10 Things You Might Have Missed On The WWE SmackDown Live! Superstar Shake-Up (April 17)

3. Joe Pro

Samoa Joe
WWE

After an odd Monday Night Raw appearance hung Samoa Joe out to dry, 'The Samoan Submission Machine' returned with the fire and fury of a man ready to dominate in 2018, putting over probably the most surprising trade of the past 24 hours.

Bulldozing through Sin Cara (as well he f*cking should have), Joe then took to the stick in sublime fashion with about fifteen separate points to make thanks to the chaotic current rotation of shows and spotlighted programmes across the product.

He tore SmackDown Live!'s 'Land Of Opportunity' mantra to bits with bold-faced threats towards AJ Styles, Randy Orton and Daniel Bryan. He then dropped in how dominant he'd be in both his Greatest Royal Rumble Intercontinental Title shot and Backlash battle with 'The Big Dog', before plugging Roman Reigns' cage match with Brock Lesnar too!

There's not been a better example of maximising minutes all year. Joe turned in a greatest hits package on one of SmackDown Live!'s biggest ever nights, stealing all the headlines with his breathless but brave delivery. There are fewer across either show more deserving or prepared to lead a brand at this point.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett