Big Update On Samoa Joe Vs. WWE NXT Champion Karrion Kross And Joe's WWE Status

By Marc Middleton

Samoa Joe is now set to return to the ring at WWE NXT Takeover 36.

Tonight's NXT episode on Syfy saw Joe hand his resignation in to NXT General Manager William Regal, ending his run as the special enforcer to the GM. This comes after Joe returned to NXT on June 15 to work the authority figure role. The storyline was that Regal brought Joe back under two conditions – Joe was no longer a NXT Superstar, and Joe could not get physical with the NXT roster, unless provoked.

Joe was provoked earlier this month by NXT Champion Karrion Kross. After weeks of tension between Joe and Kross, the champion attacked Joe two weeks ago, right after retaining his title over Johnny Gargano. Kross continued to taunt Joe last week by attacking Regal.

The segment on tonight's NXT saw Regal accept Joe's resignation, reinstate him as an active competitor to the NXT roster, and make the Joe vs. Kross NXT Title match official for Takeover 36 on Sunday, August 22 during WWE SummerSlam Weekend.

This will be Joe's first match since teaming with The Viking Raiders and Kevin Owens for an eight-man tag team loss to AOP, Murphy and Seth Rollins on the February 10, 2020 RAW episode.

WWE has also teased a NXT match between Joe and Pete Dunne, among others. There had been speculation on Joe being unable to wrestle as he has been out of action since early 2020 due to concussion issues. He worked as a RAW commentator until he was released from his main roster contract back in April, and was then brought back to the company to work the authority figure role on the NXT brand. It looks like he is now moving forward as a full-time active in-ring competitor.

Kross has not commented on the Takeover match as of this writing, but we will keep you updated.

Stay tuned for more on Joe vs. Kross and Joe's return to the ring for the company. Below are several shots of tonight's NXT episode from the Capitol Wrestling Center at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando:

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