Samoa Joe is leaving the WWE for the second time in less than a year.
Fightful Select reports that WWE has released Samoa Joe. Joe has not been on WWE TV since he dropped the NXT Championship due to injury. The company released him the first time due to budget cuts. It’s unclear what the reason is behind the WWE decision this time.
“…Fightful has confirmed Samoa Joe has been let go from WWE. The company has confirmed the news to us,” said the report.
Joe has released a statement on Twitter regarding his second departure from the WWE. In the post, he praised the new talent in NXT 2.0 and seems optimistic about his professional wrestling future.
“Extremely fortunate and grateful to all the young & amazing talent I had the pleasure of working with in the past months. Only saddened at the loss of an “excuse” to see their continued growth & achievement. I am very excited for their future,… and mine,” said Joe
Recent WWE Releases
WWE has released both talent and employees in the last two days. Yesterday, the WWE released notable names like former NXT General Manager William Regal, Timothy Thatcher, Danny Burch, Hideki Suzuki, and Road Dogg. This news follows an unfortunate trend that the company has done over the last year, as the company released over 80 talent in 2021. WWE’s reason for letting talent go was also due to budget cuts.
Samoa Joe Last Run in WWE
Joe is coming off of a brief run in NXT. He returned to NXT on June 15, 2021, as Regal’s Special Enforcer. However, NXT had Joe challenge former NXT champion Karrion Kross for the title two months later at NXT Takeover 36. He defeated Kross to become a three-time NXT Champion.
Unfortunately for Joe, he wasn’t able to defend the title because Joe suffered an undisclosed injury that forced him to vacate the championship. During this time, NXT rebranded itself into NXT 2.0 and started to showcase newer talent. While NXT 2.0 introduced new talent like the current NXT Champion Bron Breakker, some NXT veterans have left the company.
While Joe’s departure from the WWE seems sudden, he seems focused on what’s next for him. It’s unclear how long Joe will be a free agent in the pro wrestling business.
