From The WWE Rumor Mill: Samoa Joe possible return date revealed

What’s the story?

Pro Wrestling expert Dave Meltzer reported in the latest instalment of The Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Monday Night Raw superstar Samoa Joe will not be returning to action until mid-march as he is currently not being advertised by the company for their upcoming Madison Square Garden show.

In case you didn’t know…

A few weeks ago, while facing off against Rhyno in a singles match, former NXT Champion Samoa Joe suffered a devastating foot injury that caused him to be pulled from WWE’s on-going Mixed Match Challenge and the 2017 Royal Rumble as well.

Joe is currently sidelined due to the right foot injury and has undergone MRI since. WWE’s Senior Ringside Physician Dr. Chris Amann also said that during his match against Rhyno, Samoa Joe apparently felt a pop on his right foot which eventually caused the injury.

The heart of the matter

As noted by Dave Meltzer on the latest edition of The Wrestling Observer, Samoa Joe is apparently not scheduled to return to WWE anytime soon until mid-march as he is currently not being advertised for WWE’s Madison Square Garden show which takes place during that time.

Prior to his foot injury Joe was slated to work a program with 16-time World Champion John Cena, however, following the injury WWE has seemingly nixed those plans and have instead started a feud between Cena and Elias.

What’s next?

As of right now, it is still unknown on exactly when Samoa Joe will make his return to the WWE, however, if the former NXT Champion does make his return in mid-march then it is safe to assume that he will indeed be placed on this year’s Wrestlemania card in New Orleans, as the show takes place during the first week of April. But, at this time it is still undisclosed on what exactly the WWE has planned for Joe.

Author’s Take

The fact that Samoa Joe had to pull out from this year’s Rumble match is really disappointing, however, on the other hand, I do hope that ‘The Samoan Submission Machine’ makes it to this year’s Wrestlemania match card.