Back in the Trunk: Is Samoa Joe's Career Over?

Samoa Joe's recent backstage outburst expressing frustration over the finish of his match with Jeff Hardy has caused his imminent suspension. 

The suspension has sparked yet another debate in the always contentious world of the pro wrestling dirtsheets. 

While juicy dirtsheet fodder indeed, Samoa Joe's suspension is the newest in a handful of real-life obstacles that have kept Samoa Joe stuck in neutral (or worse) since his initial white-hot push was cooled off. 

This latest obstacle has created an entirely different discussion.  A discussion that is more important than any ounce of gossip that will ensue from such an unfortunate series of events for this once-promising star. 

Many questions have stemmed from the fallout of the disciplinary actions that have been taken against Joe, however the question we all must now begin asking ourselves is rather simple, yet so complex.

Is this it for Samoa Joe?

Samoa Joe couldn't have asked for more of a promising start to begin his TNA career.  Fresh off of an equally promising run in ROH, where Joe showcased his uncanny athleticism that made for epic matches with the likes of purist sensations CM Punk and Kenta Kobashi, Samoa Joe didn't miss a beat.

In fact, he may have added a couple of beats.

Samoa Joe came into TNA like a house afire.  Dating back to his days in ROH, he was unlike anything I had ever seen, despite Samoan heritage being so prominent in professional wrestling history with names such as Jimmy Snuka, Rikishi, and the Headshrinkers. 

Too big to be that fast, too husky to be that smooth, too chubby to have that type of cardio, or so one would otherwise think, Samoa Joe's one-in-a-million style was great in ROH...but upon debuting in TNA he was even better. 

Benefiting from, as well as making the most of, the booker's Ace of Spades (the undefeated streak), Samoa Joe remained undefeated for more than a full year. 

Samoa Joe's undefeated streak, a concept which usually serves as a fly-or-die method of booking that only succeeds depending on the star power or wrestling acumen of the wrestler in question, was the most significant win streak in pro wrestling since Bill Goldberg's monumental run in the defunct WCW. 

Despite dominating the X-Division, reigning as champion twice during his undefeated streak (he lost the title in an Ultimate X match thus keeping his streak in tact), it was all but a foregone conclusion that Samoa Joe was being groomed to become the TNA World Champion. 

Destined to carry the company's most prestigious prize, it was not a matter of if, but when, Samoa Joe would emerge as the new King of what had become the new and improved "wrestling" company.

Unfortunately, the booking mentality surrounding Joe's eventual rise to the top of the roster, also served as somewhat of an undoing. 

Waiting a bit too long to pull the trigger, however not so long to where the fans no longer cared, Samoa Joe finally became the TNA World Champion at TNA's Lockdown in 2008 in a memorable shoot style match with Kurt Angle. 

Any whispers as to whether TNA would miss the boat with Samoa Joe seemed to go away, upon such a meaningful victory over the legendary Kurt Angle, that should have signaled a changing of the guard in Total Nonstop Action. 

When it didn't, those whispers not only came back but they turned into loud mumbles.

Samoa Joe enjoyed a rather successful initial reign of almost 200 days as World Champion. 

But Joe's woes began upon a very backwards booking decision when the veteran Sting was booked to defeat Samoa Joe at Bound for Glory (TNA's biggest pay-per-view), as opposed to solidifying a new era with the young champion retaining at "the" show.

While it was safe to assume at the time that Joe could be penciled in for multiple future world title reigns after dropping the belt at Bound for Glory, no such subsequent title reign followed.

Samoa Joe, instead, suffered a slow downward spiral that would see him change his look to the point of a degenerative gimmick where Joe carried a machete around and painted a tattoo on his face.  

On the strength (used loosely) of an ill-advised "Nation of Violence" gimmick, Samoa Joe was no longer able to be taken seriously as a main event contender for the TNA Championship and was booked accordingly. 

Once featured as the Goliath of TNA, Samoa Joe's head scratching reinvention of himself resulted in a deterioration of the Samoa Joe character from Goliath to David.  Bowie.

Under the Bischoff/Hogan regime that was constructed to save TNA, who, like the microcosmic Joe, had been stuck in neutral due to a history of bad booking decisions, Samoa Joe was inexplicably kidnapped and stuffed into the back of a van on TV. Joe would not be seen for over one month.  

Inexplicably because this bizarre angle was never really explained.  

Instead, TNA started from scratch with Samoa Joe by having him take prisoners left and right the same way he did when he made his initial big splash.  

However after being sabotaged by lousy creative, it would take time for Joe to return to his 2005 form provided that could ever happen.  

This is time that Joe now seems to be borrowing with the news of his recent suspension, handed down following a match against Jeff Hardy where the finish was spoiled by ring announcer Jeremy Borash much to the dismay of Samoa Joe.  

Samoa Joe's now infamous tirade against the TNA production team is hardly a result of one ill-advised finish. 

If you don't think that Joe's frustrations have been brewing, as he's helplessly watched his very own career slowly pass him by after such promise, you're not reading between the lines.     

Once again in "stop" mode, and now in TNA's doghouse, one has to wonder how many chances Joe will now have to resurrect the magic he once had.  In pro wrestling, it is difficult enough to capture lightning in a bottle. 

It is even more difficult to maintain such electricity, something Joe will (perhaps helplessly) attempt to do should he return to TNA on relatively good terms with whatever powerbroker he pissed off. 

Should Joe remain salty, thus resulting in a possible firing due to what TNA is describing as poor etiquette, it is more than safe to assume that Samoa Joe's career as a national wrestling star would, in essence, be over.

I don't even want to begin to discuss the possibilities of how Joe would fare in you-know-where, because we already know ("King, it's the Samoan Scholar!  He's going to use those books to knock out his opponent, but not before jobbing to local indy worker Alex Von Heartschtopper!)

If Joe and TNA part ways with the way thing currently are, a situation that is not too improbable given Joes rumored displeasure with the product, I truly think it's all over for the Samoan Submission machine. 

Once thought of as a surefire future champion, Samoa Joe is treading dangerous waters as he now seems to be a casualty of what could have been, flirting feebly with "rise and fall" territory. 

Let's hope, for the sake of avoiding yet another sad case of wasted talent (Shelton Benjamin wasted talent, not Scott Hall wasted talent), that we have not seen the last of Samoa Joe in TNA or mainstream wrestling period.

Big Nasty is the editor of The Big Nasty Athletic Dept. Log on to twitter at twitter.com/bignasty247 and follow him until he presses charges!