4 Ups & 4 Downs From Last Night's WWE NXT (July 15)

Downs...

4. Joe Being Poorly Served Right Now

When Samoa Joe strolled into NXT TakeOver: Unstoppable, the IWC flipped its collective lid. JOE IS HERE, they typed as fast as their little fingers could manage, but so far, the star of TNA and ROH has had quite a muted impact in WWE. Fans unfamiliar with Joe could be forgiven for wondering, "what's everyone so excited about?" So far he's wrestled two relative nobodies in quite slow fashion, a tag match during which he mostly sat on the apron, and Kevin Owens in a match that was quickly no-contested. Now that it's official that Kevin Owens will be facing Finn Balor at the TakeOver event in Brooklyn, Joe is fast resembling a third wheel on a romantic date: full of intent, but no one to dance with. It's not really WWE's fault, it's just bad timing. Joe entered NXT during a huge state of flux. Kevin Owens, his supposed rival, is busy with a main roster push designed for Sami Zayn and a feud with Finn Balor, and two of the other top stars are laid off with injuries. If NXT stick with Owens as his programme partner going forward, then Joe is going to be aimless until September, a big step down from the marquee matches he's used to having, and the fans are used to seeing. The company would be wise to put a pin in the Owens feud for now and bring in a part-time veteran to feud with Joe through to TakeOver. Neville would be a perfect dance partner for the Samoan Submission Machine and would reinvigorate what has slowly turned into a lacklustre debut run.