Samoa Joe Submits Heyman
The new number one contender for the Universal Championship came out on WWE RAW to talk about his opponent. He said he was not scared of Lesnar and that he is envious of him. He says he wants Brock’s part time schedule, Paul Heyman as his advocate and his Universal Championship. Paul Heyman makes his way to the ring and cuts a promo and says Joe should be afraid and Brock Lesnar never lets him down. Heyman runs down who Brock has beaten and says Joe is not going to be any different. The mic drops and Joe talks to Heyman, saying he is going to choke him out and this should be sent back to Brock Lesnar. He clutches him and locks in the submission hold until Paul Heyman passes out.
Damn, this was excellently executed. Samoa Joe looks and sounds like a bad ass, someone you would never want to get into the ring with. The promo was intense and meaningful, not just talking the usual talk about his opponent. He needs to stay a heel and it worked tonight, especially with the RAW crowd in Wilkes-Barre chanting for Lesnar when Heyman was on the mat. I thought this was a perfect way for the spotlight to go right on the man who deserves it. Heyman does not take much punishment physically, so I really enjoyed the change here and maybe next week we get a vocal Brock Lesnar. To make Joe feel important, stick him with the most important times on WWE RAW with the most important people. His night would not be over, which furthered my positive feelings towards his build.
A Mixture of Messy Booking
Some quick hits from WWE RAW included the following below average segments.
- TJP defeated Mustafa Ali and then wanted to fight for the Cruiserweight Championship. This heel turn that wasn’t really a good one is going back to TJP being a contender to Neville. I dislike it, but when Aries loses multiple times, I assume there is no other guy they want to book with Neville. It’s illogical and stops plans for something that could have helped TJP in the long run. Dumb idea.
- Cesaro and Sheamus defeated Heath Slater and Rhyno in quick fashion. Nothing to note here aside from Matt and Jeff Hardy NOT on WWE RAW. I missed them, especially since it feels like every show and match has been really good for them and their reintroduction to the WWE Universe. Maybe it has something to do with Matt becoming a father soon?
- Lastly, Kalisto picks up a win against Titus O’Neil and provides nothing of importance. Why in the world do we care about this feud when the writer’s don’t even? A poor attempt at trying to give lower card guys a story.
