Samoa Joe (WWE)

Samoa Joe named Queen Aminata, Trish Adora, and Action Andretti as AEW talents with untapped potential in an interview with TV Insider. He also qualified for the Clockwork Carnage match at AEW WrestleDream, where the winner will challenge Will Ospreay for the AEW World Championship.

Samoa Joe returned to in-ring action at AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam France in Paris, his first match since May. He defeated Jack Perry with a Muscle Buster in a qualifying match, becoming the first wrestler to earn a place in the Clockwork Carnage match at WrestleDream.

Samoa Joe made his return to AEW at the Tailgate Brawl pre-show of AEW All Out in Chicago, ending a months-long absence from television. He confronted Jack Perry after Perry had defeated his stablemate Katsuyori Shibata, and laid Perry out with a headbutt after a handshake attempt.

Samoa Joe was medically cleared to return to in-ring competition and competed on the April 22, 2026 episode of AEW Dynamite. This marked his return after a three-month absence from AEW television due to a non-contact training injury that had placed him in concussion protocol.

At a 2026 wrestling convention in the United Kingdom, Samoa Joe said he would be back in AEW sooner rather than later. He was still recovering from a January training injury at the time, and Hook was serving as the interim leader of The Opps during his absence.

AEW announced that Samoa Joe suffered a non-contact injury during training and was not medically cleared to compete. The injury forced him off AEW television immediately and interrupted his involvement in the AEW World Championship storyline as leader of The Opps.