Why Has Samoa Joe Been Off RAW In Recent Weeks?
It appears the reason for Samoa Joe’s absence from RAW is that he suffered a broken thumb and has not been cleared to return to wrestling yet.
According to PWInsider, Joe suffered the injury several weeks back, having last appeared on the September 9 edition of RAW from Madison Square Garden in New York City. He was part of the King of the Ring triple threat with Ricochet and the winner, King Baron Corbin, and also was on the WWE Supershow live event, falling to Roman Reigns in a singles match.
The 40-year-old Joe debuted with NXT in 2015, attacking Sami Zayn. He made his in-ring debut by defeating Scott Dawson and immediately set himself into a feud with Kevin Owens. In January 2017, Joe debuted on RAW, attacking Seth Rollins and aligning himself with Triple H.
Joe earned his first win on RAW by defeating Reigns. Prior to signing with the WWE, Joe won multiple titles in TNA, including the heavyweight belt and X Division championship five times. He is a two-time NXT champion and two-time WWE United States titleholder.
Did Finn Balor Take A Pay Cut By Moving To WWE NXT?
When former champion Finn Balor made a surprise appearance on NXT’s debut on USA Network, some wondered if he had taken a cut in pay to appear on the show after being a superstar on RAW.
That is not the case, however.
According to PWInsider, Balor’s pay will remain the exact same whether he was on RAW, SmackDown or NXT for now. He will be working a lighter schedule as part of the NXT roster, but has also been thrust right into the main event and title picture upon debuting.
The 38-year-old Balor first made his WWE debut with NXT back in 2014, earning a title shot after winning a No. 1 contender tournament with victories over Curtis Axel, Hideo Itami and Adrian Neville. He later defeated Kevin Owens for his first NXT championship run, scoring a victory in Tokyo, Japan and retaining the title in a ladder match with Owens.
In 2016, Balor was called up to the RAW main roster through the WWE Draft, earning his spot to compete for the inaugural WWE Universal championship by winning a fatal four-way match that year over Rusev, Cesaro and Owens, and following with a win vs. Roman Reigns. At SummerSlam, he topped Seth Rollins for the title.
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