Samoa Joe has opened up about how much it meant to work with CM Punk.
The on-screen rivalry between Punk and Joe goes all the way back to a highly acclaimed three-match series in Ring of Honor in 2004. The two men wrestled to a 60-minute draw in June, before doing the same in October.
The second bout became the first North American match to receive a five-star rating from Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter in seven years. Joe defeated Punk in the final match in the series in December.
Although they never clashed in WWE, the duo renewed their rivalry in AEW clashing on Collision and later at All In.
Speaking to the New York Post, Joe reflected on how much it meant to renew the rivalry in 2023.
“A tremendous amount. I’ve always enjoyed the many minutes I’ve spent in the ring with Punk and to be able to revisit that at this point in our careers was a big thing for us both personally. It was good to get back in there and scrap around with him a bit and entertain a ton of people in the process.”
When asked about his personal interactions with Punk, and whether he’s misunderstood, Joe said he wasn’t in a position to give a blanket statement on how people see him.
“I’d imagine there are tons of things that are misunderstood or portrayed about him. Now, what those things are it’s who’s representing in what way. I can’t really give you a blanket statement as far as what those things are. For the most part, our relationship has been very, especially for these years, has been very non-wrestling related. It’s just been extraneous stuff outside of the world of wrestling and talking about life stuff.”
Samoa Joe Brushed Off All In Incident
Punk’s backstage altercation with Jack Perry at All In came just moments before he was due to step in the ring with the ROH World TV Champion. In the same interview, Samoa Joe said he was unphased by the incident, and just focused on getting his match in the ring.