One of the biggest matches in recent memory will come our way this Sunday at WWE Great Balls of Fire as the WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar will step into the ring with one of the biggest challenges of his entire career, Samoa Joe.
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In this edition of “Booking The Finish”, our very own Jay Alletto gives you his ideal finish to this colossal confrontation. Also, you’ll see a brief history & analyzation of the main event this Sunday.
THE BACKSTORY
The moment Samoa Joe signed a contract with WWE, I knew this was the match that I wanted to see. Period.
Believe me, I’m overjoyed to see The Samoan Submission Machine battle the likes of Shinsuke Nakamura, Seth Rollins & Sami Zayn, but his spot is at the very top of the mountain.
Personally, I’ve been watching Samoa Joe wrestle since 2002. Throughout the past 15 years, he was a major factor in the success of every company he has spent a significant amount of time wrestling in. During his Ring of Honor run, Joe set the record for the longest ROH World Championship run in history. He held the prestigious world championship from March 22, 2003 to December 26, 2004, lasting 645 days. Joe made the belt a World Championship by defending it in the UK. Since then, the ROH World Championship has been defending in 10 countries outside of the United States.
When Joe became a mainstay in TNA, he maintained an 18-month undefeated streak before being defeated by the debuting Kurt Angle. Joe was essentially the face of TNA Wrestling for an extended period of time. Joe was dominant during his run in TNA.
When Joe showed up on NXT, it was a forgone conclusion that he would become NXT Champion. The guy is a game-changer. He’s main event money wherever he goes. And now we finally get an opportunity to see what he can do against the biggest draw in the industry, Brock Lesnar.
Lesnar comes into this match with a lack of “believable” opponents on the roster. What I mean by believable is someone that not only has the credibility to defeat Lesnar, but that looks liek they would stand a chance.
He’s faced every major name & has defeated every single one of them. But he’s never defeated Samoa Joe. He’s never been in the ring with someone like Samoa Joe. Samoa Joe is an extremely believable opponent, but can he take down The Beast?
THE MATCH
This is the biggest match of Samoa Joe’s career. It is going to be violent…quite possibly a little more than we have seen recently. As we are all well aware, Brock Lesnar is a former UFC World Heavyweight Champion. He fought the toughest heavyweight fighters anywhere in the world…and was the best.
Samoa Joe’s nickname is the “Samoan Submission Machine.”
The MMA style is something that these two should implement into their match. Strikes will be stiff. Submissions will be tight. And blood could be spilled. “Great Balls of Fire” needs to be the stage for something different from the norm.
What we don’t need is an unmotivated Brock Lesnar. When discussing this match on social media in recent weeks (@PWPNation on Twitter) there seemed to be a general consensus that we may see a match similar to the disappointing WrestleMania 32 contest between Lesnar & Dean Ambrose. That match looked like two unmotivated professional wrestlers that were going through the motions. The reasoning behind the concern is the lack of mainstream, longterm WWE star power for Samoa Joe.
Another reason why fans seem to be concerned is Joe’s focus on Paul Heyman. The feud started with Joe choking Heyman out on RAW. In following weeks. Joe has attempted to directly intimidate Heyman. Some see this as making Joe look weak; focusing on the advocate for the champion instead of the champion himself.
I don’t think we should be worried. Joe has brought the intensity into this feud, while Lesnar has acted like an arrogant champion that truly believes there’s no chance that Joe can beat him. If Lesnar had any doubt in his mind about the credibility of Samoa Joe, it should be gone by now.
BOOKING THE FINISH
For most diehard wrestling fans, Samoa Joe needs to win this match. It’s a must win. Unlike a lot of wrestling fans, I feel differently because the booking of WWE is a marathon…not a sprint.
However, Samoa Joe is 38 years old. He’s currently at the top of his game. This is the time to make a major move to put Joe over Brock at Great Balls of Fire.
The only way to do this is to continue the story that WWE has been telling since Joe put Seth Rollins out of action back in January: MAKE JOE THE DESTROYER. Do not half ass this story. If Joe is “The Destroyer”, this is the time to prove it.
The Conquerer vs. The Destroyer. I’m actually surprised WWE didn’t use this as a tag line for the match. Anyway, I digress. When looking at how this match will play out, I see a lot of strong style violence. I do not see a slow moving, traditional WWE psychology match with rest holds, hope spots & babyface comebacks.
WWE has spent plenty of time building up the Coquina Clutch as a finisher that can put out any man at any time. The way WWE is putting this submission over reminds me of the run that Taz had in ECW back in the late 1990’s. It didn’t matter how big or tough the challenge was, that choke was going to take you out.
The best way to book the finish of this match is to allow Joe to choke Brock Lesnar out. Out cold. Unconscious. How long is Brock going to be this unstoppable beast that only loses in haphazard ways? This is the time to take all of those dominant Lesnar performances that they’ve spent years building up & use them to elevate your next main event star.
Joe will definitely take a trip to Suplex City. If Lesnar is going to go down in any way, shape or form, he is going to look insanely strong doing so. No question about it. But here’s your out. Here’s the out that keeps Brock Lesnar strong & creates your massive SummerSlam Main Event.
As we know, Roman Reigns has already been announced as receiving the WWE Universal Championship Match at the huge event. We need to take an old trick and make it new again. A formal protest of the Coquina Clutch has to be made by Paul Heyman as being an illegal choke, which will allow Lesnar to force his way into the SummerSlam Main Event.
Now we have a dominant Universal Champion that can defend the championship on RAW & house shows throughout the Summer defending against two top level, WrestleMania Main Event Superstars that he has already choked out. If you want to get really crazy and have a lot of fun, you can find a way to add Braun Strowman to the fray. On a show that will have two World Title matches, why not make one of them a multi-man contest?
In closing, I expect a fair amount of violence & a nod to the world of MMA with some of the moves that will take place. I feel like the most beneficial finish to this contest would be Samoa Joe going over in the most dominant of ways by completely choking out Lesnar. How exactly does Lesnar get to that level of vulnerability? Well, there are multiple ways to get there, but Samoa Joe going over is what needs to be done to benefit everyone involved.
If Samoa Joe does lose to Lesnar, there are still ways to keep Joe strong & dominant moving forward. If a superstar can take Brock Lesnar to the absolute brink of defeat, they should be booked extremely strong moving forward.
At the end of the day, Joe winning this match is the best possible scenario for all involved…especially the WWE Universe.