Samoa Joe On Influencing WWE Signing Of Nakamura, NXT's Popularity

NXT star Samoa Joe recently appeared as a guest on the Sam Roberts Wrestling Podcast prior to winning the NXT Championship from Finn Balor this week. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.

On sensing that NXT's popularity was about to explode prior to joining WWE:

"I've been fortunate enough that I'm kind of on the cusp of companies coming, getting worldwide acclaim, and kind of exploding. And this is kind of like my third time and it's awesome, so I recognize all the hallmarks, all the signs, I've seen before, kind of like Ring Of Honor and it's like, when I saw that and I saw the energy and the vibe when I went to the [NXT] shows and kind of met with some of the guys and saw how they felt about things, I was like,'yeah, I'm totally cool with it - this is where I want to be'."

On being more hesitant to sign with WWE until he saw the success of guys like Daniel Bryan, CM Punk and Seth Rollins:

"It's crazy because it was never a timetable issue for me. First of all, all those guys are really good friends of mine, so it was like, I was beyond stoked for them. I was like, 'man, that's awesome, man!' because I understood the concept of the character, I understood what they brought to the table, and I'd been in the ring with them, traveled the roads with them, so I knew what they were capable of and I knew their ability level. And to see them be WWE Champion just reinforced what I had already believed about them." Joe continued, "when the opportunity presented itself here, I felt more confident because of the inroads they had made, if anything. Like, if that hadn't happened before I came here, I'd probably be more apprehensive about coming to WWE because it's like the place to be, but at the same time, it's like, 'am I really going to get the fair shake that I hoped I would?' And seeing what they had done here, I more than realized, 'yeah, I would'."

On feeling he helped influence the WWE signings of Shinsuke Nakamura and AJ Styles:

"I've been able to, I hope, have some influence on some of my friends being here, AJ [Styles], [Shinsuke] Nakamura, who I remember when he first started in the L.A. dojo with me and in the Inoki Dojo in Santa Monica [California] and to see him debuting here [at NXT TakeOver: Dallas] is crazy."