In a surprising move, WWE has reportedly transitioned Samoa Joe from a temporary replacement for Jerry "The King" Lawler to the new full-time color commentator on Monday Night Raw.
Joe has been working as one of the commentators for the past few weeks and has added a nice touch to the commentating team that seemed to struggle in the coronavirus era of no-audience shows. Joe brings a welcome level of authenticity and intelligence that was missing when Lawler just seemed intent on making jokes every match.
Samoa Joe was on a hot streak when injuries derailed his push. Rather than having someone as talented as Joe sitting on the sidelines, WWE brought him in a color commentator on Monday Night Raw. Joe was able to use this position to eventually move back into the role of a full-time wrestler when he angered Seth Rollins and the Authors of Pain beat him down at the announcer's table. Sadly, his return was short-lived as he ended up injured again, receiving a concussion during a WWE commercial shoot on the heels of another concussion suffered during a match. He missed WrestleMania and has been out since February before he finally ended up returning to the announcer's table.
With several injuries in short order, including multiple concussions, it looks like the 41-year-old Joe might end up transitioning fully into a role as a commentator. This loss would be monumental for WWE when it comes to his talent inside the ring. However, it would be a significant gain when it comes to the announcing team on Monday Night Raw.
When Paul Heyman took over the booking of Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown moved to Fox, WWE switched up the announcing teams. The longtime voice of the WWE, Michael Cole, moved to SmackDown on Fox with Corey Graves. Meanwhile, Graves stopped pulling double-duty, and Raw needed new commentators. It started as Vic Joseph, Dio Madden, and Jerry Lawler. The only reason Lawler was there was that Vince McMahon reportedly was worried about two inexperienced commentators on Raw.
Joseph didn't last, and WWE replaced him after four months with Tom Phillips. Furthermore, Madden wants to wrestle again and moved away from the announcer's table to return to training for an in-ring career at the WWE Performance Center. That left the announcing team as Phillips, Lawler, and Byron Saxton. Now, Lawler is gone, and Joe has replaced him. Phillips has always been a good announcer, but with Samoa Joe, Monday Night Raw has the best color commentator since Corey Graves worked on the show.
This is also important because Graves' younger brother Sam Adonis posted a video online recently showing his brother running the ropes and training. Graves previously mentioned to Edge that his return to the ring at the Royal Rumble inspired him, and there are now rumors that Graves believes he could return to wrestle again someday. There are not many color commentators who have impressed lately in WWE, and Joe is refreshing on the microphone. If the announcing table loses Graves back to the ring it would be a huge loss that Joe's presence would go a long way towards filling.
However, when it comes to Samoa Joe, WWE will miss his experience and dominance in the ring. It is also disappointing to know that Joe had not accomplished anything near what his fans had hoped when he signed with WWE. Outside of his two reigns as NXT Champion, Joe only won two titles on the main roster, both times the United States Championship.
This is the same guy who was a former TNA World Champion and the longest-reigning Ring of Honor Champion of his generation. In WWE, he was one of the best promo men and was someone that could legitimately beat just about anyone.
Now, Joe might be winding down his career, but the good news for his fans is that he has a new career that he could master just as much as he did kicking butt the ring.