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What's the story?
On the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer was asked about Samoa Joe's current status and whether the Samoan Submission Machine would returning to tram up with Braun Strowman at WrestleMania.
While not revealing the identity of Strowman's mystery partner, Meltzer stated that Joe was originally pencilled in to be Roman Reigns' first feud as Universal Champion and that could be the plan going forward.
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Roman Reigns is expected to dethrone Brock Lesnar as the Universal Champion at WrestleMania and could embark on a potentially lengthy reign.
Samoa Joe has been out of action ever since suffering an injury to his right foot while facing Ryhno on an episode of Raw. He was cleared to wrestle again a few weeks ago and is waiting for the green signal from the WWE officials.
The heart of the matter
The former NXT Champion has been advertised for live events in UK and Ireland scheduled to take place in May. Joe has been listed to take on Roman Reigns in non-title singles matches which will change after The Big Dog defeats the Beast Incarnate in New Orleans on April 8th.
The post-Mania advertisement pretty much confirms a Universal title feud between the two Samoans on Monday nights. However, Meltzer noted that plans could change sixteen times before the creative eventually comes to a decision but as of this writing, Joe vs Reigns is the plan.
What's next?
Reigns is unsurprisingly the heavy favorite going into his Universal title match against Brock Lesnar and should win the big red belt for the first time ever in New Orleans.
WWE should ideally reintroduce Joe to the WWE Universe on the Raw episode after WrestleMania as the first contender to Reigns' newly won title.
Author's take
While Strowman and Joe would make for a monstrous tag team we'd love to watch, Joe should be in the Universal title picture upon his return as the main event scene lacks credible heels.
Joe is the perfect candidate to kickstart the former Shield's powerhouse's dominance as Universal Champion that probably lies ahead.
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