Joe has been forced to give up the title (Picture: WWE)

WWEsuperstar Samoa Joe has revealed he’s stepping away from the ring due to injury and has to vacate the NXT Championship.

The Samoan Submission Machine made hishighly anticipated in-ring comeback last month at NXT TakeOver 36 where he won the brand’s top title after a long injury layoff, but now the company’s medical team have told him he needs some time away again.

In a video statement on Twitter, he said: ‘Hello. I’m NXT Champion Samoa Joe. Upon my recent return, my goals were very simple. I sought to ensure the respect and integrity due to both NXT and its championship.

‘I sought to ensure that everybody understood that the needs of one individual will never outstrip the sum of the brand. Today, I find myself having to stand on those principles.

‘Recently, WWE medical has informed me that due to certain injuries, they’d like to have me step away from the ring for a brief – yet still indeterminate – amount of time.

‘I realise that this week we are on the cusp of a new NXT. We are on the brink of a new era in our history. And I realise that that era deserves a fighting champion. That’s why it makes this difficult decision very easy to make.

pic.twitter.com/a1ERDGyRfH

— Samoa Joe (@SamoaJoe) September 12, 2021

‘Effective immediately, I relinquish the NXT Championship. Best of luck to those who will vie for it. My sincerest condolences to whoever wins, because I will be along shortly to recollect what is mine.’

Indeed, Joe’s latest setback comes as the company is primed for the next stage in NXT’s history with the brand set to be revamped on Tuesday night with a new logo, new production and a fresh focus.

The former champ – who is also part of WWE’s scouting department – was seen by many as a perfect fit to usher in this new era, and everyone will be hoping this setback is as brief as he suggests.

Joe recently admitted his return, which came after a slow period of recovery, felt like a long way off but he always retained hope he would get to step through the ropes again.

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‘I wouldn’t say that I thought it never would happen, I just knew it was gonna be way off,’ he exclusively told Metro.co.uk. ‘It was never an impossibility, let me put it that way. There was always work being done towards that goal.

‘But it just was so slow-moving, it was such a slow moving process because there’s not much physically I can do to hasten the process.

‘All I can really do is try to stay healthy, do my best and do things that don’t worsen the condition. Two steps forward, five steps back, that was kind of the hard part.’

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