Road Dogg reveals why Samoa Joe never became WWE Champion
A WWE Hall of Famer recently shed light on why Samoa Joe, despite his impressive statistics, never won the top prize in the Stamford-based promotion. The Hall of Famer in question is none other than Road Dogg.
The Samoan Submission Machine burst into the wrestling scene when he became the top star in ROH in the early 2000s. He then moved on to TNA in the mid-2000s, where he won every title which they had, including the World Title.
In 2015, Joe made a huge decision in his career and joined WWE, where he became the NXT Champion. While on the main roster, Joe was a two-time United States Champion, but that was the only title he won despite challenging for other titles on several occasions.
On a recent episode of the Oh You Didn't Know podcast, Road Dogg spoke about why he thinks Joe never won the top prize in WWE, as he believes Vince McMahon simply preferred babyface champions.
“Vince is a babyface champion guy, and I get that from a promotional standpoint, you’re not going to promote JBL, you’re going to promote Cena. I don’t know, I just feel like maybe that had something to do with it. I think Hunter realized that when he brought him back down to “NXT,” even if you can’t do nothing, just come and talk for us because you’re so good at it, and you have such great facials when you cut a promo," Road Dogg said. [H/T Wrestling Inc]
Road Dogg said Vince McMahon was high on the former WWE United States Champion Samoa Joe
Samoa Joe made a splash during his run in NXT, where he won the title on three occasions. On the main roster, he had feuded for the WWE Championship and the Universal Championship against AJ Styles and Brock Lesnar, but he never managed to beat them.
Speaking on the podcast, Road Dogg said Vince McMahon was high on The Samoan Submission Machine, but the injury issues during his run may have played a role in McMahon's decision not to put the title around his waist.
"I know Vince was high on him and I know Hunter was high on him. It just makes me think there was something medical that wasn’t out there or something that was a reason he went away and came back, I don’t know the answer to that. He went pretty high, he just didn’t win the title, you know what I mean?" Road Dogg said.
Since getting released from WWE, Joe made his way to AEW, where he has been on a dominant run.
What are your thoughts on Samoa Joe's run in Stamford-based promotion? Sound off in the comments section below!