AEW wrestling star Samoa Joe encourages Christians to tithe

Professional wrestler Samoa Joe is encouraging Christians to tithe, characterizing his commitment to donating a portion of his income to his church as one of his “greatest decisions.” 

Samoa Joe, whose real name is Joe Seanoa, spoke with Pastor Craig Altman on Sunday at the Tampa-area multi-campus Grace Family Church in Florida, where he attends. 

Discussing the topic of tithing, Seanoa, 47, condemned the “prosperity doctrine” as something that “did damage on our family,” recalling how it made him skeptical “about giving money to the Church and what it was actually being used for.”

He described how his wife changed his perspective on giving money to the Church as someone who “always had tithed” and encouraged him to do the same. 

“I acquiesced, and it was probably one of the greatest decisions that we made as a couple,” the former All Elite Wrestling world champion explained. “Happy wife, happy life.” 

Seanoa shared his belief that “we own truly nothing,” identifying “the minute that I stopped thinking about money as something that I owned and rather something that I was a steward of” as the occasion where his “relationship with money changed.” Seanoa noted that before adopting this point of view, “it affected me and stressed me out.”

“It didn’t stress me out anymore because this isn’t something I was owning,” he said. “This was something that I was a steward of.” 

The wrestler said he is “grateful to give my tithe every month" and not something that he considers "a tax.” He rejected the characterization of a tithe as “a bill that I owe every month,” instead seeing it as “me being faithful to the Lord who’s been overly faithful to me in all and every situation.” 

“I can confidently say since the very first month that we started tithing in earnest, the first 10%, there’s never been a time where I’ve thought of not tithing because there’s always been an abundance there,” he insisted. “Where there wasn’t a way, God made a way.” 

Seanoa assured the church that “having this relationship with God and making this commitment to your faith will make differences in your lives."

“I’m really sharing this because I want you to have that same blessing in your life and that same type of peace," he said. 

“You’ll try Netflix for a couple of months just to see if you like it. Try God for a few more,” he proclaimed.

Seanoa predicted that tithing will lead to “a lot more joy” and “a lot more fulfillment” than Netflix. 

Samoa Joe began wrestling in 1999 and has held titles in numerous companies, including Ring of Honor, Total Nonstop Action, World Wrestling Entertainment and AEW. Seanoa holds the distinction of being the longest-reigning ROH World Champion in company history, holding the belt for 645 days from 2003 to 2004. 

During his conversation at Grace Family Church, Seanoa shared how his faith helped him get through a difficult period in his life where his career as a professional wrestler was ended for a time because of a concussion and was fired by WWE from his job as a commentator shortly after that. He was thankful that his wife responded to his termination by asserting, “It’s all right, God’s got this, we’re going to be fine.” 

“Fast forward to four hours later, I receive a phone call from a friend I hadn’t spoken to in upwards of 15 years," Seanoa said. "And he calls me and goes, ‘Hey, listen, I don’t know what your schedule is. I don’t know if you’re busy. I haven’t talked to you in forever, but I’m doing a … brand new TV show for Peacock. I’d love you to come in and star in it. Please, please, please.’”

Seanoa informed his wife that he'd have a role in Peacock's adaption of the video game "Twisted Metal." She replied: “I told you it would all work out.” 

Seanoa concluded, “I’ve been doing this for upwards of 20 years, and we’ve experienced nothing but blessings and love in the time that we’ve done it.” He told the audience he hoped they would all have the opportunity to “embark on this journey” and “find the very same blessings that we have.”