Samoa Joe On Backstage Tension With Kevin Nash In TNA

Much was made during TNA’s golden years that it was half exciting up-and-comers, and half passed-their-prime legends looking for that last paycheque.

Many of TNA’s ‘originals’ claimed this was never a problem, with a few notable exceptions, such as when Scott Hall no-showed TNA Turning Point 2007, leading to Samoa Joe cutting a promo on the absent Hall.

Joe recently reflecting on this, telling The Kurt Angle Show how it caused tension between himself and Kevin Nash:

“So that whole thing was really weird,” started Joe “Without getting too much into the backstage, you know, essentially we had a no-show. I have a little bit more of a broader view on things after the fact. He no-showed and really I wasn't upset about that, you know, because really, at that time in TNA, there'd been so much craziness like that, you know, prior to that, that at this point for most of us, We're just like, ‘Alright, well, not even surprised.’ It really sucks to admit, but that was the vibe at the time. So when I went out there, I think the biggest thing that we just felt was that momentum halted because then it wasn't about the pay per view anymore, it was about the controversy or whatever. So I remember before I went out there, somebody had kind of mentioned to me, ‘Say something, just get something going at the end.’ So, I mean, they gave me a mic, and they said, ‘Go start some stuff.’ So, I did, and then everybody got sensitive about it when I got back. I remember me and Kevin got into the back. Kevin was upset. You know, I came back and I was surprised, I was oblivious. I didn't think anybody was mad because I thought everybody would agree, like, 'Hey, we're just trying to salvage a situation here. Make an angle on it.’

"Kevin's upset, and Kevin's a friend of mine. I know Kevin at the time because I was really struggling with, with Scott, you know, just caring about him, putting him in rehab, pulling him out. He went through it at the time with Scott, you know, as his friend as his brother. I said sorry, Kevin was mad and shoved me and was pissed off about it and I was just like, ‘why?’”

Joe continued, “I apologised to Kevin because I felt terrible about it. Nobody had clued him up. Nobody had communicated in the back, which was a huge problem in TNA. Which is part of why I inevitably left the company was just people not talking to each other and, and you know, I was like, okay, you know, I get it. It was funny and then for years I mean, everybody built this legend like, ‘Oh man, he was shooting here.’ I thought that was like, ‘Nah, man, I was just trying to get the next angle going.’ You gotta understand at this point in TNA, there was a problem with stuff like that. The younger guys, as we were always dubbed, and put into the group, we knew that and we always looked at and we were just like, 'Man, we're just trying to get this off the ground.' We were never mad at guys that came in and were names or big deals. We were mad when you came in and killed all the progress you've made, or like something personal of yours blew up, and they weren't paying attention to the right stuff in the company. You know, they're looking at the car crash instead of all the great work going on in the ring. I think that for us, that was what was the most supremely frustrating thing.”

H/T: Fightful