Jeff Jarrett Reveals How He First Heard About Samoa Joe in 2003 From a WWE Hall of Famer

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On the latest "My World" podcast on AdFreeShows.com, WWE Hall of Famer Jeff Jarrett gave his thoughts on Samoa Joe becoming AEW World Champion. Joe won the title from MJF at AEW Worlds End and he had a successful title defense against HOOK last night on Dynamite.

"I think back to the lunch that I had with Mick Foley in Long Island around '03, and that's when we talked about all kinds of young talent," Jarrett said about Joe. "I don't know exactly where he was at in his career, but he had watched some episodes of the show and he obviously referenced AJ Styles. He brought up Samoa Joe. That's the first time that I'd heard, I can't say that he pitched him to me, but I can say that he was very complimentary of him. It was '03 or '04 when we got the opportunity, and Joe, I guess his ROH deal basically expired and he wanted to come on board, and then we brought Joe in.”

“It goes without saying what I think about Joe. He went well over a year without being beaten, that undefeated streak, and you know, lots of pitches and lots and lots of ideas and angles, whether it's from Dutch or Vince or other talent”

“Of course, everybody wanted to be the first guy to beat Joe, but it just never felt right. I'm like, 'Hey, we don't have an opportunity with a guy like a Joe.' My default answer was, 'Joe can win and still help get guys over.' That's an art. That was taught to me in many different ways from my dad and Jerry Lawler, but it is so true, and if you can't really do that, I don't think you can really get to the next level. It's easy to win and get yourself over. It's even more difficult to win and get your opponent over, but Joe could do it.”

“We rolled along and had no real end in sight on who was going to beat him, and then that quick conversation to Orlando from Dave Hawk, who is Kurt's manager, and said, 'Hey man. I think you've got a shot if you want to have Kurt come on board ' and how all that came together, and then the Kurt and Joe trilogy.”

“I am tickled to death for Joe to get this opportunity, but he knows it better than, or as well as I do, now the hard work starts. He is under the microscope in every imaginable way, especially when you look at 2024 and the hyper-criticism and complementary. It's a pot of boiling water no matter what, but Joe's up for it. He's got his work cut out, but congrats to Joe, no doubt."

If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit AdFreeShows.com with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription. Quotes were transcribed by Jim for WrestlingNews.co.