Samoa Joe Not Returning for The Royal Rumble

PWInsider reports that WWE will not be clearing Samoa Joe in time for Sunday’s Royal Rumble event. The company had been setting him up to work a program with John Cena and the timing of his injury is very unfortunate, as working with Cena is seen as a big deal in the company.

As of this writing there is still no “official” timeframe for his return. Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer Newsletter mentioned recently that Joe could return sometime at the end of March. Joe also mentioned during a recent installment of Heated Conversations that his status is on a week-to-week basis.

“As of right now it’s kind of a week-to-week thing. With these injuries sometimes they heal sooner, sometimes they heal later. They are going to do a little bit of an ultrasound, check it out every week. They’re going to be giving me treatments. It’s not something that can be fixed surgically. It’s basically a lot of time, rest, and elevation, and letting it heal. It just depends on how quick it heals. Hopefully, it will be sooner than later. Obviously, we’re going to be past the [Royal] Rumble, but I don’t know how much further past that.”

We will keep you updated if we hear anything else regarding Joe’s injury.