Samoa Joe and MJF Channel Their History From NXT at AEW All Out 2023

Samoa Joe may have just moved to the front of the line for MJF's AEW World Championship...

By Connor Casey

Samoa Joe and MJF had a surprise interaction during AEW's All Out on Sunday night, resulting in a pull-apart brawl that further injured the AEW World Champion's neck. Max and Adam Cole kicked off the pay-per-view by retaining their ROH World Tag Team Championships against The Dark Order. Friedman spent a good chunk of the match out of commission as Alex Reynolds hit the back of the champ's neck with a steel chair, reaggravating the injury he suffered against Cole in the All In main event. Friedman still managed to fight through the pain late in the match and was being helped up the ramp by trainers once the bout was over. Suddenly, Joe arrived for his ROH World TV Championship defense against Shane Taylor and casually shoved Max out of the way with a smirk.

This was a callback to NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn II from 2016 in which Joe pushed Max aside as he made his way out to the ring for his NXT Championship match. Friedman was merely an extra at the time, though the clip has stuck around ever since. Enraged by history repeating itself, Max hit the ring and attacked Joe from behind. He wound up getting trapped in a standing guillotine choke before security hit the ring and managed to pull the two apart. 

Is Samoa Joe MJF's Next AEW World Championship Challenger?

Max's next world championship opponent will be determined via an eight-man tournament for a title bout at AEW Grand Slam later this month, though Joe's actions have immediately made him a frontrunner for that show. Will Joe be the one to dethrone "The Devil?" Tell us your predictions in the comments! 

Since joining AEW in April 2022, Joe has won the TNT Championship twice. He is also just under two matches away from setting the record for longest ROH World TV Championship reign (the current record is 567 days). 

AEW All Out 2023 Card (As Of Now)

  • (Zero Hour) Adam "Hangman Page Wins the Over Budget Battle Royale
  • (Zero Hour) Hikaru Shida, Willow Nightingale & Skye Blue def. Athena, Mercedes Martinez & Diamante 
  • (Zero Hour) AEW World Trios Championships: The Acclaimed def. Jeff Jarrett, Satnam Singh & Jay Lethal
  • ROH World Tag Team Championships: MJF & Adam Cole def. The Dark Order
  • ROH World Television Championship: Samoa Joe def. Shane Taylor
  • AEW TNT Championship: Luchasaurus vs. Darby Allin
  • AEW International Championship: Orange Cassidy vs. Jon Moxley
  • AEW TBS Championship: Kris Statlander vs. Ruby Soho
  • Kenny Omega vs. Konosuke Takeshita 
  • Miro vs. Powerhouse Hobbs
  • Bullet Club Gold vs. The Young Bucks & FTR
  • Eddie Kingston & Katsuyori Shibata vs. Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta
  • Bryan Danielson vs. Ricky Starks (Strap Match)
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