Samoa Joe is the new number one contender for the Universal Championship.
The Destroyer will be heading to Great Balls of Fire pay per view to face missing champion, Brock Lesnar, on July 9th.
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Joe and Bray Wyatt cut a deal mid-match to team up and take out each of their adversaries by using the ring steps and then a steal chair to neutralize Roman, Rollins and Balor.
The alliance came to an end when Wyatt pushed Joe into the path of a Seth Rollins suicide dive outside the ring. Once it was every man for themselves, the match went to the next level.
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In one amazing sixty second span, Roman Reigns speared Samoa Joe and Finn Balor through the barricade while Seth Rollins frog splashed Bray Wyatt through the announce table. The two Shield brothers then met in the center of the ring to seize the victory.
It then became a spotfest between all five men in the ring until Samoa Joe snuck in and cancelled out Finn Balor‘s pin on Roman Reigns by locking in the Cochina Clutch. Balor passed out in the lock and the referee called for the bell.
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With Brawn Strowman out, most WWE fans know that Samoa Joe is nothing more than a warm up for his rumored SummerSlam match with Braun Strowman. This lack of suspense is bound to hurt WWE in the coming months as WWE has been in a holding pattern while Strowman heals.
While WWE is doing a better job of long term planning than in recent memory, it could be hurting the current audience’s interest as knowing what’s coming is even worse than “pushing the wrong superstar.”
All signs point to Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar taking place at WrestleMania 34, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t Marc Middleton of Wrestling Inc) and because WWE is so set on that big money match up, they want to build up The Beast to make Roman’s eventual victory that much more impressive.
The only problem with this logic is that if Lesnar holds the belt all the way until WrestleMania, fans will know for certain Roman Reigns will be taking the belt from him, thus causing further backlash–not for Reigns winning but for knowing he’s going to win.
Could WWE realize this fallacy and throw a curveball to the WWE Univeres? Could the horrendously low ratings push WWE in a different direction? The greatest moments in wrestling history have happened organically.
