic of a match. They exchanged holds, strikes, and threw everything at each other. As the match went on, Punk kept wearing Joe down, slowly but surely, trying to outlast the champ. It wasn’t long before the match hit the 30 minute mark, then the 40, then the 50. In the last minute of the match, Punk, exhausted, managed to hit the Pepsi Plunge, a pedigree off the top rope. Joe crumpled to a heap on the mat, and managed to slowly roll into the ropes. Punk was too exhausted to make the cover, and the time ran out.
Punk had Joe beat, but he couldn’t finish the job, and Joe retained his title.
Afterward, Punk cut a promo, shaking Joe’s hand and declaring the ROH World title to be the most important title in wrestling. Joe’s reign, and Punks statement had firmly established the title as a one that matters in wrestling, and made the statement that ROH was here to stay, and they weren’t going anywhere.
This match was the Wrestling Observer Newsletter’s first North American 5 star match since Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker for the first ever Hell in a Cell, putting it at legendary status.
21. Samoa Joe vs. Togi Makabe (June 26, 2004)
Togi Makabe, before he was known as Togi Makabe, faced Samoa Joe at the NJPW Dojo show in California in 2004 as Shinya Makabe. The future IWGP Heavyweight Champion was not ready for Joe at this point though, as Joe was able to defeat him in 10 short minutes, a relief compared to the war he had just had with Punk.
22. Samoa Joe vs. Homicide (July 23, 2004)
The recent trilogy of Samoa Joe vs. Homicide concluded here, and it did not disappoint. Homicide knew this would be his last shot at the champ. Joe and Homicide went to battle yet again in a must see match, as Joe’s confidence was growing as champion and the crowd would chant “The Champ is Here” for Joe (which is where Cena got it from), and “Joe is Going to Kill You” as everyone grew used to seeing Joe as their champion. It has been well over a year since he won the title, and he has defended it over 20 times. Samoa Joe was here to stay, and he finally defeated Homicide for the last time, putting an end to their violent and bloody feud.
22. Samoa Joe vs. Colt Cabana (July 24, 2004)
Joe’s tendency to never take a day off continued as he took on CM Punk’s best friend, and fellow member of the Second City Saints, Colt Cabana the next night. Cabana was looking to show he could hang with Joe, just like Punk could.
Unfortunately for Cabana, he was unable to unseat the world champion, and Joe’s reign of destruction continued as every challenger fell. All except one, which was clearly lurking in the back of Joe’s brain. He beat everyone, but not CM Punk.
23. Samoa Joe vs. Trent Acid (August 7, 2004)
At ROH Testing the Limit, Joe took on a new challenger in Trent Acid. Sadly for Acid, as he was a tag team specialist, he was far out of his scope. While providing a valiant effort, Joe was able to defeat him rather quickly.
24. Samoa Joe vs. Doug Williams (September 11, 2004)
Doug Williams is one of the best wrestlers that so few haven’t heard of. A British wrestling legend, Williams is a legit as it gets, having racked up wins all over the world, even until recent times wrestling for PROGRESS. In the past, he wrestled for TNA, and was a multi-time champion there too. This was before all that, but Williams’ resume wasn’t small. Williams went right at Joe and spent a great amount of taking it directly to Joe.
Williams was a different type of challenge for Joe, as he was able to use his superior technique to fight Joe. However, Joe is no slouch, and showed himself more than capable of working and adapting to any style. Joe was able to vanquish Williams, but it showed that Joe did have some weaknesses in his game.
25. Samoa Joe vs. Bryan Danielson (October 2, 2004)
Joe’s string of tough challengers continued as he came to face WWE’s Daniel Bryan. If Doug Williams had great wrestling technique, Danielson was even more superior.
Danielson, even in 2004, was one of the best wrestlers in the world. He was making a reputation for himself as one of the best workers in the world, and if there was a every a person to be able to take the title from Joe, it would be him.
However, even after a grueling 40 minute war with The American Dragon, Joe was still able to defeat him and send him to the back of the line. Joe defended his title successfully, still dominant.
26. Samoa Joe vs. Rocky Romero (October 15, 2004)
Rocky Romero is one of NJPW’s and ROH’s elder statesmen, still working for both companies until today. Romero is an outstanding wrestler, commentator, and musician, but he was also dwarfed in size compared to Joe. Romero put up a valiant effort, as any former ROH World Tag Team Champion would, but Joe manged to unseat and destroy his challenger.
27. Samoa Joe vs. CM Punk 2 (October 16, 2004)
The rematch ROH fans were waiting for. Not only was this the biggest match in ROH to date, but Joe was fighting Punk on Punk’s home turf – Chicago. The Chicago faithful turned out to cheer their hero, and Joe was deep in hostile territory.
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Samoa Joe was tired. He has defended the championship 26 times in a year and a half, going all over the world. Punk had a winning strategy. Punk’s strategy was to keep wearing down Joe going for the long run in this one as well. He came so close last time, that he was sure he could again.
Punk worked over Joe, wearing him down so much that he came close to winning more than once. However, just like last time, there was no definitive winner, and Joe and Punk went to a 60 minute draw yet again, and Joe was able to retain his title. However, he was still unable to beat CM Punk.
Punk became a legitimate main event star and huge draw in ROH at this time, as he was able to go toe to toe with Joe, even though he was unable to win.
Punk may not have been able to beat Joe, but he proved himself as capable, putting him at the top of everyone’s list as one of the stars to watch in the future.
28. Samoa Joe vs. Chris Hero (November 13, 2004)
Joe and Hero were at the top of their game in 2004, with Hero, (WWE’s Kassius Ohno) being one of the better young workers on the scene. Ohno worked a style that was technical, but in a very different way than Bryan Danielson and Doug Williams. Joe was also outside of his home base, wrestling in IWA:MS against Hero. Hero and Joe went to war over 40 minutes and Joe was still able to come out the winner, but Hero definitely brought his all. For all the hits Joe has taken, for how tired he was, he was still going strong.
29. Samoa Joe vs. CM Punk (December 4, 2004)
Punk wanted one more match. One more chance to prove that he could beat Samoa Joe. Joe wanted to erase the two footnotes on his reign, saying that he couldn’t beat CM Punk.
The match was made for December 4, 2004 with no time limits. This time, there would be a finish. Joe and Punk did not disappoint, but something was very different in this one. Early on, Punk was bleeding.
Suddenly, his stamina was running out faster than he could wear Joe down. Punk had no quit in him, and was desperate to defeat Joe, but with the wound bleeding profusely, Punk could not keep up the pace he did in the previous matches. Punk ultimately fell to Joe, and was defeated, 1-2-3, right in the middle of the ring.
The definitive end to their feud, and Joe had no more blemishes on his record. Joe and Punk walked out of this feud even bigger stars.
30. Samoa Joe vs. Austin Aries (December 26, 2004)
Joe’s reign has continued for 645 days, and it looked like there would never be an end. Austin Aries was a new, rising star, with ROH. At Generation Next, Alex Shelley, Austin Aries, Roderick Strong, and Jack Evans formed the stable Generation Next. For most of 2004, they spent their time dominating the undercard of Ring of Honor.
Aries was a major rising star, and while Shelley was the leader of the group, Aries was the first one to earn a shot at ROH’s World title.
Aries debuted a new, main event style entrance in this match, after kicking Alex Shelley out of the stable. Aries made his way to the ring with supreme confidence, which everyone thought would be the sign of his defeat. Instead, Joe and Aries had an even match, with Aries keeping with Joe every single bit of the way. As the match was coming to a close, Aries hit Joe with a massive soccer punt right to Joe’s face, followed up with a brainbuster, and then a 450 splash for the pinfall.
Samoa Joe was defeated, but he lost after going to war, and Austin Aries managed to unseat the most dominant champion in the history of Ring of Honor.
Samoa Joe, despite losing the title, debuted with TNA Wrestling in 2005 (where he had another 5 Star match with AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels). Joe remained a main event player in ROH, despite never regaining the title, but it was far from the last time he main evented a show. Joe worked in ROH frequently until 2007, and had a one-off match in 2008, all while also working with TNA.
Joe’s run in 2004 saw ROH’s attendance increasing to 16,475 across all their shows, with 610 being their average attendance. While the average attendance was down, the total amount of people at the shows increased. ROH’s push of top stars aside from Joe saw the total attendance for ROH increase to 24,775 in 2005, with an average attendance of 707.
ROH continued to build on the success started with Joe’s reign by having Joe in special matches, one with Kenta Kobashi, that was also 5 stars. It was an absolute war where both men beat each other hard with chops and suplexes, that ultimately saw Kobashi come out with the win.
Joe was one of the leading stars in the war with another Philadelphia based promotion, CZW.
The match that finished the feud saw Joe eliminated by Bryan Danielson as he turned on ROH and smashed him with a chair, weakening his knee. Danielson and Joe proceeded to feud, and even had a 60 minute draw, where Joe came close to reclaiming his title. Joe ended up losing in a cage match, with Danielson being the top guy, but Joe’s continued presence in the main event scene, along with the rise of Bryan Danielson saw ROH’s total attendance grow to 30,950, with an average attendance of 755.
Those numbers increased again in 2007, after Joe left the company in a healthy state with a lot of main eventers to replace him with 33,800 total attendance, and 845 average attendance.
Joe’s legacy in ROH cannot be understated, and when he made a brief return home in 2015, he was naturally treated as a hero and megastar, despite years of being misused in TNA.
Joe has since gone on to win the NXT Championship multiple times, challenge for the WWE Championship, and has recently won the WWE United States Championship. Joe has found success in every single promotion he has ever worked for, and has proven to be a major factor in their growth. Joe’s influence in ROH is still felt until this day.
Jay Lethal may have surpassed Joe in total combined days as ROH World Champion, but Samoa Joe is still the longest reigning champion in the history of the company. Joe’s impact saw Ring of Honor move from being a big independent company to being one of the top companies in the world. Joe laid the groundwork that made it possible for Ring of Honor to sell out Madison Square Garden, and as a fan that has seen Joe live at an NXT TakeOver, it’s easy to see how he did it.
Through being a major, legitimate star, who was believable in everything he did, Joe managed to not only get over himself, but to get ROH over.
While Joe won’t be at the G1 Supercard, you can bet that we will see his ROH legacy play out in front of us.
All the statistics about attendance in this article were provided by Lavie Margolin, author of TrumpMania, a book examining the relationship between Vince McMahon and the McMahon family with Donald Trump and how it influenced him. Give Lavie a follow on Twitter for some great analysis of wrestling numbers. The match order and details about Joe’s reign were gathered from CageMatch.