Samoa Joe made his name in Ring of Honor. He won the ROH World Championship from Xavier and then held the title longer than anyone in history, with a 645-day title reign. Only Jay Lethal held the title longer, and it took him two reigns. However, after this, Joe moved on to TNA and was one of the biggest stars in that company.
TNA made a big deal out of Joe when he arrived. He made his debut on a PPV, fighting Sonjay Dutt at Slammiversary, and then appeared on the next nine PPV events, never getting pinned, never submitting, and only losing when there was a gimmick in the match or a third man took the fall. By the end of those 10 PPV events, Samoa Joe was one of TNA's main event stars and a championship contender.
10 Vs. Sonjay Dutt (Slammiversary 2005)
Slammiversary 2005 was the TNA in-ring debut of Samoa Joe. He had just signed with TNA after a long stint as Ring of Honor's World Champion, and in just a few months, he would be headlining a TNA PPV. However, everyone has to start somewhere, and for Joe, it was a match against Sonjay Dutt in the fifth match on the show.
Mike Tenay put over Joe huge as he made his debut, and he just came in and destroyed Dutt. Sonjay got some offense midway through, but this was just a showcase to put Joe over as a massive TNA signing. Joe made Sonjay tap to the Coquina Clutch.
9 Vs. Jushin Thunder Liger (Bound For Glory 2005)
Bound For Glory 2005 allowed Samoa Joe to show his stuff against a true legend in professional wrestling as Jushin "Thunder" Liger came to TNA for this match. This was the opening match on the PPV, but it was still a big deal as Joe even got the Samoan Dance Troop leading him out to the ring. The match only lasted seven minutes with Joe in control for much of the time and finally getting the win when he locked in the Coquina Clutch after a Muscle Buster and Liger passed out.
8 Vs. AJ Styles & Christopher Daniels (Destination X 2006)
Amazingly, Samoa Joe fought AJ Styles and Christoper Daniels in three different PPV matches in his first 10 TNA PPV appearances and fought each of them one-on-one, meaning that in half of his first 10 PPV appearances, he worked with these two TNA originals. Every one of the matches was great, but the lesser of the five was this three-way at Destination X. It wasn't as good because it was a gimmick match, as they worked the Ultimate X match. Joe came in as the X-Division Champion, and Christopher Daniels won the match and the title. Because this was Ultimate X, Joe remained undefeated since he still hadn't been pinned or submitted in his TNA career.
7 Vs. Austin Aries, Chris Sabin, Matt Bentley & Sonjay Dutt (Genesis 2005)
Genesis 2005 saw an Elimination X match in which two eight-man teams battled. This was basically the same as a Survivor Series match, and it ended when only one team had wrestlers remaining. Samoa Joe teamed with Christopher Daniels, Alex Shelley, and Roderick Strong.
This was a long match, going for 23 minutes and the last two survivors were Samoa Joe and Christopher Daniels, giving their team the win. After the match, Joe killed Daniels, and this ended with Christopher busted open and stretchered out.
6 Vs. Chris Sabin (No Surrender 2005)
No Surrender 2005 saw Samoa Joe take on Chris Sabin. There was no title on the line, and this was just a one-on-one match between two of the best in TNA at the time. While Joe was a monster in his first two years in the company, Sabin got a lot of offense here, which made this an amazing match between the two future TNA World Champions. The match length was just over 14 minutes, and Joe locked in his Coquina Clutch to knock out Sabin for the win.
5 Vs. AJ Styles & Christopher Daniels (Against All Odds 2006)
The five best PPV matches of Samoa Joe's first 10 all featured AJ Styles and/or Christopher Daniels. At Against All Odds 2006, the three men fought in another triple threat, the third in the first 10 Samoa Joe TNA PPV appearances. This was for Samoa Joe's X-Division Championship. The three men started this match off with a brawl before settling in for a brilliant shorter 16-minute title match that saw Joe get a rare pinfall victory, rather than a knockout or submission when he pinned Styles with the Muscle Buster to retain his title.
4 Vs. Christopher Daniels (Final Resolution 2006)
Samoa Joe put his X-Division Championship on the line against Christopher Daniels at Final Resolution 2006. It seemed like Joe really enjoyed busting open Daniels in his first year in the company. He did it at Genesis when they were partners, and he did it again here.
This match lasted 15 minutes, and both men went all out, but Joe brutalized Daniels in the end. He hit a Muscle Buster and the Coquina Clutch, but Daniels wouldn't give up. He hit a Muscle Buster on a chair and just kept kicking Daniels in the head until AJ Styles throws in the towel for the Fallen Angel.
3 Vs. AJ Styles (Sacrifice 2005)
Samoa Joe and AJ Styles wrestled in the finals of the Super X Cup at Sacrifice 2005. This was the first of two singles matches between Styles and Joe in 2005 PPV events. Joe beat Sonjay Dutt and Alex Shelley while Styles beat Matt Bentley and Petey Williams to make it to the finals. The match ended with interference, as Christopher Daniels ran in and attacked Styles. Joe ended up locking in the Coquina Clutch to force Styles to tap out at 15 minutes.
2 Vs. AJ Styles (Turning Point 2005)
The second singles match between AJ Styles and Samoa Joe at a TNA PPV was for more than just a tournament cup. This match was for AJ Styles' X-Division Championship. These two men pulled out all the stops and turned in the best match on the show and one of the best matches of the year for any wrestling company. The end came after AJ Styles hit his Styles Clash, but Joe kicked out and returned the factor with the Coquina Clutch to knock Styles out and win the X-Division Championship.
1 Vs. AJ Styles & Christopher Daniels (Unbreakable 2005)
The best Samoa Joe match in his first 10 TNA PPV appearances was also the best match of 2005 and one of the best TNA matches of all time. This took place at Unbreakable 2005 and saw Christopher Daniels defend his X-Division Championship in the main event of the show against AJ Styles and Samoa Joe. These three proved they deserved the main event spot and ended up going 23 minutes before AJ Styles wrapped up Daniels for the pin and the win. Joe didn't win this match, but he was still involved in one of the best matches TNA ever put on.