WWE Stomping Grounds: Samoa Joe vs. Ricochet preview

Samoa Joe (c) vs. Ricochet

United States championship match

This match was made last week. Ricochet won a fatal 5-way to earn the right to face Samoa Joe tomorrow night at the Stomping Grounds pay-per-view (PPV) for the United States title. Samoa Joe attacked Ricochet after the match to add a little heat to it, but Ricochet was able to fight off the Samoan Submission Machine.

And there we have it. There’s not much to this one.

Unfortunately, that can’t be said for much of Samoa Joe’s United States title reign. It has never felt like it was living up to its potential. Sure, it’s a secondary title so it’s not going to blow the roof off, but Samoa Joe is a great personality and could have elevated that title. But that did not happen.

After winning the belt from R-Truth, his only real feud was an odd one with Rey Mysterio. It was a feud that should have been great, but never got off the ground.

Joe defeated Mysterio to retain his title in a squash match at WrestleMania. Then Mysterio beat Joe quickly at Money in the Bank to win the title. That match had a wonky ending where Joe’s shoulders were clearly up so now you can add in CONTROVERSY to the weirdness of it all.

Then, unfortunately, Mysterio sustained an injury and had to relinquish the title, which for some reason went right back to Joe. And here we are.

Because of this rocky reign for Joe, it’s reasonable to wonder if they’re going to make the change tomorrow. With fans getting tired of the product, maybe WWE decides to put it on someone many fans really like to try to drum up a little more interest. (Not the stale product is at all the fault of Samoa Joe.)

Whatever the finish, hopefully it’s better than Samoa Joe’s last two United States title matches. But to attain that, it just needs to not be a squash and have an ending that doesn’t look like a mistake. That shouldn’t be too hard, right?

Samoa Joe defends his United States championship against Ricochet tomorrow night at WWE Stomping Grounds on the WWE Network, starting at 7 ET. And keep it here to CagesideSeats.com for all your Stomping Grounds coverage.