In today’s Ring of Honor Video Wire, Samoa Joe announced that he will be leaving Ring of Honor after the promotion’s March 4 event in Liverpool, UK. Samoa Joe commended the promotion, saying that “Ring of Honor was the place he was able to go out and be Joe”. He stated that “The Samoa Joe Farewell Tour” would begin on February 16, and end with the Liverpool show on March 4. In a cryptic comment, Joe ended his statement by saying he “was forced to say farewell to ROH”.
“I’d like to start this off by saying thank you. Thank you to the Ring of Honor fans. Thank you to the Ring of Honor loyalists. For all those who helped make this grow and become what it is today and for those that will continue to help this grow and become bigger and better in the days to come. It has come to light that my tenure here in Ring of Honor will soon be coming to an end. As most of you know, a great deal of my heart, a great deal of my soul, a great of who I am as a wrestler, as a person is linked to this promotion and what I’ve done in it. I started out in Southern California and did my best to hone my skills, but Ring of Honor was the place where I go to display that. It was the place where I got to go out and be Joe and that’s all I had to be. The past three years, three plus years, hell, damn near four now, I’ve called this place home. I have proudly carried its banner and I’ve proudly displayed my work here to all those who would see it. So, in light of that, I am making an announcement that the Samoa Joe Farewell Tour will begin on February 16th and will end in Liverpool, England. I will have my final match as a regular part of the Ring of Honor as a wrestler. I’ve made a lot of promises and I’ve said a lot of things, especially into this camera, but I promise you this, I came into this company to do a mission – to wrestle my ass off, to give my best at all times for the best fans in the world. I promise you this Ring of Honor fans, in my final run here, my final string of matches that I will leave with this promotion, I will give you my best. I will give you my greatest. I promise you. I will give you my all. Unfortunately, circumstances and time move on, and so much I. Ring of Honor’s always been a promotion about new talent, new people, a new breed of wrestling. Trends aren’t followed here, trends are made and now I leave the trends, the edginess, the realness of pro wrestling for those here on this roster. Ring of Honor was a huge part of my life and always will be. I hope you will join me and the rest here as I’m forced to say farewell to a company that I love. Thank you. I am Samoa Joe. I love pro wrestling and I leave it all here, in Ring of Honor.”
