Samoa Joe Says Vince McMahon In His Ear Was The Hardest Part Of WWE Commentary

Samoa Joe is one of the most tenured and lethal in-ring competitors in the history of professional wrestling. He has been known for his amazing agility, strength, and accolades over the years of working for various promotions. Moreover, Joe also tried his hand at the role of a commentator back in WWE. Recently, Samoa Joe recalled the hardest part of sitting behind a WWE commentary table.

Samoa Joe suffered a series of injuries at one point in his WWE career. That led to the Submission Machine stepping away from the ring and taking up the role of becoming a WWE commentator.

The former WWE United States champion transitioned to become a color commentator on Monday Night RAW beginning in 2020. Samoa Joe recently revealed that he felt confident in the role, but faced his share of challenges, including Vince McMahon being his ear, during an appearance on ‘The Sessions with Renee Paquette.’

“I think the hardest part about commentary is the man in your ear [Vince McMahon],” Joe said. “You can attest to that. It’s just because he’s very exact. He wants what he wants. No beef with that. ‘Okay, I get it.’ I just thought about what I would want people to say about me when I was wrestling. That really was my main focal point. ‘If I’m so and so, how would I want to be talked about? If I was on top and was putting on the pressure, how would I want to be described?’ Really, that’s the mindset I took into it. I wanted to enhance whatever performer that was in the ring.”

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Samoa Joe further stated that he gained a lot of respect for veteran WWE commentator Michael Cole during the time he worked with him. Joe also believed that anyone else would break under pressure from receiving continuous instructions in their ear, apart from Cole.

Samoa Joe worked as a WWE commentator for well over a year until he was released by the company in April 2021. He returned to the company a few months later for a second stint, only to be let go once again in January 2022.

The Submission Machine then signed with AEW and ROH and is the reigning ROH World Television Champion. We will have to wait and see if Samoa Joe manages to have a much more successful stint in Tony Khan’s promotion as an in-ring performer than he did in WWE.

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