Samoa Joe has been a monster for many years now, and what sets him apart from others besides his wrestling style is his unique look. He is not the standard tall, handsome, muscular bodybuilder type, yet is a beast in the ring.
His run in NXT has been considered by many to be the best in his career. A question that fans continue to ask is, why wasn’t he picked up by WWE earlier? WWE legend Bruce Prichard (aka Dude Love) has the answer. Prichard has worked in talent relations at WWE and later with TNA.
On his podcast, Something To Wrestle, he claimed that the reason WWE did not sign Samoa Joe earlier was due to his look:
“I’ll tell you why he wasn’t considered. [It] was because they thought he was a fat Samoan. He looked out of shape – he wasn’t the body type that Vince liked and they felt that it wouldn’t work.”
Prichard said that while he did want to sign him, it was ultimately Vince McMahon’s decision to make. He also claimed that back in 1996, McMahon did not want to sign WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley, but it was Jim Ross, the then head of talent relations, who pushed the boss into signing The Hardcore Legend, a decision which he surely does not regret.
It is 2016 now and a lot of things have changed in WWE, and with that perceptions have changed too. Triple H’s vision for signing wrestlers of all backgrounds, shapes and sizes focusing purely on talent has certainly added to the quality of WWE content greatly.
It has allowed people such as Samoa Joe, Kevin Owens(who is now the Universal Champion, Sami Zayn etc. who have all thrived. It may only be a matter of time before we see Samoa Joe on the main roster, and with the way things are going, it may only be a matter of time before we see him thriving there as well.
Relive the epic NXT debut of the Samoan Submission Machine
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