Samoa Joe On Conor McGregor’s Recent Comments, WWE Letting Him Be Himself

Samoa Joe recently spoke with Channel Guide Magazine to promote NXT TakeOver: Back To Brooklyn and more. You can check out the full interview here along with some highlights below.

Conor McGregor’s comments: “I think that Conor McGregor is a promoter, and I think he is promoting a fight the same night as mine. Also, I have come up with fighters my whole life, so I understand the one thing about fighters is with all the talk they do, there is action. And until I see some action I think the comments he has made are very much a moot point.

His match with Shinsuke Nakamura at NXT TakeOver: “I think it’s a match that I’ve very much been looking forward to. Very much like Finn, I have a ton of history with Nakamura. I’ve seen him develop form being a New Japan green boy to being the superstar that he is today. And at no point during that development have we gotten in the ring and locked horns one-on-one. So it’s something I’m very much looking forward to and I think the fans in Brooklyn will not be disappointed.”

WWE letting him be himself: “It was really WWE kind of taking their hands off and letting me do me,” he said. “They kind of gave me the reins to be Samoa Joe and do what I needed to do. They let me keep my moniker. I think the biggest thing is they respected me and my artistic integrity. It has been very welcome to see while working for WWE. The majority of my career, you see people released or on their way out of the company saying various horror stories about how things are. So my expectations were pretty low. But being a part of the company has far exceeded my expectations. It has been a blast the entire time I’ve worked here. I’m not one to grumble and complain much, but I have to admit it has been refreshing just being a part of the company and being part of the NXT brand.”