Samoa Joe was a recent guest on AEW Unrestricted. During the interview, he spoke about the term Forbidden Door, which he has previously been vocal against. Despite now working for Tony Khan, his opinion has not changed, because Joe sees the Forbidden Door as WWE.
“I stand by my comments, here’s the thing, maybe my definition of Forbidden Door, and yours is different. But, mine was always WWE, okay, well that door is still not open. If you’re talking about co-promotion with like New Japan and other promotions, Ring Of Honor, that’s fine. But, to me, that’s never been considered a Forbidden Door,” he said. “I co-promoted with Ring Of Honor and New Japan years ago, and we did the Best Of Super Juniors. It didn’t turn out well, it wasn’t a good collaboration, from that experience, that’s what I base my experiences on.
“Even to this day when you talk about a Forbidden Door, I am talking about it from a standpoint of where I am at and where the people are at. The door that’s currently up is what adds value to a lot of the wrestlers. To me, even though I have dealt with Tony, and I have a very different feeling now that I am dealing personally with Tony.
“And talking business about how he handles himself, and what his vision is. Which is very noble, and I am surprised to hear. But, when the promoters start working together, does that usually work out for the wrestlers? I am just talking about from a labor standpoint.”
Samoa Joe made it clear he is not looking on the internet to see what buzz words are taking place. But for him, the biggest issue is fans arguing against each other. His main goal is for the wrestlers to be paid as much as possible, which is an opinion he won’t apologize for.
“I am not on the internet every day, catching on all the buzz words, getting on the revolution and stuff. I think the arguing between the AEW and the WWE fans is ridiculous, just watch pro wrestling. You don’t need to dunk on this, it’s you taking your ego, and taking something you have nothing involved with and trying to start a conflict with something else.
“Watch what you watch, enjoy what you want to enjoy. But I am always going to be pro value for wrestlers, no matter what. I am always going to be pro, wrestlers should be getting the top dollar. Getting paid the most they should possibly be paid, and be valued at the highest level. I will never apologize for that opinion, and I will never go back on that opinion.”
Samoa Joe then further clarified his thoughts on the Forbidden Door phrase. For him, the door between AEW and WWE could open up, but he needs to see lots of change before he is behind the idea.
“My opinion is still the same, and as far as I see it, that door is still up,” he said.”But there’s benefits for that door being up, and there’s benefits for that door being open. That door can be open, but there’s going to be a lot of industry change industry-wide before I can be comfortable with it from a performer. And for where I am standing as an entertainer who has been in this business, who has actually dealt with the financials, and knows what this business is about. I know you have your glorified view of what this is. But, the real war is us, trying to entertain you people.”
