NXT's Samoa Joe Reportedly Originally Planned For WWE Raw Appearance

WWE originally planned for NXT superstar Samoa Joe to appear on this week's Monday Night Raw.

Joe was forced to relinquish the NXT Championship earlier this week, citing a need for him to take a short period away from the ring to recover from injuries. The 42-year-old won the Title from Karrion Kross at NXT TakeOver 36 in August in his first match in 18 months.

With Joe taking time off, the relaunch of NXT 2.0 this week will see a new NXT Champion crowned. According to Fightful Select, however, the original plans included Joe pulling double duty this week.

Had Joe not gone down with injury and been forced to give up the NXT Title, the Samoan Submission Machine was reportedly initially scripted for some form of appearance on the September 13 episode of Raw. There has been no indication as to the details of what Joe was scheduled to do, but it is believed it was in relation to promoting the relaunch of NXT.

With Joe not cleared by WWE medical, the originally-planned Fatal-4-Way Match to determine his number one contender on this week's NXT will instead decide the new Champion. Tommaso Ciampa, LA Knight, Pete Dunne and Kyle O'Reilly will compete for the Championship.