Samoa Joe ‘stepping away’ from AEW for a few months
Former AEW World Champion Samoa Joe is “stepping away” for a few months.
He revealed the news during the third hour of Wednesday’s combo Dynamite & Collision during a backstage segment, flanked by fellow Opps members Hook, Katsuyori Shibata and Anthony Bowens.
The reason? “Opportunity calls…and Hollywood’s ringing,” he said.
He reminded all three men that they know how this works before shaking their hands and departing with Hook immediately moving between Bowens and Shibata to re-establish himself as the group leader as he did before when Joe previously was gone.
The “Hollywood” reference is to Joe heading off to film the third season of the Peacock show Twisted Metal, one of the streaming service’s biggest hits in terms of viewership minutes. Joe plays the role of Sweet Tooth with Will Arnett providing the voice work.
The 47-year-old recently returned from a concussion and overall has wrestled just five times in 2026, the last coming at this past Sunday’s Double or Nothing in an Owen Hart tournament defeat to Will Ospreay.
Since 2011, Josh has been a contributing editor to Wrestling Observer/F4WOnline.com and also hosts the Punch-Out podcast. He has also written for Fight Magazine, Bloody Elbow, Bleacher Report, and other websites. He's a 2000 graduate of the University of Maine, worked in pro sports, and once was an indie ring announcer.