Taking one look at the pro wrestling career of Samoa Joe, it's easy to see how much mixed martial arts has been an influence on his career, from his character's look to his rear-naked choke finisher called the Coquina Clutch. 

Joe, a native of Orange County, California, whose real name is Nuufolau Joel Seanoa, has also spent a great deal of time over the years close to the sport by training the various disciplines of kickboxing and jiu-jitsu to judo and Muay Thai. 

"I have had the tremendous fortune that some of best friends growing up, a lot of family and some of the people that I consider to be very close have been consistently involved in MMA throughout its history, from its inception and to this very day," Joe, 38, told CBS Sports. "I've always been a member of a gym, I've always been on some [fighting] team or another. 

"[MMA] has always been a presence in my life. That being said, I love what I do. I love professional wrestling and I love sports entertainment."

Joe, who was a guest on Monday's "In This Corner Podcast," has so much respect for the sport, in fact, that it holds him back from entertaining the idea of crossing over into it. Unlike current and former WWE superstars Brock Lesnar, CM Punk, Bobby Lashley and, coming soon, Jack Swagger -- all have made their MMA debuts over the past decade-plus -- you won't see Joe following in their footsteps. 

"I figure, at this point in my career, knowing what my friends and my close family go through in training and in sacrifice, I think it would be disingenuous to them for me to say, 'Oh well, I'm going to take this fame and parlay it into a fighting career,'" Joe said. "I know other people have, and I don't fault them. I think it's awesome; I think you should follow your dreams and do what you want to do.

"But at the other end, I have been apart of these training camps for a lot of these guys. I've seen the struggles and the heartache and the pain that goes along with being in the fight game. Conversely, they have been with me and have seen the pain, the sacrifice, the nonstop journey that it is to be successful in the world of sports entertainment. There is a tremendous amount of mutual respect there because of that." 

Considering how close they are in theory, professional wrestling and MMA have long seen a crossover, both in the U.S. and in Japan. The initial boom from the early days of UFC in the 1990s helped early MMA pioneers like Ken Shamrock, Dan Severn and David "Tank" Abbott find work in both WWF and WCW.

In recent times the trend has reversed, producing varying degrees of success for the highest-profile wrestlers looking to parlay their fame into a new sport. 

Due to his freak size, athleticism and legit background in amateur wrestling, Lesnar climbed as high as winning the UFC heavyweight championship in 2008. Punk, meanwhile, in what was seen as a passion play at age 38, lasted just over two minutes in a one-sided 2016 defeat in his lone pro fight. 

"I think it would be irresponsible for me to say that I'm ready to start a fighting career at this point," Joe said. "For me, if I was, it would be a cash grab. I wouldn't be getting into it to be the heavyweight champion; I would be getting into it simply for monetary purposes. For me, if you are not in it to be champion, you shouldn't be in it at all."

Joe is currently promoting the new No. 13 edition of the Boom Studios' WWE comic book series that debuts Jan. 17. He co-wrote the short story titled "Undrafted" with Michael Kingston, which chronicle's Joe's real-life journey from NXT to the WWE's main roster in 2017.

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