Samoa Joe finally debuted on the WWE main roster Monday night and it was really better than we could have imagined
When the ever-polarizing Roman Reigns walked out at the No. 30 in the Royal Rumble as the final surprise entrant on Sunday, it was collectively met with groans across the globe. One of the reasons for that is the fact that WWE fans assumed the spot was reserved for someone who could be making a long-awaited debut on the main roster, that specific person being Samoa Joe. Well, by the time the Royal Rumble was over, there was no debut from the Samoan Submission Machine, leaving many of us feeling a bit empty inside.
But you know what? That’s very much okay, because not only did WWE make up for it on Monday night to close out the post-Royal Rumble RAW — they knocked it out of the freaking park.
Yes, for all of the times that we give the company grief for their decision-making, they deserve all the credit in the world for what they pulled off on Monday night with the initial main roster television appearance of one of the best wrestlers from this generation.
The show was to close on Monday with the much-anticipated face-to-face between Triple H and Seth Rollins, furthering the storyline for their WrestleMania showdown that we know has been coming for quite some time now. After what was an amazing Triple H promo, The Architect made his way out and strolled down the ramp in search of violence that he has been clamoring for since Triple H cost him the Universal Championship and literally handed it to Kevin Owens.
Rollins found violence alright, but he found it in the form of a pissed off Samoan ready to make an impact –pun totally intended– as he finally gets a shot at the big time that he has long deserved for what seems like forever now.
Again, round of applause for WWE. For all of the faults that they display on a regular basis with booking decisions, this could literally not have played out any better. And it also sets Joe up for success right off the bat.
Would it have been a cool, surreal moment to see Samoa Joe pleasantly surprise us all by heading down that mile-long ramp in San Antonio? Sure it would have, because we’ve been waiting to see Joe for so long now that we convinced ourselves it was happening inside the Alamodome. But looking back at it now, the chances were slim that a debuting superstar was going to get the victory to headline WrestleMania right out of the gate in one of the top title matches. Plus, with the star power the match contained, it would have been easy for him to just get lost in the shuffle.
But what took place on Monday night, though — this benefits Samoa Joe more than we all could have imagined. After what took place on Monday evening in Laredo, Texas, the point was clear and concise that this large Samoan is a big deal and someone not to be messed with.
Samoa Joe made his main roster debut by coming out and obliterating one of the top guys of the last few years in Seth Rollins, tossing him around the ring area like a rag doll before tossing the former WWE World Heavyweight Champion in the ring to do what he does best, which is trying to squeeze the life out of his opponent to finish the job. Closing out RAW by making a top star look helpless creates an impression that no one will soon forget.
And then we have his association with Triple H. This point speaks for itself, really. Not only is Samoa Joe now a part of the WWE main roster to the delight of many, but he’s essentially the hired assassin for one of the greatest of all time and one of the top executives in the company, both in real life and on screen. The association with Triple H to begin the run has Joe pegged for near immediate success, calming the nerves of everyone who worried that he wouldn’t be used correctly on the big stage following his wildly successful NXT run.
Putting it all together, while we all had our booking ideas when it came to introducing the WWE world to Samoa Joe, it sincerely could not have gone down better than this.
Samoa Joe is here, he’s angry and he has backing from the powers-that-be. This is certainly gonna be one hell of a ride from here for someone who’s deserved this stage for years now.