Samoa Joe On Using WWE NXT Takeover Moment In AEW Feud With MJF: 'Why Fight The Flow?'

On Wednesday, Samoa Joe and MJF go to war at "AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam" in Arthur Ashe Stadium, with MJF's AEW World Championship on the line. While the issues between the two on AEW TV are recent, the history between them goes all the way back to Joe's time in WWE, when he shoved a young MJF, portraying a nameless security guard, during an episode of "WWE NXT."

While few took note of it at the time, the Joe-MJF "NXT" moment has become well-known, and helped lead to the two's current AEW issues. When asked about the moment in an interview with the "New York Post," Joe admitted that their past encounter certainly helped them build to their match, even if he thinks they'd have crafted a compelling story without it.

"I don't think we necessarily had to get to it through that meme or avenue, because I think he's a very talented individual, much like myself," Joe said. "I think we have an innate ability to go out and pick a fight no matter what the circumstances are. It obviously was something that stuck out in a lot of peoples' minds. I knew for a lot of people it was a funny iconic moment. Why fight the flow?"

Joe also provided some insight into how the "NXT" segment between him and MJF came together, insinuating that the moment wasn't planned.

"I always feel like if you're gonna take up screen time, at least be somewhat interesting," Joe said. "We were walking down the hallway. He was maybe doing too good of a job trying to clear things out. I put him up into the wall. I think after everyone kind of took a look at it and had a hilarious chuckle, and it ended up sticking around and staying.

"I think it was close to live, where we had a little bit of a delay because we were running packages and stuff like that. By the time it got to the truck, it was gonna be broadcast pretty shortly afterward and they were all about it."

As for "Grand Slam," Joe has no illusions about the match being a cakewalk. He's prepared for anything the champ has to throw at him.

"I think he's at a point in his career now where he needs to find out how he stacks up against the most terrifying and most inopportune situations, and I think I present that to him," Joe said. "We'll see how he does."