In an exclusive interview with WWE.com, former TNA World Heavyweight Champion Samoa Joe talked about his time in Ring of Honor & TNA, although he doesn’t mention TNA directly.
Joe also talked about facing Finn Balor, Hideo Itami & Tyler Breeze in the future in NXT. Samoa Joe also mentions that he’s here to fulfill his lifelong dream of becoming the WWE World Heavyweight Champion.
Samoa Joe also talks about working with John Cena in 1999 and acknowledges how hard working he was back in the day & still is. Below are the highlights from the interview:
You had a 645-day run as ROH Champion. What does that mean to you, for a young company to put that much stock in you?
I don’t want to say that I was nervous about the whole experience. I saw it for what it was. ROH was a young company and was building from the ground up. They had a tremendous amount of buzz and top-level athletes from all over the country.
For me, I was working alongside my peers, like Daniel Bryan and CM Punk — all these guys who were top-notch independent talent. To be chosen to spearhead the group was a big honor for me. I knew I had to keep my game up and keep myself at the apex of being the top of the company. Being given that ball while being surrounded by those people, was really cool.
Before coming to WWE, you also stepped in the ring with a lot of WWE Legends and Hall of Famers. What has that experience done for you, even though you’ve been performing for a decade-plus, yourself?
It’s a surreal experience when you’re working with guys like Scott Steiner, Kevin Nash and Sting. They were guys that I grew up watching and I saw the heights that they achieved. To walk into work and see you’re going head to head with these guys, it makes you think you’re doing something right.
One of the most pleasurable experiences I had was with a guy who served as a mentor to me and dropped a lot of knowledge my way, Booker T. It was an invaluable experience being in the ring with him.
Beyond the NXT Title, do you have any other goals in WWE?
At some time, I would love to make a trip up to the main roster and wreak my brand of havoc. So many people I’ve come up with have succeeded in WWE. Though I thought the opportunity would never present itself, I’m here now. I’m in the best shape of my career and I’m more than happy to fulfill the destiny that has eluded me for far too long, and that’s to be the WWE World Heavyweight Champion.
