NXT Champion Samoa Joe recently spoke with Scott Fishman for Channel Guide Magazine to promote SummerSlam weekend and Saturday night’s NXT Takeover: Brooklyn II special from the Barclays Center.
One of the things that sets NXT apart from the main WWE product is that feuds are given significant time to develop. Joe feuded with former champion Finn Balor for over seven months and says it was refreshing that fans stuck with the main event program through its culmination.
“You don’t typically see these long feuds much these days,” Joe said. “Things don’t usually last that long. Working with Finn, who is a phenomenon and who the fans are rabid to see. Now you see him exploding on the scene on Raw, which is no surprise to me. For the most part it was a great experience, and I think we produced some good stuff people enjoyed and will remember for a long time. I’m glad we crossed paths and hope we will cross paths again.”
Balor was recently drafted to the RAW brand, which means Joe would have to get called up by Stephanie McMahon and Mick Foley in order for their paths to cross.
UFC fighter Conor McGregor has been making headlines for his negative comments about WWE Superstars. After calling pro wrestlers “messed up p*ssies” earlier this month McGregor doubled down over the weekend and called John Cena “a big fat, 40-year-old failed Mr. Olympia mother f*cker.”
Joe says McGregor is simply a promoter and trying to generate interest for his fight at UFC 202, which coincidentally takes place the same night as as NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn II.
“I have come up with fighters my whole life, so I understand the one thing about fighters is with all the talk they do, there is action,” Joe said. “And until I see some action I think the comments he has made are very much a moot point.
“What do you expect? This is the promotion business, and he was promoting his fight. People are rabid and angry, but people also pay someone beat someone up or get beat up. So if he sold a few extra pay-per-view buys from WWE fans that paid to watch him get beat up, then I guess its mission accomplished.”
Visit ChannelGuideMag.com to read the full interview. Samoa Joe defends the NXT Championship against Shinsuke Nakamura this Saturday night at NXT Takeover: Brooklyn.
