Why Did Samoa Joe Shove MJF Way Back at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn II?
Samoa Joe finally explained what went down with MJF in NXT back in 2016.
Tonight's AEW Grand Slam will feature an AEW World Championship match between MJF and Samoa Joe. The beef between the two kicked off at All Out earlier this month, but tensions between "The Devil" and "The Samoan Submission Machine" can be traced all the way back to NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn II in the Summer of 2016. In a moment that eventually became a popular meme, Joe was shown walking to the ring ahead of his NXT Championship match with Shinsuke Nakamura while flanked by a security team. He opted to shove one of the guards into a nearby wall for getting too close to him, though it wouldn't be until years later before fans realized that guard was a young MJF.
In a scene that mirrored that moment, Joe casually shoved an injured Friedman out of his way during the All Out pay-per-view, setting off the champion and leading to a brawl where Joe quickly locked him in a guillotine choke, further damaging Max's neck. Joe was asked about their initial interaction in a new interview with The New York Post this week.
"I always feel like if you're gonna take up screen time at least be somewhat interesting," Joe said. "We were walking down the hallway. He was maybe doing too good of a job trying to clear things out. I put him up into the wall. I think after everyone kind of took a look at it and had a hilarious chuckle and it ended up sticking around and staying. I think it was close to live where we had a little bit of a delay because we were running (video) packages and stuff like that. By the time it got to the truck it was gonna be broadcast pretty shortly afterward and they were all about it."
Max has since vowed to choke Joe out in tonight's title match. Will he pull it off or will Joe reach the pinnacle of yet another company? Tell us your predictions for tonight in the comments!
AEW Dynamite Grand Slam 2023 Card
- AEW World Championship: MJF vs. Samoa Joe
- AEW Women's World Championship: Saraya vs. Toni Storm
- ROH World Championship & NJPW Strong Openweight Championship: Eddie Kingston vs. Claudio Castagnoli
- AEW International Championship: Jon Moxley vs. Rey Fenix
- Chris Jericho vs. Sammy Guevara
AEW Rampage Grand Slam 2023 Card
- AEW World Trios Championships: The Acclaimed vs. The Dark Order
- ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championships: Mogul Embassy (Brian Cage & The Gates of Agony) vs. The Elite (Hangman Page & The Young Bucks)
- Darby Allin & Sting vs. Christian Cage & Luchasaurus
- Orange Cassidy, Hook & Kris Statlander vs. Anna Jay, Matt Menard & Angelo Parker
AEW Collision Card (Sept. 23, 2023)
- AEW World Tag Team Championships: FTR vs. The WorkHorsemen (JD Drake & Anthony Henry)
- Bryan Danielson vs. Ricky Starks (Texas Death Match)
- Jay White vs. Andrade El Idolo
- Rob Van Dam in action