Reason For Samoa Joe's Absence From IMPACT Slammiversary 2022

The Samoan Submission Machine was notable by his absence at last night's PPV.

by Andrew Pollard
Samoa Joe TNA Entrance
impactwrestling.com

While plentiful faces from the past of TNA/IMPACT Wrestling made appearances at last night's Slammiversary PPV, one person notable by their absence was Samoa Joe.

Taking place 20 years to the day since the first ever NWA-TNA show, Slammiversary featured several segments and moments that were celebrations of the company's past. AJ Styles, Sting and Kurt Angle were amongst those to appear via video, whilst Dixie Carter, Frankie Kazarian, Traci Brooks, Nick Aldis, Davey Richards, Goldylocks and America's Most Wanted were some of the IMPACT alums who made in-person appearances - with Kazarian, Aldis and Richards competing in the Team Originals vs. Honor No More five-on-five match.

Viewed as one of most important stars in the history of the promotion, Samoa Joe's spent ten years in TNA from 2005 to 2015, winning the company's World Championship, TV Championship, X Division Championship and Tag Team Championships - becoming only the third Grand Slam Champion in the organisation's history.

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So, when Slammiversary started to show videos from some of the biggest names in TNA/IMPACT's past, many were hoping that the Samoan Submission Machine would make an appearance.

In terms of why Joe was absent from Slammiversary, the current Ring of Honor TV Champion took to Twitter to explain that he was not asked and that he also was not available - but wished the promotion a happy anniversary.

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Senior Writer
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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.