WWE SmackDown: Samoa Joe Is The Perfect Prize Fighting Champion

This past Tuesday on WWE SmackDown Live, it was announced that Samoa Joe will be AJ Styles opponent for the WWE Championship at WWE Summerslam 2018.  If Joe is victorious, The Samoan Submission Machine can become the perfect prize fighting champion, one that Brock Lesnar is not on WWE Raw.

While the initial question might be, should Joe even beat Styles?  The answer is yes, and that simply has to do with The Champ That Runs The Camp being a fighting champion.

Title reigns similar to the current one with Styles to John Cena’s United States Championship run, or even CM Punk’s WWE Championship reign all seem much longer than the Universal Championship reign Brock Lesnar has.  The reason is quite simple, the previous three champions were much more active during their reigns.

Therefore despite Lesnar having the longer reign, Styles has actually accomplished more in his time as champion.  Styles has become so big that he no longer needs the WWE Championship, and someone like Samoa Joe who has come up short in big matches over the past year could use a marquee win on his resume.

The upside of Joe winning the WWE Championship at Summerslam is too big to ignore, and therefore should be an easy decision for WWE Management.  But once Joe captures the WWE Championship, what then?

Simple, Joe as WWE Champion should be booked as a prize fighting champion who does not wrestle every Tuesday.  Joe will then wrestle only for matches that are considered a big pay day for him (pay per view matches).  “Wait, so that means we are getting another Lesnar, but on SmackDown Live instead?”

No, just because he is a prize fighting champion does not mean he will disappear for a couple of months.  What I am suggesting is that Joe assumes a similar role to what Kevin Owens had at the end of his NXT (beginning of his WWE) run.

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This would mean that Joe would still appear on SmackDown Live to keep the storyline of the WWE Championship going, but he isn’t going to just take on all challengers or accept a GM throwing him in a tag team match to end the show.  Remember what he said to Roman Reigns earlier in the year, “I fight on my terms.”

Joe fighting on his terms should be the theme of a potential WWE Championship reign for him.  In no way is Joe intimidated by his challengers, but he will also not allow them to dictate terms.

Not only will The Samoan Submission Machine not be pushed around, but he is also unpredictable as the WWE Universe witnessed this past Tuesday on SmackDown Live.  Where Raw has failed over the past year in creating a big fight feel with Lesnar, is where SmackDown Live will excel.

The issue with Lesnar has been a combination of two things.  One, Lesnar keeps wrestling Reigns which is a yawn considering Reigns hasn’t been able to beat Lesnar.  Two, Lesnar goes away for weeks to months on end which puts the Universal Championship on the back burner to be forgotten about.

Keeping Joe on TV not only keeps him, but also the WWE Championship relevant to the fans between title defenses.  Then at the same time, Joe not wrestling every week keeps from fans feeling fatigue with their (potential) WWE Champion.

Fans might not warm up to this idea right away, because there is clear frustration with Lesnar as the Universal Champion, but remember that Joe is not Lesnar.  Joe is a mercenary like Lesnar, but remember there is one clear difference.

Samoa Joe is a full-time WWE superstar who does not have plans to go to the UFC, there are no other options that he is looking to pursue.  There is big money for WWE with this type of gimmick, and look no further than Joe to fill this spot perfectly.

There might be some small flaws along the way, but WWE has been desperately looking for a number one heel on either brand.  Right now, Samoa Joe is not the prize fighting champion we deserve, he is the one we need.