10 Most Outstanding Career Revivals In WWE

At one point, it looked as though TNA had killed off Samoa Joe.

Debuting hard and heavy in 2005 with an incredibly hot undefeated streak, he'd taken part in stone cold classics with the likes of AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels and Kurt Angle. At Lockdown in April 2008, Joe would defeat Angle to finally capture the World Heavyweight Championship, after a thrilling, back-to-basics feud based on pride and competition. It seemed like TNA couldn’t lose with the Samoan Submission Machine.

Notorious for their ability to turn a sure thing into a hot mess, the company threw their weight behind WWE cast-offs instead of the homegrown talent that had carried the company for years. Joe rattled around the midcard like a loose screw, jumping from pointless, idiotic storyline to pointless, idiotic storyline. Reflecting his haphazard booking, he became listless, gaining weight and losing credibility. The dynamic bruiser who’d stood toe to toe with the best in the business seemed a thing of the past.

However, leaving TNA in February 2015 and signing with WWE seemed to galvanise him. Dropping the extra pounds, moving like a man with a purpose again, Samoa Joe became the first ever two-time NXT Champion and joined the WWE main roster in January this year, booked to be the biggest badass heel on RAW.

Currently embroiled in a must-see feud with Brock Lesnar over the Universal Championship, Samoa Joe has everything it takes to be one of WWE’s top guys… provided they don’t drop the ball with him like TNA did.