Samoa Joe humiliates Wardlow, then gets a new challenger

The self-proclaimed King of Television Samoa Joe put one of his two TV-themed talents on the line in Colorado tonight (Dec. 28). He didn’t want to wait for the main event, or let his challenger Wardlow walk to the ring without a limp...

Commentary told us the TNT title match was still on, but Joe clearly doubted it when he hit the ring with 15 minutes left in the show. But the champ only got a few seconds to heelishly gloat before the challenger showed up. Wardlow had to fight off the referees and medical staff trying to stop him, but nothing — not them or a bad leg — was going to stop him.

Joe was in charge for most of the match. He split time targeting the injury and toying with his wounded opponent. Wardlow was able to get the champ up for a powerbomb, but when he tried for the Symphony, his leg wouldn’t allow it. Joe was able to lock in a choke and retain.

He wasn’t done. It seemed like he might show some respect to his wounded rival, but of course that was a set-up. After blasting Wardlow with the belt, Joe got some scissors from a toolbox that was beneath the ring. The Samoan Submission Machine headbutted referee Paul Turner when he tried to stop him, then cut off the War Dog’s ponytail!

After that, Darby Allin returned to chase him off, and presumably set-up a future match for the TNT belt (Joe also holds the Ring of Honor Television title, but it seems that will be defended on the ROH streaming service in 2023).

Great to see Allin back on the show. But Wardlow probably would have liked it if he’d come out a minute earlier.

Get complete results and coverage of everything from tonight’s “New Year’s Smash” edition of Dynamite here.