What’s the story?
Former NXT Champion Samoa Joe is expected to debut on the main roster very soon. It is being speculated that Samoa Joe might be one of the surprise entrants in this year’s Royal Rumble. But it looks like nothing is set in stone as of now.
WrestlingInc reports that Samoa Joe is being advertised for several NXT Live Events that are scheduled to take place after The Royal Rumble. The report states that Joe is even advertised for the upcoming NXT Tour in the Northeast during February.
These advertisements seem to suggest that Joe might not be called up to the main roster until March, which would make him incidentally miss The Royal Rumble.
In case you didn’t know...
Samoa Joe has been kept off television from mid-December due to some undisclosed injury. He has been out of action since he lost his rematch to Shinsuke Nakamura for the NXT Championship and WWE has even withheld him from Live Events.
It is believed that Samoa Joe will be one of the surprise entrants in the 30-man Royal Rumble match that takes place every year. It is speculated that he will debut on the main roster at The Royal Rumble and would be eventually drafted to the SmackDown Live brand to give the show much-needed star power.
The heart of the matter
This advertisement of Samoa Joe for the post-Rumble NXT Live Events has caused the fans to be cautious regarding his debut at The Royal Rumble. Taking the rumours of WWE not keen on fielding many of their surprises at Royal Rumble into consideration, it is only logical to assume that WWE might not debut Samoa Joe at the Royal Rumble.
What’s next?
Though Samoa Joe has been advertised for post-Rumble NXT events, there is a slight possibility for Joe to debut at Royal Rumble. If one recalls, both The American Alpha and Finn Balor completed their NXT commitments after moving to the main roster. It might be entirely possible for Samoa Joe to do the same thing.
Sportskeeda’s Take
If indeed Samoa Joe debuts at Rumble, we can expect a strong showing from the Samoan Submission Machine. But, it is very unlikely that Joe would win the Rumble.
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