10 Times The Main Event Was The Worst Match On A WWE Show
7. Samoa Joe Vs Roman Reigns (Backlash 2018)
If and when Joe re-enters active competition, we should certainly consider rehashing this rivalry. The newly uber-aggressive Big Dog and the Samoan Submission Machine should by all rights be capable of a fantastic feud, mean, nasty, and hard as hell.
This wasn’t it, though. It started off well, with Joe savagely attacking Reigns before the bell, but the momentum quickly dips, and with it the crowd’s energy. The WWE universe could see perfectly well where this one was going - Roman was going to absorb the punishment of Samoa Joe, overcome the odds, and grab the babyface win no one wanted - and they weren’t about to sit around and wait for it.
The audience is in open revolt from a few minutes in, the “boring” chants filling the arena even as the crowd file out of it. Those who left early missed very little, as the match proceeds about as predictably as you could imagine. Joe grinds down Roman before the Big Dog rallies, hits the spear, and wins to a chorus of boos.
It’s hard to blame either man, and neither career was harmed by this mess, but if anyone deserves a do-over, it’s these guys.