Samoa Joe is one of those big post Attitude era wrestling superstars, who had to make his name by helping build promotions that aren’t WWE. Before his most famous seven year tenure in WWE NXT, he spent a decade in TNA, and five years in ROH. And he worked in several promotions around the world in between, including Pro Wrestling Zero –One, MLW, Jersey All Pro Wrestling, IWA Mid-South, and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.
Most recently, he entered his first foray into acting, in a way that was oddly connected to video games. He played Sweet Tooth, acting the whole thing with a full face mask on, for the Peacock action comedy series Twisted Metal. Interestingly, MCU star Anthony Mackie enthused on how impressive Joe was as an actor, on the set of this show. You can watch him talk about Joe below.
Today, Joe posted about his actual video game foray, Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii. He said this while sharing the game’s trailer:
“Allow me to Introduce you. His name is Raymond Law.
He is the Pirate king of Madlantis. His will shall not be denied! Like a Dragon Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, releasing Feb 21st 2025 on Xbox, Playstation and Steam.”
Gematsu shared another description of Raymond Law, from Sega’s press release for the game:
“Manages the money on Madlantis.
A magnate who earned the moniker “Pirate King.” Together with Queen Michele, he rules over Madlantis. After the Queen came up with the idea for the Pirates’ Coliseum, he signed on as manager and turned it into a profitable business.”
Sega’s press release also explains that Raymond joins Queen Michele and Mortimer as the head of the crime syndicate that runs Madlantis. While Michele founded the Pirates’ Coliseum found in Madlantis, Mortimer is its current champion. Raymond Law runs the business side of the operation, but we have a suspicion he isn’t in the game for just a small cameo.
Joe is certainly not the first professional wrestler to appear in an RGG Studio game. And if you know anything about RGG Studio, Samoa Joe has a memorable boss battle written all over him. But given what Anthony Mackie has also revealed recently, Joe may do more in this game than most of the wrestlers who have appeared in their games.
Of course, we didn’t have to point this out but Samoa Joe is certainly no stranger to video games himself. Samoa Joe has been in various WWE wrestling games from 2014 to 2022, and most recently appeared in AEW Fight Forever. He was also in the 2008 TNA Impact game, and two PlayStation 2 Kings of Colosseum games by Spike.
And on top of that, Joe also voiced King Shark for Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, and voiced Juggernaut in DOTA 2 and DOTA Underlords. But with all these things said, it’s clear that Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii could make him even more famous to an even newer audience. Will Joe ever be as synonymous with video games as Troy Baker, Nolan North, or Charles Martinet? We don’t think it’s out of the question at all.
