WWE News: Samoa Joe says wrestling Brock Lesnar was like being in a real fight

What's the story?

Well, when you look back at the year of 2017 in WWE, one of the most exciting rivalries has to be Samoa Joe versus Brock Lesnar in the build-up to their match at Great Balls Of Fire.

Looking back, it seems pretty simple as to why both guys had such great chemistry. You have a legitimate fighter in former UFC Heavyweight Champion in Brock Lesnar and a very heavily MMA influenced brute in Samoa Joe -- both of whom are incredible workers and both can look like unbeatable beasts on their day.

However, not many people open up about working with Brock Lesnar. Well, Samoa Joe has -- and what he had to say may have just revealed the secret as to why the physicality between both these men was so enthralling to watch.

In case you didn't know...

Yesterday, it was revealed that Samoa Joe loves MMA and trains in various disciplines, but he would never consider taking on a fight in the world of MMA.

Joe, however, was classy as ever when discussing fellow professional wrestlers, such as Brock Lesnar, venturing into the Octagon.

"At this point in my career, knowing what my friends and my close family go through in training and in sacrifice, I think it would be disingenuous to them for me to say, 'Oh well, I'm going to take this fame and parlay it into a fighting career.'

I know other people have, and I don't fault them. I think it's awesome. I think you should follow your dreams and do what you want to do.

"I think it would be irresponsible for me to say that I'm ready to start a fighting career at this point. For me, if I was, it would be a cash grab. I wouldn't be getting into it to be the heavyweight champion; I would be getting into it simply for monetary purposes. For me, if you are not in it to be champion, you shouldn't be in it at all."

The heart of the matter

We've heard from other Superstars that Brock Lesnar can be difficult to work with, most notably when Dean Ambrose opened up about trying to work with Brock to put together their match at WrestleMania 32.

However, Joe's most recent comments on the In This Corner podcast open up a whole new side of this and perhaps hint at why he and Brock are such a good match in the ring.

"I think when you are dealing with Brock Lesnar, you have to show up ready to deal with Brock Lesnar. Brock is the type of guy who is not going to give you an inch. If you are going to get anything from him, you have to take it and he's going to dare you to take it.

And you can see that's exactly what he did, not waiting for the match to bring it to Brock!

Joe said what most people suspect, that you get out what you put in against Lesnar and that you have to really go toe to toe with the Beast to capture his attention.

"Brock is a guy who kind of feeds off of emotion, and if you come out and you're flat and you're not putting out what he is putting out, he's going to eat you alive. That has never been an issue with me."

Speaking about the experience of working with Brock, Joe also said something that won't come as a surprise to most people who have so much as seen a photo of Brock.

The 38-year-old from Huntington Beach compared the experience to preparing for a real fight -- and when you consider both Brock and Joe's backgrounds, it isn't difficult to see why this worked so well.

"Anybody who has wanted me to go out there and pull some emotion out and act like we are going to get down, that's what I specialise in. That's fine. That's something that I do and that's something that I've done over the breath of my career. With Brock Lesnar, regardless of who he is, it was going to be no different.

"Brock knew that and Brock understands that now. If we are going to be in the ring together, Brock knows we are coming for a fight. I mean that literally and figuratively. There is no pulling anything with Brock. If you show signs of weakness, he's an apex predator and he's going to pounce on it and he's going to attack and overwhelm."

This comes as no surprise, but it only adds to the aura of just how dangerous The Beast Incarnate is - and that's even if you get on the right side of him - going on to add that Brock demands perfection.

"You have to know how to deal with it when you are in there with Brock. He is a person who is going to accept nothing but the very best and if you don't bring the very best, he'll have no problems doing everything he can to absolutely wipe you out."

What's next?

Brock Lesnar will appear at RAW 25 as he is confirmed for next week's monumental episode, and The Beast will defend his WWE Univeral Championship at the Royal Rumble against Kane and Braun Strowman.

Unfortunately, Samoa Joe is on the sidelines with a foot injury sustained in a match against Rhyno last week. Unfortunate timing as Joe was scheduled to be in the Royal Rumble Match and had called out John Cena, saying he would eliminate the 16-time World Champion first.

Author's take

I personally would love to see these two go at it further down the line. You'd have to think that the person who eventually slays the beast would be Roman Reigns or Braun Strowman with WWE investing a lot of time and money into both men -- but Joe has taken WWE by storm and, even at 38, looks like he has plenty of gas left in the tank.

We can only hope Joe at least gets a WWE Universal title run in his time at WWE, and beating Brock Lesnar for it would just cap it off. Any excuse here for me to see these two work again!

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