Samoa Joe has looked back on the chaotic and at times terrifying night that was WWE WrestleMania 37.
After more than a year of shows with no fans due to restrictions in place from the pandemic, WrestleMania 37 marked the return of the live crowd as the show ran with a limited capacity.
With approximately 18,000 fans in attendance at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida and millions watching around the world, the anticipation was high for a wrestling show with some sense of normality. Unfortunately, the weather had other ideas…
For the first time in the history of the event, Mania was delayed by heavy rain. In a portion of the show that has since been removed from on-demand broadcasts, Drew McIntyre and Bobby Lashley cut impromptu promos while Michael Cole and Samoa Joe were at ringside in ponchos to keep the fans updated as to when the show would finally begin. Although the sight of Joe in a poncho was amusing to many, the former World Champion recently admitted that something concerning was happening off-camera.
Speaking with Chris Van Vliet, Joe recalled the chaos of the night and how a massive water bubble was filling up in the plastic sheet above them that would have dumped gallons of water if it burst:
“Oh, incredibly [chaotic]. I mean we were laughing the whole time but the biggest thing, which people don’t know, which was really the terrifying thing that was scaring us all was right above the ring. Especially where me and Michael Cole were standing. There was plastic over the thing and there was a big, huge water bubble coming through, right over our heads, right over commentary table, right over the first three rows. You could see this big water balloon kind of filling up at the top of the thing and it’s like the whole time we’re doing it there.
We had the rain coats on but it wasn’t the rain. It was like if that thing went off, we were going to get waterfalled, it wasn’t even funny. So it was like, alright, well, here we are already and stuff like that. It was just a lot of you are stalling for time, and a lot of not there being dead air, just kind of filling it with whatever until we can get the show started. So yeah, it was an adventure.”
Joe also noted that during this time they were also near a lot of electrical equipment, adding to the concern.
Samoa Joe Talks Retirement
Now with AEW, the former World Champion is approaching 25 years since his in-ring debut. During the same interview, Samoa Joe spoke about retirement and how he is aware that the end of his in-ring career is not too far away.
In other news, Cody Rhodes called for a major name to receive their WWE Hall of Fame induction.
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