TNA News, Samoa Joe, TNAtion, UK Tour and More

Not only does Samoa Joe have broken fingers, now it appears he also has a torn tricep.

TNA has renamed their "TNA University" program to "TNAtion".
The new slogan is "Why get lost in a Universe...when you can join a Nation."
Lost in a Universe?
Yes, thats a shot at the "WWE Universe".
Of course WWE will probably respond with "The Universe is bigger than a Nation".

And of course the rumors are floating around that Mr.Kennedy will hit TNA as soon as his 90 day no compete clause is over.
I wonder if WWE has "Mr.Kennedy" trademarked?
I hope not, because I really mark out for " MR. KENNNNNEDY!" or even the "KENNEDY!" shouts.

TNA will be in the UK for their 2010 Maximum iMPACT! Tour, starting in January 2010.
Here's the promo video package:



Total Nonstop Action (TNA) Wrestling has launched TNAsearch.com, a fan-oriented search engine which rewards users with official TNA Wrestling merchandise and memorabilia.
You can get more info on it here:
http://www.tnawrestling.com/content/view/1487/84/

TNA Wrestling: Kevin Nash, part 4

Kevin Nash then engaged in a small program with TNA Heavyweight Wrestling Champion Kurt Angle, which eventually resulted in Nash aiding Angle. Kevin warned the Angles about how dangerous Sting can be based on Nash's experience feuding with Sting in WCW and claimed that "the man's a demon".

At Bound for Glory, Nash interfered on Kurt Angle's behalf during his World Title defense against Sting. However, it was pointless, as Sting captured the title from Angle via Scorpion Death Drop after fending off Nash and Angle's wife, Karen. The following Thursday on Impact!, Nash and Angle had an altercation because Angle blamed Nash for him losing the World Wrestling Title. Angle would eventually attack Nash but Nash would have the last laugh, jackknife powerbombing Angle in the middle of the ring.

The following week, Sting would defend the TNA World Wrestling Title against Angle in a rematch from Bound For Glory, and Nash would have a ringside seat. Near the conclusion, Angle pushed Sting into Nash, and Sting punched Nash after landing in his lap. Nash would eventually recover, and jump onto the apron, only to be met by Sting. The referee attempted to break up the fight, but Angle caused the ref to be knocked out, and at the same time, was able to hit the Olympic Slam to gain the victory, and the World Title. Following the match, Nash offered a hand shake to Angle only to be "flipped off" by the new champ. An enraged Nash demanded a match with Angle, but TNA Management's public face, Jim Cornette, instead booked Nash into a tag team match as Angle's partner against Sting and a partner of his choosing, with the stipulation being that the person that gains the pinfall or submission would be crowned the new TNA World Heavyweight Champion. After a red herring that Scott Hall was the mystery partner, it was revealed to be Booker T.

At Final Resolution Nash and his partner Samoa Joe lost in a title match to TNA World Tag Team Champions Tomko and A.J. Styles after Nash abandoned and seemingly betrayed Joe. But the following Impact, when Joe stormed into Nash's locker room looking for a fight, Nash was actually able to persuade Joe into accepting his mentorship.
Kevin Nash lost to Kurt Angle in a one on one match on TNA Impact! on the 28th February. Nash currently sides with Joe and accompanies him to the ring as a manager and occasionally as a tag team partner, offering his experience and opinions to the Heavyweight Champion.

TNA: Samoa Joe. part 3

Joe was then scheduled to face the next number 1 contender for the X Division Championship, A.J. Styles, at Against All Odds 2006. Daniels, however, complained that he hadn't wanted the towel thrown in, and still wanted his unfairly aborted title shot. The match thereafter was made into a rematch of the Unbreakable three-way match, with Joe, Styles and Daniels. In the match, Joe pinned Styles after delivering a Muscle Buster, and retained the title. Joe continued his feud with Daniels and Styles until Destination X 2006, when he lost the title to Daniels in an Ultimate X match.

Joe was then taken out of the X Division, and matched with an initially unannounced opponent. On the March 25 edition of Impact!, it was announced that he would take on Sabu at Lockdown 2006. Despite that, he still had a scheduled X-Division title match, and, on April 13, 2006's iMPACT! (TNA's Thursday debut), Samoa Joe regained the X-Division title after delivering an Island Driver from the middle turnbuckle to Christopher Daniels. Joe then successfully defended his X Division title against Sabu at Lockdown.

At TNA Sacrifice 2006, Joe partnered with Sting in a tag team match against Jeff Jarrett and Scott Steiner. Joe and Sting were victorious, but after the match, Joe left the ring and allowed Sting to be attacked. Joe explained this by stating that he agreed to only watch Sting's back "from bell to bell" (implying that once the second bell rang, his duties were over), but still had issues with Steiner. Joe added Scott Steiner to his undefeated streak, at Slammiversary 2006.

During the iMPACT! tapings on May 15, 2006, Joe was injured as he performed a kick, and it was reported that he tore every knee ligament except the Anterior Cruciate Ligament. He suffered a first degree tear to the Posterior Cruciate Ligament and a second degree tear to the Medial Collateral Ligament. Joe would remain out of action for two weeks.

On the June 22, 2006 episode of TNA iMPACT! Samoa Joe lost his X Division Championship in a triple threat match with Sonjay Dutt and Senshi. Senshi pinned Dutt to win the championship after Scott Steiner laid out Joe with a steel chair. Joe would have his chance at revenge when he participated in a Four-Way #1 Contender Match for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship along with Sting, Christian Cage, and Scott Steiner at Victory Road 2006 on July 16, 2006. Joe lost this match when Sting pinned Steiner

On the following edition on iMPACT!, Joe answered an open challenge made by Rhino. A match between the two was set but was interrupted by Monty Brown, who was very vocal about the issues he had with both men. Joe defeated Brown and Rhino in a Falls Count Anywhere Match at Hard Justice when he pinned Monty Brown following an STO through a table from the stage ramp.

Joe beat Jeff Jarrett at No Surrender 2006 in a "Fan's Revenge Lumberjack Match". After the match, he took Jarrett's NWA World Heavyweight Championship belt with him, telling Jim Cornette that if Jarrett or Sting (Jarrett's scheduled opponent at Bound For Glory) want the belt, they can take it from him. On the October 12 episode, Joe agreed to return the belt to the Jarrett-Sting winner under one condition – the winner had to agree to give him a title shot. This offer was turned down, and finally Joe was given the choice of giving back the title or being removed from the TNA roster. Kurt Angle would make his debut and get into a brawl with Joe after Joe refused to give back the belt, and during the brawl, Jarrett took the belt back.

At Bound for Glory 2006 on October 22, 2006, Samoa Joe defeated Raven, Brother Runt and Abyss in a Monster's Ball match. The match ended when special referee Jake Roberts DDTed Raven, allowing Joe to deliver the Muscle Buster to Raven for the pinfall. Later in the night, Joe was involved in a pull-apart brawl with Kurt Angle after Jim Cornette announced that Joe would be removed from the TNA roster if he interfered in the main event match that involved Angle as special enforcer.

He would get his chance at Genesis 2006, where he would lose to Kurt Angle after tapping out to Angle's Ankle Lock. This would end his 18 month undefeated streak. Throughout the rest of 2006 into 2007, Joe continued to feud with Angle picking up a victory by submission in their rematch at TNA Turning Point 2006 before suffering a legit knee injury in a tag team match that pitted Rhino and Kurt Angle against Samoa Joe and AJ Styles.

On January 14, 2007 at Final Resolution, Joe faced Angle in a thirty minute Iron Man match. With seconds remaining, Joe had Angle in the Ankle Lock. Although Angle tapped out, he did so just after time had expired. As a result, Angle won the match three falls to two.

On the February 14 edition of iMPACT!, Joe won a gauntlet match, last eliminating Tomko via pinfall, to become the number one contender to Christian Cage's NWA World Heavyweight Championship at Destination X. Joe lost to Cage after Cage reversed the Coquina Clutch into a pinning combination and used the ropes for leverage.

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TNA: Samoa Joe. part 2

At the December 9 show, Samoa Joe called out the Pro Wrestling NOAH promotion, claiming "Ring of Honor is right here!" This was not Joe's first encounter with NOAH; at the September 16, 2006 ROH show, after a speech by wrestling legend Bruno Sammartino, Joe got into an argument and pull-apart brawl with NOAH star Takeshi Morishima. Subsequently a match was signed for February pitting Joe against Morishima.

On January 31, Joe announced on the ROH Video Wire that he would no longer be a full time performer in ROH after March 4. All shows that led up to that date would be billed as the "Samoa Joe Farewell Tour". On March 4, he beat long time rival Homicide in his final ROH match with a Muscle Buster from the second rope.

On June 19, 2005 Joe debuted in TNA Wrestling at the Slammiversary 2005 pay-per-view, and defeated Sonjay Dutt in a match that saw him dubbed "The Samoan Submission Machine" by announcer Mike Tenay. Later that week in his iMPACT! debut, Joe defeated Delirious. Joe was a participant in the Christopher Daniels Invitational Super X Cup, defeating Sonjay Dutt and Alex Shelley to advance to the tournament finals at Sacrifice. Joe won the tournament by defeating A.J. Styles, despite interference from Daniels. As a result of Daniels' interference, however, TNA Director of Authority Larry Zbyszko made the title defence, scheduled for Unbreakable on September 11, a three way dance, placing Styles in the match.

Joe proved his worth against Styles and Daniels in the match. However, Styles pinned Daniels to win the title. Though he did not win the match, this finish allowed Joe's undefeated streak in TNA to remain intact. At Bound for Glory 2005 on October 23, Joe defeated the veteran Japanese junior heavyweight Jushin "Thunder" Liger with the rear-naked choke. At Genesis 2005 on November 13, he teamed with Daniels, Alex Shelley, and Roderick Strong (a team that Daniels called "the Ministry") against Sonjay Dutt, Chris Sabin, Matt Bentley, and Austin Aries in an eight man elimination match. Following the victory by Daniels and Joe (Shelley and Strong were eliminated earlier in the match), Joe viciously attacked Daniels, beating Daniels around the ringside area until he had busted him open. He then threw Daniels into the ring, and delivered a Musclebuster. Joe then went out to grab a steel chair from ringside and brought it into the ring, after which he gave Daniels a second Musclebuster, this time onto the chair, supposedly giving Daniels a level-3 concussion.

In response to these actions, A.J. Styles called Joe out on an episode of iMPACT!, saying his attack of Daniels violated an unwritten code of respect in the X Division. Prior to Turning Point 2005, Joe attacked Styles, saying he did not respect the X Division code (a vast departure from his Ring of Honor persona, who is a stalwart defender of their written Code of Honor). Joe defeated Styles at Turning Point and won the X Division Championship. Before Joe could injure A.J., however, Christopher Daniels came out and stopped him.

Daniels was later slated to face Joe at Final Resolution 2006 for the X Division Championship. During the build-up to the match, Joe stated that he intended to end Daniels' career. During the match, Styles came down to the ring to cheer Daniels on. Not long after making Daniels bleed from his head, Samoa Joe stopped going for the pin, instead dropping knee after knee on Daniels' head. Styles, concerned about Daniels' health, signaled for the match to be stopped by throwing in the towel, allowing Joe to retain the X Division title.

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Samoa Joe, part 2

Back in the United States Joe joined the ranks of the East Coast-based Ring of Honor promotion in 2002. He made his debut at "Glory by Honor" as Christopher Daniels' "hired assassin", brought in to take out Daniels' chief enemy, Low-Ki. Originally booked for just the one match against Low Ki (due to the cost of flying him from California to Pennsylvania, which ROH had to pay), Joe impressed fans with his extremely stiff and hard-hitting style that resembled an MMA fighter more than a wrestler, which led to ROH booking him full time.

Joe quickly rose through the ranks and became ROH Champion, defeating Xavier for the belt in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on March 22, 2003. He held that title for twenty one months before losing it to Austin Aries at "Final Battle 2004", also in Philadelphia, on December 26. During Joe's reign Pro Wrestling Illustrated officially elevated the ROH Championship to the status of "world title" after Joe defended it against English wrestler Zebra Kid at a joint ROH/Frontier Wrestling Alliance show, Frontiers of Honor, in the United Kingdom on May 17, 2003. It was also at this event that Joe developed his infamous "Olé Olé Kick" move; an idea which got after watching a commercial during the English FA Cup (football/soccer) final. Low Ki challenged Joe to "get the crowd to chant Ole Ole Ole," which Joe accepted, and during his match with Zebra Kid he positioned the Kid on a chair, and performed the move thus the Ole Kick was born.

With his historic ROH title reign, Joe also established himself as the face of the company and a perennial main-eventer in North America. He elevated the title from a mid-card attraction, secondary to established independent stars like Low-Ki, Daniels, and A.J. Styles, to the ultimate prize in Ring of Honor. Especially famous are his trilogy of title defenses against CM Punk (the second match earing "Five Stars" from Dave Meltzer, the first American match in 7 years to do so), and his match with Japanese wrestler Kenta Kobashi.

Soon after losing the ROH World Championship to Austin Aries, Joe became the promotion's fifth Pure Champion, defeating his (kayfabe) protegé Jay Lethal for the belt on May 7, 2005 at Manhattan Mayhem in New York City. He held the title for over three months before losing it to Nigel McGuiness on August 27 at Dragon Gate Invasion in Williamsville, New York.

In October 2005, when Japanese heavyweight superstar Kenta Kobashi made a "once-in-a-lifetime" trip to the United States, he was signed to two Ring of Honor shows. ROH officials selected Joe, ROH's top wrestler, to face him in a singles match on the first night and a tag match on the second. The first show was in New York City at the New Yorker Hotel. Joe proved to be a formidable opponent for Kobashi, and, after a back and forth match, which Dave Meltzer again gave "Five Stars", Kobashi walked away with the win.

In 2006, Joe principal wrestlers representing Ring of Honor in their war against rival Philadelphia promotion Combat Zone Wrestling. The war culminated in a five-on-five Cage of Death match at Death before Dishonor IV. Joe helped ROH dominate in the match, until, after picking up CZW wrestler Chris Hero for a Muscle Buster, he was attacked by fellow ROH wrestler Bryan Danielson. Danielson repeatedly hit Joe's bad knee with a steel chair, forcing him to quit the match. Joe was later replaced in the match by by Homicide, who went on to win the match for ROH. Joe later teamed with Homicide to fight against the Briscoes, and, like Homicide, found himself back in the ROH world title hunt. Joe, however, came up short against champion Bryan Danielson in several matches, the final one being a cage match on December 8.

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TNA: Samoa Joe. part 1

Nuufolau Joel "Joe" Seanoa (born March 17, 1979), better known by his ring name Samoa Joe, is an American pro wrestler, currently performing for TNA Wrestling.

Joe is most notable in TNA for his 18-month winning streak. Although he had lost two triple threat matches, a four-way match, a battle royal, and an Ultimate X match, none of these losses came by Joe being pinned or forced to submit. Due to this, Joe was still referred to as being "undefeated" in singles competition in his TNA tenure. This streak ended at TNA Genesis 2006 when Joe tapped out to Kurt Angle's Ankle Lock.

Joe's family founded a Polynesian dance troupe in the United States called Tiare Productions. He made his on stage debut at the 1984 Summer Olympics opening at the age of 5. He became a California State Junior Judo Champion and was an all league football player while attending Ocean View High School.

Joe started his pro wrestling career in September 1999 as the first graduate of the UIWA's now-defunct West Coast Dojo. He was trained under the guidance of West Coast indy legend Cincinnati Red, along with Johnny Hemp and occasionally John Delayo.

Debuting in December 1999 in a match against "Uncle" Jess Hansen just three months after beginning training, Joe quickly rose through the ranks of independent grapplers throughout California. He soon signed with former WWE developmental affiliate Ultimate Pro Wrestling (UPW), where he feuded with real life friend and future WWE champion John Cena and eventually captured the UPW Heavyweight Championship. He later became the longest reigning UPW Heavyweight Champion ever.

After finding success in UPW, Joe made his way to Japan, wrestling for Shinya Hashimoto's ZERO ONE promotion, fighting in its "Shingeki" series of pay per views and the annual "Burning Heart" tournaments.

During this time Joe also began wrestling (and continues to do so off and on) for Southern California promotion Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, where he has a standing rivalry with Super Dragon.

Joe now resides as a member of New Japan Pro Wrestling's Inoki Dojo in Los Angeles, California.

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