Opposite Ends Of The Scale: Samoa Joe and CM Punk

As requested by The Wrestling Daily’s resident birthday boy, I present you with one of the most highly anticipated match-ups of the series to date, Samoa Joe and CM Punk. Unlike in past editions of Opposite Ends Of The Scale, the two men featured in this article have met in the ring many, many time before and are currently at the same level after going their separate ways in years gone by.

1999 – 2002

After a short time training and with only a limited amount of matches under his belt, Samoa Joe was signed to then WWF developmental territory UWF where he wrestled with and against some of the current WWE Superstars including Mike Knox and John Cena. The highlights of his time in the promotion was becoming the longest reigning heavyweight champion in the company’s history as well as appearing on WWE television in a match against Essa Rios.

CM Punk had a unique start to his wrestling career to say the least. He started in a backyard promotion along with his brother and some friends, but later found out that his brother had embezzled thousands of dollars from the promotion and as a result he promptly left.

To broaden his horizons somewhat he started training at a wrestling school in Chicago called the Steel Dominion. He was trained by Ace Steel and several others, but the biggest benefit to come out of him attending the school was meeting future indy superstars Colt Cabana, now two time NWA World Heavyweight Champion Adam Pearce, and the founder of the women’s wrestling promotion SHIMMER Dave Prazak.

He then spent the majority of his time leading up to Ring Of Honor as a part of the IWA: Mid-South facing off against the likes of Chris Hero, Colt Cabana, AJ Styles, and even Eddie Guerrero.

Up until this point, the two men had probably never even heard of each other, but they would soon meet and it would lead to both of their lives changing forever.

2002 – 2005

Fast forward to three years later and both wrestlers have gone from strength to strength. It was in this time period that they arguably had the best matches of their careers, even having an extended program against each other which included a five star rated match from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter’s Dave Meltzer, the first in the United States in over seven years.

By the end of 2005, Samoa Joe had a reign as the ROH Pure Champion to his name as well as holding the ROH World Championship for a record 645 days. He had also signed on with TNA and made his debut at the third annual Slammiversary PPV against Sonjay Dutt. Joe remained undefeated for the rest of the year, won the X Division Championship in December of 2005, and also added another two five star rated matches from Dave Meltzer to his collection.

Punk had also won the ROH World Championship, but he only held it for 55 days. For the early part of the previous three years Punk had been focusing on the ROH tag team division, winning the Tag Team Championships two times with long time friend Colt Cabana. Punk had also spent some time in TNA as a part of Raven’s stable “The Gathering” but by March of 2004 he had quit after the Rob Feinstein controversy.

At this point it appeared that both men were going to be superstars of pro wrestling for years to come, but that Samoa Joe would be the bigger main event star at the end of the day.

2006

By March Joe had lost his X Division title and was hovering between the main event and X division. He began to wrestle against some of the bigger names in the company including Sting, Jeff Jarrett, Scott Steiner and still managed to remain undefeated. After still being technically undefeated for the majority of 2006, Joe was forced to tap out at the Genesis PPV in November to TNA’s latest signing Kurt Angle, thus ending his 18 month streak.

On the other hand Punk had debuted for WWE on it’s new ECW brand and quickly established himself as a guy that the fans could support and cheer for. Within the first few months of his debut he had already defeated ECW originals Stevie Richards, Justin Credible, and C.W. Anderson, and later went on to participate in his first Elimination Chamber.

It definitely looked like Samoa Joe was going to be the bigger star at this stage because Punk was virtually starting from square one in a new promotion, but it was over the next few years that the momentum shifted and Punk went straight to the top while Joe seemingly plateaued for a while.

2007

Throughout most of 2007, Joe was feuding with Kurt Angle for breaking his undefeated streak, and the two wrestled in a variety of match types even going as far as having a match with the winner being awarded Joe’s X Division and Tag Team titles as well as Angle’s World and IWGP Heavyweight Championships which Joe lost.

At the end of the Punk’s year he was holding his head high as the ECW Champion. He had been involved with feuds against Elijah Burke and John Morrison, but he was able to overcome all of that and became the champ, winning the admiration of the WWE fans in the process. His popularity was growing stronger each week at this point.

2008

2008 was a special year for Samoa Joe as he finally won the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. After holding the belt for 182 days, he lost a match with Sting at Bound For Glory and walked away with nothing, In the later stages of the year Joe and AJ Styles formed the TNA Frontline stable to combat the emerging Main Event Mafia.

Shortly after the new year CM Punk had lost his ECW Championship to Chavo Guerrero and never managed to get it back. In June he was drafted to RAW and the next week he cashed in his MITB briefcase that he had won at Wrestlemania and became World Heavyweight Champion. Before the year was out he had won the World Tag Team Championship with Kofi Kingston and was in line for the Intercontinental Championship.

Things were looking up for the “Straight Edge” Superstar going into 2009. It was just a matter of how Samoa Joe was going to hit back after a lacklustre year.

2009

That brings us to today. Samoa Joe has introduced his new “Nation of Violence” gimmick where he would assault superstars backstage at any given time. Just as things seemed to be settling down earlier this year, out of nowhere he betrayed the TNA Frontline stable by letting Kurt Angle win the World Championship at Slammiversary and in the process turned heel.

Meanwhile Punk has also enjoyed a highly successful heel turn this year and is back to his roots as one of the business’ best bad guys. On top of that he was drafted to Smackdown, won two World Heavyweight Championships, a MITB Ladder match, the Intercontinental Championship, and participated in numerous matches with a special stipulation for the first time in his career.

Similarities

• Both made their pro wrestling debut in 1999
• Both made a name for themselves in ROH
• Both have been involved in a Dave Meltzer five star match
• Both have been ROH World Champion
• Both have competed for TNA at one time or another
• Both have been ranked inside the PWI 500 top ten at one stage or another
• Both are very adept at performing submission moves
• Both like to break the traditional mould of a pro wrestler (one having a different body shape than usual and the other refraining from drugs of any kind)

Samoa Joe

Source: Online World Of Wrestling

Career Highlights

• Longest reigning ROH World Champion in the company’s history (21 months)
• Had an 18 month long undefeated streak after joining TNA
• Wrestling Mitsuharu Misawa for the GHC title at Budokan Hall as a part of the Pro Wrestling NOAH roster in 2007
• Participated in one Ultimate X match (2006 – vs. AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels)
• Participated in one Monster’s Ball match (2006 – vs. Raven, Abyss, and Brother Runt)
• Participated in three King of the Mountain matches (2007, 2008, 2009)
• Participated in two Lethal Lockdown matches (2007, 2009)

Major Achievements

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

• Ranked No. 4 in the PWI 500 (2006, 2008)
• PWI Most Popular Wrestler of the Year (2006)
• PWI Feud of the Year (2007 – with Kurt Angle)

Ring Of Honor

• ROH World Championship
• ROH Pure Championship

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling

• 1x TNA World Heavyweight Championship
• 4x TNA X Division Championship
• 1x TNA World Tag Team Championship (by himself)
• Super X Cup (2005)
• Turkey Bowl (2007)
• King of the Mountain (2008)
• Third Triple Crown Champion

Wrestling Observer Newsletter

• 5 Star Match (2004 – vs. CM Punk, ROH Joe vs. Punk II)
• 5 Star Match (2005 – vs. AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels, TNA Unbreakable)
• 5 Star Match (2005 – vs. Kenta Kobashi, ROH Joe vs. Kobashi)
• Match of the Year (2005 – vs. Kenta Kobashi, ROH Joe vs. Kobashi)
• Most Outstanding Wrestler (2005)

CM Punk

Source: Online World Of Wrestling

Career Highlights

• Wrestling Chris Hero in one of the great indy feuds of this decade while in IWA: Mid-South. Their rivalry included multiple 60 minute time limit draws, a 55 minute TLC match, and even a 93 minute Two out of Three Falls match
• Fastest Triple Crown Champion in WWE history (204 days)
• Participated in three Money in the Bank matches (2007, 2008, 2009)
• Participated in one TLC match (2009 – vs. Jeff Hardy)
• Participated in one Hell in a Cell match (2009 – vs. The Undertaker)

Major Achievements

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

• Ranked No. 8 in the PWI 500 (2009)

Ring Of Honor

• 1x ROH World Championship
• 2x ROH Tag Team Championship

World Wrestling Entertainment

• 3x World Heavyweight Championship
• 1x ECW Championship
• 1x Intercontinental Championship
• 1x World Tag Team Championship (with Kofi Kingston)
• 2x Money in the Bank winner
• 1x Slammy Award for “Oh My God!” Moment of the Year (2008)
• Nineteenth Triple Crown Champion

Wrestling Observer Newsletter

• 5 Star Match (2004 – vs. Samoa Joe, ROH Joe vs. Punk II)

As it stands right now, and most of you would probably agree, CM Punk is at the high end of the scale right now. He’s taking some time away from the World Heavyweight Championship, but he’s also been able to carry a referee in what is hopefully a short-lived feud.

It’s interesting to note how both of these superstars’ careers have unfolded so far. While Punk was wrestling in the tag team division in ROH for extended periods and Joe was a singles wrestler, now the tables have turned and it;s Joe that has been involved with multiple stables since joining TNA and Punk is in his element as a main eventer on WWE’s Smackdown brand.

It’s also fascinating to ponder just how easily these men could be wrestling in the other’s promotion today. While it was Joe that signed a contract with a WWE (then WWF) developmental territory very early on in his career, it ended up being Punk who is now working for the largest wrestling entity in the world.

On the other hand, it was Punk that first wrestled in the TNA promotion on and off up until 2004 when the infamous Rob Feinstein controversy occurred and Punk abruptly quit. Of course Samoa Joe is now a big part of the promotion and is forging his own legacy. If it weren’t for that incident five years ago then who knows what the state of TNA would currently be?

The list of accomplishments between these two is quite staggering and they have only just reached their 30’s! They have been marked for something truly special and will no doubt be leaders of the next generation of pro wrestling superstars throughout North America. The million dollar question is will Samoa Joe and CM Punk ever meet in the ring again?

On the next edition of Opposite Ends Of The Scale we’ll be having a look at the careers of three men in the first triple threat match up of the series. With all things considered, who will be determined as the main eventer, the mid-carder, and the Evan Bourne-esque jobber out of Scott Steiner, Shawn Michaels, and Goldust? Check in next week to find out, or alternatively you can be automatically updated by joining the official TWD Facebook group.