Samoa Joe and the MEM: Good or Bad?

[myfistinurface]

I think this is gonna be awesome.

 

[Spillz3000]

Travis my friend I think you read too deep into my post buddy. I wasn't saying that they can flat out admit that they doped everybody the whole time(even though similar angles have been done before). He'll they don't even have to admit it but like I said it's definitely not out of the realm of possibility. Anyway take a look back on how the Black and Silver nWo ended up getting together it's kinda along the same lines as far as swerving the fans went.

And about watching wrestling that makes us look or feel stupid, you have been watching wrestling for the past few years right brotha? I mean Vince and Jeff have both run storylines in their respective organizations that have them believing that wrestling fans aren't as smart as we deserve credit for. But we'll see what happens and hopefully Vince Russo can write some gold with this storyline but with wrestling now a days it's hard to keep my hopes up. But with Sting out of the heel stable and Samoa Joe a Heel it should make at least for interesting matches.

 

[Retired Bearded Lady]

Hello everyone. Just joined these Forums after I'd say a good year and a half of reading, without wanting to add my own 2 cents here and there. But, for this specific one, I feel obligated to reply.

Yes the Joe swerve on the short term is a bad idea for a few reasons.

1) It takes away one less person to go against the MEM. A person who no less was being brought up as the one person the MEM feared and didn't think they could beat. (Second sentence is "backed up" by Nash's promo last Thursday)

2) To ally Joe with his main 2 nemesis'...Nash and Angle, it almost completely dissolves his whole storyline from the offset with both.

3) Joe's character is best suited as a "One Man Army" type idea...him vs. the world so to speak. To have him be involved in a stable takes away from Joe's on-screen persona...or at least evolves/devolves it away from the original idea.

4) He just won over 3/5ths of the MEM, and had Angle last on this "Hit List", with his last one being Angle himself.

Now for long term, this helps greatly.

1) It adds more fueds, lncluding matches with AJ and Daniels, which they have great matches and repoires with.

2) Joe gets the rub of being with wrestling legends so to speak, in comparison to the rest of the TNA roster. The old idea of if someone thinks you're worthy of something, typically others fall suit and think the same thing...even if the others don't understand why the person is thought of that way.

3) Joe's character works better as a heel anyways, as does this "Nation of Violence" idea. Typically brutality and violence don't go hand in hand with babyfaces. Of course there are exceptions to this rule, but very few of them.

4) The MEM have another member of the group who can actually wrestle, instead of it just being Kurt doing all the work. Nash is the mic guy, Booker isn't in the shape to wrestle like he did before, and Stiener...I don't know what to say about the Freak besides I doubt once his contract ends will be resigned.

Of course there is more positives and negatives for both, but that's wrestling in general. Nothing is ever perfect, especially when creative can't come up with good storylines, or new angles/concepts for their wrestlers and matches.

As for what I think will play out from this is: Taz is Joe's mentor. They will go with the old "keep your friends close, and your enemies closer" statement that was briefly brought up in this thread. He'll take down the MEM from the inside out, since a lot of factions have been disbanded/eradicated via that way. Joe would probably become the champ after a match with Kurt, so Joe can take away the one thing Angle cares about. (Maybe in a swerve as well, like a Threeway match or something along those lines. Even possibly a Joe/Angle/Sting match where Joe takes the bat somehow, Angle tells Joe to use it, fakes hitting Sting and cracks Angle.) Joe would then go on to feud with whoever Taz and or Joe feels necessary to deal with, and this whole MEM/Frontline storyline will be finally finished.

I doubt though that Victory Road will have that swerve though. I'm betting that would happen a little down the road from there...maybe the next PPV after, or even Bound For Glory, since it's the flagship PPV.

 

[BreakTheWalls]

I think it was a great idea to have Joe join the Mafia. The angle was beginning to get stale, and adding Joe and Morgan to the group instantly did two things; it freshened things up, and put two young stars over big time. What's there to discuss? TNA has finally shifted things around, and the emphasis on the next generation has picked up big time.

 

[The Hiphopapotamus]

I think I like Powerade's suggestion the best: Angle and Joe turning against the Mafia. Joe joining the mafia, on the other hand, seems kind of silly after beating the crap out of Steiner and Nash and Booker and kidnapping Sharmell.

If you think about it,Joe did all that shit like kidnapping,beating the crap out of and bloodying them up to really make the swerve so dramatic.Everybody is watching Joe and his hitlist and how he wants to murder them.he then brawls with Kurt in the match to actually help him,unbeknowngst to the fans(including me),and he works so well with AJ styles in the match.But when he gave the belt to Kurt,it was a real shocker,what the fuck moment.I almost cried.I would consider myself,(alongside Sam probably),the biggest Samoa Joe fan on the forums,and when he stabbed the originals in the back,I felt a slight pierce in my own spine.But when I look at it,it kind of gives interesting and exciting possibilities,but defies logic.

The great possibilities are:

1)This can give Joe the added piece that he is missing.He is great as a heel,his brutallity and aggressiveness really makes him a feared heel.But it's not good enough to just be a monster heel I don't think,he needs to add that little bit extra.First his advisor and now the MEM,Samoa Joe will once again become one of the greatest wrestlers in the world.

2)He is a heel,and AJ and Daniels are faces.This spells some more classic matches.I have never seen a bad match featuring these 3 wrestlers.Think of Unbreakable 2005,Destination X 2006 and more.

3)Kurt Angle is the world champion.That opens the possibility for him to become Legends champion,to fit in with the Mafia.He is not ready to be world champion again and the X division title is a no-go,he won't fit in again.So that leaves the legends title,which is held by none other than AJ styles,which will fit in with the story.And this time he won't let me down.His last reign didn't set the world on fire,but that's not really his fault,entirely.

But the good points come with a big defiance of logic:

1)The main point.Why did he join his biggest enemies?Kevin Nash screwed him out of the title.Kurt Angle and him have had some epic wars,where Joe has set out to kill him,for example Lockdown 08 and Hard Justice 07.I won't bring in any of the recent moments,as for all we know they are part of the whole ploy.

2)Samoa Joe is the nation of violence,a one man army.Why would he want to or need to join the MEM.He could easily turn heel and feud with both the originals and the main event mafia.The whole joining a stable takes away a lot of his strength.It sort of makes him seem weak.As a kind of "I'm a killing machine,but I still want grandpa kevin to hold my hand".Oh well,it sort of is a heel thing.I guess it does fit.

I am looking forward to seeing how this goes,with high hopes.By the way,Joe was looking great as a heel on Impact,which I'm watching now.

 

[TNA cross the line]

i am also new to the forums here in wrestlezone but have been a reader for years IMO ever since christain cage left back in october and killed the front line before it began tna has been staler than a 3 day old turd in the burning sun but joe joining the MEM is just the steroid shot in the ass that tna needed now if russo does not screw it up as always then this should take us on a wild ride all the way to bound for glory where hopefully we wont see another sting title change and i also think adding morgan to the mafia is stupid i think he needs to go to ecw or roh or fcw were he really belongs