10 Things WWE Fans Need To Know About Samoa Joe

7. A Friend In Foley

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23lDcanhC6w Mick Foley, like Paul Heyman, has a history of spotting talent in places that WWE bigwigs wouldn't. In 2004 Mick Foley made several appearances for Ring of Honor and was immediately impressed with the work of Samoa Joe and CM Punk. Foley even had a brief feud with Joe, although the two never had an official match together. Upon returning to WWE, Foley made a strong pitch for Punk and Joe to join WWE in 2005. He had mapped-out a whole programme that would see the two indie stars aligned with Foley as he tried to take down Vince McMahon. Foley had really thought about the whole thing in detail, going so far as to mention specific angles on specific episodes of TV and PPV. WWE didn't show much interest. They were committed to pushing muscleheads (one of Foley's main gripes at the time) ahead of wrestlers with unique body shapes. Punk was signed a few months after the above interview took place, but he had a pretty inauspicious start in the company. Joe, meanwhile, went to TNA. Although then-President of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis was a fan of Joe and was quoted as saying that Joe was the 'top level heel that Rikishi could never pull off', Vince wasn't interested.