Steve Austin Loves Samoa Joe

[Slapnut]

By the logic of some people in this thread, if Samoa Joe is shit because he's fat then so are Vader, Umaga, Big Daddy V and a million others who often get praise on here.

[Big Benny HG]

Just imagine a Samoa Joe - Matt Hardy tag team.....

[Vito]

I'd actually look at this in reverse, and say that I think signing to the WWE might be the only chance he'd have to pull himself back out of his slump. His love affair with TNA is over, they're jobbing him out left, right and centre and his performances are lazy and uninspiring.

 

If he DID get offered a WWE contract, maybe that might motivate him to do what he needs to do - lose a few stone, get fit and work on upping his game. I still think Joe could be a significant performer but as Carbomb said, that window of opportunity is closing fast. His knees are obviously starting to bother him, he's slowing down and his style isn't one you can continue into your 40s and 50s.

 

If I was Joe, I'd take the plunge and actually ask for my release now from TNA, then take 6 months off. Spend the first 3 just eating right and resting up, then spend the next 3 training and getting into a good look. Then approach WWE and try and show them something they like.

I was going to make this point but got sidetracked. If you're in charge of Promotion A and are looking to sign someone from Promotion B surely you'd have a better chance of making the deal if you wait until the talent in question becomes dissatisfied with his position at Promotion B and looks for better things at Promotion A. Why would Joe want to go to the WWE several years ago when he was in the middle of a main event push, was probably making good money and wasn't having to travel all of the time? Joe has arguably run his course in TNA and perhaps he'd consider looking to the WWE if he felt that someone with a good reputation, in this case Austin, would put in a good word and support his transition. There's nothing stopping Joe from taking some time off, dropping some weight and then heading down to FCW for a few months to learn the WWE style.

[PowerButchi]

if Samoa Joe is shit because he's fat then so are Vader, Umaga, Big Daddy V and a million others who often get praise on here.

 

Those three people were massive and looked super hard though. In WWE Joe would look like Rhyno did. Of average size and not a big monster arsekicker.

[LaGoosh]

By the logic of some people in this thread, if Samoa Joe is shit because he's fat then so are Vader, Umaga, Big Daddy V and a million others who often get praise on here.

 

All 3 of those looked like fucking terrifying monsters who could beat the shit out of you, fuck you up the arse and then eat you like it was nothing.

 

Samoa Joe looks like he could probably slap you about a bit before you pushed him off you, shouted "Piss off, lardarse!" and then he would sadly walk off to go home and cry while eating a bucket of chicken.

[Chest Rockwell]

Assumption time.

 

What do we know about Joe?

 

He's lazy and unmotivated

He chose TNA over WWE

He generally seems to be a bit of a mark for himself

 

 

As much as I loved him in ROH he is just not suited to WWE. He wanted to be a big fish in a small pond, seemed to have an attitude that he didn't have anything to learn. They'd label him as a trouble maker and there's no way he'd last. He didn't want to pay his dues for WWE 5 years ago and he's not going to want to start now.

 

That said - the landscape of WWE was pretty different 5 years ago. At the time he probably thought he was being the smart one out of him and Punk, and that Punk would never get a shot at the main event. Maybe he might be able to swallow his pride if they come knocking. I don't see it happening though.

[King Pitcos]

I wouldn't mind him going to WWE. Especially now. If he did the big sideburns and had his hair right, he could be a fat Rock fan/impersonator/relative. If they're that bothered about his big fat body on telly, put him in a black tracksuit like Rock after the breast reduction. He could feud with Cena for a bit and help build up the WrestleMania 28 match.

[Slapnut]

Right now at this stage in his careeer I'd agree with you, he really isn't a shell of what he once was. But a few years ago I'd say he looked pretty fear-invoking and his weight added to that.

 

To be fair though, when he's not playing a total I-will-fuck-you-up-for-being-there monster, he does just look a bit crap.

[Ron Simmons]

Whats that got to do with his eye for talent? As I said, he's only been head of talent since April. Give him a chance.

I was talking about Vince rather than Hunter here - it's early days for Triple H here, it's impossible to judge him either way, though he's had a promising start in terms of not looking to fill a cookie cutter specification for who he brings in.

 

He had his chance to sign him earlier in the year. They had their chance to sign him in 2008. Mick Foley told them to sign him when he was young and good in 2005. I cant see Joe ever signing for WWE. Look at Triple H. Charismatic, looks like a star, on record as saying he hates hate people, carries himself outiside the business like an athlete. Joe and Triple H are night and day. I'd say his chances of employment are worse than ever now. He's older and his skills are getting worse.

He's only 32! I'd say he has a three year window from here where he's got a good chance of joining the WWE should he become available. After that his chances are going to get lower by the year. I'm pretty sure he knocked them back for TNA initially, did he not? I doubt he'd ever become a huge star for the company, but he's one of those wrestlers I think they'd sign without any clear idea as to what to do with him.

 

But whether he becomes available at the right time or not is the real issue I suppose.

[alanchiz]

Several people seem to be suggesting that a WWE stint could be the best thing for him, to motivate him, and get his mind back on wrestling.

That could well be true, but WWE are certainly not a charity - why would they take on a 'fixer upper' when there are plenty of people that are fitter, younger, cheaper, desperate, and less aggro that are already queing up for a job - Its not as if hes a big name in the industry really.

 

To me, the best thing that could happen to Joe now is unemployment. As was said above, he's only 32 - he's got time. It doesnt seem that he's willing to leave TNA on his own accord, and he isnt really adding anything to their product. They should bag him. Not having a regular income would force him to get back in shape, maybe go back overseas and work with different people, get more motivated - basically do everything that he would need to do for WWE to take a real look at him anyway. If they didnt come knocking and it didnt really work out, TNA would probably take him back anyway (They love their 'original X-Division guys') and the break would have allowed the TNA fans to miss him - If they did a similar Destination X contract match next year for example, he could slot straight back in.

 

Of course this won't happen - If Steve Austin has tweeted that WWE should hire Joe (Whether they have any interest or not) the last thing TNA is going to do is let him go.

[Carbomb]

Hows that Triple H's fault? He signed a Mexican superstar (who is perfect for their massive market over there) up for the writers and the people in charge of development. He looked at what he could bring to the WWE, based on the popularity of Rey Mysterio, and decided to snap him up. Not his fault he's now off TV. Thats like saying its Jim Ross' fault that the Big Show never worked in 1999. Big Show was a massive and brilliant signing. Its not the head of talents fault that they used him like shit or that he wasnt ready to be on TV.

 

I did say "technically", not that it actually IS his fault; his first signing fucked up. The steroids thing isn't his fault, but Cara's unreadiness for TV could (not necessarily would) be laid at his door. The rest of my post agreed with you in real terms rather than theory, so I'm not sure why you'd take that one line out of context.

 

 

 

 

As to Joe, I mentioned in the Comments...Thread thread that there's only one thing that would get me interested in watching Joe right now, and that would be to see him feuding in TNA with a huge Maori bastard who can take the fight to him. Simply because I'd love to see a wrestling version of this before the big feud blow-off match:

 

 

I've never understood why no Samoan guys have ever done a Siva Tau gimmick in wrestling - it's a fucking war-dance! It's perfect for the sport.

[IANdrewDiceClay]

He's only 32!

Doesnt that make a mockery of that "no hiring talent over the age of 30" rule they have at the minute? Joe's a full on developmental case. If they didnt have any interest in him when he was out of contract, when he was 32, during a period when they needed an influx of new talent and when they recently got a new head of talent who will be around for years, what chances are there of him being singed at 35? Put your common sense head on for a minute.

 

I did say "technically", not that it actually IS his fault; his first signing fucked up. The steroids thing isn't his fault, but Cara's unreadiness for TV could (not necessarily would) be laid at his door. The rest of my post agreed with you in real terms rather than theory, so I'm not sure why you'd take that one line out of context.

You said Vito was right his "Trips hasn't got a particularly impressive track record when it comes to snapping up talent." line and I was giving my reasons as to why I felt Triple H wasnt at fault for how the Sin Caras skills developed. He signed someone who would benefit several areas of their business due to his exposure in one of their biggest markets. Sin Cara was a great signing, who may turn out to be excellent for them eventually. That isnt taking it out of context. You even said "techincally its not his fault". Thats what I was getting and I gave reasons as to why Cara was a good signing. For a first signing its not like he signed the wrong one legged wrestler or a fake Diesel.

[Carbomb]

You said Vito was right his "Trips hasn't got a particularly impressive track record when it comes to snapping up talent." line and I was giving my reasons as to why I felt Triple H wasnt at fault for how the Sin Caras skills developed. He signed someone who would benefit several areas of their business due to his exposure in one of their biggest markets. Sin Cara was a great signing, who may turn out to be excellent for them eventually. That isnt taking it out of context. You even said "techincally its not his fault". Thats what I was getting and I gave reasons as to why Cara was a good signing. For a first signing its not like he signed the wrong one legged wrestler or a fake Diesel.

 

I didn't say "technically it's not his fault", I said "technically, Vito's correct", in that Triple H's track record as a talent guy is, if you want to take it down to pure numbers, is 0 for 1. But like I said, in real terms, it's certainly not his fault, and I think it's an unfair assessment, and it's even more unfair to compare him to Austin, who has NO track record - we have no idea at all if he's good at TR or shit at it.

 

I agree that Cara was a good signing on paper with the right idea in mind; I've been arguing his case for a while now. I still think he was badly dealt with in that he really should've been in developmental first, but we all know that isn't Trips' fault.

 

Anyway, we're kind of "anti-arguing" now - it's turned into more "aggressive agreement", I think.

[Ron Simmons]

Doesnt that make a mockery of that "no hiring talent over the age of 30" rule they have at the minute?

Doesn't the signing of the 33 year old Kharma? The supposed rule (according to the Observer) makes an exception for talents who're already established. If she is, I'm pretty sure he'll count as that too.

 

Joe's a full on developmental case. If they didnt have any interest in him when he was out of contract, when he was 32, during a period when they needed an influx of new talent and when they recently got a new head of talent who will be around for years, what chances are there of him being singed at 35? Put your common sense head on for a minute.

"A full on developmental case"?! Seriously?! Sure he may need to adapt to the WWE style, but if they let Sin Cara, Daniel Bryan and Kong do that on the main roster I'm sure he'd be given the same respect in that front.

 

Obviously Joe's chances of getting brought in are less and less by the year, which is why I say there's really a three year window where they could bring him in. Wrestlers have debuted at an older age in the past and had success, there's no reason why Joe couldn't if he kept himself fit and able.

 

Again, he's never going to be a Cena or Austin, but there's still a niche he could fill on that roster, particularly on Smackdown.

[Carbomb]

"A full on developmental case"?! Seriously?! Sure he may need to adapt to the WWE style, but if they let Sin Cara, Daniel Bryan and Kong do that on the main roster I'm sure he'd be given the same respect in that front.

 

Sin Cara should never have been called up until he'd been through developmental, and I think they realise that now, as is evidenced by their moving him to SD. Daniel Bryan has been polishing his craft 72 ways from Michaelmas for years, something which WWE recognised fully - even then, Bryan didn't go straight to TV, he was in dev for a short while. Kong, well - most Divas don't really need to be in developmental, because they're not expected to be good at the wrestling aspect of things, and whatever Kong can do now is already double what the likes of Melina can manage anyway; I don't think WWE were expecting Kharma to set the world on fire, so it didn't matter.

 

Joe DOES need development. He needs to learn how to work matches other than squashes and dominating bouts, and he certainly needs to learn to sell against guys who are bigger than him, of which there are plenty in WWE. He's got nowhere near the intensity of Umaga, for a start.