Samoa Joe lists off a few names.
Since emerging into the WWE in 2015, former two-time NXT Champion Samoa Joe has been credited by fans, fellow wrestlers and WWE Hall Of Famers for being one of the few individuals who can make someone believe what they are saying by only using words. "The Destroyer" speaks with an intensity that has garnered him the praise of those WWE Hall Of Famers and fellow in-ring performers. Joe backed up those endorsements recently on SmackDown Live as he heads into his WWE Championship match at SummerSlam against a face that he has seen around a few times, AJ Styles.
SummerSlam is upon us and ahead of Joe's second one-on-one World Title match in his main roster run, he spoke with 'VultureHound' and during the discussion Joe went over a few names who he considers to be greats when it comes to laying down the verbal law on a microphone.
“I like promo guys for, I’m sure like a lot of people, a lot of different reasons”, he starts. “Obviously, when it came to eliciting a reaction from an audience, especially at the time, I think Ric Flair is the guy who is constantly up there. Especially when you talk about speaking with passion and being able to convey a ton of emotion with his words and his body language, and you know, there’s other guys. I think Mick Foley, Mankind, had a brilliant delivery. Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts, he’s also got…you know, when people look back and they understand nuanced abilities as far as promos come, he’s one of those guys. But the list is long." Joe continued, "Honestly, if you’re a student of this game and you do study and you do look for influences, and honestly they have to be influences”, he says. “You can never be a carbon copy of anybody, but you can probably be the best version of yourself, and I think that’s the biggest thing. I never have gone and said, 'Hey, I want to do it like this guy.' When I speak, I speak as I like to speak. It’s just that I’ve watched great orators, both in and outside of the ring, and I understand that words can carry great power if delivered with the proper emotion and cadence. It’s an art form in some eyes, and it’s an interesting approach, but it can resonate with people and convey a message very clearly, and I think that’s the point of everything I do.”
Samoa Joe is one of eight competitors/teams looking to leave the Barclays Center with championship gold at SummerSlam as there are eight championship matches scheduled for this year's SummerSlam PPV.
