Last week when Samoa Joe showed concern for Roman Reigns, it looked like it was the start of a babyface turn. This week on Raw, Samoa Joe had a heated backstage confrontation with Zayn and it seemed like the babyface turn was complete.
Fans in Toronto figured that Joe was the babyface when wrestled Sami Zayn this week on Monday Night Raw. However, that was not the plan at all and they made sure to have Joe cut a heel promo after the match to let fans know that he was not turning.
Dave Meltzer gave the explanation that was given to him from a WWE source on Wrestling Observer Radio.
“They were in Toronto [and] they knew that Sami Zayn was going to get this incredible pop,” Meltzer said.
He added, “That was the last thing that they wanted. With this gimmick, they did not want Sami Zayn getting this incredible pop. One of the things is they had Samoa Joe call Sami a water boy and all that. They knew that people would go crazy for a Samoa Joe turn and that would enable…basically they’re not gonna boo Samoa Joe when they first turn him because everybody wants him to turn but they don’t want him to turn yet. So it was to keep Sami Zayn from being cheered and Samoa Joe just had to do that [the babyface tease] and then turn right back because even though they know people are ready to cheer him like crazy and they may turn him at some point, this is not the week they wanted to do that. So that’s your explanation.”
So why didn’t they just put Zayn in the ring with a babyface? Meltzer said that he believes WWE was afraid that Zayn would get a loud pop if he was in the ring with someone else. Zayn vs. Braun Strowman would have worked but they needed Strowman for the end of the show.
