At the recent NXT television tapings held at the Capitol Wrestling Center, Samoa Joe’s in-ring return was confirmed. During the tapings, Samoa Joe offered NXT General Manager William Regal his resignation so that he could face Kross. Regal agreed and signed the paperwork for a match between Kross and Joe at Takeover 36 for the NXT Championship.
For Samoa Joe this would be his first match since February of 2020. He has been out of action dealing with concussion issues. Following his release from WWE’s main roster this spring, Joe moved to NXT where he became something of Regal’s enforcer, although he only lasted a short while in the role.
Joe appeared on Ryan Satin’s “Out of Character” podcast at the end of June and spoke about his transition to NXT.
“I’ve kind of been in this situation before. A younger me probably would have been really, really freaked out. But, I mean at this point you just roll/pivot. That’s really all there is to it when it comes to life in general. That’s kind of the mantra I’ve kept. At that point I think I was already kind of in the works and setting up the next framework for whatever else I was going to do. A few hours later I get a call from Hunter and it pretty much all kind of changed.”
