Report: Samoa Joe Returning to WWE NXT in Non-Wrestling Role as a Possible New General Manager

There have been reports recently about Samoa Joe possibly returning to WWE. It was Fightful Select, who reported last week that Samoa Joe was at the WWE Performance Center last week. What was we doing there? We didn’t know, but now there’s more information out there. What we do know is that Samoa Joe could in fact be heading back to WWE.

During last night’s NXT Takeover event, longtime NXT General Manager William Regal (who is also part of the NXT creative team that also helps to acquire talent for WWE) said that things were hectic for him and that maybe it’s time for him to move on.

Who will be taking Regal’s job as the NXT General Manager/Authority Figure type character? That will be Samoa Joe apparently. Here’s what Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer had to say about it on his post-NXT Takeover show last night:

“So, I think that’s the cue for Samoa Joe. I don’t know that 100 percent. I was told today that Samoa Joe is in a Regal-like role and all of a sudden Regal is talking like he’s stepping down so maybe the Regal-like role is Regal’s role. But if he’s leaving, based on what I was told, Samoa Joe is definitely the favorite to be the new commissioner. Joe is in and he’s in as a non-wrestler so I think that tells you that he’s not cleared. So even [if he went] to another company, if he’s not medically cleared … it’s just what it is. He’s taking a job in NXT and he’s doing something there and he may be the new authority figure on television or may not be but he’s gonna be behind the scenes.”

While it doesn’t appear like Meltzer knows for sure that Samoa Joe will be NXT’s GM, with Meltzer saying that “Joe is in” that sure does make it sound like it’s happening.

It was also reported by PWInsider that Samoa Joe is headed to NXT in the authority figure role. I think by this point when you have this many sites reporting it, there’s probably truth to it.

Samoa Joe was released by WWE on April 15 following WrestleMania along with several other people with WWE claiming it was because of budget cuts. Joe was a part of the Raw commentary during the pandemic era of WWE shows, he worked the Raw matches at WrestleMania 37 and then he wasn’t brought back to WWE again.

Joe hasn’t wrestled since February 2020. He suffered a concussion during a WWE commercial and it’s not known if he has been cleared to wrestle again. Joe is 42 years old. He did say while he was on commentary that he wanted to wrestle again, but it hasn’t happened yet and if he’s taking on a non-wrestling role in NXT, it likely means he won’t be wrestling any time soon.

TJR Thoughts: I think it’s a good fit. Joe is a strong talker, he’s got a lot of credibility as a great wrestler that was a former two-time NXT Champion and I think he’ll be fresh in that role. As a Joe fan, I’d love to see him wrestle again, but I don’t know when that will happen again.