Following the debut of Jeff Hardy on Tuesday night, SmackDown got even stronger a few moments later as Samoa Joe made his debut with the Tuesday night brand.
Joe made a surprise entrance to wrestle Sin Cara following Jeff Hardy’s debut moments earlier in a match with Shelton Benjamin. It was also revealed in the prior segment that Mandy Rose and Sonja Deville are new members of SmackDown, reuniting with their former leader Paige.
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Joe destroyed Sin Cara in short order, winning with the Coquina Clutch.
Complete dominance. @SinCaraWWE has his work cut out from him against newest #SDLive Superstar @SamoaJoe. #SuperstarShakeup pic.twitter.com/bjON6BD9tP
— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) April 18, 2018
After the match, Joe mocked the fact that the show is called “the land of opportunity.” He called it the “land of handouts” and said everyone on the brand has been coddled and told they are better than they are.
Joe said it’s time for him to get his handouts, he called out Daniel Bryan, Randy Orton, and AJ Styles as the men he would destroy and decimate now that he has moved brands.
The pickup of Joe is quite noteworthy, as he is a legitimate main eventer that could have a fantastic title feud with AJ Styles down the road, rekindling their former magic from TNA Wrestling. It’s also an interesting move given his upcoming match with Roman Reigns at Backlash, which could be for the Universal championship. Joe addressed that in his promo Tuesday night, mentioning he would be the one to end Reigns and snatch away the title in the process.
Imagining Joe feuding with the likes of Styles, Bryan, and more and Tuesday nights just got really, really interesting. As of right now, SmackDown is winning the superstar shakeup by leaps and bounds. They will have an awful lot of talent to pack into a two hour show every week. RAW’s pickups seem to be more stalled talents in need of rehabilitation while SmackDown’s pickups are bonafide stars ready to rock and roll.
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NEW YORK CITY – DECEMBER 19: "Toil and Trouble" – Elsbeth is thrown into the world of television after the showrunner of a long-running police procedural is brutally murdered in his office, and although it appears to be the act of a disgruntled fan, she begins to suspect the show's longtime star Regina Coburn (Laurie Metcalf) who yearns for artistic fulfillment. Meanwhile, Judge Crawford (Michael Emerson) continues to be a thorn in Elsbeth's side, on the CBS original series ELSBETH, Thursday, Dec. 19 (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network, and streaming on Paramount+ (live and on demand for Paramount+ with SHOWTIME subscribers, or on demand for Paramount+ Essential subscribers the day after the episode airs). Pictured (L-R): Carrie Preston as Elsbeth Tascioni and Carra Patterson as Kaya Blanke. (Photo by Michael Parmelee/CBS via Getty Images)
