Samoa Joe Reacts To AEW Bringing Ranking System Back
The AEW World Champion Samoa Joe has some interesting thoughts on the return of the ranking system.
It was announced over the last week by AEW’s Owner/President Tony Khan that the company would bring back the ranking system. It’s something that they started doing in 2019 when the company was launched and then they stopped in September 2022.
Following the news of the ranking system returning, it was revealed that former two-time AEW World Champion CM Punk was the person who suggested the rankings stop and Tony Khan apparently agreed back then. Now that CM Punk is no longer in AEW and is back in WWE, Khan is bringing back his beloved rankings.
At AEW Worlds End, Samoa Joe ended MJF’s record-breaking AEW World Title reign. Joe has since beaten Hook to retain the championship and appears to have multiple challengers in the future, including Swerve Strickland & “Hangman” Adam Page.
In an interview with Sportskeeda, Samoa Joe made it clear that the return of the ranking system won’t change what he does.
“It doesn’t change anything I do. I mean, what I do is obviously effective; I’m the World Champion. What it changes is the quality of the competitor that I have to actually deal with. I don’t have to deal with every scrub that starts a beef on the outside. Some moron in the parking lot thinks he should be the number one contender, I don’t get to deal with that anymore.”
“Now, there is a system in place that keeps the less-than-desirable away from the desirable competitors. And that’s what the rankings are all about.”
Samoa Joe Doesn’t Want “Suckiness” Around Him
As he continued, the Samoan Submission Machine further made his point by talking about how he doesn’t want people who suck to be around him.
“What I’m trying to say is there’s people out there that suck who wanna be champion. And I don’t want suckiness around me, you know, like, I absorb a lot of my environment. So if there’s people that suck around me, oh, then you know, I know as hard as it is to believe, I might start sucking because of all the suckage that is in my general vicinity.”
“See, the championship committee, they keep those sucky people away from me. You can only be good if you’re in my vicinity.
“Now, you know, like, all I absorbed is the very best of vibes, because only the best are around me. And if you’re not that type of person, then you suck. You’re kept away from me.”
“That’s the science behind what we’re doing here. You know, people ask, why are they doing it? Then please point them to this interview and say, Joe broke down the science of why suckiness can’t be around him. And they will understand what I mean.”
Based on those comments, it sounds like Samoa Joe is glad that the ranking system is back.