What’s the Story?
NXT Superstar Samoa Joe made his long-awaited debut on Monday Night Raw as the hired gun of Triple H.
Seth Rollins called out Triple H tonight on Monday Night Raw resulting in a confrontation at the end of the night. Rollins made his way to the ring to exact revenge on Triple H when he was blindsided by The Samoan Submission Machine, who attacked Rollins and choked him out with the Coquina Clutch.
In Case You Didn’t Know
While many fans were hoping for Joe to debut in the Royal Rumble match, Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter said that there were never any plans for Joe, Triple H, or Rollins to partake in the Royal Rumble match at any time. Meltzer claimed the angle was being saved for Raw the following night to increase the ratings for the show.
Joe has been in NXT since 2015 and has feuded with several NXT superstars both current and former such as Baron Corbin, Finn Bálor, and No Way Jose. During Joe’s time in NXT, he became the first ever two-time NXT Champion after defeating Bálor on a house show for his first reign and Shinsuke Nakamura at NXT Takeover: Toronto for his second. Joe’s debut was considered by many fans and wrestling critics as an inevitability after his feud with Shinsuke Nakamura over the NXT Championship came to an end. Many fans and wrestlers predicted Joe making his debut at some point on the road to WrestleMania and that has been confirmed tonight.
The Heart of the Matter
Many fans were very disappointed following the Royal Rumble last night when Joe didn’t debut at #30. Fans were hoping for Joe to debut and have a strong showing in the match, but fans got a different Samoan wrestler in the form of Roman Reigns.
Now that Joe has debuted and has made a big impact on Raw, fans are probably a lot calmer about the Royal Rumble and are just happy to see Joe debut in epic fashion.
What’s Next?
It’s highly possible that this could lead to a match between Joe and Rollins at the Fastlane PPV and that could add some major change.
The only match that Rollins and Joe have had was a dark match at ROH Rising Above in 2008 where Joe defeated Black. Any match between these two men in the near future would be a fresh encounter; something that Raw has been in dire need of.
Sportskeeda’s Take
Joe couldn’t have had a better debut aside from winning the Royal Rumble, but that was never going to happen nor was it even considered by the WWE. The fans may have been disappointed with his absence in the match last night, but the fact remains that he had an excellent showing in the short time he was on TV.
In less than 5 minutes, Joe showed the WWE fans why he is a wrestler that should be on everyone’s radar; especially Rollins.
The Road to WrestleMania has kicked off and it’ll be interesting to see what happens with The Samoan Submission Machine going forward.
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