Samoa Joe Talks TNA Schedule, Ex-WWE Talent Taking TNA Spots & More

The Long Island Press recently did an interesting interview with Samoa Joe. Here are some of the excerpts:

Long Island Press: One thing that has attracted talent to TNA is running fewer shows, thereby offering a more balanced life for people. How do you grow the company and still offer that option to people, since it's seemingly been such an important part of the company's growth in the first place?

Samoa Joe: Well, to be quite honest with you, I'm already on that [WWE-type] schedule. Guys like myself, A.J. Styles, Black Machismo, it goes up and down the line. A lot of us are already fulfilling that schedule. For some of the company, it is an easier schedule. They've worked hard throughout the years, and believe me, if anybody feels they deserve some time off it's me. But I know that right now TNA is running full-steam. We're running house shows every week and we're in different parts of the country every week. And I know I'm out five days a week on the road. It's kind of just the nature of the business. You've gotta keep going out there and giving the shows to the people, and that's exactly what we've been doing.

LIP: The constant question with TNA seems to be the ex-WWE guys coming in and taking opportunities away from homegrown talent. How much of that is valid, and how often is that used an excuse?

SJ: I don't think it's drawn along those lines. As far as camera time and who's seen out there, that's really the creative team, that's TNA, that's what they've come up with. If you showed up to your job, and they said you've gotta do this, you do what you're asked. You do what you're told. And that's part of being in the TNA environment. When we show up to work, hey, we're told this. This is what you've got on the show, this is what you're doing. You know what, that's what my boss said, that's what I'm supposed to do. You go out there and do it, and you do it to the best of your ability. And from there, hopefully they'll see something in that, and they'll give you the more time, if you desire it, that you need. I think that right there is kind of the quintessential thing that I think a lot of inquisitive wrestling fans, wrestling fans who follow in the industry itself, kind of find hard to understand. At the end of the day, just like when you go to your job, you do it to the best of your ability, and you go from there.

Samoa Joe also talks about his shott comments towards Scott Hall, if the ex-WWE guys coming into TNA have created a glass ceiling and more. To read the entire interview, click here. (Thanks to Josh Stewart)