Samoa Joe’s heated advances towards Brock Lesnar were cut off prematurely when he was restrained from entering Lesnar’s interview room on last week’s episode of Monday Night Raw. And with that, the WWE also left us hanging to find out what happens when the two powerhouses clash this Sunday, on Great Balls of Fire.
We’ve often had reason to be critical of WWE’s slipshod build-up for feuds, but the way in which this headliner between Lesnar and Joe has been handled deserves nothing but props.
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Joe’s proclivity for poking the Beast in the eye these past few weeks has depicted him as a fearless and legitimate challenger – something that many of Lesnar’s opponents fail to come across as. And it goes without saying that Lesnar is fully capable of checking Joe into Suplex City too.
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The fact that both men can, within the realm of reason, come up with the victory at Great Balls of Fire only lends itself to an open-ended narrative that could pan out in a number of different ways.
You wouldn’t be surprised if Brock Lesnar won. If Samoa Joe won, you wouldn’t be shocked either.
That alone speaks volumes about how adeptly the WWE has built up each Superstar. And when the build has been this good, rarely does the match fail to deliver. On that note, here are 5 potential finishes for the Brock Lesnar vs. Samoa Joe match at WWE Great Balls of Fire.
#5 Winner of Reigns v Strowman attacks Brock Lesnar
Braun Strowman and Roman Reigns have been involved in a bruising rivalry that is hurtling towards its next punishing leg at Great Balls of Fire when the two powerhouses will collide in an Ambulance match.
Braun Strowman, apart from Brock Lesnar, is possibly the hardest man to keep down for an extended period of time and Roman Reigns has absolutely no quit in him either. One of these men will, however, incapacitate the other to the extent that they’re able to load them into an ambulance and send them straight to hell.
Naturally, such an exertion would elicit a heavy toll on whichever man prevails, but the feeling of elation that he has finally vanquished a most dastardly opponent could fuel an ill-intentioned assault on the Universal Champion later that night.
After all, both Strowman and Reigns have always had one eye on Brock Lesnar and the Title strap around his waist. And what better way to announce their intentions loud and clear, than by costing the Beast Incarnate the match against Samoa Joe?
#4 Double count out
When Brock Lesnar and Samoa Joe go at it, it takes a good portion of the locker room to pry them apart.
And being two alpha males that are pretty much used to imposing their respective wills, you can’t really fault them for going at it hammer and tongs either – it’s just the way that both of these insanely competitive individuals are wired.
When they lock up on Sunday, then, there is a high likelihood that the match is very quickly going to devolve from a wrestling contest into a full-blown, no-holds-barred fight. If you care to remember, Brock Lesnar dismantles vehicles for fun when he snaps, and as Samoa Joe himself attested, there is no manner of extreme match that he hasn’t wrestled before in his career either.
Restraint is the last thing that you would associate with either of these men...and there is a possibility – especially if the WWE wants to protect both of them from a loss – that their match ends in a double count-out, with both men brawling in the crowd.
#3 Brock Lesnar wins clean
Brock Lesnar is, without a doubt, the most legitimate competitor in the WWE today.
As often as it is repeated, you just can’t stress enough how impressive being a WWE Heavyweight Champion, UFC Heavyweight Champion and a NCAA Heavyweight Champion looks on one’s resume. Not to mention, he’s definitely a solid worker too.
As such, it isn’t a surprise at all if the WWE decided that they want him to retain the Universal Title cleanly over Samoa Joe. After all, he’s coming off fresh from trading victories with Goldberg, and the WWE may not want to risk portraying him as anything but a monster in his very next feud.
A false finish, or worse still, a loss, would actually feed into the narrative that Brock Lesnar is losing his touch. And considering that they’re saving him for Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 34 (if rumours are to be believed), the WWE can’t afford to have that at all.
Sorry, Samoa Joe fans. It is what it is.
#2 Samoa Joe wins clean
The only way this could happen is if Joe manages to choke out Brock Lesnar using the Coquina Clutch.
Right through the build up to this match, the WWE has portrayed the Coquina Clutch as the foremost weapon in Joe’s arsenal. In fact, right from his call-up to the main roster, he’s been choking top-tier Superstars out using the move.
I can’t, however, wrap my head around why the WWE would want to take the Universal Title off Brock Lesnar (unless they suddenly feel an acute need to have it defended on a weekly basis) but should they decide to do so, it would only make sense for Joe to choke him out for it.
It wouldn’t hurt Lesnar’s credibility too much – given that it has already been impressed upon us how effective a move it is – while it would put Samoa Joe over immensely.
And given that people generally end up cheering for Lesnar and Strowman, perhaps building a legitimate monster heel out of Samoa Joe – something that the WWE is in dire need of – isn’t a bad idea after all.
#1 Paul Heyman interferes on behalf of Lesnar
It’s not like other WWE Superstars haven’t tried to get under the skin of Brock Lesnar by going after Paul Heyman (think CM Punk), but the fact that the advocate has already played a pivotal role in advancing this storyline between the Lesnar and Joe lends itself to the possibility that his direct involvement in it isn’t quite over, yet.
Heyman has already been introduced to the grim reality of the Coquina Clutch by Joe, purely as a sadistic message intended for his client, and there is no reason why he can’t get his hands dirty at Great Balls of Fire again.
It becomes a very real possibility especially if Brock Lesnar is on the ropes and needs Samoa Joe to be momentarily distracted so that he can regroup and capitalise on his opponent’s loss of focus.
It would protect Joe from taking a clean loss after the WWE spent months building him up as a legitimate threat to Lesnar, and it would still keep the Universal Title on the Beast Incarnate at the same time.
If I had to stick my neck out, I’d say this would be the most probable finish to the match.
What do you think?
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