10 Awesome Things Happening In WWE Right Now
2. Samoa Joe Is Number One Contender To The Universal Championship
Few predicted Samoa Joe to win the Extreme Rules Fatal 5-Way match on Sunday because WWE very rarely programmes two heels together.
His segment with Paul Heyman on Monday's RAW was easily the best WWE has presented since the Festival of Friendship. Joe emerged from the curtain to announce that he does not fear Brock Lesnar. This brought out Paul Heyman, who expertly put Joe over by designating him the "worst case scenario". The segment, like all great drama, ebbed and flowed in tone. Heyman sought laughs when he self-deprecatingly referred to himself as a neurotic "Jew", but Joe restored the sense of unease when he pulled Heyman aside.
Joe walked Heyman into the corner of the ring. There's a brilliant, blackly comic Sopranos scene in which season one antagonist Mikey Palmice throws an unfortunate soul over a bridge after bluntly advising the course of action beforehand. This is what Joe did here to stunningly menacing effect. "Something very bad is going to happen to you right now," he said, sans microphone, adding to the drama. "Listen, listen. Listen. I'm going to wrap my arm around your throat. And you're going to feel it tighten." It was beautiful. Joe has never appeared so chilling in a WWE ring.
The match itself promises something awesome because it's totally unique - two badass submission specialist heels knocking bells out of each with nary an underdog in sight.