When Samoa Joe signed a deal with WWE and appeared at NXT Takeover: Unstoppable , many thought the world was coming to an end. It was then revealed that he had only signed a part-time deal, and it was one that was extremely unique for anything WWE has ever done. Now he has signed a full-time deal, and it had a lot to do with Ring of Honor .
Samoa Joe’s deal with WWE is unlike any that anyone had ever gotten before. It was a deal that allows him to still take some independent dates and even appear in Ring of Honor for a huge tag team match at their TV tapings in New York City later this month.
That match will pit Joe and AJ Styles versus Christopher Daniels and Kazarian, but the Wrestling Observer is claiming this was one of the big problems for WWE.
WWE is now pushing extremely hard on Ring of Honor not to tape this match for TV. It isn’t 100 percent known what will happen, but it appears as if they are going to comply with the request of WWE.
Ring of Honor was wanting Joe for some more dates, and that includes a number of TV tapings since they are now on Destination America with a national deal . Most specifically, ROH wanted Samoa Joe at their MCU Park event in Brooklyn, but that likely won’t be happening.
It appears that WWE was more on board for allowing Samoa Joe to still work with Ring of Honor when they were simply airing on Sinclair. Now, the Destination America deal puts them on in major markets and thus sent them scrambling to get him signed to a full-time deal.
WWE also feels they are in need of more star power in NXT right now. As WrestleZone reports, Sami Zayn and Hideo Itami are both on the shelf with injuries for a couple of months . Kevin Owens is about to move to the main roster within the next month.
That leaves NXT with a lot of talent but a bit of a void on serious star power. That’s where Samoa Joe comes in.
Samoa Joe will complete all of the independent dates he is under contract for through August 31. The full deal with WWE and NXT will officially begin in September, but Samoa Joe will work live specials for NXT and any other big live events.
There is no word as to when Samoa Joe will head up to the main WWE roster, but he is expected to continue in NXT for a bit. As Kevin Owens has showed though, a long time in developmental isn’t always necessary. Now, though, the full-time deal is in place, and Ring of Honor won’t get Joe for much more.
[Image via WWE]