Samoa Joe entered a Ring Of Honor ring for the first time since 2015 and was announced as All Elite Wrestling's latest free agent acquisition … all on the same night.

Joe returned to ROH following a seven-year absence during the climax of ROH Supercard Of Honor 2022. It all went down at the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, Texas on the eve of WrestleMania. Jonathan Gresham has just been crowned the undisputed Ring Of Honor World Champion following a hard fought victory over Bandido when he was accosted by his former mentor Jay Lethal.

Lethal demanded a title shot, but Gresham -- who was disgusted by Lethal's dastardly new attitude -- rejected the ROH stalwart's demands. A scuffle ensues, but AEW producer/ROH veteran Sonjay Dutt intervened and called for calm ... and then he ambushed Gresham, cementing a heel turn.

Dutt and Lethal ganged up on Gresham until some new-yet-strangely-familiar music rang out around the arena. Former ROH Champion Samoa Joe appeared on the ramp and made a beeline for the ring. He immediately slapped Dutt in a chokehold and chased Lethal away. Joe then invited Gresham back in the ring and shook hands with the champ.

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On commentary, it was announced that Joe would be at AEW Dynamite on Wednesday. AEW president Tony Khan took to Twitter soon afterward to confirm that Joe had signed a contract with AEW.

Samoa Joe is the longest-reigning Ring Of Honor World Champion in the promotion's history. He held the gold for 645 days and defended it 31 times during that time. Joe became ROH Champion when he defeated Xavier at ROH Night OF Champions in March 2003. He eventually lost the title to Austin Aries at ROH Final Battle in December 2004. His Ring Of Honor legacy speaks for itself, and his induction into the company's Hall Of Fame was inevitable.

Samoa Joe and several of his colleagues were laid off by WWE as a result of budget cuts necessitated by the Covid-19 pandemic back in April 2021. Soon after Joe was released, rumors began to swirl that he had been re-hired almost immediately. The rumors proved to be true when Joe made his shocking return to NXT last June.

Joe became the first and only three-time NXT Champion when he defeated Karrion Kross at TakeOver 36 last August. Three days later, he was forced to relinquish the gold due to injury and was released by WWE (for the second time) on January 6.