For the last year, Samoa Joe has been on the sidelines with a concussion issue. Thankfully you can still hear him in the commentary booth on Monday Night Raw, but he’s certainly taking his time making his comeback. In fact, he’s taking as much time as he needs.
Samoa Joe spoke with Uproxx recently and while he has said a lot of the same things in recent interviews, he goes a little more in depth as he talked about the science of studying concussions and what exactly the evolving knowledge of those things affect his timetable. However, he also admitted that the COVID-19 pandemic has also affected some of the things that would help him get on the road to recovery.
“I think right now, we’ve learned a lot medically about concussions and recovery and we’re taking the safest and the best approach and I appreciate it. WWE medical, they’ve been great and understanding and wonderful. So I think at this time we’re just taking the best course of action and obviously some things have been delayed just because of the pandemic and medical availability and liability of being in places and traveling to get evaluations and stuff. So, I mean, there’s been some technical holdups as well as just a very careful approach to my return and recovery and I appreciate it. And I’m all aboard, you know? I would rather take this time and miss a large considerable amount of time than potentially this getting more serious. It took (WWE) a lot to talk me down. But after seeing medically, you know, what I’ve seen, I agree with them. And we’re just taking our time with it and trying to do right.”
“The understanding (of concussions) has evolved so much in 10 years. Even now, the protocol is constantly being tweaked with the newest information. Obviously this is an issue across many sports and many sports across the board are working together to find the best solution. There’s technology and science involved and because of that, hopefully we’re dealing with this situation better than we have in the past, but I am my own worst enemy in this aspect, where I just want to shake it off. I have people that depend on me and you see these other things that could happen. I had to realize that I have to start listening because I have to honor these responsibilities to people, both professionally, personally, everybody. It’s very, very difficult when you come from a state of always wanting to charge forward, wanting to go harder and fight through. And this series we’re doing now preaches those very qualities of understanding when it’s time to take care of yourself.”
Joe remains on television as one of the commentators on Raw, but many fans would love to see him return. Hopefully as the pandemic continues to improve and vaccines remain available, we could see Samoa Joe back in the ring sometime in 2021.
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