One of the greatest rivalries in wrestling history is that of Samoa Joe vs. CM Punk, and many fans hoped to one day see it in WWE. For years, Punk dominated the WWE ranks, but things soured and he moved on from the company and onto a career in UFC. Now, Samoa Joe has just hit the main roster out of NXT and he was recently asked about his former enemy and longtime friend, but will CM Punk actually ever return?
Just a few weeks ago, Samoa Joe was brought up to the main roster as a hired hand of Triple H and he took out Seth Rollins. The next week, Joe scored a pinfall victory over Roman Reigns and he is now in prime position for a match at Fastlane and WrestleMania 33 .
In 2014, CM Punk left WWE after almost a decade with the company and he retired from the wrestling ring for the UFC Octagon. With that, any chance of seeing him and Samoa Joe face one another again went out the window.
Or did it?
Samoa Joe was recently a guest on Eyes on the Game , and he spoke about a number of topics including his goals and wrestling John Cena. One of the more interesting things, though, was when he was asked what CM Punk said to him upon his signing with WWE.
“When I came here, I remember…for years he was kind of championing my cause to be in the WWE and to see me now, he’s like ‘Oh, of course, the minute I’m gone, you’re here.’ And so, between me and him, it’s always been a very interesting relationship, we’re kind of like brothers who fight all the time.”
That is kind of the way a lot of fans felt when it sunk in that Joe had officially joined the ranks of WWE and made his debut in NXT. So many people feel as if CM Punk is completely done with the company forever, but they still hold out hope.
Of course, there are a lot of other great matches for Joe to be had, but there will always be the question of “what if” due to CM Punk and his history. The same can be said about Daniel Bryan having to retire as well, but there is still Finn Balor, Hideo Itami, Dolph Ziggler, AJ Styles, The Miz, and others.
Fans are always going to have that hope, and Joe isn’t shooting down any possibilities.
“It’s funny. The thing about wrestling is that nothing is ever impossible. So, you never know. You might see us united back in the ring, someday. We’ll see.”
Sure, he doesn’t really know anything at this time and Samoa Joe has no idea if CM Punk will ever want to return to WWE or if the company will let him. He’s simply leaving all doors open for the future.
We can’t forget a couple of years ago, Joe and Punk had a Twitter exchange that started a lot of talk among the wrestling community.
@SamoaJoe I owe you one, PAL.
— Coach (@CMPunk) February 24, 2015
Just a few months later, Samoa Joe made his debut in NXT. WrestleZone reported that Joe had even commented on Punk’s tweet and said he knew he was busy training for UFC, but if he “wants to scrap, you can come over here and start off with me and see what’s left when you go into the octagon.”
Samoa Joe is really just starting his career in WWE even though he has been wrestling for a very long time. He has long since paid his dues, but he didn’t mind doing it in NXT either as he prepared for life on the main roster. Sure, fans would love to see CM Punk take on Joe in a WWE ring, but the chances of it happening are extremely slim. When looking at the grand scheme of things, though, you really never can say never in professional wrestling.
[Featured Image by WWE]