PWInsider is reporting that Samoa Joe will not be cleared by WWE to compete in time for this Sunday’s Royal Rumble PPV. It had been reported that WWE had plans in place to start a program between Samoa Joe and John Cena before he suffered his most recent foot injury.
Dave Meltzer is reporting that Joe looks to be out until the end of March, but there is no official time table for his return. However, on this week’s episode of Heated Conversations, Joe told Booker T that he is on a week-to-week basis as far as his health status with WWE goes.
“Anytime that you miss, like you say, one of the ‘Big Four’ shows, or, you miss shows in general, missing these opportunities on PPV, it’s always devastating. A younger version of me would definitely be stressing out and probably making this situation a lot worse. For me right now, I know what I need to do in order to get healthy and get back. I understand the timetable, I understand what I need to do to exceed that timetable. I’m more accepting of the process, because I realize it’s unavoidable. So, now it’s really just about concentrating on just getting back and being healthy. Just getting back out there in front of the people.”
Booker T then asked Joe if he had a specific timetable to return to the ring and Joe responded,
“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.”
