At NXT TakeOver 36, Samoa Joe will be back in action when he challenges Karrion Kross for the NXT Championship.
This return to the ring comes off the heels of a long, winding road to recovery, as “The Samoan Submission Machine” struggled to get medically cleared from a concussion he suffered back in February 2020. At various points, it wasn’t clear whether Joe would ever be able to wrestle again, but with the announcement that he will indeed face Kross, fans are eagerly anticipating the chance to see the former NXT Champion do what he does best.
In an interview with Alex McCarthy of talkSPORT, Joe explained that there was never a clear timetable for his recovery because brain injuries can be difficult to assess. He emphasized that he wanted to make sure that he was completely healthy when he came back, even after he got cleared.
“It was always a process,” said Joe. “It’s hard to give a real official timestamp on it because you got to understand with concussions, it’s not like ‘hey it’s mended, you’re good.’ And people keep applying this kind of black and white, cleared/uncleared status to it. But really, even when you’re cleared, it’s still monitoring you. There’s still check-ups, there’s still tests and so if there’s any differential, even after recovery is deemed, then it’s ‘no, no, no. We’re going to slow you up, bring you back in.’
“And that’s what it was for me, I was taking that time. I was taking every single chance to have a healthy recovery and come back at 100 percent. Not 60, no 70, not workable, but come back healthy enough where I felt comfortable coming back and going 100 percent.”
The former WWE United States Champion made it clear that he aimed to avoid setting himself up for additional injuries by coming back too soon. In hindsight, he noted that he was stuck in a cycle of getting reinjured near the end of his run as an active wrestler on the main roster.
“I think if you come back too soon and you don’t give your body and your mind a proper chance to heal, you inevitably get more injuries and that’s the cycle I got into towards the end of my last run with WWE,” said Joe. “I needed to break that cycle. I needed to take the time to make a full recovery.
“So it’s not this black and white process that everyone thinks it is, and it shouldn’t be. It should not be. That was the frustrating thing for me when people were talking about the injury like it’s a yes or a no. When it comes to brain injuries, it should never be that.”
RELATED: Samoa Joe On His In-Ring Return And Future In NXT: There’s An Endless Amount Of Fresh Matchups
Joe also stated that, contrary to what some fans have speculated, his WWE release had nothing to do with his medical clearance, or lack thereof. Additionally, his return to NXT wasnt exactly a new plan; it was discussed at least two years ago.
“I just think a decision was made on one-end, but this tenure and position in NXT I currently have now was kind of talked about two or three years ago,” said Joe. “It was a matter of when we were going to get the opportunity to make the transition and there really wasn’t an opportunity because I was so busy with RAW and SmackDown.
“So it’s not like they were going to pull me from there and move me to NXT at the time.”
Joe is now back at the forefront of NXT, and at TakeOver, he’ll have the chance to regain his place as the brand’s champion.
