Samoa Joe Gives Update on His Return to WWE

It's been a tough six months for Samoa Joe.

the "Samoan Submission Machine" was on his way to becoming a legitimate main eventer on the WWE main roster following his call-up from NXT last year. His feud with Brock Lesnar proved that the former TNA Wrestling star could hang with the top stars of WWE.

He parlayed that main event position into a spot wrestling for the Universal title at SummerSlam in a fatal four-way bout. That momentum was halted, though, when Joe suffered a knee injury at a house show in August.

Following a return in October, Joe is once again on the mend following a foot injury that occurred on RAW in early January. The current injury is going to keep him out of the Royal Rumble, and there's been the potential that Joe could even miss WrestleMania in April.

Joe appeared on this week's edition of Booker T's podcast and addresses his recovery and the disappointment in missing such big shows.

"Anytime you miss one of the "Big 4″ shows or, really, just shows, in general, it's always sad to say. A younger version of me would definitely be stressing out and probably making this situation a lot worse. For me right now, I know what I need to do to get back and be healthy. I understand the timetable and what I need to do to exceed that timetable. I was more accepting of the process because I realize it's unavoidable. Now it's just about concentrating just getting back and being healthy."

As someone who has been wrestling now for over 15 years, Joe is acutely aware of the fact that there's no need to rush back. Especially given the amount of money that could be on the table for him in a headline position should he be able to stick around following this latest injury.

So what is the timeline for Joe's return? Will he return in time for WrestleMania? Joe confirmed that he will miss the Rumble and elaborated on the situation that he will be faced with in coming back at some point in the near future.

"As of right now, it's kind of a week to week thing. With these injuries sometimes these things can heal earlier and sometimes later. They are going to do a little bit of an ultrasound every week. They're going to be giving me treatments. It's not something the requires surgery. It's basically a lot of time, rest, elevation and letting it heal. It just depends on how quickly it's going to heal. Hopefully, it will be sooner than later. Obviously, we're going to be past the Rumble but I don't know how much further past that," Joe said.

[H/T to Still Real To Us for the transcription. ]