Samoa Joe Says Jim Ross Once Told Him He’d Never Make It in WWE

Samoa Joe never followed the traditional route to WWE—and apparently, that wasn’t by accident.

The former ROH and TNA icon opened up during his appearance on Marking Out and shared that early in his career, Jim Ross directly told him he didn’t fit the WWE mold. Joe didn’t take it personally. In fact, he called it one of the best things he’d ever heard.

“When I first got started, Jim Ross told me to my face, ‘You will never work in WWE.’ That wasn’t malicious—it wasn’t a malicious thing. It was just saying, ‘Hey, listen, this is what we’re looking for. You are not it.’”

Instead of being discouraged, Joe said the comment liberated him from the constant pressure of chasing WWE’s approval. It forced him to focus his energy elsewhere—on promotions that actually welcomed what he brought to the table.

“And it was one of the most liberating statements that was ever spoken to me. Because then it uncoupled me from sitting there going, ‘I gotta be at every WWE house show that comes through the West Coast, I gotta be there, I gotta shake the hands, I gotta do—’ Instead, I said, ‘Listen, obviously they told me I ain’t gonna make it there, so now all my focus shifts to everywhere else I can make money.’”

Joe redirected that effort into building his legacy in ROH, TNA, and across the globe. That independent success paid off in the long run.

“I concentrated my efforts on those spaces, and those spaces grew because of the effort that I put into them. Those spaces got better. They got more lucrative. We made more money. And because of that, when I finally started dealing with WWE, I did not do it from a position of weakness—I did it from a position of stability and mutual respect.”

Being told “no” was the spark that lit the fire. Samoa Joe made his name on his own terms—and when WWE finally did come calling, he came in with leverage.

How do you feel about Samoa Joe’s journey? Do you think more wrestlers should take the long road like he did? Share your thoughts in the comments.

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