Samoa Joe On Whether He Will Ever Do The Muscle Buster Again In The WWE
Throughout Samoa Joe's career in Ring of Honor and TNA, two of his go-to moves have been the Coquina Clutch and Muscle Buster. Oftentimes, the Muscle Buster was the set-up to the Coquina Clutch submission move, although the Muscle Buster was also used many times as a stand-alone finisher. During his time in NXT, Joe was using the Muscle Buster to finish his opponents, but one night it all changed.
During a dark match on June 1, 2015, Kidd suffered a spinal injury after being a recipient of the Muscle Buster. Unfortunately, this was the last match of Kidd, and it does not look like he will ever return for the safety and protection of his neck. The Muscle Buster has rarely been used since, and Joe has stuck to the Coquina Clutch as his finishing move. Kidd, however, did express that he has no animosity toward Joe for the career-ending injury.
During an interview with City Pages, Joe revealed whether he will use the move again in WWE.
"The Muscle Buster is something I use at my pleasure when I choose to," said Joe. "Trust me, when the opportunity arises and the conditions are right, you never know what I'll pull out. Maybe I'm not ready to pull it out of my arsenal yet."
Also, on the subject of NXT, Joe revealed some talent to look out for, including commenting on the upcoming main roster debut of Lars Sullivan.
"NXT is a murderer's row," said Joe. "Lars Sullivan, here's a guy that I feel a lot of fans haven't really seen his full potential, and he's getting to come into his own. He'll be an interesting addition to whichever roster he lands on. Keith Lee is a big, incredible athlete. Then there's Matt Riddle. He has a tremendous combat pedigree, and he's made a triumphant transition to pro wrestling. He's a force to be reckoned with."
Despite multiple opportunities, Samoa Joe has been unable to win the top prize, having pay-per-view losses against both Brock Lesnar and AJ Styles. Joe was also a part of the SmackDown Live team at Survivor Series, but was quickly eliminated due to a Claymore kick from Drew McIntyre. Joe told City Pages that he did not care about the match result, because it was "just Shane [McMahon] trying to look good in front of his sister." However, regarding a bounceback from his string of big-match losses (including losing to AJ Styles in a steel cage match at Starrcade), Joe promised that he will "strike when I strike."
Source: City Pages