Samoa Joe was recently interviewed by The News Tribune where the Destroyer gave his thoughts on Dean Ambrose’s potential departure, being able to compete in his first Royal Rumble match, and the inspiration that comes from his promos. He also details the journey it took him, AJ Styles, and Daniel Bryan to get to WWE. Highlights are below.

Competing in his first Royal Rumble

I was basically saying, ‘Hey it’s about time. We’ve avoided this for long enough, now let’s get to it.’ Obviously, it was a very fun experience, get to knock around a few heads but it didn’t turn out the way we wanted to. Regardless, it was a fun experience.

Thoughts on Dean Ambrose

Dean’s a fantastic performer and there’s no doubt about it. Me saying that is like saying the sky is blue. As far as his departure, I think Dean’s the type of cat that he wants to do things that he’s into and if he’s not into what he’s doing at a certain time then he’ll have no problem stepping away and pursuing other things.

If that’s the case then cool, more power to him. I think there are so many people who are wrapped up in the needs and wants of wanting to become a WWE superstar that they forget sometimes there other goals they want to achieve. I think Dean is a goal-oriented person and when he gets a goal in mind he’s going to try and accomplish it, more power to him. He will be missed.

Inspiration for promos

I’m not good with rehearsed lines; there’s a lot of things. I wish I could give you a short synopsis on what goes on with it, as far as my process goes, it’s a cadence, it’s timing, it’s feeling out the crowd. At the point when I start talking, do I need to wake them up a bit? Reading the situation and reading the crowd. That’s kind of overlooked, once you walk through that curtain and you’ve gotta read the vibe of the crowd.

Sometimes you get out there and they smell blood in the water. They know you’re gonna go on attack mode and they’re waiting for you to say something messed up. I’m a big proponent for meaning what you say and it’s not always what you do or what you say but it’s how you do it or how you say it. I say things that get reactions out of people and if I can continue to keep getting those strong reactions then I’m gonna keep saying it.

The journey he took with AJ Styles and Daniel Bryan to get to WWE

We all do, it’s something that we all feel. I think for us, we get these questions all the time on did we ever think we’d make it into WWE and for all three of us we had been labeled as either too big or too small and they’d say, WWE would never hire you. We were told that from literally day one. I remember (Daniel Bryan) got signed early on and then he got released early on at they very, very start of his career. I know that every time I’m in the locker room and I’m working for some company in Malaysia or Germany and Japan I kept seeing the same guys from America in the locker room. I would be Daniel, it would by A.J. (Styles). I think Bryan broke the mold for a lot of us guys who had been told they don’t fit the WWE model and I think it opened up the doors for a lot of guys to be successful in this company.