Details On When WWE Creative Learned of Samoa Joe’s Suspension

As we previously reported, Samoa Joe was suspended by WWE for his first violation of the Wellness Policy, although it wasn’t revealed what he was suspended for. In the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer spoke about why Joe was only now suspended when there had been rumors of his failure for weeks, and when WWE creative found out about it.

WWE officials reportedly knew of Joe’s suspension early this month, but WWE creative didn’t find out about it until it was announced by WWE.com yesterday. If Joe is medically cleared by then, he will be free of his suspension by late March. He was injured after suffering a concussion on the set of a WWE commercial earlier this month, his second in less than a month. Meltzer said that WWE creative usually doesn’t find out right away, noting that Vince McMahon and possibly Triple H are the only ones who know. He noted that all the people who denied Joe being suspended weren’t lying, they just weren’t told.