WWE News: Samoa Joe confirmed for NXT TakeOver appearance

What's the story?

Well, whenever one of the big four is approaching, it's always an exciting time - but a lot of people are actually touting NXT TakeOver to steal the show this weekend with matches like Gargano v Andrade Cien Almas topping the bill.

And TakeOver just got a whole lot bigger - as WWE have announced that Samoa Joe will be there!

In case you didn't know...

Well, it looks like Samoa Joe may not make the Royal Rumble match with a foot injury sidelining him right as he had announced his entry and intention to eliminate John Cena first.

The tissue injury is said to take around two weeks to heal, so it's not completely out of the question - but you never know with injuries and, thus far, Joe has been removed from the Royal Rumble graphic and seemingly pulled from the match.

The heart of the matter

Well, it's been a while since we've seen Joe in NXT, but he has been added to the card for this weekend's event as a guest on the pre-show panel!

Joe will join Charly Caruso and Sam Roberts to preview the event, with WWE announcing that those three will be joined by Corey Graves and Renee Young for the NXT Year-End Awards on WWE Network immediately before the show.

Joe notably stole the show on more than one occasion on NXT - with two more prominent matches coming to mind...

What's next?

Well, the show kicks off on Saturday from the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia and the card for the main event is pretty stacked.

Andrade “Cien” Almas defends his NXT Championship against Johnny Gargano, there's also an Extreme Rules Match between Aleister Black vs. Adam Cole, an NXT Women’s Championship Match between Ember Moon and Shayna Baszler, and an NXT Tag Team Championship Match between The Undisputed ERA and The Authors of Pain.

Author's take

Well, it's always cool to see current WWE Superstars who have spent some time in NXT go back for whatever reason, and Joe was undoubtedly one of the most dominant Superstars at NXT during his run there.

While it's sad to see that an injury may keep him out of Sunday's Royal Rumble, we know Joe can talk and does so incredibly well - so it'll be awesome to see what he thinks of this card and if he provides us with an update on his injuries or future plans