As one of the most accomplished wrestlers of the last two decades, Samoa Joe’s wrestling career shows no signs of slowing down. As a former All Elite Wrestling champion, he’s an imposing figure inside and outside the ring. In early 2025, Samoa Joe returned from a hiatus after filming Season 2 of Peacock’s Twisted Metal series, and, most recently, he did voice acting in the Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza game as Raymond Law. Now, he’s the leader of the dominant AEW stable The Opps, comprised of young stars HOOK, Powerhouse Hobbs, and fellow wrestling veteran Katsuyori Shibata. The group holds the AEW World Trios Championships and their sights are set on the Death Riders.
Ahead of his upcoming cage match on AEW Dynamite: Beach Break with AEW World Champion Jon Moxley, Samoa Joe discussed looming showdown, his recent acting projects, and the potential for a woman to join The Opps.
The Future of The Opps in All Elite Wrestling

COLLIDER: When you look at all of you together, you’re four guys that I would never think to put together, but on screen, it makes so much sense that I’m like, ‘Why didn’t this happen sooner?’ How did The Opps come to be with HOOK, Powerhouse Hobbs and Shibata working under your tutelage?
JOE: I knew I wanted to work in a form where we could afford some more time to some talent I felt we were being overlooked on our roster, and I thought were pretty special talents and needed to be featured. I think Hook definitely fell into that category, now Hobbs. Another person that I always felt that way about is Shibata. He’s already had a pretty storied career in and of itself. To give western audiences more accessibility to him and what he’s able to do was really kind of how it all came together. It’s been fun doing it. We’ve had some good times backstage and in the ring. I look forward to seeing where it goes.
A lot of talented people just became potential free agents. Something I would love to see is a female presence in The Opps. Is there anyone within AEW or who is available now that you would like to see join?
JOE: It’s funny, I will not put them on blast because I’m honored that they would put themselves forward. I will say there’s been no less than three separate offers from several different, pretty spectacular female talent who’ve been like, ‘You know, spot opens up in The Opps for a female, I’m there.’ So it’s cool that it’s becoming such a participatory event. I’ll take that.
I would love to see, I’m going to throw a name out there. I would love to see Shayna Baszler in The Opps. She would be such a presence and if you put her against Marina? That’s money.
JOE: Oh, Shayna has that. She’s got that energy.
Taking Down Jon Moxley and the Death Riders

It’s your first singles match against each other in a while and it’s a cage match, which you are both accustomed to, but that’s kind of Mox’s forte. We all know he loves his ultra-violence. Are we going to see a different side of Joe at AEW Dynamite: Beach Break?
JOE: The fact that it’s his specialty and his forte, I’d like to push back on that a little bit. I mean, he’s been in several very, very vicious cage matches in his time. And I have myself. You may not have seen me as a cage match guy; that’s normally the people that I’m in the ring with. They’re the ones bleeding profusely and horribly injured and broken beyond belief. So, I mean, in light of that, I think my approach to cage matches just definitely works better if it’s not as recognizable because maybe it’s a little one-sided.

Image via Peacock

You took some time away from AEW to film season 2 of Sweet Tooth, which comes out this summer. Is there anything you can tell us about his presence this season?
JOE: I will say this, the desire to be the very best version of Sweet Tooth and to gain recognition the world over definitely consumes and is his obsession this season. And anytime you take someone like that and add that kind of motivation, it’ll get pretty chaotic, pretty quick.
Bringing Raymond Law to Life in Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii

I know you’re a huge fan of the Yakuza franchise and you recently got to be part of Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii as Raymond Miller. How did the opportunity come about?
JOE: I’d love to say it was some master stroke of genius on my part, but it literally materialized out of the good graces of the people at Sega. They got in touch with my people, and it was odd to be pitched that out of the blue, especially playing the Yakuza games for the 20+ years I’ve been playing them. It’s weird finishing a game like that and then two weeks later someone calls you up and goes, ‘Hey, do you want to be the main antagonist for the sequel?’
So, yeah, that’s really kind of how it came together. Awesome experience. I mean, I could not be happier with dealing with the nice folks down at Sega and what we were able to accomplish. I’m so stoked I got to be a part of it. And, hey, I’d always look forward to returning to the franchise.
This franchise in particular, they blend the emotional storytelling with that really fun, chaotic element of it. How did you balance that intensity while retaining the quirkiness Like a Dragon is known for?
JOE: That is kind of the difficult thing when it comes to the series is that you’ll deal with these incredibly, emotionally charged scenes that have years and years of history behind them. These relationships you’ve watched ebb and flow throughout the series and stuff. At the same time, wacky mascots are popping off everywhere, it’s just – It’s a wild game. So I think you kind of take it to the max as far as like where, if you’re a villain, you are the biggest villain you can be.

AEW Dynamite

Release Date

October 2, 2019

Network

TBS, TNT

John R. Rivera

Uncredited

Chandler Hopkins

Chandler Hopkins

Deonna Kupryk

Deonna Purrazzo