Quick Takes on Samoa Joe's AEW Booking, Reigns vs. Nakamura, Edge Stable, More

Despite criticism from fans that All Elite Wrestling's roster is overcrowded, company president Tony Khan continues to add top talent to his ranks, with Samoa Joe being the latest high-profile acquisition.

What AEW does with a star of his caliber going forward becomes the question, but if any one thing is for certain, it's that the company can't let him fade off into obscurity like several others before him. Joe's dominant Dynamite debut Wednesday proved he can be a valuable asset if utilized accordingly.

The WWE landscape also shifted in the wake of WrestleMania 38, with new champions being crowned and several fresh faces surfacing on SmackDown and Raw. Most notably, a new Edge-led heel faction might be on the horizon if his alliance with Damian Priest is any indication.

Undisputed WWE universal champion Roman Reigns was in desperate need of a challenger, and it appears Shinsuke Nakamura could be next in line for an opportunity. There's little to no chance he will be the one to dethrone The Tribal Chief, but it works perfectly as a filler feud for Reigns before he moves on to more credible competition in the summer.

This installment of Quick Takes will tackle why Reigns vs. Nakamura is the ideal main event for WrestleMania Backlash, the blue brand's women's division receiving a boost, AEW potentially going overboard with gimmick matches and more.

Believe it or not, it's been more than two years since Samoa Joe was a full-time wrestler because of the various injuries that caused his WWE career to be cut short.

He could have easily been utilized in other roles for the company prior to his release in January, but WWE's loss will prove to be AEW's gain, both in front of the camera and behind it.

It's no secret that his best days in the ring are behind him. Although he may be past his prime in that respect, he remains one of the most believable wrestlers with a mic in his hands and can contribute in a multitude of ways.

His Dynamite debut against Max Caster was exactly what it needed to be. When used in small doses with the right opponent, Joe can be extremely effective, which is why AEW can't afford to let him become just another guy on the roster a la Andrade El Idolo and Christian Cage, to name but two.

The Samoan Submission Machine is a special type of talent. He's been incredibly over wherever he's gone, and if protected, it will be meaningful when he's eventually beaten, ideally by an up-and-coming athlete.

Whether it's in an AEW-run Ring of Honor or on Dynamite and Rampage, Joe must remain a regular on television. Putting him in a feud with former pupil Jay Lethal is a solid start.

SmackDown women's division hasn't exactly been lighting the world on fire in 2022, but that's hardly the fault of the talent themselves. Rather, WWE hasn't quite figured out what the do with a majority of the Superstars, and that's been made apparent by a stunning lack of direction.

Ronda Rousey and Charlotte Flair have been firmly entrenched in a rivalry over the SmackDown Women's Championship all year, but the well runs dry beyond them. Naomi and Sonya Deville had a great thing going before it was quickly moved on from, and Sasha Banks has been a part of the tag team ranks since the Royal Rumble.

New blood was needed, and thankfully we got exactly that in the form of Raquel Rodriguez (f.k.a. NXT's Raquel Gonzalez) and the returning Lacey Evans on Friday night.

Both will be babyfaces for the blue brand, which raises questions about which talent they will be working with if Flair is busy with Rousey. Shayna Baszler and Natalya will need to be heated up again, and Shotzi should at least be put back on TV before feuding with either one of them.

Throw in Xia Li (who hasn't been seen on SmackDown in weeks) and hopefully a full-time Sonya Deville, and SmackDown's women's scene is significantly stronger than it was before WrestleMania. The booking still needs to improve, but the influx of fresh faces is at least a step in the right direction.

With Undisputed Era and The Hurt Business both breaking up within the past year, WWE has been light on factions, taking the opposite approach of AEW. The Bloodline has been dominant, and The New Day are a constant, but it wouldn't hurt to have another top-level group on the main roster.

Sure enough, all signs seem to point to Edge going full circle with his career by heading his own stable sooner rather than later.

There were rumblings that it could be a possibility leading into WrestleMania 38, and then at the event itself, Damian Priest aided Edge to victory against AJ Styles. Fightful Select reported the following day that Rhea Ripley and Tommaso Ciampa were both pitched for the group as well.

Given the darker tone Edge and now Priest appear to be going for, both Ripley and Ciampa would be fantastic fits for the faction if that is the direction WWE is headed in. Ripley would greatly benefit from a heel turn (if only to get out of tag team purgatory) while it would ensure Ciampa has direction on the main roster from the get-go.

There's no rush in putting together these four, however. Edge and Priest can wreak havoc on their own until an opportunity arises for Ciampa to join, followed by Ripley once she cuts ties with Liv Morgan. As a new-age Brood, the possibilities are endless for what they could do.

It seems no major company runs as many gimmick matches on a near-weekly basis as AEW does, and although it enhances the product to a degree, it will eventually reach the point when it's the law of diminishing returns.

Such contests should only be booked when they matter most, not simply to boost a rating. Every promotion is guilty of this, but it's especially apparent with AEW coming off the announcement that Adam Page vs. Adam Cole on the forthcoming Rampage will be a Texas Deathmatch.

That will mark the third Texas Deathmatch AEW has done in under a year, with the first happening in July and the second happening as recently as February in another one of Page's AEW World Championship defenses. His rivalry with Cole has been fun to follow, but by no means does it deserve to be blown off with such a stipulation.

There can be no doubt that it will be an excellent contest and that they will deliver something special. However, in going to that well one too many times, it's going to mean nothing if AEW doesn't instead save such fights for special occasions as opposed to a random Rampage.

Something as simple as a No Holds Barred bout would have made just as much sense, whereas contesting it under Texas Deathmatch rules feels forced and unnecessary.

Friday's SmackDown ended with Roman Reigns being confronted by Shinsuke Nakamura, who was subsequently laid out by The Bloodline.

Nakamura wasn't made to look like too much of a threat in that moment, but the segment did seem to confirm that The King of Strong Style will be next in line to challenge Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship, likely at WrestleMania Backlash in May.

Regardless of how strongly Nakamura is built in the coming weeks, he has less of a chance of taking the title than almost anyone Reigns has faced before. That's largely because of how he's been booked as of late, but that isn't to say their match doesn't make for a fun attraction.

In fact, Reigns vs. Nakamura is the perfect main event for that show.

At this rate, Reigns should be champion at least through SummerSlam in August, and he's going to need more opponents to beat before then. If the likes of Drew McIntyre, Bobby Lashley, AJ Styles, Seth Rollins and Cody Rhodes are all going to be busy for now, then Nakamura makes for a fine opponent in a filler feud.

Not only is it a fresh rivalry, but it should be entertaining from an in-ring standpoint as well, not to mention that Nakamura is popular enough with the audience to warrant his return to the main event scene for a brief period.

Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, has specialized in sports and entertainment writing since 2010. Visit his website, WrestleRant, and subscribe to his YouTube channel for more wrestling-related content.