Samoa Joe On If He's Serving As A Talent Scout For AEW

AEW and Ring Of Honor star Samoa Joe was a recent guest on AEW Unrestricted. During the chat, he spoke about how Ring Of Honor's influence can be seen in all locker rooms right now. For him, that is why the promotion is special because it was the place many wrestlers first got to be themselves.

"I think it's a testament to the influence that Ring Of Honor has had on the industry," Joe said. "Because I could say that about just about any locker room I could walk into this day and age. Many of the top performers of this industry found their way through Ring Of Honor. I think that's why the promotion holds a real special place in my heart. I think for a lot of fans, and for a lot of the performers who spent their time there. It was the first true form a lot of us had where we could be the persona and the wrestler that we wanted to be."

Towards the end of his run with WWE, Samoa Joe transitioned into some backstage work. That included him being able to work as a talent scout. While he isn't in that role now, Joe stated he is keeping his eyes open for a different reason now.

"Yeah, for WWE I was heavily involved in the scouting department," he confirmed. "Now I kind of keep those eyes open, and keep those eyes out there for a different purpose, obviously. You want to have the best up and comers coming into your company, and if I can help facilitate that for AEW, I would be more than happy to."

When it came to the talent scouting role, Samoa Joe learned to appreciate it thanks to people like William Regal. For him, it is important for those types of people to be involved in the business. He thinks that it helps younger wrestlers to develop honest conversations.

"I have learned to appreciate it, and like it because of men like William Regal," he said. "Who, in the height of their career took time to give me advice. Just show me a path. It wasn't a, 'I'll put in a word for you, I'll do this,' it was like, 'no, here's a path, if you choose to follow it, you can find success.' It's just something that's kind of missing in the industry as a whole, there's not a lot of guys who have that experience going back and having an honest discussion with you. About what the industry is like, about what this business really is, and breaking down the numbers.

"And not just being grandiose, bragging about how you're awesome, and this is how much you did. Every empire is built with a plan, and the problem is we don't talk about the plan enough. We just talk about the empire, so, you know, I'd like to change that. Anytime I can offer a word of advice to someone young, and up and coming. And wants to put themselves in the best possible position to succeed, which I think is vitally important to anybody in our industry, is putting yourself in a position to be successful. Not just waiting for something to break or happen is a big asset bank of our knowledge that isn't shared enough."

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit AEW Unrestricted with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.