Less than a week ago, there were reports that Samoa Joe is out with an injury and is unlikely to return in time for WrestleMania. Now it seems that Joe’s bad luck didn’t end (or begin) with that.
WWE announced today that they’ve suspended Samoa Joe for a Wellness Policy violation. No details were given, in fact here’s the entire text of WWE’s post:
WWE has suspended Nuufolau Seanoa (Samoa Joe) for 30 days effective Monday, February 24, for his first violation of the company’s talent wellness policy.
The timing of this is interesting because back at the beginning of February, WrestleVotes hinted that Samoa Joe was about to be part of a wave of Wellness Policy suspensions, but other sources vehemently denied that Joe had a Wellness Policy Violation. If those denials were correct at the time and this is something new an unrelated, that’s a pretty strange coincidence.
The usual assumption is that anyone who gets suspended for this reason has failed a drug test, whoever, several WWE Superstars in the past including Paige and Primo Colon have claimed to have been suspended for misunderstandings regarding the administration of those drug tests. It’s possible we’ll know more about the nature of Joe’s suspension soon, but it’s also possible everyone involved will keep that under wraps for as long as possible.
The timing of this 30-day suspension will enable Samoa Joe to work again just in time for WrestleMania, but if he’s genuinely injured as well, that may not do him much good.
