Samoa Joe defeats former WWE star, advances to AEW Tournament finals

The second finalist for the AEW Owen Hart Foundation cup was unveiled this week when Samoa Joe defeated Kyle O'Reilly in the semifinals.

Adam Cole faced off against Jeff Hardy last week in the first semifinal match. After a grueling fight, The Panama City Playboy took down the Charismatic Enigma via pinfall. This left only one more match remaining to determine the second finalist.

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This week's semifinal started with Samoa Joe and Kyle taking things slowly before going onto full-scale warfare. While the Undisputed Elite member looked to hold his own, Joe bought a different level of ferocity to the fight.

After a lot of back and forth, the Samoan Submission Machine was able to get the upper hand. Kyle O'Reilly was caught in the Coquina Clutch submission maneuver, forcing him to tap out.

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After the match ended, Adam Cole came out on the ramp. The two AEW stars stared down intensely as the show went off-air.

Given how things stand, fans are in for a high-stakes finale to the Owen Hart Foundation Men's Tournament at Double or Nothing pay-per-view on Sunday.

About the author

Shubhajit is a pro wrestling journalist at Sportskeeda, reporting on WWE news. He has a Master's degree in English and has been working in his current role for over 2 years.

A fan of pro wrestling since childhood, Shubhajit decided to start creating content on the sport out of passion. Before covering a piece of news or rumor, he conducts thorough research, ensuring information in his work is reliable and completely accurate.

Although Shubhajit admires numerous pro wrestlers, his current favorite is WWE superstar Drew McIntyre. He is fond of The Scottish Warrior’s character work and innovative quips.

If there is one storyline he can work on in WWE, Shubhajit would book Roman Reigns’ future with The Bloodline following WrestleMania XL, where he lost to Cody Rhodes. He would have Reigns’ stablemates excommunicate him, laying the foundation for a gimmick change for the former. After Reigns’ exit from the faction, Shubhajit would portray him as an anti-hero trying hard to claw his way back up to the top.

Apart from reporting on pro wrestling, Shubhajit enjoys competitive gaming and reading.

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Edited by Angana Roy