TNA star Samoa Joe on whether he felt TNA was headed in the right direction when Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff signed on and big name free agents followed

TNA star Samoa Joe was interviewed by Konnan and Mister Saint Laurent in the latest MLW.com podcast and was asked whether he was encouraged when Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff joined the company and several big name free agents followed. "I'm a real proof is in the pudding type of cat," Joe said. "I'm not one of those guys that runs around and says, 'this is it, this is going to be the next big hope' or whatever like that.

"When they came in I gave them the benefit of the doubt. I said I am going to work with these cats and work with them on whatever they want to get done and try to make the best of it. But no matter who they brought in, you can ask me that question about anybody, at no point have I ever been like 'this is the dude.'"

Joe was also asked about WWE performers joining TNA who want out once they realize what the company is all about: "I think that when you talk about that kind of thing, I know for a fact that with RVD that was the case. Christian, man, he is the ultimate professional, probably one of the great unsung workers. If people really understood the qualities that make a tremendous professional wrestler, the appreciation for Christian was probably go twenty fold from what it is, which it already is pretty high.

"For me, that mentality, if that's the way you feel, that's cool, man, I get that and I get that kind of mindset. Conversely, that type of shit don't really bug me. When people say [they haven't heard of TNA], I don't trip out. If you haven't heard of it, you haven't heard of it. At the end of the day, you're talking about a company that has been in existence for upwards 50 or 60 or however many hears Vince (McMahon) has been running WWE. Television saturation every week in some pretty major markets, so it's like ou're already fighting an uphill battle.

"TNA hasn't had the time or the staying power that they've had... You know as well as I do that there are problems everywhere in every company. There are problems in TNA, but for me from an employee standpoint, all you can do is go out there and do the best that I can with what they give me and try to make it work." Listen to the full interview at MLW.com.

Powell's POV: Joe and Konnan also told pot stories, Joe explained that things are now cool between him and Jim Cornette, and also recalled backstage issues with Teddy Hart that have since been smoothed over. He also spoke about A.J. Styles no longer being with the company and what the backstage attitude is with so many departures, keeping in touch with C.M. Punk, whether he has considered a WWE run, and much more. There's plenty of NSFW language, but it's a fun listen and Joe is much more straight forward than a lot of contracted wrestlers are in interviews.