Samoa Joe Brings the Painful Truth to Roman Reigns

Enter: Samoa Joe. The Destroyer is obviously the next winning play, the one that WWE hopes can get Reigns over the hump and make him universally loved. Joe is fun to watch and easy to cheer for, which is especially true against Roman. However that doesn’t seem to make a difference to the company.

Reigns evidently must keep suffering through chaos before he can emerge as the shining champion. Like the 12 Labours of Hercules, Roman Reigns must keep battling one monstrous threat after another until he proves himself worthy. Samoa Joe is the next threat.

Joe is the villain in this story. He is the antagonist that believes Roman is a fraud, a man that just cannot finish the job. Samoa Joe stood on the Raw stage and confronted Reigns, throwing down the gauntlet and sounding more confident of his ability than ever before. But then again, why wouldn’t he? Reigns was bloodied and beaten. He did not accomplish his mission and though it took six F-5’s to take him down, he went down all the same.

Now Samoa Joe slides in to finish the job. He believes that Reigns is ripe for the picking and he’s right. There’s no reason why Roman Reigns should win when the two men face off at Backlash on May 6. Not only will Joe have the benefit of nearly a month’s worth of time to prepare, he will also have the benefit of getting a Big Dog that’s one week removed from facing Lesnar in a steel cage.

Here is Samoa Joe’s debut match on Raw from 2017:

Roman Reigns vs. Samoa Joe: Raw, Feb. 6, 2017

India’s Greatest Royal Rumble event on April 27 is the night in which Roman and Brock will once again go to war. Some are predicting that Reigns will win the Universal Championship that night, while others believe there may be something bigger happening behind the scenes. Despite what the plan is, there’s no denying that Joe is in the perfect spot right now.

It does appear that momentum is on his side, due to the physical hell Reigns will once again endure on April 27. Of course all of this is exactly the message that WWE wants fans to believe. Joe is portrayed as the can’t miss winner while Reigns is portrayed as the can’t win loser. Samoa Joe’s Raw promo represents the fans in this equation. It’s just what the company wants.

Once again, WWE is trolling the audience. Everyone knows that Roman Reigns is the man. He’s on top of the company and that is not going to change. But every time he comes up short, his critics have a reason to celebrate. Every time he loses to Lesnar, there’s a doubt as to whether or not WWE really wants The Big Dog on top anymore. It’s a perfect storm for Roman to not only defeat Brock in India, but also to defeat Joe at Backlash.

Joe is the perfect opponent for Roman and this is the next chapter of their story. Joe may or may not end up with the Universal Championship. But Reigns will always end up on top.

Tom Clark can regularly be seen on Wrestling Rumors. His podcast, Tom Clark’s Main Event, is available on iTunes, Google Play, iHeart Radio. Amazon Android, Windows Phone and online at boinkstudios.com