There's a very good reason as to why Samoa Joe was at WWE's Raw taping tonight - Joe has agreed to a full-time WWE contract, according to several sources.
According to those we've spoken to, the immediate merchandise sales of Samoa Joe t-shirts as well as the fact that Joe's appearances for Ring of Honor would now be broadcast on national cable TV both played into the WWE making a decision they required more from Joe, as did Joe's performance at the WWE NXT taping last month.
According to one source, Joe's existing NXT contract featured a clause that would allow the company to sign him to a full-fledged deal. WWE opted to execute that clause this past Thursday on the heels of ROH announcing their national TV cable deal and both sides agreed to an addendum to the original deal that brings Joe into WWE full-time, making him the first former TNA champion to receive his initial national exposure before then going on to become a full-time member of WWE.
PWInsider.com is currently working to confirm what this means for the 6/20 Ring of Honor taping where Joe was slated to team with AJ Styles vs. Kazarian and Christopher Daniels. As soon as we confirm, we'll post.
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