Samoa Joe says a concussion in 2020 left his wrestling career "essentially over," and that WWE then fired him, rehired him, and fired him a second time. Fightful and WrestleZone reported the comments, which Joe made in a talk with Craig Altman of Grace Family Church. The church posted the conversation to YouTube.
Fightful reported that Joe suffered the concussion in February 2020 while filming a WWE commercial. He then moved to the commentary desk, where he stayed through August 2021. Fightful also reported that WWE released him again in January 2022.
Joe described the stretch in his own words: "Within the span of two months, I had received a concussion and my career was essentially over. I was sent to the commentary desk, which was awesome, a good time. In that time, I was let go and fired. I was hired back, miraculously, thankfully, and I moved into a more corporate position, but then the corporate structure changed, and two months later I found myself fired again."
According to Fightful, Joe received a call about Twisted Metal about four hours after the second firing. He then signed with AEW. WrestleZone wrote that Joe has remained with AEW, where he has won several championships, and that he was feuding with Jack Perry as of October 5.
The dates of Joe's first release and his rehire were not given. The timeline of the two firings comes from Joe's own account of that period, and Joe described the second one as the result of a change in WWE's corporate structure.
Joe is with AEW, and what is known about the concussion and the two firings comes from his talk at Grace Family Church.
