Samoa Joe relinquishes NXT title due to undisclosed injury

In a video released Sunday, NXT Champion Samoa Joe relinquished the title due to an undisclosed injury.

Joe said that WWE medical told him that “due to certain injuries,” they wanted him to step away for a “brief but undetermined amount of time.” He said because of the new era of NXT that is about to begin, they deserve a fighting champion so he was relinquishing the title. He wished luck to whoever held it next because he was going to come for them.

The future of the title is expected to be announced on Tuesday’s live show. A four-way no. 1 contender’s match between Pete Dunne, Tommaso Ciampa, Kyle O’Reilly and LA Knight is scheduled as of this point.

He won the title at August’s TakeOver 36 by defeating Karrion Kross. After being released by WWE in April, Joe was re-signed to NXT, returning as an on-screen authority figure in June. In addition to his on-screen role, Joe is also working in the NXT talent scouting department.

The Kross victory was his first since February 2020 due to concussion issues. He hasn’t wrestled since.