Haven’t had a chance to check it out yet (there’s just so much wrestling to keep up with!), but I’m planning to watch season two of Peacock’s Twisted Metal. I really enjoyed season one of the adaptation of the old Sony post-apocalyptic racing/fighting video game series. And not just because the legendary Samoa Joe was one-half of the show’s (and game’s) breakout star, Sweet Tooth.
Personally, I think Joe should handle Sweet Tooth’s speaking parts in addition to the physical acting we see him do on Twisted Metal. But he and Will Arnett, who does the talking in the role, obviously coordinate things well and its a great performance all around. Anyway…
Even for an action comedy, you’d think wrestling would be more dangerous that acting. But Joe told PWInsider’s Mike Johnson that’s not the case, revealing that he suffered an injury while filming in Toronto last year:
“Normally, I would say the ring is always a much more precarious place to be in, but halfway through the season, I fractured my ankle.
”Nothing crazy — we had done a series of pretty crazy driving stunts and some dangerous things here and there. Then it was just parking, and I had to hop out the back on some really rocky, busted-up asphalt. I turned my ankle and spent the rest of the season taping it up and limping through it.
“Twisted Metal is incredibly physical — fighting scenes, driving scenes. Anytime that car is driving, you see me in it, it’s me. It’s a demanding role, but spending enough time in the ring as I have, it’s no new territory.”
Again, season two shot last year, so that ankle break doesn’t have anything to do with why AEW wrote him off at All In Texas last month. That was reportedly so he could do press for Twisted Metal (like his interview with PWInsider), and for storyline purposes related to the PPV’s main event. Joe keeps it kayfabe around that, telling Johnson that he’ll be back “sooner than later”, after “clearing our various medical protocols”.
The whole experience did increase Joe’s appreciation for stuntpeople though, who he calls pro wrestler’s “cousins”:
“It definitely gives you a greater respect for the craft. Some of these guys really went above and beyond pushing the limits of those cars and creating incredible catastrophic stunts. The stuntmen are the cousins of the pro wrestlers — our lingo is the same, the way we think about things is the same. It’s easy to match with those guys and appreciate their efforts even more.”