WWE US Champion : 5 Reasons why Samoa Joe became the new Champion

What a great moment for this tremendously gifted WWE superstar
What a great moment for this tremendously gifted WWE superstar

We've followed him for years on the independent circuit and of course, in TNA. He was a monstrous presence when he was in NXT too. And then he arrived in the main roster to much fanfare. Over the years, all the hoopla around Samoa Joe somehow seemed to fizzle out.

And yet, on this week's episode of SmackDown Live, Samoa Joe stood tall and proud with the US Championship. This came as a relief to many fans who thought that this was long overdue for the Superstar. But why was he made the United States Champion?

This is a question that I shall attempt to answer in this article. Let me know your thoughts in the comments section.

Also, do you think he's a worthy US Champion?


#5 To bring back prestige to the US Championship

This is not a knock on any of the champions that have preceded Samoa Joe. Having been on ground at WWE's rigorous training process in India over the past few days, I know that you have to be the cream of the crop to make it to the highest level in WWE, like any of those gifted men have. To be a Champion in WWE means that you're a world-class talent.

Unfortunately, the writing does not sometimes live up to the quality of the superstars concerned. Even though Rusev and Nakamura tried their best to be worthy US Champions, their reigns were not memorable to be quite honest.

And then you add the fact that the US Championship did not even feature on the show on most weeks, and you know why the big title change was made. Even when the title was featured on the show, it was usually on the Kickoff only. Samoa Joe could bring back prestige to the title.

#4 R-Truth was obviously a transitional US Champion

Once again, this is not a knock on R-Truth per se. But in a company filled with younger WWE superstar, it is odd when a 47-year-old man holds the US Championship. While him winning the US Championship got a nice pop, very little happened during his reign ever since.

WWE decided to put R-Truth in the match after Nia Jax took the Number 30 spot in the Men's Royal Rumble. It was clearly a reward for doing the job to her and WWE had no long term plans for R-Truth or the United States Championship. And thus Samoa Joe winning the Championship makes all the more sense.

Samoa Joe can mix it up with the stacked mid-card of SmackDown Live, and help elevates the likes of Andrade and even Rowan as a singles competitor. As much as I hate to say it, he'll be a better representative for the Championship than R-Truth was.

#3 To build back Joe after suffering continuous losses

There are few men on the planet that look as intimidating as Samoa Joe does, with his intimidating size and sheer strength. But at the same time, he's not really been booked like the monster that he should be, quite honestly.

It's very difficult to find an athlete that moves like Samoa Joe does at his size. But the string of losses to AJ Styles during the time that he was contesting for the WWE Championship, really hurt the credibility of Samoa Joe.

And since then, he's been taking one pin after another in every situation that he's thrust into. He's usually the first person eliminated in multi-man situations, and it was slowly becoming very difficult indeed to take Samoa Joe seriously, at all.

Hopefully, this US title win helps Samoa Joe regain some credibility and be taken seriously by the WWE Universe.

#2 The WWE Championship picture is already very crowded

A lot of fans have been clamoring for Samoa Joe to become the WWE Champion. Few can dispute that he deserves to be WWE Champion and in all likelihood, will even become the Champ some day. But the fact of the matter is that there's really no place for him in the WWE Championship picture at the moment.

I mean we are in the middle of a red hot feud between Daniel Bryan and Kevin Owens right now. And on the fringes exists a man named Kofi Kingston, who's taken the whole WWE Universe by storm. Inserting Samoa Joe into such a crowded title picture would have been overkill.

Maybe winning the US Championship is the first step for Samoa Joe to reach the WWE Championship. But for now, his job is to bolster the mid-card and make it competitive again.

#1 Samoa Joe has proved himself on every occasion

WWE rewards you big time when you earn your spot. And Samoa Joe has certainly earned his and then some. He's a beast in the ring and one on the microphone too. He is a professional through and through, who's excelled in every role that was offered to him.

I mean you thrust him into a role that requires mind games, be it terrorizing AJ Styles' family or getting into Jeff Hardy's head and messing with it. He hits the ball out of the park, slipping into every character that is required of him. Samoa Joe has excelled on every single opportunity that's been presented before him.

As he displayed in the US Championship Fatal Four-Way match, he can dive through the ropes much as a Cruiserweight does. He can also be a monster when WWE requires him to be his best intimidating self.

There are few as gifted as Samoa Joe is.

Meet the man who called CM Punk the softest man alive HERE