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What's the story?
After being sidelined due to injury since January this year, Samoa Joe made his return to WWE programming on the Raw after WrestleMania 34.
However, in the Superstar Shakeup, Joe was moved to SmackDown Live and the possible reason behind this move has been speculated by PW Stream, a Twitter account known to have given some credible insider scoops in the past.
In case you didn’t know…
Prior to his injury, the Samoan Submission Machine was involved in a feud with Roman Reigns for the Intercontinental Title. An unfortunate injury, however, forced Joe to the sideline for the Royal Rumble and WrestleMania.
Immediately upon his return, Joe confronted Reigns post The Big Dog's loss to Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 34 and challenged him to a match at Backlash. However, Joe moved to the blue brand the following week while Reigns remained on Raw.
The heart of the matter
Samoa Joe has had one of the most dominating runs on the main roster after being called up from NXT. Though he has been booked strongly, even main-eventing multiple PPVs, unfortunately, timed injuries have derailed his momentum.
The former NXT Champion has been widely regarded as arguably the biggest trade in the latest edition of the Superstar Shakeup when he was moved to SmackDown Live on the second day of the Shakeup.
Per PW Stream, the reason for this is to give Joe the opportunity to be at the top of his brand. Since Reigns is expected to run things over on Raw for the foreseeable future, WWE wants Joe to be a pivotal part of the other brand going forward. If this turns out to be true, it is indeed a great decision by WWE as the Samoan is more than capable of leading the blue brand as its top guy.
What's next?
Joe beat Sin Cara in a squash match on his first night over on SmackDown Live, following which he put all top stars of SD including Daniel Bryan and AJ Styles on notice.
For now, Samoa Joe will take on Roman Reigns at the Backlash PPV early next month.
Author's take
This is great news for the fans as well as for Joe, as it looks like the Samoan Submission Machine will finally get a giant main event push that has eluded him since his move to the main roster. A taste of the WWE Championship by SummerSlam is definitely on the cards.
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