Top 7 Wrestling Joes

There’s been a ton of Joes in the news lately. Have you noticed this?

America’s President is named Joe. The most powerful U.S. Senator these days is some random wealthy West Virginian named Joe. The most talked about controversial podcaster of the past week or so is named Joe. My Cincinnati Bengals are all over the news for making their first Super Bowl appearance in over thirty years. Their quarterback & running back are both named Joe.

Given how prevalent Joes are in the headlines these days, I don’t think there would be a better time to tackle the following question: Who were the best Joes in pro wrestling history? Today, we count down the seven most magnificent wrestling Joes, along with Joes that made other contributions to the business.

7. Jocephus

Image Credit: NWA/Twitter

Jocephus was one of the characters that Billy Corgan & David Lagana hoped to build the newest incarnation of the National Wrestling Alliance around. Like many young wrestlers with some size, Jocephus looked up to Bruiser Brody, even using Brody as his last name early in his career. He became a top contender to the NWA Worlds Championship during the days & months after Corgan purchased the NWA, and looked to be one of the top characters of the promotion’s new Powerrr YouTube show when it launched.

He was, but as it turned out, it would be under a different gimmick. Jocephus would gain his most popularity under the persona of “The Question Mark”. Question Mark became the sensei of Aron Stevens, teaching him the ways of Mongrovian karate. It was a campy old school gimmick that fit perfectly with what the NWA was trying to present, and the fans loved it. Sadly, the man known to his friends as Joseph Hudson passed away in February 2021 while the NWA was on a hiatus.

6. Joe Hendry

Hendry was one of several stars to get noticed during the UK indie wrestling boom of the 2010s. A multi-talented man, Hendry was an accomplished musician before getting into wrestling. He’s also branched out into amateur wrestling during his pro wrestling career, medaling in several senior competitions and competing at the Commonwealth Games. He appeared for Impact Wrestling during 2018, and was signed to a contract by Ring of Honor just prior to the pandemic. Rough timing for Hendry on that one, but he’s still got some years ahead.

5. Joe Doering

Image Credit: Impact Wrestling/Twitter

Doering has spent most of his career working for All Japan Pro Wrestling, serving as one of their top gaijin talents. He’s held the Triple Crown two times and has won AJPW’s tag team championship with four different partners. Doering is one of only five men to have held the Triple Crown, the others being Stan Hansen, Steve Williams, Terry Gordy & Vader. Some pretty tall cotton. Like those other men, most of Doering’s success has come from being a big bruiser. Doering has been back in America the past couple of years, working for Impact Wrestling.

4. Gypsy Joe

Gypsy Joe started out in Puerto Rico, learning from folks like Pedro Morales & Carlos Colon. He came to the United States and wound up making a home for himself in Tennessee. He was a staple of Nick Gulas’s promotion, teaming with Tojo Yamamoto to win multiple tag team championships. He’d become known as a brawler, winning the Brass Knuckles Championship four times. Joe worked under a number of identities, including as part of the Blue Infernos in Tennessee & the Infernos in Puerto Rico. He wrestled across the United States & Canada.

When the territory system started dying off, Joe would make his way to Japan and become involved in the hardcore wrestling scene there. He remained active in wrestling for seven decades, but what people might know him most for is an incident in 2003 were a match with New Jack got out of hand. Gypsy Joe was known for no-selling, and Jack didn’t take too kindly to it. It blew up on the Internet back in the day and became one of those crazy New Jack stories.

3. Joe Blanchard

Blanchard’s pro wrestling career started while he was playing for the CFL’s Edmonton Eskimos in the early 1950s. He had some experience wrestling in school, so it was a natural transition. Blanchard found success in Indianapolis & Hawaii, but would make his home in San Antonio, becoming a promoter there. He originally shared talent with Fritz Von Erich & Paul Boesch, but the group split in the late 1970s over a dispute over promotional tactics, including whose sons to feature at the top of their cards. Fritz had his kids, and Joe had young Tully.

Blanchard’s Southwest Championship Wrestling was a blood & guts territory, old school Texas style rasslin. It ended up being the first wrestling promotion to get a slot on the USA Network, but that ended due to failure to pay bills and some programming that USA didn’t like. The World Wrestling Federation would inherit that slot, and the rest was history. Joe didn’t do much in wrestling after closing his promotion, but his son Tully went on to a pretty notable career as one of the Four Horsemen. His granddaughter Tessa also ended up in the business and is trying to make her path.

2. Joe Stecher

https://youtu.be/JQl6mmAtkbE

Many of you are going to wonder who this is. Those of you familiar with Joe Stecher are going to wonder why he isn’t number one. Joe was part of an athletic family, with brothers that also competed in wrestling. Joe, as the largest of the group, was the superior wrestler. He had tremendous leg strength, as he could squeeze 100 pound sacks of grain between his legs until they burst. He popularized the use of the leg scissors as a submission hold and eventually gained the attention of Farmer Burns, who was also the mentor of then World Heavyweight Champion Frank Gotch.

After rising through the ranks, Stecher became the recognized World Champion after Gotch’s retirement. A match between the two was booked, but Gotch’s health wouldn’t allow it to happen. Rumor had it that Stecher dominated Gotch in a sparring session, which helped further establish Stecher as champion. Ed “Strangler” Lewis became Stecher’s fiercest rival throughout the 1910s & 20s, helping establish pro wrestling as a form of entertainment for the masses. He retired in 1934 as a three-time world heavyweight champion and as one of pro wrestling’s first superstars.

Honorable Mention: Corsica Joe

Corsica Joe was well-known in southern wrestling as one half of the Corsicans. He was born in France, so portraying a foreign heel from the French island of Corsica wasn’t much of a stretch. He & Corsica Jean won tag team championships in several territories, including Florida, Georgia & Texas, but were most active in the Tennessee area. They stayed in Tennessee for most of their careers, and Joe would end up spending most of his life in the Nashville area. He was often seen at small shows in Nashville years after he retired with his wife, fellow pro wrestler Sara Lee. There isn’t a lot of Corsica Joe footage out there, but he was spoken well of by those in the business that interacted with him.

Honorable Mention: Joey Marella

The adopted son of Gorilla Monsoon, Joey worked for the WWF for years as a referee and in other backstage positions. He was famously the referee for the main event of WrestleMania III between Hulk Hogan & Andre the Giant, and worked other main events as well in the late 1980s & early 1990s. Marella passed away after an automobile accident on July 4, 1994 while on his way to another town after an event.

Honorable Mention: Joey Styles

OH MY GOD! Back in the 1990s, Styles was widely hailed as one of the best announcers in the business. His voice certainly fit the ECW product, and he was more than capable of being a one man show. For whatever reason, Styles’ work just didn’t translate when he went to WWE. He did punch out JBL during a trip to Iraq, so the stint didn’t completely ruin his reputation.

Honorable Mention: Joel Gertner

If we’re going to mention one former ECW announcer, we have to mention the Quintessential Studmuffin, right? Gertner’s introductions of himself & the Dudley Boyz would never fly in 2022 pro wrestling, but they were among the highlights of ECW programming back in the day. Gertner is also memorable in my household for the best/worst chairshot & fireball of all time when he lightly hit Balls Mahoney on the back & then threw matches at him during Hardcore Heaven 1999. It was a minute of pure awesomeness.

1. Samoa Joe

Image Credit: WWE

The Samoan Submission Machine left a trail of destruction wherever he went. He first gained attention from the Internet masses in Ring of Honor, holding their championship during twenty-one months and helping put the promotion on the map. Joe then went to TNA Wrestling & became one of the company’s staples through good & bad times. No matter how much people laughed at TNA for various failures, Joe was one of the people you could usually rely on to provide some quality programming.

Joe wound up in NXT some ten years after people were saying WWE should sign him. He made up for lost time by destroying everybody in his path there & winning the NXT Championship on multiple occasions. His main roster stint, like most NXT talent’s main roster stints, didn’t have the same level of success, but just like he always did wherever he went, Joe still found a way to make some memorable moments with the likes of Brock Lesnar & AJ Styles. Injuries caught up with Joe in the last couple of years, and he spent most of his time at the announce table or behind the scenes.

It’s tough to say whether or not Samoa Joe could have been an even bigger star than he ended up being. His best years were spent outside the spotlight of WWE, and his strong style took a toll on his physical abilities in the long run. However, Joe’s importance to the North American indy wrestling scene can’t be overlooked. He was also of importance on something of a personal level, as Joe was one of my favorites to watch during a time where I was getting pretty down on this whole watching pro wrestling thing. It’s always important to have one or two of those.

Thanks for reading! Hit me up on the Twitter or down in the comments with any thoughts, concerns or suggestions. WHO DEY!