Triple H recently asked WWE Superstar to return hours after he was released
Samoa Joe has revealed Triple H called him on the day of his WWE release and asked him to return to NXT.
Joe surprisingly received his release from WWE on April 15 after six years with the company. Two months later, the 42-year-old returned to WWE television on June 15 as an on-screen enforcer for NXT General Manager William Regal.
Speaking on Ryan Satin’s Out of Character podcast, Joe said WWE executive John Laurinaitis called him to inform him of his release. Within a few hours, Triple H expressed his desire to re-hire the two-time NXT Champion.
“I got it,” Joe said. “It wasn’t unexpected [WWE releasing him], but at the same time I was relatively calm about it. I’ve kind of been in this situation before. A younger me probably would’ve been really, really freaked out, but at this point you just role pivot.
“That’s really all there is to it when it comes to life in general. It’s kind of the mantra I’ve kept, so at that point I think I was kind of in the works and setting up the framework for whatever else I was gonna do. A few hours later, I get a call from Hunter [Triple H] and it pretty much all kind of changed.”
Samoa Joe worked as a color commentator on WWE RAW in the 12 months leading up to his release from the company. He thought WWE’s decision to release him was understandable, especially because he had not competed in a match since February 2020.
Samoa Joe reveals what Triple H told him
Following his release, Samoa Joe sent text messages to people he enjoyed working with during his time in WWE.
NXT founder Triple H called Joe back after a meeting and said he wanted him to immediately return to the company.
“Essentially [Triple H said he wanted Joe in NXT],” Joe said. “I sent some company farewell texts to people saying, ‘Hey, pleasure working with you.’ Some genuine people that I really, really enjoyed working with, and just some general, ‘Hey, thanks, I’m sure we’ll talk down the road at some point,’ or something like that.
“I got a text back [from Triple H], ‘Hey, give me a minute, getting out of a meeting.’ We had a brief conversation, which was essentially like, ‘Give us a little bit of time. I’ll work out a package and we’ll talk soon.’ ‘Alright, that’s totally fine, I have no problem with that.’ And it led to my return to NXT.”
Although Samoa Joe currently performs as William Regal’s enforcer, the seeds have already been planted for his in-ring comeback. Since his return two weeks ago, matches against superstars including Adam Cole, Karrion Kross, and Pete Dunne have been teased.
Please credit Out of Character and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.