What’s the story?
According to All Wrestling News, Samoa Joe is set to debut on the main roster in the Royal Rumble as a surprise entrant. The report did state that plans could always change. The report continued to state that Joe was expected to be a part of the SmackDown Live brand.
In case you didn’t know...
Samoa Joe was injured towards the end of the year. However, he looks to have healed up, because he took part in a dark tag team match during the latest NXT tapings at Full Sail University. In the match, he took the pin from Nakamura.
Samoa Joe, who has been one of NXT’s top stars since arriving, has not been involved in any storylines in the recent NXT tapings, which is another huge indicator that his time in NXT is coming to a close.
Also read: WWE Rumors: Not many surprises planned for the 2017 Royal Rumble
Joe is currently advertised for NXT Live events after the Royal Rumble, but that doesn’t mean he can’t be called up before that. The six NXT call-ups during the draft still had NXT live events to do for a few weeks before being exclusive to the main roster.
The heart of the matter
Joe’s main roster call-up is inevitable, and the Royal Rumble is likely the ideal time. However, Joe is quickly becoming an expected entrant, so that removes the surprise aspect of it, but it will be a great debut regardless.
It was said from July last year that once Joe finished up his feud with Nakamura over the NXT Championship, he would be moving on to the main roster.
However, NXT swerved the fans by putting the NXT Championship back on Samoa Joe at NXT Takeover: Toronto, leading many to speculate that Nakamura may be the one being called up. Joe ended up losing the title just two weeks later back to Nakamura at Osaka, however.
Their feud culminated in a steel cage match at Melbourne, Australia. Since then, Joe has not been in any storyline on NXT.
What’s next?
Samoa Joe will finally have the platform to showcase his abilities on a higher level on the main roster.
Whether he goes to Raw or SmackDown Live, Joe will make a huge splash on the main roster, and it won’t take him long to be one of the top stars of whichever brand he is in. He may serve better as one of the top heels of one of the brands.
Sportskeeda’s take
As mentioned, Samoa Joe’s call-up to the main roster is long overdue, and he will undoubtedly get one of the top reactions of the night if he appears at the Rumble.
Joe was consistently in the main event picture for a full year in NXT. He deserves a shot at the main roster, to show the larger audience who Samoa Joe is and what he brings to the table.
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