Longtime veterans find new fame with WWE
After Samoa Joe lost to Brock Lesnar at a World Wrestling Entertainment pay-per-view last month, the crowd chanted, “Thank you, Joe.”
It was an appreciation of Joe’s effort that night, but also a recognition of an 18-year journey that has taken him from independent wrestling icon to main eventer for the world’s biggest professional wrestling company.
Joe — real name Nuufolau Joe Seanoa — is in the main event again Sunday night at SummerSlam, WWE’s second biggest event of the year. Joe, Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman challenge Lesnar for the Universal title in Brooklyn, N.Y. (7 p.m. ET, WWE Network).
“It was a watershed moment for me in terms of legitmization,” Joe, 38, said of his performance at Great Balls of Fire in July. “Winning the Universal title wasn’t in the cards, but people realized what they had on their hands. WWE realized that I belong in the main event picture, and that’s where I am at SummerSlam.”
SummerSlam weekend will represent another showcase for a group of veteran newcomers — each with more than 15 years experience and each in his mid-30s or older — who worked in other promotions but have found greater success and a significantly higher profile in the last two-plus years on the worldwide platform of WWE.
Shinsuke Nakamura, 37, will challenge Jinder Mahal for the WWE championship. Finn Balor,
36, meets Bray Wyatt, with Balor again breaking out his bodypainted “Demon” character. Nakamura and Balor were stars in Japan before WWE. A.J. Styles,
40, will defend the United States title against Kevin Owens, 33, in a rivalry that dates back more than a dozen years in other promotions.
On Saturday at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn III (8 p.m. ET, WWE Network), Bobby Roode, 40, de- fends the NXT title against Drew McIntyre.
On Sunday after SummerSlam, WWE Network will air a bracketology special for the Mae Young Classic, a 32-women tournament. The first four episodes will be released Aug. 28.
One thing the veteran performers all share — other than a history of matches in some combination against each other — is a feeling that their path has been instrumental in how quickly they have elevated in WWE. Still, all but Styles spent time in NXT — WWE’s third brand that is focused on development — and WWE’s Performance Center in Orlando because working for a wrestling company and working for a television company that produces wrestling are different things.
“They’ve got a lot of experience and been a lot of places, but no one has taught them how to do television; no one has taught them camera angles or the subtleties even in storytelling,” said Paul “Triple H” Levesque, WWE’s executive vice president for talent, live events and creative. “We shoot a television show with a backdrop that happens to be the WWE Universe, a WWE ring and the competitors work in that ring, but it’s still a television show.
“Nobody is doing the things that we’re doing in terms of the difference in the product. No matter where you come from, you have to learn that and have the learning curve.”
As Levesque notes, the route to superstar begins with learning the WWE way, but there is much more, even in a industry in which the winners and losers are predetermined.
“Sure, in some ways it’s up to us, but in a lot of ways up to them. They have to deliver,” he said. “We try to give everyone the opportunity to be the absolute best they can be. We give them the tools to success … and then set them free.”
Owens recently marked three years with WWE, was the subject of a DVD set in April and hit 1 million Twitter followers last week.
“Over the three years, there wasn’t really a time when I was treading water and not really doing anything important,” Owens said. “It’s all been pretty incredible if I’m being completely honest. …
“It felt like it took me a while to get here — it was 14 years from the time my first match happened to when I got my WWE contract — but it really does feel like since I’ve been here, I’ve made up for lost time.”
Owens also has learned what the exposure from WWE means in life away from the ring. At one point, he was besieged with photo requests during a family vacation to Disneyland with his two young children.
“It’s definitely something that comes with it in a way I didn’t expect,” Owens, whose given name is Kevin Steen, said of the attention. “I go on my daily routine when I’m at home, and people see me, want to take pictures and talk to me about what I’m doing. It’s so humbling and really cool because, to me, I’m just this guy who is walking around getting my kids shoes at Target and stuff like that. I don’t feel like I’m a big deal. I just feel like a regular dude. I’m just me.”
Joe sees the group of veteran newcomers as potentially opening a new pathway for other talent to follow.
“We’ve helped shine a spotlight on talent from alternative places,” Joe said. “They are broadening their search and looking at more guys, possibly more than they ever have. If we can be the catalyst for that, then that’s pretty awesome.”