Samoa Joe has said that he does expect to face current WWE champion AJ Styles, in the not-so-distant future.

Speaking to ESPN, the former NXT Champion compared his past feud with Styles in IMPACT! Wrestling, as similar to Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. 

He said: "I think at this point it’s beyond potential, and it’s something that’s gonna happen."

"People talk about the Kevin Owens/Sami Zayn relationship and how they’ll be fighting forever... when it comes to me and AJ Styles, I defy anybody to find two guys who have been battling against each other longer than us.”

Joe was quick to praise the SmackDown Live superstar, describing him as a phenomenal athlete and fantastic champion.

"A lot of the wider WWE universe hasn’t been able to experience what Samoa Joe-AJ Styles is, and if there’s one thing that we’ve always known about each other it’s that whenever we get in the ring, things get a little bit more intense," he told ESPN. 

Joe is scheduled to face Roman Reigns this Sunday at Backlash, before moving to SmackDown Live because of the superstar shakeup.