Triple H thinks very highly of Samoa Joe.
Ahead of SummerSlam, WWE held tryouts in Las Vegas. Samoa Joe was one of the people there, alongside Triple H, William Regal, and Matt Bloom doing the scouting. Triple H held a media scrum after the session had wrapped up and answered some questions. When asked what Joe brings to the table, the WWE Hall of Famer had this to say (video via Instinct Culture by Denise Salcedo):
"You always need a Samoan. You know what I mean? A big, angry Samoan. Joe was in here yesterday, there was a funny moment where everybody's working really hard. It's hard on the first session sometimes to get past the respect, right? So everybody's being respectful, and then you're trying to fire them up and get everybody motivated, and then it works for a little bit. Then they'll suddenly go back to being respectful. There was a moment where I was sitting at the table and all of a sudden I heard Joe go off. I looked up and Joe was like, just his mask down, he was going off. He was over here but everybody was over here in these rings going off, and I looked up and there was this look of all these people back and I was like, 'Well, we're about to find out who folds under pressure.' Because it's a different level. Regal's not going to yell at you. I mean he barely talks loud enough for you to hear him."
Joe was released by WWE in April but would return to WWE just two months later. In addition to his on-screen role, Joe is also serving as a talent scout for the company.
Triple H likes the way Joe thinks and sees him as one of only a few people who could do anything for the company because of the way they think about the business.
"It's interesting, Joe brings something to the table that is different. But Joe's one of those guys that through my career as I've been around people, there are certain people I look at for, you know, I think they'd be really good at this, like, the right mindset for it. He and I would always talk. I didn't know him before he came to WWE but when he came to NXT when he came into WWE we talked a lot. He's just a business-savvy guy. Thinks about things in a different way; long-term business, it's not small-minded. It's not just in-ring. He's a different sense, larger-picture thinking.
When he's done here, there's a role for him doing something much bigger. I've had that conversation with a lot of people in the company to say, there's only a few people I've ever really said, like, 'Oh that guy. This person could do anything in this company because of the way they think of the business,' and he's one of them. So when the opportunity came for me to be able to work with him behind the scenes, and that's really when everybody talks about, 'Oh, Joe was going from not an in-ring performer and then I came along and grabbed him,' nothing like that. It was a long-term conversation that was happening prior to that, and then the timing of it just made it appear a certain way but he and I had been talking about it. So it was an opportunity to work with him from a business standpoint," Triple H said.
He continued on to say that Joe does a little bit of everything, highlighting his ability to see beyond the ring when assessing talent.
"What is he? He's a little bit of everything," Triple H said. "But he's sort of like a Regal where he can sit here today and I can have a conversation with him after, and he's talking about everything that people are bringing to the table in this not, you know, not do I think they're technically sound, you know, whatever. Talk about every aspect of it; what works, what doesn't, what needs to happen, send him places, he can represent.' All those things. That's where he's at. Thrilled to have him."
Joe returned to NXT as an assistant to general manager William Regal, but his time in that role didn't last long as he was provoked by Karrion Kross.
Joe will now face Kross for the NXT Championship at NXT TakeOver 36.
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