6/7/2017 - THE WEEKLY WRESTLER - The Rise of Samoa Joe, Extreme Rules, and More!!!!

 THE WEEKLY WRESTLER

The Rise of Samoa Joe
Samoa Joe is really coming into his own and is now the Joe we all expected after his Impact departure. He is obviously more comfortable on the larger stage of RAW than he ever was on NXT and the call up to the main roster has allowed his violence to blossom. Although he has been a part of the main roster for several months now, his coming out party will likely always be remembered as this past Monday on RAW. Samoa Joe was part of an incredible segment with Paul Heyman, in which he was terrifyingly believable as a dangerous, calculated, cold-blooded assasin. In short, Samoa Joe terrified me along with the rest of the WWE Universe. The way he calmly approached Paul Heyman and quietly and matter of factly let him know to what lengths he was about to punish him, is the stuff of nightmares, only a Samoa Joe nightmare is one we're not guaranteed to wake up from. Unlike many other wrestlers today, Samoa Joe gets it. He knows that if he is going to claim to be a monster, he must in fact be a monster. This is what we were all blessed to receive on Monday. As he gripped Heyman in the Kokina Clutch like a boa constrictor squeezing the life out of its prey, Lesnar's Advocate went to sleep. This will definitely provoke the Beast; but, Samoa Joe isn't afraid of the Beast and why should he be? He, himself, is a beast, a Samoan madman, capable of reaching heights of violence Brock Lesnar has never before seen in any opponent. After the segment with Heyman, Joe went on to have a quality match with Seth Rollins in the RAW main event. It wasn't perfect. Joe should have been booked better. He should have dominated Rollins from start to finish and Bray Wyatt should have had no involvement in Joe's victory over Rollins; but, it was still good. At this point, it's hard to imagine Samoa Joe outside of the main event picture, as he grips the entire WWE Universe in a proverbial Kokina Clutch. He is arguably the company's best and most believable heel, something that has proven difficult to find. While the WWE is dead set on a WrestleMania 34 main event between Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns, here's hoping the powers that be reconsider. The WWE should put the belt around a real beast, someone who shows up to work day-in and day-out and lives to brutalize his opponents, not someone who watches on tv and sends his advocate out to talk about how he brutalizes his opponents. Samoa Joe vs Roman Reigns would be a phenomenal WrestleMania main event and the RAW brand would get what it deserves, a major championship that would actually show up to work every Monday.

Quote of the Week
'Big E...is that your name or your bra size?" - Jimmy Uso to Big E on SmackDown LIVE

Five Things I Think I Think
1. I sincerely hope Big Cass and Enzo Amore break up, leading to a huge singles run for Cass. The "How You Doin?" gimmick is beyond stale and Cass deserves better than to be stuck in this character. Enzo's Rodney Dangerfield-esque one-liners are all he offers Cass and for someone with a world championship physique, Enzo is very much holding the seven footer back. For all the talk Enzo does, the duo has yet to win a championship, either in NXT or the WWE. There's a reason for that and it probably has something to do with the fact that their characters are stuck in auto-pilot showing virtually no evolution.
2. The Miz hit it right on the head this past Monday night. While the crowd was chanting, "You deserve it," referring to the Miz' 7th Intercontinental Championship reign, he replied, "That might mean something if you didn't do it for every single WWE champion." While the Miz obviously deserves the Intercontinental Championship, after rising from the ashes of what was WWE mid-card obscurity, the crowd chants are becoming an annoying and distracting component in today's world of professional wrestling. Whether it's "You deserve it!" or "This is awesome" or "Fight Forever," the chants show as much originality as the Enzo and Cass gimmick and are welcomed as much as a fart in Church. The WWE Universe needs to get over its collective selves and stop trying everything in their power to take over a show. It's not funny. It's not becoming. It's juvenile, classless, and shows a general lack of respect for the business. Want to see awesome crowds? Refer back to the 1980s.
3. Women's wrestling will be in phenomenal shape for the foreseeable future, so long as the WWE holds on to Charlotte and Alexa Bliss and the two Superstars stay healthy. We are lucky to be watching two Hall of Fame caliber wrestlers dominating each of their respective divisions. No, Charlotte is not the SmackDown Women's Champion....yet; but, how long do you really expect that to last?
4. John Cena returning is still big news. Yes, he is a part-timer now and arguably more celebrity than wrestler at this point; but, he is one of the top five biggest draws in wrestling history. No one outside of the Rock is more recognizable as a mainstream WWE Superstar in 2017 than John Cena. The WWE Universe will be watching on July 4th; but, so will many other folks who won't usually tune in for SmackDown LIVE.
5. Don't count Dolph Ziggler out of the Money in the Bank Match. He would be a formidable Money in the Bank winner. Plus the Money in the Bank always works best when it belongs to a heel who will use the briefcase to his extreme advantage. Dolph already knows how to win this match and successfully cash in, as he did in 2013 to win the World Heavyweight Championship against Alberto Del Rio. That's why A.J. Styles specifically pointed him out as a top contender for the briefcase on Talking Smack and A.J. knows his wrestling. If you sleep on Dolph Ziggler, you'd be making a mistake.

Time to Put Extreme Rules Out of Its Misery
Before the WWE entered the John Cena led PG era and became a publicly traded company, the Extreme Rules pay-per-view was an excellent idea. The concept stood out among other events, giving WWE fans a little extra umph to look forward to. However, long gone are the days when the WWE would allow color (blood) or anything that might be construed as realistic ultra violence. Dean Ambrose struggles in his character because he is a throwback to the likes of Cactus Jack and Abdullah the Butcher, someone seen as unstable that would try anything extreme in order to get the edge. The problem with Ambrose is the same as the Extreme Rules pay-per-view, the WWE can not reach levels of extreme that were suitable for fans who grew up in the 1980s and 1990s before the WWE sold its soul to corporate advertisers. Last weekend's Extreme Rules pay-per-view saw a Kendo Stick on a Pole Match that lasted briefly and featured less overall violence than what was portrayed on the RAW build leading up to the match. Sources tell us that the violence that occurred between Bayley and Alexa Bliss on RAW was done "accidentally on purpose" or outside of corporate's permission. The Steel Cage Match was entertaining enough; but, if the Hardy Boyz could actually get extreme and their creative juices were not restrained by the WWE's overriding urge to please its corporate masters, imagine what that may have looked like. Unless you are an upper echelon star, color is enough to get you suspended or even fired these days. Long gone are the days of the fork stabbing Abdullah the Butcher ending a match electrocuted in a chair. Long gone are the days of Cactus Jack's legendary King of Texas Death Match recklessness, Vader's legendary stiff shots, or Terry Funk exploding in a ring, while wrestling with a broken arm. Long gone are the days of ECW, where wrestlers were buried in cold steel chairs and puddles of blood. All of that was truly extreme like a horror movie come to life and none of us will forget, leading us to one logical conclusion. If an "extreme" pay-per-view is a virtual impossibility in today's era, why have one at all?

This Week's Sign of the Apocalypse
Mojo Rawley received an opportunity to get in the SmackDown Money in the Bank Ladder Match, not Rusev. Meanwhile, Lana will receive a SmackDown Women's Championship Match against Naomi at Money in the Bank.

Tweet of the Week

Why doesn't Roman Reigns ever take off the SHIELD vest? What's he hiding under there? #RAW pic.twitter.com/D1Z3t3rgWR

— Cheap Heat Wrestling (@CheapHeatTweets) June 6, 2017

Stat of the Week

The Hardys are the only team to WIN @WWE Tag Titles in 3 different decades.

1990-2000 - 7/5/1999
2000-2010 - 4/2/2007
2010-2020 - 4/2/2017 pic.twitter.com/vCiyUKfEGd

— REBORN by FATE (@MATTHARDYBRAND) June 6, 2017

The It's Time Rhyme
"Fight Forever! This is Awesome! You Deserve it"
Shut Up. Get Over Yourselves. Get Bit.
Watch Wrestling. Clap. Cheer. Only songbirds sing.
If you want to take over shows, then get in the ring.

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