Samoa Joe is a longtime fan favorite that was awesome in TNA, but the WWE never seemed to figure out how to book for him on the main brand as he was regularly beaten by smaller opponents and never flashed his TNA dominance except in flashes.
After he was released the first time, it was reported that Triple H managed to get him rehired to help with the behind the scenes on NXT.
While he helped as a coach and scout, he also had an on air role as an enforcer, and he entered a feud with Karrion Kross.
At NXT TakeOver 36, Joe defeated Kross for the NXT Championship. This ended Kross’ dominate run in NXT as he moved to the main brand.
Unfortunately, Kross was released for budget reasons and he fizzled out on Raw due to horrible booking we’ve grown accustomed to over the years.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFaSd7ESi4U&t=6s
Testing positive and Losing his position
Samoa Joe has a history of injuries, and he was soon forced to relinquish the NXT Championship due to an injury that many of us assumed was a storyline injury.
That may not have been the case as he appeared on Busted Open Radio and revealed he tested positive for Covid and then Vince McMahon decided to change gears and rebrand NXT as NXT 2.0.
According to Joe, Vince decided have him relinquish the title so a new champion could be crowned on NXT 2.0’s inaugural episode.
Special thanks to @wrestlefeed.app for the transcript.
“I popped for COVID. It was the weekend, my wife was making stew and I couldn’t smell it. She said, ‘Wow, doesn’t that smell great.’ I said, ‘No.’ I tested positive on Saturday.
“By then, Vince wanted to go in a different direction with NXT and he wanted to have the new opening with NXT 2.0 be with a bang and I agreed with him.
“I said, ‘If that’s the case, this is probably what’s best for what your vision is for this product.’
“I went behind the scenes and started working with talent on a one to one basis, pulling guys individually in open gyms, working with them, and focusing on these new tremendous prospects that were brought in and people that were hungry to learn and excited about this newfound opportunity. It was invigorating for me.
“When you’re working with younger talent that are hungry and want to succeed on a high level, it amps up your own spirit. I was delving into that heavily. Working with Matt Bloom on revising things, training techniques, and evaluating what we were doing already and seeing if we could do it better.
“That was really the end of my tenure at WWE.”
Samoa Joe joined the budget cut releases for a second time, except this time Vince was cleaning out Triple H’s people backstage and talent that didn’t fit his vision.
It wiped the slate clean for a new show, but it also alienated hardcore fans of the old NXT. When he’s about to sign with another company, Joe will be a great asset in and out of the ring.
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