WWE has confirmed that the Samoa Joe injury announced on RAW is in fact legitimate and not part of a storyline.
Joe suffered the foot injury during his match with Rhyno and WWE's own ringside physician Dr. Chris Amann confirmed the injury on their own official website saying:
During his match, [Samoa Joe] felt a pop at the bottom of his [right] foot,” explained WWE Senior Ringside Physician Dr. Chris Amann. “We took a look and believe he has a plantar fascia rupture, which is a thick tissue rupture under the foot. We will get an MRI to confirm. Treatment includes a period of immobilization in a boot with crutches and platelet rich plasma injections.
It was first thought that perhaps the injury was a way to write Joe off of television for a while as he had previously announced yesterday that he will lend his voice to a new Transformers animated series also featuring Star Wars star Mark Hamill.
Very happy to announce I am joining the cast of the new Transformers animated series. #PredaKingLives #transformers https://t.co/HCP5yxoQkk
— Samoa Joe (@SamoaJoe) January 9, 2018
The injury comes at an unfortunate time for Joe as he was just about to enter a long awaited dream feud with John Cena. The big Samoan was experiencing a great run of form and gathering momentum on the WWE's flagship show recently. Evident in the fact that this week he was announced as the winner of a fan vote to choose who would partner Bayley in the upcoming "Mixed Match Challenge".
Raw General Manager Kurt Angle broke the news of Joe's injury on Twitter by announcing that he would not be able to compete in the Facebook exclusive mixed gender event and would be replaced by Elias.
Thank you all for voting for @itsBayleyWWE partner in #WWEMMC, but due to an injury suffered on #Raw @SamoaJoe is unable to compete...
— Kurt Angle (@RealKurtAngle) January 9, 2018
Thank you all for voting for @itsBayleyWWE partner in #WWEMMC, but due to an injury suffered on #Raw @SamoaJoe is unable to compete...
— Kurt Angle (@RealKurtAngle) January 9, 2018
Although Joe missing the 2018 Royal Rumble will serve as a disappointment, the fan favourite event is only just around the corner and already looks jam packed.
Superstars already announced to compete include Finn Balor, Randy Orton, Woken Matt Hardy, Bray Wyatt, Shinsuke Nakamura and the return of John Cena. Not to mention a triple threat match for the WWE Universal Championship which sees champion Brock Lesnar vs Kane vs Braun Strowman, a two on one handicap match for the WWE title featuring champion AJ Styles defending against Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens and of course the first ever Women's Royal Rumble match.
What could be better than the Royal Rumble? Why, two Royal Rumbles of course!
