UPDATE: According to WWE.com, Joe’s injury is in his foot. From their story:
“During his match, [Samoa Joe] felt a pop at the bottom of his [right] foot,” explained WWE Senior Ringside Physician Dr. Chris Amann. “We took a look and believe he has a plantar fascia rupture, which is a thick tissue rupture under the foot. We will get an MRI to confirm. Treatment includes a period of immobilization in a boot with crutches and platelet rich plasma injections.”
Original Story:
Concerning news from WWE this afternoon as it looks like Samoa Joe may have injured himself on Raw. PWInsider explained that while they’re “uncertain of the nature of the injury at this time,” they’ve reportedly confirmed with sources that this isn’t a work, and that Joe is “legitimately” injured.
The injury was originally revealed by Raw General Manager Kurt Angle in a tweet announcing that Joe had won the fan poll to name Bayley’s partner for the Mixed Match Challenge, but would be unable to compete. Elias will be walking into his spot.
Thank you all for voting for @itsBayleyWWE partner in #WWEMMC, but due to an injury suffered on #Raw @SamoaJoe is unable to compete…
— Kurt Angle (@RealKurtAngle) January 9, 2018
…therefore the runner-up @IAmEliasWWE will be Bayley’s partner. #WWEMMC
— Kurt Angle (@RealKurtAngle) January 9, 2018
Joe got a quick win over Rhyno on Monday’s Raw. While there’s not an obvious injury evident during the match, you never know what can go wrong. Watch the match highlight below:
Joe missed time last summer with a knee injury that required surgery, and extended that leave by having nasal surgery.
Interestingly enough, news of Joe’s injury comes on the same day as the announcement that he’ll be joining Star Wars Mark Hamill, Hellboy‘s Ron Perlman and My Chemical Romance bassist Mikey Way in the cast of a new Transformers cartoon. Joe will apparently be voicing the Predaking, either a Decepticon dragon or a pile of Predacons, depending on which generation you’re going by.
Very happy to announce I am joining the cast of the new Transformers animated series. #PredaKingLives #transformers https://t.co/HCP5yxoQkk
— Samoa Joe (@SamoaJoe) January 9, 2018
That’ll surely get people questioning whether or not Joe’s injury is real, or if he’s just taking time off to work on the project. Plus, if he’s starting a feud with John Cena, that could give us our first Transformers-themed showdown in WWE history.
No matter what, let’s hope the injury is small, and that Joe’s back on TV sooner rather than later.
(Check out our must-listen McMahonsplaining podcast with WWE superstar Braun Strowman. Subscribe on iTunes or Google.)
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