Samoa Joe on "plenty of issues" during recent WWE tryouts (Exclusive)
Samoa Joe's value to WWE was demonstrated by his ability to fill various roles during his in-ring absence. After Samoa Joe's release from WWE, he was brought back quickly and rejoined NXT after over 4 years away.
He's now returning to his in-ring role, but there seem to be more opportunities for him outside of that as well. There has been a WWE tryout happening in Las Vegas, and Samoa Joe was one of the main coaches, looking at who should get selected and who shouldn't.
Speaking to Sportskeeda's Rick Ucchino, Samoa Joe gave a slight insight into the WWE tryouts and how plenty of issues tend to form:
"Tremendously important. Honestly, when it comes to trials like these, plenty of issues go on and a lot of the time the 'yes' or 'no' is kind of final. We just see who wants it the most. Some people definitely wanted it today so it was a very good experience," Joe revealed
Samoa Joe described the experience as "fantastic" and praised the level of athleticism that was present. He believes that they found a lot of potential WWE superstars:
"It was a fantastic experience. We had very good athletes here today. The level of athleticism was very impressive. I think we found a lot of potential superstars today," Joe said
Interestingly, WWE is now holding tryouts to fill in several gaps on the roster. NXT was even hit with a dozen surprise releases recently. It looks as though WWE might have changed their approach regarding the kind of superstar they're looking for.
Samoa Joe didn't go through much of the tryout route
In the same interview with Rick Ucchino, Samoa Joe was asked about whether he had a lot of memories from a WWE tryout himself:
"Not a tremendous amount. I never did much tryouts when I was coming up in the business, but I do remember the anxiety of being in front of people who are potentially going to be your new employers, so I imagine it's that, but a hundred-fold over here," Joe shared.
Samoa Joe's signing in NXT in 2015 was different from most other superstars. He wasn't viewed as a normal "trainee" and at the time, there were even rumors that he would be an NXT-exclusive star who didn't move to the main roster.
Ultimately, Samoa Joe spent a lot more time on the WWE main roster and is now back in NXT. One can only imagine that there will be a coaching role waiting for him when his in-ring career is done.