WWE News: Samoa Joe And WWE Hall Of Famer Booked For NXT Shows Next Week
Since his debut at NXT Takeover: Unstoppable, Samoa Joe has made quite an impact in WWE. After originally being signed to what was described as a “Rhyno-like” contract that would allow Joe to continue to work shows for other, non-nationally televised wrestling companies, WWE decided to pivot and sign Samoa Joe to an exclusive, main roster contract.
The decision to have Samoa Joe sign the new contract was noted by PWTorch.com to be due to Joe’s merchandise sales being incredibly high, which certainly pleased WWE officials. However, Dave Meltzer at the Wrestling Observer noted that the new deal was also motivated by Ring Of Honor Wrestling signing a national television deal with Destination America, and WWE not wanting Joe to continue to appear for them. Joe will continue to work his already agreed upon independent dates, including an ROH show on June 20, but he won’t take any more bookings for non-WWE shows going forward. From what is known right now, Joe’s last independent bookings will take place in early August for Northeast Wrestling.
Even so, Samoa Joe is continuing to receive advance bookings for WWE. He appeared this week at the WWE RAW taping in San Antonio. Wrestling Tyson Kidd, Joe was victorious with his Muscle Buster finish. However, the match Monday night prior to the RAW show in San Antonio didn’t go so well, with Tyson Kidd reportedly suffering an injury that could sideline him for several weeks.
Next week, Samoa Joe is booked for NXT live events that will occur in Columbus, Ohio, and Pittsburgh. PWInsider notes that Joe will appear at the June 11 show in Pittsburgh and June 13 show in Columbus. Sandwiched between these shows is a June 12 show in Cleveland at the Agora Theater. The PWInsider report did not mention Samoa Joe appearing at that particular show.
Next week will be a busy week for Joe as he is also booked for an independent show on Wednesday (June 10) for AIW in Cleveland. No word yet on if Joe will appear at the RAW (June 8) or SmackDown (June 9) tapings in New Orleans and Lafayette.
Also booked for next week’s NXT tour of Ohio and Pennsylvania is WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair. Flair’s role for the tour is not yet known. It will not be surprising if Flair plays some kind of role in appearing with his daughter, NXT’s Charlotte, as he has appeared several times in her corner during NXT events in the past.
[Image via WWE]
