Samoa Joe Talks Getting To Keep His Name And Persona In NXT, What He Was Most Worried About, More
New NXT Champion Samoa Joe recently appeared on Busted Open Nation, where he talked about several topics regarding his WWE career. While speaking to the hosts, it was brought up that the WWE didn't change his name or persona as they do with several other talents.
"You just don't mess with good things, I guess. They decided not to do it with me," Joe said. "It wasn't something I had to champion much for. I think NXT was transcending it's status of being a developmental league. I think Hunter, with it being his brainchild, he wanted to add some momentum, and bringing me in was a big part of that and he understood what I brought to the table."
Joe said that he had conversations with Triple H about possibly changing his name before he debuted, but there was concern that it could have slowed Joe's momentum.
"Do we want to start moving on day one, or do we want to start moving a couple days down the line after we've had to rebrand and had to deal with that rejection from the fans? I saw a lot of weird suggestions for names and it was kind of this weird thing everyone wanted to guess at. At the end of the day, Samoa Joe was who they brought in to NXT," Joe said.
When asked if he was concerned about the crowd reaction to his NXT debut, Joe brushed it off. Instead, he was more scared of an embarrassing accident taking place that would land him on blooper reels.
"I was more worried about tripping on the cable and Shockamster-ing on my way out. I wasn't worried about the reception, I knew it was going to be a special moment," said Joe.
You can see Joe's full interview with Busted Open Nation above.