10 Saving Graces Of WWE Programming In 2017
6. Samoa Joe
Samoa Joe arrived on Raw at the onset of 2017 and never looked back, immediately making an impact by (legitimately) putting Seth Rollins on the shelf and going on to target every top dog on the brand.
He was almost overshadowed by The Authority on the road to WrestleMania 33 (an event he unfortunately was not a part of), but he really came into his own following The Show of Shows and especially when he became the No. 1 contender to the Universal Championship. Joe took the fight to Brock Lesnar more than anyone else had before, and their weekly encounters carried Raw for the better part of the summer.
Shortly after SummerSlam, Joe suffered an injury that forced him to disappear for a while, but once he resurfaced, he picked up right where he left off in carving a path of destruction on Monday nights. This included representing Raw at Survivor Series and emerging as a threat to Roman Reigns' Intercontinental Championship.
An all-around phenomenal performer, Joe is riding a wave of momentum coming into 2018 and should hold gold at some point during the year.