Samoa Joe On What Being AEW's 'Standard-Bearer' Means To Him

It has been a little less than three weeks since Samoa Joe toppled MJF to become the AEW World Champion, but already Joe has established himself as the man atop AEW's food chain. That continued last night on "AEW Dynamite," when Joe defeated a spirited Hook in his first AEW World Title defense, all while "Hangman" Adam Page and Swerve Strickland watched nearby, poised to be the next ones to try and knock Joe off his pedestal.

While other mere mortals may crumble under the pressure of being the "standard-bearer" of a promotion like AEW, Joe is embracing it, in a similar way he did during past stints in Ring of Honor and TNA. In an interview with "Bleacher Report's" Chris Mueller, the AEW World Champion described exactly what it meant to be the man atop the pyramid.

"It means that we did everything right," Joe said. "That's exactly what it means. To be the standard-bearer for AEW was something I always had my eyes on. It was an intention I made very clear from my first day in the company and to see it come to fruition now is really no surprise."

"It's a tremendous amount of responsibility that I will bear quite easily. Doing this and being a champion in AEW, it is standard-bearing. It means that you must carry the company. You must be the focal point of what everybody wants. As you can see on our first night out, that was very much the case. It's a role that I'm very happy to embrace and expand upon."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Bleacher Report" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription