The Extreme Rules PPV ended up being a surprisingly strong event which showcased some of RAW’s greatest talents. While not all the matches live up to expectations, the main event certainly. And when all was said and done: Samoa Joe walked away as the new Number 1 Contender to Brock Lesnar’s WWE Universal Championship.
Joe’s victory will definitely lead to an interesting program between him and the Beast as we head towards the Great Balls Of Fire PPV. But more than that, whether he wins or loses, it will allow him to showcase that he was indeed the right man for the job — something many of us already know.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at why Joe was the right person to challenge Lesnar for the gold.
Joe Has Been Booked Right Since His Main Roster Arrival
Since arriving on the main roster, Samoa Joe has done nothing but destroy anybody who got in his way — something Seth Rollins and Sami Zayn found out the hard way. A wrestling veteran, he is exactly where he needs to be right now in his WWE career, and his performance in the Fatal 5-Way match at Extreme Rules solidified that.
And even though he’s going into the match with Brock Lesnar at Great Balls Of Fire as the underdog, Joe will prove himself to be a worthy adversary.
In fact, that’s exactly what he did this week on RAW when he intimidated Heyman before locking in the Coquina Clutch on Lesnar’s advocate.
Unlike a lot of the superstars on the current roster, Joe has been booked right since the beginning of his WWE run. And you can bet that both his incredible wrestling accomplishments and swift domination of WWE will come into play here as he steps up to the Beast. And while he may begin this rivalry as the underdog, the action leading up to the event and the contest itself will highlight just how right the company got it when they made Joe the challenger.
He may have only been on the main roster for a short time, but Samoa Joe’s experience in the ring, intimidating ring presence and all-round athleticism will ensure that he’s a different kind of challenger for the Beast. The aggressive veteran who will stop at nothing to become WWE Universal Champion now finally has the opportunity to make that goal a reality.
He’s A Big Enough Threat To Replace Braun Strowman
WWE’s choice to put the Universal belt on Lesnar was met with mixed reviews — mainly because the Beast is a part-timer. However, other fans were pleased due to the repetitive formula of some of the champion’s previous matches. As Lesnar is considered one of the most intimidating superstars in WWE at the moment, it’s understandable that he’s been built up to be virtually unstoppable. But this reputation can often lead to one-sided matches, full of German Suplexes and little offense from the challenger.
However, it seemed that WWE was ready to take a different approach to his title reign this time around as they had reportedly planned for Braun Strowman to challenge Lesnar at Great Balls Of Fire. The rarely-defeated, invincible monster would have been considered a worthy challenger and it would have given the company the chance to build a strong story around the two forces of nature. But unfortunately, Strowman’s injury prevented that from happening.
Thus, replacing him in the title picture with Samoa Joe was a wise move. Because of the way he’s been booked, he too would be a worthy threat to Lesnar — something that we don’t see very often. Like Strowman, Joe has made a huge impact in his little time on the roster. Moreover, he’s also a larger-than-life superstar who could physically challenge the Beast. He has been portrayed as a vicious veteran who will stop at nothing to achieve his goal. If anyone could out-power Lesnar like Strowman could have, it’s Joe. And this would make for a much more entertaining match than a one-sided suplex-fest.
Two monsters will collide at Great Balls of Fire, and while one of them may not be who were expecting, we should still expect to see a great match as Lesnar is challenged in every way possible when his gold is on the line.
Joe has a lot to offer and I have no doubt that his match with Brock Lesnar will give us a chance to see exactly what he can do when up against another physically imposing athlete.
Do you think Joe is a worthy opponent? Let us know in the comments below!
