Samoan Joseph came out to complain about Brock, only to be interrupted by THE Samoa Joe, WWE’s single most underutilized performer. Now, you’ll say, what do you mean underutilized, he was hurt! Sure, but his mic hand still work, as well as his vocal cords. The idea that they couldn’t have found something for Joe to do over the last few months, even if it was just periodic updates a la the Randy (Orton) News Network to keep engaged with his character while emphasizing his most surprising strength: usually good, occasionally capital-G Great mic work. Joe knows how to talk, what to say and how to say it much better than any other non-actor outside of Braun. Taking that away from us for so long was a crime, even if the end result was Samoa Joe completely stepping to Roman and all his perceived delusions of grandeur in a way the audience has been clamoring for. We could have had him on commentary for all I care, just don’t take my favorite Samoan Joseph away again for even a second longer than you need to next time.
Although most people will probably focus on the TNA joke, the refreshing backstage segment between Angle, Sami and KO continued Angle’s streak of being a largely reasonable man in charge of an unreasonable place. He’s slowly but surely developed a kind of Dad role with the performers — without being creepily paternal — and the audience (he just wants what’s best for us) that play to his strengths of simmering intensity and surprisingly agile comedic timing. While pretty much anything would have been an upgrade of Mick Foley postal service career as GM, Angle has become a reliable performer that helps keep the show apace while ocassionally going above and beyond the call of duty to, say, have the best match at WrestleMania in his mid-40s.
And as for the two men he was there with, they continued to prove “IN THIS RING AND ON THIS MIC’ that they are WWE’s best two day-to-day performers in the company. The match, completely unannounced and largely unexpected, was the best of the night and one of the better of the past few days for the company. Much like Samoa Joe, if this angle does call for them to be out for an extended period of time, I hope the WWE does the right thing and let’s them tour the (carefully curated) independent scene before making their way back to the main roster for their inevitable best friend break-up feud and respective matches with Daniel Bryan. Because, sometimes, you just got to give the people GIVE THE PEOPLE what they want.
