Samoa Joe returns to AEW at Dynamite Maximum Carnage

Samoa Joe has returned to AEW after a hiatus of six months.

Joe made his return on Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite, helping Katsuyori Shibata save Hook from an attack at the hands of The Patriarchy.

The scheduled Christian Cage vs. Hook match broke down into chaos with a DQ finish after Kip Sabian and Nick Wayne jumped into the ring to attack Hook. Shibata was in Hook’s corner and jumped in to save, but the attack was still three-on-two.

Joe’s music then hit, with the former AEW World Champion entering to even the odds.

Samoa Joe has been absent from AEW programming since losing a Stampede Street Fight to Chris Jericho last July.

A subsequent stretcher angle in a backstage segment with Jericho pushing Joe through a wall wrote Joe out of storylines. It was reported at the time that Joe was taking time off to film another season of Peacock’s Twisted Metal, where he plays the role of Sweet Tooth, a character voiced by Will Arnett.