WWE Raw Superstar Shake-Up: 10 Things You Might Have Missed (April 16)

4. Joe Schmo

Bray Wyatt Matt Hardy
WWE

Samoa Joe's second verbal shutdown of Roman Reigns in as many weeks was going great guns until the 'Samoan Submission Machine' elected to show the world a video he'd apparently made/had commissioned of Brock Lesnar's WrestleMania slaughter-job.

Who the f*ck thinks this makes passable television? Picture a wild-eyed Joe downing his towel to take a seat with Kevin Dunn to go over what effects should be used to emphasise a particularly stiff shot, or if the latest update on Adobe Premier has included a feature that somehow hides the rivers of blood that flowed from 'The Big Dog's battered bonce.

The TitanTron reveal derailed the segment entirely, before WWE wrapped it up with their laziest scripting quirk - the body-shaming babyface. Just weeks after Alexa Bliss was rightfully booed then beaten for her bullying, alleged top babyface Roman Reigns is required to drop an F-bomb in Joe's direction.

A Brock Lesnar contract extension has perhaps slightly tinkered with this long-planned WrestleMania programme, with Joe forced to play pitchman for himself and Brock until the Greatest Royal Rumble cage clash has concluded. Yet another reason it might be nice to see the back of 'The Beast'.

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