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All Elite Wrestling

Five best underdog matches ahead of Samoa Joe's title defence against Hook

Ash Rose
Five best underdog matches ahead of Samoa Joe's title defence against HookDAZN
Everyone loves an underdog story.

Samoa Joe will make the first defence of his newly won AEW World Championship this week on Dynamite when he takes on Hook, in a classic match pitting an experienced champion against an up-and-coming superstar. 

Hook may well have a record of 44-3 since his debut on the roster, but the FTW Champion is a huge underdog against Joe, who is a multi-time world title holder across various promotions. 

It wouldn't be the first time we've seen such a premise for a match as wrestling is littered with dramatic underdog angles and matches from throughout its history. Here's a look a five of the best underdog stories. 
 

1-2-3 Kid vs Razor Ramon - WWF Monday Night Raw 1993 

The original upset win, and wrestling's equivalent to an FA Cup giant killing came in one of Monday Night's Raw earliest offerings and launched the career of Sean 'X-Pac' Waltman. Going into the match, Waltman was billed as 'The Kid' and seen as just a jobber up against the established name in Razor Ramon. However, minutes later, the star's life changed forever as he recorded the upsets of all upsets over Ramon to grab victory and transform into the 1-2-3 Kid. 
 

Rey Mysterio vs Kevin Nash - WCW Monday Nitro 1999 

Rey Mysterio is arguably wrestling's greatest-ever underdog, and one of his first big wins came on a late 90s episode of Nitro as he faced Kevin Nash. Rey was already one of WCW's most popular young stars, and for the first and only time was forced to unmask during his programme with Nash in February 1999. Rey got the last laugh, however, defeating Nash in a huge surprise win that would become the hallmark of Mysterio's career. 
 

Rey Mysterio vs Randy Orton vs Kurt Ange - WrestleMania 22

Fuelled by the love for his late friend Eddie Gurrero, Rey won the 2006 Royal Rumble and went on to the main event of WrestleMania to face Randy Orton and Kurt Angle for the World Heavyweight Championship. Few expected Mysterio to beat two heavyweights, but he upset the odds to record a famous win on wrestling's biggest stage. 

Daniel Bryan vs Batista vs Randy Orton - WrestleMania 30 

Eight years after Rey's win, Daniel Bryan found himself in the main event of WrestleMania wrestling as the underdog against the two decorated WWE Champions. Bryan had been at the centre of a story of how he would only ever be a 'B+ player' but proved he was anything but by getting the victory in New Orleans in the perfect finale to one of WWE's best stories of the decade. 

Kevin Owens vs John Cena - Elimination Chamber 2015

Kevin Owens wasn't exactly a rookie when he made his main roster debut in 2015, but his victory over John Cena was still seen as a win for the underdog. The victory came amid Cena's open challenge for his United States Championship, but few expected the NXT Champion to get the win over WWE's all-conquering franchise player.