»Reported by Adam Martin of WrestleView.com

On Saturday, May 14, 2005 at 2:17 AM EST

Brian Kelley of AudioWrestling.com sent in the following...

Samoa Joe's AudioWrestling.com interview recap from "Monday Night Mayhem"

The longest reigning Ring of Honor Heavyweight champion and current ROH Pure Wrestling title holder, Samoa Joe was a guest on this week's edition of Monday Night Mayhem which can be heard in streaming audio every week exclusively on the AudioWrestling.com site!

Here are highlights from the interview provided by the show's co-host Shawn Walters of www.MondayNightMayhem.com and www.AudioWrestling.com

The Big Mosh and the Angry Hero welcome Samoa Joe to the program, fresh off of his Ring of Honor Pure title victory over Jay Lethal. Joe is a bit battered from the big Manhattan show but everything went well. He talks about some of the ROH guys appearing on the WB 11 morning show in NYC and doing some exhibition matches outside on the street corner.

AH gets Joe’s thoughts on the man he beat for the ROH Pure title, his protégé Jay Lethal. Joe puts over Jay’s intensity and thinks 2005 is going to be Jay’s year to shine. He also gets into the tag match he had later on in the night, teaming with Lethal versus Low Ki and Homicide and the violent brawl that ensued.

Joe discusses the appearances of top Japan talent such as Jushin Liger and Keijo Mutoh in ROH. Initially, it was a big deal to help establish the promotion, but now the focus is more on making homegrown stars in ROH, with the outside help only enhancing the product. Joe recalls how the Japanese stars perceive all American promotions as very “WWE-esque” and automatically felt they were going to play heels, to which Joe had to explain to them otherwise. He goes into a related story involving C.M. Punk & Colt Cabana taking on Tomaoki Honma & Kazushi Miyamoto.

Mosh mentions the coincidence of ROH running a show in NYC the afternoon of the ECW One Night Stand PPV. Joe is excited about the date, making it an “uber-day of wrestling” for the fans. He emphasizes how important every ROH event is to the company, especially in regards to DVD sales. Mosh inquires if any of the ECW alumni might make an appearance at the ROH show, to which Joe says “you never know.”

AH brings up the upcoming ROH double shot -- Dayton, OH on 5/13 and Chicago Ridge, IL on 5/14 – particularly the final match in the best-of-five series between Bryan Danielson and Homicide. Joe says the feud embodies what ROH is all about, focusing on what happens in the ring and making their titles and feuds mean something.

Joe talks about being the ROH Heavyweight champion for almost two years, how it wasn’t intended for him to hold the belt that long. Regardless, he was proud to “carry the company’s banner” for so long and has similar plans for the Pure title.

AH asks Joe to share his methods having 60-75 min. title matches, despite not being the atypical cruiserweight or ultra-lean competitor like Shawn Michaels. Joe admits it is an accolade for the smaller guys, but he attributes his success to lots of cardio and mental preparation in that area. He considers pro wrestling his official “profession”, allowing him to make his own training schedule.

Mosh talks about guys in the WWE and TNA who got their start in ROH, like Paul London, Christopher Daniels, Michael Shane, and how they are now finding success. Joe says “you can only deny talent for so long.” He puts over the talent of AJ Styles and how he thinks AJ should be given a solid run as TNA champion. Joe also gives tremendous props to Christopher Daniels, attributing much of his own success to him (“the consummate professional”).

AH gets into Joe’s time in Ultimate Pro Wrestling (UPW), most notably working with John Cena and Aaron Aguilera (Jesus) early in their careers. Joe is ecstatic for John and has a pre-release copy of Cena’s new CD, recalling the rap freestyles they did while on road trips to stay awake. As for Aaron, Joe has known him even longer and thinks Aaron is a “fighter” and will find his way back to the WWE in the future.

Joe addresses the topic of working in the WWE if he was given the chance. He says it would come down to “a question of money” and what his position would be in the company. Joe makes a good living, working his own schedule and wrestling the indies. He feels the WWE is looking “mainstream appeal” that he doesn’t exactly possess and he’s fine with that.

Mosh brings up ROH’s forthcoming debut in the Buffalo, NY market on June 4th, asking Joe what its like working in a new market for the first time. Joe is “definitely excited” and the whole purpose is to make “the fans excited about wrestling again”, not to run any other promotions out of town. The crew talks up the MNM Tailgate Invitational at the ROH show, which is ironically the same day Rob Van Dam is signing autographs at WWE Niagara Falls. Joe says he knows RVD and jokes he will try to get him to sign stuff in the parking lot at the ROH show with the MNM crew.

AH gets Joe’s thoughts on the passing of Chris Candido, whom Joe posted about in his online blog. He misses Chris immensely and remembers his renewed passion for the business, especially in the IWA of recent, and was actually pushing to get Candido into ROH. Joe recommended to Chris they should call him “Corduroy” Chris Candido because “he always comes back into style.”

In wrapping up the interview, AH gets Joe’s thoughts on ROH’s potential in the rest of 2005. Joe anticipates the promotion going to different markets, possibly overseas. ROH is “working within their means” and it is a “slow and steady” approach for the company in achieving their goals, reigniting the overall interest in pro wrestling. Check out Samoa Joe’s website at www.samoajoe.com and of course, Ring of Honor at www.rohwrestling.com.

You can hear the entire show every week on www.audiowrestling.com.