Samoa Joe Returning To Raw Next Week

On last week’s episode of Raw, Kevin Owens was forced to fight alone in his Raw Tag Team Title match against Seth Rollins and Buddy Murphy as Samoa Joe was removed from the bout with a suspected concussion.

Joe was absent from this week’s episode, and rumours began circulating after the show that he had been suspended by WWE for violating the Wellness Policy.

To their credit, WrestleVotes who made the initial report have now apologised and said that they received wrong information. They are now confirming reports made by several prominent wrestling journalists that Samoa Joe has not been suspended.

Apologies for that suspension story last week. Got the info from a very reliable source, although they seem to have got this one wrong. It happens. That time of year where news get screwy. No excuse though. We strive to provide valid, informative news. This was below that.

— WrestleVotes (@WrestleVotes) February 8, 2020

Not only has Samoa Joe not been suspended, but the former NXT Champion will be returning to TV next week as he teams with The Viking Raiders and Kevin Owens to take on Buddy Murphy, Seth Rollins and Akam & Rezar of The AOP.

As first announced by @SInow, @WWERollins, @WWE_Murphy & #AOP are set to battle @FightOwensFight, @SamoaJoe & The #VikingRaiders THIS MONDAY on #Raw!https://t.co/B1O1E6yJkV

— WWE (@WWE) February 8, 2020

WWE had the following to say about the match:

An epic Eight-Man Tag Team Match will pit Raw Tag Team Champions Seth Rollins and Murphy with AOP against Kevin Owens, Samoa Joe & The Viking Raiders. The match was first reported by Sports Illustrated in an interview with Seth Rollins, as The Monday Night Messiah continues to pull the strings of the Raw locker room.

Last week on Raw, Murphy & AOP took out KO & The Viking Raiders in a grueling six-man tag bout, thanks to a little help from Rollins. Despite his squad coming up short, KO received a standing ovation from the WWE Universe after eliminating Murphy and Akam and eventually being pinned by Rezar.

Tensions between the opposing groups carried over into last week’s main event – a Triple Threat war with major implications for Rollins. A Rollins victory against Bobby Lashley and Ricochet would have given him exactly what he has been thirsting for – a chance to challenge WWE Champion Brock Lesnar at WWE Super ShowDown.

Unsurprisingly, AOP & Murphy got involved in the match, but Owens and Erik evened the odds, and Ricochet scored a win to earn a chance at The Beast.

With the WWE Universe behind them, can Owens & Co. draw from that potent backing and parlay it into a win? Or, will the self-proclaimed Monday Night Messiah lead his squad to victory?

As always, WrestleTalk.com will have live coverage of next week’s episode of Monday Night Raw.

• concussion
• Samoa Joe
• KEVIN OWENS
• wwe

Share this article with friends