Samoa Joe's First Post-TNA Interview, Talks Returning To ROH, CM Punk's Tweet, If He's Interested In NXT & More

Samoa Joe made his first post-TNA interview appearance and his first interview since ROH announced his return yesterday on their website. Joe was interviewed by the Chad Dukes Wrestling Show on CBS Sports and spoke about a number of topics including his return to Ring of Honor, leaving TNA, what the tweet CM Punk sent him meant, the safety of AJ Styles' Styles Clash and more. You can listen to the entire interview by clicking here.

Here are some highlights from the interview.

On returning to Ring of Honor: “I think certain times in your career you reexamine things and a change of scenery is nice.  It’s good for the fans, it’s good for me, and I think it’s healthy all around.   I’m excited about some new matches for me, there’s some guys out there I haven’t had a chance to work with especially some younger guys, up and comers, that I think have tremendous promise and talent and I get to get in there and mix it up with them.”

“It kinda was a culmination over the past few months of various factors, various reasons.  You kind of come to these big decisions and I kind of looked around saw the landscape of things and thought it was the time.”

ROH's growth as a promotion since he last worked for them: “I don’t really have a grasp of what Sinclair’s intentions are. I really haven’t dealt much with the new regime yet.  Like I said this is my return after an absence, I think 2008 is the last time I did anything with Ring of Honor.  I think they want to grow and make their brand bigger, and bringing in myself and [Patron, Styles, etc] that’s going to help with that.  It takes tremendous infrastructure; it takes a lot of careful planning and wise decisions so it’s a lot more than the talent that walks through the door.”

On the tweet CM Punk sent him saying he owes him one: "Time will tell and that’s really up to him and obviously his obligations to UFC.  I know he’s training real hard for his upcoming fight but if he wants to throw down, if he wants to scrap, you can come over here [Ring of Honor] and start off with me and see what’s left when you go into the octagon."

On if he'd go through NXT if WWE were interested: “I’ve never shied away from an opportunity to prove myself.  Every promotion I’ve ever worked for, initially when I started out, never wanted me. I remember my first Ring of Honor show and [Gabe Sapolsky. Former ROH booker] told me, ‘Hey listen, we can’t afford a flight out from California every month, so it will probably be a one-off deal.’ And then walking back through the curtain after that first match and him going, ‘you’re on every show.’  I think when you do get to the point where you’re not willing to go out there and prove what you can do, I understand guys they feel strongly a certain way, that’s fine, I think it’s individual for everybody, but I know for me I’ve never shied away from an opportunity to prove myself anywhere.”

“I’ve always firmly believed that you can’t deny talent and cream always rises to the top.  Those are two things you always hear clichés among all sports not just pro wrestling and it’s something that I firmly believe.  At the end of the day, if you’ve got it you’re going to get there.  You’ve got to find the opportunities, the doors and the windows you can find and do what you need to do.”