We’re going modern for this week’s “Moves of Doom Monday” with Samoa Joe! When I first got a tape of Zero-One in the early 2000s and saw Joe I thought “Meh, he’s not bad but he’s not interesting either.”
I was more into the east coast and southern indie guys and the SoCal regulars weren’t doing it for me outside of Christopher Daniels, Blitzkrieg, Super Dragon, Cheerleader Melissa, Amazing Kong, and a young, masked Scorpio Sky.
Then Joe invaded the east coast and that’s when things got interesting. When I watched more of his accessible matches it was like fusing Shinya Hashimoto, Genichiro Tenryu, and Taz into one California-born and-raised Samoan and I was here for it!
Let’s look at five of his signatures and finishers and see where the needle lands on the DOOM Scale.
The Choke
Known as the Coquina Clutch in TNA, this rear naked choke is Samoa Joe’s most effective and efficient hold. It’s a very no-frills submission. An opponent would’ve gone a whole match getting battered by Joe only to fall prey to the big guy choking them out. While some were able to struggle out of it, most who got the Choke slapped on them ended up on the back of milk cartons.
DOOM Scale: 5 out of 5
Olé Kick
For me, “Moves of Doom Mondays” aren’t complete with a wrestler who has some sort of kick to the head or face. Samoa Joe’s Olé Kick was another no-frills move where the opponent is seated next to the guard rail and Joe gets a running start only to boot them in the damn head. Sensational!
There’s no spins, flips, handsprings–there’s no razzle-dazzle here, folks. Again, this isn’t the flashiest move but it works. Technically, it could be a finisher. That’s how effective the move is.
DOOM Scale: 4.5 out of 5
STJoe
Naoya Ogawa was a mediocre wrestler with great facial expressions and charisma. His finisher was the Space Tornado Ogawa—better known as the STO. The STJoe is the one-handed counter where he absolutely dunks an opponent who tries to get a corner attack in. The success rate of the move is ridiculously high Samoa Joe makes any corner he’s in a no-fly zone.
It’s not going to finish a match but it’ll rattle someone’s spine and soften them up for Joe’s variety of head-neck-spine moves.
DOOM Scale: 3.75 out of 5
Island Driver
Of Joe’s moves, the Island Driver was my favorite. During the first wave of American Strong Style in the 2000s, wrestlers were snatching up Lariats, Burning Hammers, Yakuza Kicks, and anything else seen in puroresu tapes.
Samoa Joe was guilty of this as well but he had more of a rhyme and reason to his arsenal. So late Japanese legend Mitsuharu Misawa’s Emerald Flowsion was at home with Joe as his Island Driver.
During his indy run and in TNA, this was the boogeyman move. It was as close to a Murder Death Kill move as you’d see on the American indies and sometimes it didn’t end the match as an MDK move should.
Despite that, this move had destructive power to the point the match could swing all the way in Joe’s favor after it was popped.
DOOM Scale: 5 out of 5
Muscle Buster
This move was at one time Joe’s primary finisher before becoming the backup finisher that put someone away in convincing fashion. The Muscle Buster originates from one of wrestling/superhero/gag manga called Kinnikuman or Muscleman and was the finishing hold of the titular character.
Very rarely do we see a move from fiction or video games translate fluidly to wrestling but Samoa Joe and Muhammad Yone did it. This move got over really early mainly because of the impact and overall devastating nature of it.
Timing was everything for the popularity of the Muscle Buster. It came at the right time during the impactful crush finishers of indie wrestling’s American Strong Style era. The added effect of larger guys such as Joe and Da Hit Squad drilling opponents into the mat made for some good demolition theatre.
While it typically requires some extra setup, the Muscle Buster targets the neck and spine and that’s enough to be an extremely devastating move of doom in my book.
DOOM Scale: 4.75 out of 5
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