Samoa Joe‘s NXT return was put in motion just a few hours after he was initially released by WWE in April.
Samoa Joe was the latest guest on Out Of Character with Ryan Satin and he spoke about his return to NXT in a new “enforcer” role. Joe was released on April 15, but quickly returned to the company with the NXT brand on June 15. Speaking to Satin, Joe explained how John Laurinaitis called him and informed him of his release in April, and he was understanding due to his situation. He noted that the release was not expected, but he was relatively calm about it given the circumstances. He said a younger version of himself might have been worried, but you need to “roll, pivot” and move forward with his next projects.
“A few hours later, I get a call from Hunter and that all pretty much kinda changed.” [laughs]
Satin asked to clarify that the call from Triple H was only a few hours after being released by John Laurinaitis, Joe said it “essentially” happened that way.
“I had sent some company farewell texts to people to just say ‘it’s a pleasure working with you’, some people I genuinely enjoyed working with, some general thanks and ‘I’m sure we’ll talk down the road at some point’ [remarks] and then I got a text back [from Triple H]. [He said] ‘Give me a minute, I’m getting out of a meeting’ and we had a brief conversation, which was essentially ‘give us a little bit of time, I’ll work out a package and we’ll be talking soon,’” Joe said. “And that led to my return back to NXT.”
Asked if he had any reservations about coming back despite what had transpired, Joe said he didn’t before explaining what his new role will entail.
“No, and a lot of it was that me and Triple H had spoken about this transition in-depth, and it wasn’t just coming back to NXT and being an enforcer and having a role on the show. Now, I’m working in the talent scouting department, working with Canyon Ceman, a few more administrative things here and there behind the scenes,” Joe explained, “It’s a little bit of a transition for me into some of the other aspects of the business of WWE.
“It’s kind of an evolution of my journey, I’ve gone through the commentary production ranks and I’m working a little more on the behind-the-house type of things, so it was a really great, cool opportunity that Hunter offered me. And I’m still performing here within the bounds of WWE,” Joe noted, “so it was a very, very nice understanding that we have come to and I’m really excited about it.”
In regards to his new role, Joe said that he’s looking forward to giving looks to talent that might not otherwise get a chance in WWE. Joe was also asked about his potential in-ring return, and if it’s something he’s still pursuing. Joe said ‘absolutely’, adding that he’ll just say yes he’s working on it, and “we’ll leave it at that.”
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