Samoa Joe challenges locker room leader stereotypes ahead of AEW WrestleDream: 'No great man is led by fear'

The former AEW world champion reflects on locker room leadership and the next generation of wrestlers Samoa Joe has spent nearly three decades helping reshape professional wrestling. Now as the 47-year-old veteran, he wonders what more he can leave behind ahead of yet another world title match at AEW WrestleDream. Joe helped change what professional wrestling looked like in the 2000s alongside contemporaries like AJ Styles, Bryan Danielson and CM Punk. They helped revolutionize an independent wrestling movement, blending different elements into a hard-hitting style and proving you didn't need a bodybuilder physique to become a star. The former AEW world champion previously told CBS Sports that his current contract will "most likely" end in his retirement.

He's already established an acting career, portraying Sweet Tooth in the television adaptation of "Twisted Metal" and lending his voice to various projects across film and video games. But before he walks away from wrestling, Joe wants to give back to the industry that has given him so much. "I'm doing my best to enrich the places that have enriched me over my career," Joe told CBS Sports. "It sounds super noble, but, in reality, I've had this amazing journey that is really not fraught with a lot of heartache and despair." Professional wrestling isn't particularly forgiving. The hours are brutal, the money