When Samoa Joe won the Fatal Five Way to become
#1 contender and face Brock Lesnar at Great Balls of Fire, many people were pleasantly surprised. People that have been fans of Joe for years were very happy to see Joe not only become
#1 contender for the top title, but against Brock Lesnar. A dream match people have talked about for years.
And if you have followed my activity, you’ll see that I’m very hyped, although very cautious about this match. But I can’t help if some people are blowing this somewhat out of proportion.
Take Dave Meltzer in the example below. A man who I personally don’t cater to everything he says but respect his opinion to a point. Start at 1:30.
Ok, this is where someone like him loses me. Saying things like Joe vs. Lesnar should be saved for WrestleMania or that Strowman, Braun “I’m Not Finished With You!” Mother Fucking Strowman, should be the set up for Samoa Joe?
And then you have a podcaster like The Solomonster, the only wrestling podcast I listen to weekly and who’s opinions I respect. But even he says things like this:
So, Samoa Joe, whose closer to 40 than he is 30 by the way, should get a headline match over one of their younger stars in Reigns? Now I get some people don’t like Reigns and that’s all fine by me. But to say Joe at this stage in his career should get that spot is, and I’m sorry, somewhat laughable.
Don’t get me wrong guys, I’m really hyped for this match. Samoa Joe, while Father Time has taken some of his greatness in the ring, is still a guy who walks and talks like a true badass. I have loved his work as a guy on the mic and a character since he turned heel in NXT. And the idea of him having at least a somewhat competitive match against Brock is very exciting.
But, can we slow down just a bit? Can we realize Joe is the same guy he used to be 10 or even 5 years ago in the ring? Can we realize the guy is pushing 40? Not that that should be a death knell, but in no way would I say Lesnar vs. Joe should be the ultimate goal. And some people will say "well, AJ is 40 now." Difference is AJ is still working at an elite level and comes across as a bigger star than Joe.
To say Strowman should be the set up for Joe? Ok, who is younger? Strowman. Who has been the best part of Raw the past few months? Strowman. Who means more to the company’s future? Strowman. And hell, even with Reigns, I’m not going to say Joe vs. Lesnar should be valued more. Yeah, they’ve fucked up royally with Reigns in the past but that doesn’t mean I would value Samoa Joe this late in his career over him.
I say it one last time, I’m so hyped for this match. But to the people saying this should be a Summerslam or WrestleMania match, given all the factors I just listed, honestly, we should just be grateful this match is happening at all. This was never going to be anything more than a 1 and done match for Brock and given other names lined up, it shouldn’t be anything more than that.