08:23:05
Samoa Joe
Story
of the "Ole Kick" and subtle digs at his friend Lo Ki on
Samoa Joe.com…
"Yeah,
you know (laughs). For those of you who want the full-unabridged
version of the story, by all means please visit Samoa Joe.com.
But for the most part, we were out in beautiful, jolly,
ol' England doing the FWA/ROH show and Lo Ki challenged
me to start an "Ole, ole" chant-much like in the soccer
games we were watching over there. And well, went out there
and did it and he's been bitter ever since.
On
past history of battling Christopher Daniels…
"I'm actually 3-0 against Christopher Daniels. I won my
first championship from him way back, way back when in the
UPW days. I retained the ROH Championship against Christopher
Daniels in ROH and I plan on grabbing the X-Division Title
from him over at that fantastic little ppv coming up here
(Unbreakable)."
The
"Island Driver" seems to be the finishing move of choice
vs. Daniels…
"Well, you know he had that nasty moonsault accident back
in WCW and I know it's a sore spot to bring up, but you
know when it comes right down to it, when you drop a guy
on his head he has a tendency to not be that productive
the rest of the match. So, it's worked out pretty well so
far.
"Like
I said, am I looking to forward to it, of course. But I
mean, anytime you get Christopher Daniels and me in the
ring it's going to be a good thing. I think the fans of
TNA and the fans of wrestling in general will be pleasantly
surprised by what we're able to put together."
On
the almost immediate support from the TNA fans/crowd…
"I was a bit surprised, but at the same time I think if
you give the people what they want, they're destined to
dig it and like it and give you their approval."
Listed
as 6'2, 280lbs not exactly the prototypical wrestler shape
these days…
"At the dojo, I think they were just more concerned with
me paying my tuition every month. But, as I moved on to
UPW and took worth with WWE, as it was developmental territory
at the time, of course I got that a lot. At the same time,
I got into wrestling to wrestle. That's kind of been my
main focus. You know, you're absolutely right. I'm not your
stereotypical guy as far as pro wrestling goes or the industry
leader so far has stated pro wrestlers should be.
"You
know what, I tell people just give me a shot-put me in front
of a crowd and I'll wow them. And I'll show people what
I can have to offer and TNA's giving me an opportunity to
do that and hopefully continue to do so."
Pretty
agile for being such a big guy…
"Yeah, you know. I don't sit around all day, I'll give you
that much (laughs). I have had tremendous trainers over
the years-William Regal, Cincinnati Red, Yoshiagwa Fujiawaa,
Ashimoto, Joe Ibonte. Those types of people impress upon
you that you better know what you're doing, better know
how to move. If you want to train underneath them, they
definitely put the fire to you."
On
family background in Polynesian dancing help with dexterity
…
"Oh, absolutely. I mean, I grew up-and plus being on stage.
The very first time I ever went out there on stage was the
1984 opening Olympic ceremony. After you're thrown to the
wolves in front of 60,000 people, 2000 fans at a TNA event
isn't really that big of a deal. So, general you learn how
to move. You learn how to get out there and do your thing.
You learn timing, how to recognize what other people are
doing. It helps you overall. It gets you in touch with your
body and teaches you how to move, which is one of the most
important things you can have in this business.
When
you're five years old, do you even realize what it's like
to be part of an Olympic moment in front of 60,000 fans...
"No, but they had really good free cookies and that was
enough incentive to get me out there to do my thing."
Did
you get to meet any of the athletes? Mary Lou Retton or
anyone...
"No. We actually did house a couple of German runners, though.
Funny story. They weren't aware the beaches weren't nude
out here, so we took them down to Huntington Beach where
we lived. They jumped on the beach, right of the car and
whipped off their tops and began walking towards the water.
At that point my older brothers had to tackle them with
a towel and make sure they didn't get arrested."
Mentality
and footwork of lineman from football days also contributes
today…
"Oh, no other position on the field. When you hit training
camp and everyone's talking about skill practice, they mean
wide receivers, running backs, db's, all that type of stuff.
But in reality, when it gets right down to it, every single
step-every single move you make on the line is crucial to
you beating that guy in front of you or making your block,
or filling your hole or crunching down on the quarterback.
It's such a game of small steps and numbers and you really
have to know how to move.
"And
especially guys that big. Once you get mass moving one way,
you better be able to control it. If you can't, you better
be able to cut back and you have to be agile, you have to
be an athlete. That's a part of the game that I think people
who never played the game never see, but it's the most vital
part of the game because if you don't have a line you don't
have a team."
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