Samoa Joe is a one-of-a-kind superstar in professional wrestling. Rarely does a superstar of his size move with such agility in the ring. His work is immaculate, and while he's been responsible for some unfortunate injuries over time, his matches are always exciting.
Samoa Joe took the world by surprise when he debuted on Raw, the night after the Royal Rumble. As Triple H’s bodyguard, he was sent out to dismantle Seth Rollins. The unfortunate bit is that Joe did his job a little too well, and Rollins will probably be out until Wrestlemania.
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Which begs the question, with Rollins out of the picture, who's Joe facing at Fastlane? Here are five probable answers for the same.
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#5 Brock Lesnar
The Beast Incarnate vs. The Samoan Submission Machine! We can see the dollar signs already. If Samoa Joe is booked as a dominant monster (which he has been, thus far); then a match against Brock Lesnar at Fastlane could be big money. To the best of our knowledge, Lesnar wasn’t supposed to be a part of this pay-per-view, but well, injuries change things.
Both men are excellent grapplers and have legitimate backgrounds in combat sports. A fight between the men would be a hard-hitting affair and a nice departure from the squash matches that Lesnar has been having recently.
To be fair, Joe looks like one of the few men on the roster who can actually pose a threat to someone like Lesnar. Joe is also very good on the microphone and can actually (almost) go toe-to-toe with Paul Heyman, in the build to the actual match. It would make a B pay-per-view a must-watch affair and bolster the match card.
#4 Sami Zayn
While Samoa Joe can work great as the underdog (for example, against Brock Lesnar), he is far better off as a dominant heel monster out to vanquish opponents. He has faced Sami Zayn before in NXT, and the result was an hour long match filled with drama, hard hitting spots and simply exceptional selling.
Sami Zayn is being primed for a big role, from the look of things and it is pretty obvious that a big match is on the cards for him very soon. The first step in his quest could be the beastly, unstoppable Samoan Submission Machine. Irrespective of the outcome of the match, Sami Zayn’s outstanding selling skills will make the match a 5-star contest.
#3 Cesaro
Samoa Joe vs. Cesaro is the definition of what can become a wrestling classic. Cesaro is a very talented performer who’s been languishing in the Tag division. Sure, he became Tag Team Champion recently but in such an environment, he is only a shade of his former self and doesn’t get to unleash his skills.
Cesaro can make any opponent look good, so imagine how good he’ll be against an equally talented opponent. Much like Joe, Cesaro wrestles a physical style.
This fantasy match could happen at the Fastlane pay-per-view. It seems pretty obvious that Cesaro and Sheamus lost their opportunity to get the Tag Team titles (held by The Club). This frees Cesaro up to become a mid-card performer and a viable threat to Joe.
#2 Big E
As of this week, The New Day was featured in a match against The Shining Stars. Previously, it was Titus O’Neil. It is safe to say that creative does not have too many plans for Big E. Why not have one of the hottest babyfaces in the company go up against the hot new heel?
Especially considering that once upon a time, McMahon was very high on Big E as a viable singles superstar! This seems like an unlikely pairing at first, but when you realise that creative doesn’t have plans for either Samoa Joe or Big E at Fastlane, things do fall into place.
#1 Chris Jericho
Yes, heel vs. heel contests do happen in WWE these days.
We saw The Miz take on AJ Styles on Smackdown. We saw Braun Strowman face Kevin Owens too. Chris Jericho vs. Samoa Joe for Fastlane makes sense! Neither Raw Superstar is on the Fastlane card at present. Moreover, Joe, coming in with momentum, will want to capitalise on this by challenging for the US Championship. It makes sense.
Why should heels get along anyway? They’re both trying to be the top Superstars in their respective brands right now. In fact, with Y2J getting a babyface reaction from the crowd every week, this may be the ideal program to turn him. In any case, this will be a high-profile contest.
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