Adam Cole Beats Samoa Joe to Win AEW Men’s Owen Hart Cup Tournament Final

Adam Cole beat Samoa Joe at All Elite Wrestling Double or Nothing on Sunday night to win the inaugural Owen Hart Foundation men’s tournament.

Cole brought The Boom—literally and figuratively—to Joe en route to the victory. He caught his opponent flush on the back of his head with an exposed knee, which was enough to keep Joe down for the three count.

AEW announced in September 2021 that it had reached an agreement with the estate of Owen Hart to use his name and likeness for numerous purposes, including the Owen Hart Cup.

Both men’s and women’s tourneys were held with qualifying matches beginning at the end of March. The tournaments ran throughout April and much of May, and the finals were contested at Double or Nothing.

On the men’s side, Cole and Joe each scored three victories en route to the finals, picking up plenty of momentum along the way.

Cole had to beat New Japan Pro-Wrestling star Tomohiro Ishii to qualify for the tournament, and he followed that up by taking down FTR’s Dax Harwood in the quarterfinals and Jeff Hardy in the semifinals in what was a first-time-ever match.

Joe made his debut under the AEW umbrella at Ring of Honor Supercard of Honor XV in April shortly after AEW president Tony Khan purchased ROH.

In subsequent weeks, the 43-year-old veteran defeated Max Caster of The Acclaimed to qualify for the tournament. After that, he beat former WWE star John Morrison, who wrestled under the name Johnny Elite, in the quarters and then Cole’s longtime stablemate Kyle O’Reilly in the semis.

Cole and Joe have worked many of the same places over the years, including ROH and WWE NXT, but Sunday marked the first time they ever wrestled each other.

Prior to Double or Nothing, all they had was a confrontation in NXT when Joe was serving as an enforcer for then-NXT general manager William Regal, as he choked out Cole in a backstage segment.

Although the payoff happened in a different company, Cole got his revenge at Double or Nothing by winning the Owen Hart Cup and perhaps put himself back in the mix for an AEW World Championship opportunity in the near future.

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