Prior to Vince McMahon's NXT 2.0 relaunch, Samoa Joe was stripped of his newly won NXT Championship due to an undisclosed injury. The Destroyer had been sidelined for a considerable amount of time prior to his release thanks to concussion issues, but when Triple H signed Joe to NXT, it was clear he was going to be used as a full-time wrestler in the developmental brand.
However, as soon as Vince McMahon took charge of the show, things changed (it's been widely reported that he wants to focus on younger, bigger wrestlers rather than older indie stars).
In today's edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer reveals that he's been told by sources in WWE that Joe was actually hired back primarily for a non-wrestling role in NXT. Chances are his run as NXT Champion was only going to be for the short-term, anyway, but the NXT 2.0 launch might have just sped things up.
There's certainly going to be a lot of disappointment among wrestling fans that Joe's days in the ring could be at an end, but if he were to become a trainer in NXT, for example, there's still a lot he can bring to WWE.
Interestingly, Bryan Alvarez recently pointed out on Wrestling Observer Live that at least one person he's spoken to confirmed that Joe's injury is a work. No one seems entirely sure about what's happening, though, and we can only hope that things get cleared up sooner rather than later.
What do you hope the future holds in store for Samoa Joe in "NXT 2.0"?