AEW's Samoa Joe Doesn't Understand Why People Are Intimidated By Him

Few men strike fear in to their opponents quite like Samoa Joe. The former AEW World Champion has made a career out of being one of the hardest hitting performers in the world, and is never afraid to get down and dirty with people who think they are tough enough to cross his path. With that said, it's been widely known within the wrestling business that the "Samoan Submission Machine" is actually one of the more laid back performers working today, so where did he get the reputation for being an intimidating figure come from? During a recent appearance on the "Insight" podcast, Joe admitted that it was AJ Styles who first told him how scared people were of him.

"I never understood, because I try to be pretty chill and cool. I remember AJ, the great thing about him is that everywhere I've been, you're going to see AJ, you're going to see Chris Daniels. You're going to see the same people over and over again, because they're getting booked there too. We used to go to places and AJ would be like, 'freaking guys intimidated or something.' I'll be like, 'Why?' He's like, 'I don't know he thinks you're a killer, you're going to kill him or something. I told him you're fine.' And I'm like, 'alright, cool.' Then we get in the ring, going to be fine."

Despite Styles letting the rest of the locker room that Joe is a very chilled guy who will take care of them in the ring, it didn't help matters when the crowd started chanting "Joe Is Gonna Kill You," making what was an already intimidating situation even more daunting for some opponents. However, Joe is very proud of his reputation as a safe worker, and has never intentionally hurt anyone.

Due to the stiffness of his matches, particularly during his time in Ring of Honor, Joe was booked by a number of independent promotions in the early 2000s almost as a special attraction, making his opponents feel like wrestling him was something that they needed to earn. "Guys would book me as a rite of passage. They're like, 'They've come up to you man, I saw you with [Kenta] Kobashi, and tonight that's what I'm feeling is going to be tonight.' I would roll my eyes." 

After these matches, Joe's opponents would usually come back wondering why they were worried about getting hurt in the first place, but AJ Styles, who told all these people they had nothing to worry about, would be going crazy watching Joe throw his opponents around. "You'd hear him in the back locker room just laughing. Don't let him tell you different. He was horrible. I'd be like, 'I give the guy my best,' but it would be funny, because I get in there with independent wrestlers, and they'd be swinging for the fences on me, and then I get upset, and then I ended up swinging the fence back. Then AJ is no help, because he's like, 'You see him killing him out there? Yeah, that's why you don't–' I'm like, 'shut up AJ.' So yeah, it became a weird thing for a while, but you know, what can you do? It's the wrestling business."

Regardless of whether he thinks he is intimidating or not, Joe's demeanor and presence has not only took him extremely far in professional wrestling, but also in the entertainment industry, voicing various characters for a number of video games, as well as helping him land the role of "Sweet Tooth" in the "Twisted Metal" TV series.

Please credit "Insight" when using quotes from this article, and give a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.