Samoa Joe made his long awaited main WWE roster debut on the January 30th edition of "WWE Raw," where the indie and former TNA wrestling star completely dismantled seth rollins to close out the show. It appeared that Joe was in league with Triple H who has been in an ongoing feud with Rollins.
Was Samoa Joe just going to be a footnote in the feud between Seth Rollins and Triple H?
When I saw this, I immediately worried, because to me, it seemed that Samoa Joe’s debut was being used to further a feud and storyline between two completely different stars in Triple H and Seth Rollins and that the WWE weren’t concerned with Joe’s progress until this feud had finished -- probably at "Wrestlemania 33." In fact, it seemed even more likely that Rollins was going to go on to face Samoa Joe at "WWE Raw’s" next Pay-Per-View, "Fastlane," and would, in all probability, defeat Samoa Joe to earn the right to face Triple H at "Wrestlemania" and get his revenge.
Samoa Joe should be dominant
This was a problem for me because Samoa Joe’s first Pay-Per-View match on the WWE main roster should not be in a losing effort to advance a "Wrestlemania" match for a completely different star. Joe’s next few appearances should be exactly like his debut, completely dominant, vicious, and, most importantly, coming out on top. However, later that night, after "Raw" had finished, we would find out that during Joe’s beat-down, Rollins had re-injured his knee, and would be out of action for the foreseeable future.
Whilst there was initial doubt that this was all a work and was being used to further the storyline, that doubt soon dissipated as it became more apparent that Seth’s injury was pretty legit.
As a result, the planned "Mania" match between Triple H and Seth Rollins was in jeopardy and the WWE now has the problem of what to do with both the leader of the Authority and Samoa Joe in the build-up to their mega-show.
Why Rollins' injury is a blessing for Samoa Joe
This is great news for Samoa Joe because it now means his next few weeks of being in the WWE won’t all be about beating up Seth Rollins for Triple H, meaning that we’ll get to see the former NXT champion really establish himself as a dominating force on "Monday Night Raw." It also means he’s less likely to be suffering a loss at his first Pay-Per-View, especially if Rollins remains injured.
Now, I know this is all conjecture at this point and that it’s extremely possible that Joe would have beat Rollins at "Fastlane," or might not have even wrestled against Rollins at all, especially as WWE doesn't even have a confirmed opponent for The Undertaker yet. But, with Rollins off the table for now that means that those things simply aren’t possibilities, which means I predict big things for Samoa Joe.
