WWE: Samoa Joe on NXT Return, NXT TakeOver 36 Update, NXT Talent Backstage at SmackDown

WWE

Jul 31, 2021

Samoa Joe Comments on His Return to WWE’s NXT Brand

A recent episode of the WWE After The Bell with Corey Graves podcast had Samoa Joe as the guest. Some of the topics discussed included his thoughts on the process of his return to in-ring competition and WWE’s NXT brand.

On the topic of the process to his in-ring return, Joe stated:

“I kept it simple. It was just getting healthy. A lot of times, people have a tendency to overcomplicate their problems and make them worse and adding to them by adding extra pressure. My focus was simply to just get healthy. No other expectations to put on it, no expectations to return to the ring. No expectations other than getting back to where I should be and getting my brain healthy and my body healthy. That was my main focus. I told people around me that was my approach. See how my body came along, see how I felt, be careful with it, take extra time, and really concentrate on getting better. That was my main focus and what helped me. (I wasn’t) thinking about ‘man, will I ever be back in the ring?’ A lot of it was having the hindsight and seeing others I knew going through similar struggles and gathering the wealth of knowledge and taking the doctors advice and asking a lot of questions from others who have dealt with it throughout their career and making the best health decision for me.
Once we got through that process and got comfortable with that, we started concentrating on getting back in the ring and finding the best ways and opportunity. During that entire time, I like to keep busy and I’m never one to shirk away from work. When the opportunity came to do commentary and to do a panel or other things, I jumped at the chance …
It was a much worse type of injury than I had dealt with before. It scared me, it scared a lot of people I cared about. It became very easy to make that the focus as far as what I wanted to do when I came back. Inevitably, it all hinged on making sure I was alright and feeling good and when I came back to the ring, I didn’t want to come back in a 70% or 60% capacity. I wanted to make sure I could come back and give the best I could to the fans. I do play my cards close to my chest, but that’s just the belief I have.”

On the topic of his return to NXT, Joe stated:

“It’s obviously good to be back and be an active competitor again. I like the circumstances. Coming back to NXT and fighting for the championship kinda feels right, seems right. I’m looking forward to getting back in the ring in front of the WWE universe. Karrion Kross, without a doubt, an extremely dominating force. He’s run through everyone put in front of him. He’s been an absolute beast of a champion. Hits hard, throws harder. I’m going to beat the brakes off him. I’m gonna put all the hands on him. It’s going to be a lot of pummeling and strikes to the head and around the face. I’ll do my best to not wear out my right foot when I’m whipping his ass with it. There has been some trauma, I’m dealing with a Conor [McGregor] situation. Hopefully, it won’t be too big of a deal. We’re gonna have some fun and set some things right.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com

NXT TakeOver 36 Update

WWE announced earlier this month that the next TakeOver event for their NXT brand will be called NXT TakeOver 36 and will take place on August 22nd.

Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that WWE officials have held recent talks regarding the idea of potentially holding their NXT TakeOver 36 event in Las Vegas, Nevada during SummerSlam weekend.

At the moment, Meltzer reported that the event is still currently planned to be taking place at WWE’s Performance Center in Orlando, Florida.

Backstage Notes on NXT Talent at SmackDown Tapings

PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that NXT talent Aliyah, Odyssey Jones, Austin Theory, and Indi Hartwell were all seen backstage during Friday’s tapings of Friday Night SmackDown in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was not stated if WWE officials also held dark match tryouts for them prior to the start of SmackDown.

Johnson had reported earlier in the week that no NXT talent were seen backstage during the tapings of RAW this past Monday in Kansas City, Missouri.