5 Ups & 7 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (Apr 10)
3. Samoa Joe Stays Strong... For A Minute
It's a bit ambivalent, this one. Rey Mysterio's unfortunately timed ankle injury meant that what could have been a marquee debut WrestleMania match for Samoa Joe was cruelly cut to just half the time it takes to cook a two-minute egg. At the very least, WWE made a minor virtue of the circumstances, putting the submission specialist over like a monster.
Joe, surely the world's hardest looking man in a pair of PE shorts, continued his mean streak on Tuesday, ripping R-Truth to shreds before barking down the mic in echoes of the similarly convincing aggression he showed following his SmackDown debut last year.
The dramatic interruption of Braun Strowman threatened to undermine the Samoan's upswing, and though he ultimately legged it like a bit of a fanny, he nevertheless held his own against the Monster Amongst Men. Besides which, Braun moving to SmackDown can only be a good thing - if it's permanent.