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What’s the story?
Samoa Joe has been absent from WWE programming since the Raw after SummerSlam, but Dave Meltzer, of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, says that the former TNA standout could return to TV by the end of October.
In case you didn’t know...
Joe debuted on the main roster on the night after the Royal Rumble when he attacked Seth Rollins. He made an even bigger impact months later at Extreme Rules when he became the No. 1 contender for Brock Lesnar’s Universal Championship.
The Destroyer proceeded to have a pretty memorable feud with the Beast Incarnate, which saw his star shine even brighter.
The heart of the matter
Joe’s absence has been due to a knee injury he’s been dealing with since his arrival in NXT. He told Sky Sports he never got around to dealing with it through surgery.
“Back then I had no chance to take time off because of the WWE opportunity, before I was just treating the knee problem with ice and elevation at home. Now it's the best I've ever felt.”
Joe said that he also took time to deal with a nasal issue that wasn’t allowing him to breathe at full capacity and that he feels much better than he has quite a while.
What’s next?
With the Samoan Submission Machine’s return imminent, many fans are wondering who Joe's next opponent.
With The Shield looking to reunite and Jason Jordan more than likely still challenging for the Intercontinental Championship, Joe could direct his attention to Strowman or Finn Bálorbut that is pure speculation.
Author’s take
Joe had a fantastic program with Lesnar two months ago and all of that was with him not working at 100 percent capacity.
If Joe truly feels as good as he says he does, we might see the greatness he’s displayed thus far mixed in with flashes of the younger Joe from his early TNA and ROH days.
His matches against CM Punk, Kurt Angle and AJ Styles are classic gems!
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