10 Wrestling Facts We Didn't Know Last Week
2. Samoa Joe Was Once WWE's Second-Hottest Merch Seller
There are two facts in here.
Firstly, Kevin Owens was WWE's top merchandise seller in May 2015. Triple H told Samoa Joe this on a tour bus, and personally congratulated him on finishing just behind the new main roster man. Joe, much to everyone in WWE's surprise, was number two on the list, and he was outselling some seriously big names.
As always, Joe didn't come across as big-headed or braggadocios when discussing this on the Sam Roberts Wrestling Podcast. He was as shocked as anyone to hear Triple H say he was nip and tuck with KO as WWE's top merch man, especially because he'd only debuted that week.
Joe thought Trips means he was number two in NXT, not the full WWE roster. That means he was outselling John Cena, Roman Reigns and more within days of joining the company. It's similarly impressive that Owens, who debuted against Cena, was rocketing up the charts.