Samoa Joe's 5 Best TNA Rivals (& 5 Worst)

Before his seven-year run with WWE and NXT, Samoa Joe spent a decade as part of the Impact Wrestling roster, where he racked up an impressive 18-month undefeated streak, not to mention a 182-day reign with the World Title and four X Division Title wins. Of course, like any wrestler, The Samoan Submission Machine had a number of rivals during his time in the company.

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Not all those feuds were great, however, as not every opponent can be a career-defining rival. Let’s take a look at some of Samoa Joe’s greatest rivals in the Impact Zone as well as the weakest ones.

10 Worst: Aces & Eights

From 2012 to 2013, the Impact Zone was invaded by Aces & Eights, a villainous biker gang that managed to transcend a fairly weak membership to be a pretty decent group — and one that actually came to a clear storyline end. The angle saw the reformation of the Main Event Mafia as a babyface group, with Samoa Joe in its ranks. However, Joe often felt like a non-factor even when openly opposing the gang, and even the MEM didn’t have much of a factor in Aces & Eights’ demise.

9 Best: Kurt Angle

Samoa Joe made his Impact debut in 2015, and proved an immediate dominant force, kicking off his aforementioned winning streak. All of that would come to an end with Kurt Angle’s pay-per-view debut at Genesis, where he’d defeat Joe in an epic main event. That wasn’t the end of their rivalry, however, as they’d clash several more times, with Samoa Joe putting his career on the line to beat Angle for the title. Not only was the intense competition there, but both men worked well together thanks to their technical abilities.

8 Worst: Magnus

From 2011 to 2012, Samoa Joe had a tag team going with Magnus — now known as Nick Aldis — and together they enjoyed title reigns with not only the Impact Tag Team Title, but also the GHC Tag Team Championship in Pro Wrestling NOAH. Once they lost their titles, they’d become rivals, however, battling over the Television Title and later the World Title.

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While Nick Aldis would hit his stride as the forever champion in the National Wrestling Alliance, as Magnus he was still struggling to develop his character and find his niche. As a result, the Joe/Magnus rivalry generally underwhelmed.

7 Best: Christian Cage

After ditching WWE for Impact in 2005, Christian Cage not only gained a last name, but also proved that he could be a credible main eventer, capturing the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. He’s a bit underrated as far as Samoa Joe rivals go, despite the two putting on some great matches during Christian’s time in the Impact Zone. Their best match would be a ladder match on television, but they’d have a few big pay-per-view matches throughout 2007, including an awesome bout for the World Title at Destination X.

6 Worst: Crimson

The year 2011 saw Samoa Joe suffer the dreaded losing streak angle, which on paper always sounds fine but never seems to work all that well in practice. Along with losing every Bound For Glory Series match and defeats at the hands of Matt Morgan, Devon, and more, Samoa Joe also had a rivalry with supposed “next big thing” Crimson, who was on a winning streak at the time. The idea of a winning streak vs. losing streak match sounds compelling too, but Crimson was one of Impact’s many failed experiments, and their rivalry failed to impress.

5 Best: Christopher Daniels

While Samoa Joe was able to hit the pinnacle of Impact for a period, he was most often relegated to the X Division, which was devoted to a more junior heavyweight “indie” style, and was commonly the home of rival Christopher Daniels. The two performers go way back — even before Samoa Joe was brought into Ring of Honor as Daniels’ enforcer — and Joe and Daniels two put on some incredible matches in Impact, including several for the X Division Title.

4 Worst: Booker T

After arriving in the Impact Zone in 2007, Booker T would become a founding member of the Main Event Mafia the following year. While he proved to be pretty entertaining and created a title for himself in the Legends Championship, his rivalry with Samoa Joe left a lot to be desired.

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The two wrestled some big matches, including a couple pay-per-view matches for Joe’s World Title, but the aging star Booker T wasn’t having particularly great matches during this period.

3 Best: Sting

After beating Kurt Angle for the World Title, Samoa Joe’s six-month run with the belt would end at the hands of the iconic Sting at Bound for Glory 4 in 2008. The two made a great pairing, and the match had a great moment where Joe pulled off an insane diving dropkick onto the steps in the arena. Moreover, Sting’s capturing of the belt at Bound for Glory — thanks to interference from Kevin Nash — would help kick off one of Impact’s biggest storylines with the formation and subsequent dominance of the original heel version of the Main Event Mafia.

2 Worst: Jeff Jarrett

Hilariously, one of Samoa Joe’s worst rivals would be one of the stars best associated with the company, namely company co-founder Jeff Jarrett. Fans watching Jarrett angles can usually expect the usual pro wrestling shenanigans, and his feud with Samoa Joe was no different. Aside from a “Fan’s Revenge Lumberjack” match at No Surrender 2006, Jarret has defeated Samoa Joe in all their matches, albeit often thanks to interference. The most egregious, of course, was their last singles encounter where Joe lost a submission match to Jarrett at Final Resolution 2010.

1 Best: AJ Styles

Appropriately, one of Samoa Joe’s best rivals would be one of the stars best associated with Impact Wrestling, namely homegrown ace AJ Styles.Together, the two would work magic in countless bouts, including their all-time great Unbreakable 2005 three-way with Christopher Daniels. When it comes to singles bouts, their best effort was their X Division Title match at Turning Point 2005, which earned Joe his first title win in the company. Styles and Joe would share an even bigger stage during their 2018 WWE rivalry, but their best matches arguably happened in the Impact Zone.