It's not been the best of years for Samoa Joe. After being called up to the main roster, he wound up not being given a spot on the WrestleMania card and while he did appear in two main-event matches for the Universal Championship, he tore his meniscus the week after SummerSlam which left him needing surgery and on the shelf for between 4 - 6 weeks.
Thankfully, things are now looking up for The Destroyer. During a recent interview, Joe confirmed that he's expecting to return to WWE in the next few weeks as soon as he's cleared by WWE doctors.
"The recovery’s going really well but I’ve only been able to perform at about 80 per cent capacity since joining NXT. Back then I had no chance to take time off because of the WWE opportunity, before I was just treating the knee problem with ice and elevation at home. Now it’s the best I’ve ever felt, it really is. I also needed nasal surgery as I’ve broken my nose about eight times in my career so I was only breathing at around 60 per cent. You have no idea how invigorating it is now."
That unexpected second surgery is no doubt going to improve Joe's in-ring performance moving forward and we'll hopefully see him back in action sooner rather than later. It's hard to say who he could feud with upon his return but if Finn Balor isn't next for a Universal Championship opportunity, putting those two together to relive their NXT battles would be far from a bad thing.