Samoa Joe defeated Chris Jericho
As Chris Jericho tries to prepare for his match against Kevin Owens at WWE Payback, he had to face Samoa Joe in the first match of the night. Much like all of Jericho’s matches, this one was technical and smooth. Jericho got the early advantage, but the strength and dirty heel tactics from Samoa Joe were too much to handle. Jericho had to tap out to the Samoan Submission Machine.
Both men will be in very interesting singles matches at WWE Payback, but the more interesting is going to be how they book Seth Rollins and Samoa Joe. Seth is coming off the biggest (to be debated) win of his career, defeating Triple H at WrestleMania 33. Will it do him harm if he suffers a clean loss to Joe? Also, how in the world can you let Samoa Joe lose against Seth Rollins, especially since there is a lack of true heels on the RAW roster. It is a tricky match to script and I think the only way out is some sort of shenanigans and distractions in favor of Samoa Joe. I am excited to see that match and how both men execute their move set. They are very different, but should have some familiarity with each other over the many years.
The Good Brothers Win Again
Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows worked a really strong 10-15 minute match against Enzo and Big Cass. Both teams in need of a win, but the heels pick up the win after one of their better matches in recent memory. I do enjoy seeing depth in the tag team division and this showcased two different teams and two different mentalities. One team has been champions all over the world, while I fear Enzo and Big Cass might be falling down the ladder.
There is no doubt how entertaining Enzo and Cass are, but they have yet to win any sort of championships in NXT or WWE. As much as I think they can continue this momentum, many tag teams are going to pass them up if WWE does not book them more serious. Fun and games can only last for a while. The New Day constantly did that, but they were able to constantly win. There is always going to be the kids who love them, but what about the real fans who want to see improvement in the ring? Enzo, as much as I enjoy him, needs to improve for us to take the team seriously. He has gotten better, but you can see the difference in in-ring talent between him and guys like Karl Anderson.
