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Samoa Joe was on the main roster in 2017, but WWE had nothing for him at WrestleMania 33. A pretty shocking decision made by WWE, to shun one of their best superstars on the main roster and completely omit him from their WM plans.
Samoa Joe is once again on the wrong side of an injury, as he got injured again, just two months after recovering from another. He had an amazing 2017, feuding with the likes of Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns, but luck has not been on his side.
Joe should be back soon and once again show why he is known as "The Destroyer". We look at five options for him, heading into WrestleMania season.
#5 Samoa Joe vs Finn Balor
A repeat of their classic NXT encounters, Samoa Joe vs Finn Balor at the grandest stage of them all will be a treat to watch. Both of these individuals are immensly talented wrestlers who are more than capable of producing instant classics.
They met on a throwaway episode of Raw, and produced a great encounter which ultimately ended in no result. A full-fledged feud between these two will be a wise decision by WWE. Both of them are hovering around the upper mid card of Raw currently, and giving them a short rivalry before WM could help them showcase their talents.
#4 Samoa Joe and AoP vs The Balor Club
We have all seen Joe and Balor slug it out many times before in the past, but Joe has never crossed paths with the newly formed Balor Club. The original Bullet Club reunited in WWE after a long wait as The Balor Club, and have immediately made some serious impact.
Balor Club currently have no opponents to really exercise their three-man advantage, as Shield is off-duty with Dean Ambrose on the shelf, while Miztourage have already been beaten. Samoa Joe and a debuting Authors of Pain from NXT could be a fantastic heel stable on Raw.
AoP are bound for main roster sooner rather than later after spending quite some time in NXT. Debuting along with a returning Joe will be a magical moment!
#3 Intercontinental Championship pursuit?
Samoa Joe has shown a tweener persona a lot of times in the past few months. His altercation with Brock Lensar had no face-heel dynamic, just two behemoths going at each other, which made it much more interesting.
Similarly, Joe returning and confronting The Miz for the IC title will be a fantastic sight. A tweener Joe could be gold and him just verbally and physically assaulting The Miz will make for some must see TV. Samoa Joe and Miz could have some exceptional promo battles considering they are two of the best mic-workers in WWE today.
#2 A dream battle to finally be realized?
Samoa Joe is one unlucky man isn't he? Samoa Joe teased going after John Cena right after Cena arrived on SmackDown in August, but Joe got injured the very next night. A possible Joe-Cena feud was shelved in favour of Reigns-Cena, and Joe moved onto other prospects after returning.
Once again in January, Joe called out Cena while announcing his particiapation for the Rumble match. But just like earlier, he got injured the same night! Cena has been engaged in a on-off feud of sorts with Elias, but Cena-Elias couldn't possibly be Cena's WM match right? Or maybe it is, but it still wouldn't compare to a feud with Samoa Joe.
Joe-Cena is a dream feud in WWE, and considering how both of these superstars had a similar start to their careers, which went in different directions later on, they could tear the house down. The thought of their promo battles is very exciting to say the least.
#1 A 'Monstrous' match?
Samoa Joe and Braun Strowman have never been the best of friends, even when Braun was a heel. Since Braun turned face, Joe has never crossed paths with his former opponent. Joe and Braun are two of the top superstars in RAW, and one can go so far as to say that Braun is the biggest face while Joe is the best heel on Raw.
Joe and Braun won't produce a five-star encounter, but Braun is perfectly capable of producing classic encounters with opponents of Joe's size. Braun's matches with Big Show and Roman Reigns were anything but bad, and a Joe vs Braun match-up could be delightful.
It will also be the perfect way for both the superstars to make their singles debut at WrestleMania.
