There has been a lot said about AEW’s implementation of Ring of Honor into their weekly programming, with it over-saturating the product at times with too many titles, stories, and individuals, and it occasionally being difficult to follow everything. One clear example of it being a questionable choice in using Ring of Honor on AEW television is with the Samoa Joe vs Jay Lethal ROH Television Championship feud, which is currently one of the most boring, draining, and pointless things in AEW at the moment.
Samoa Joe’s Return Kickstarted A Feud With Jay Lethal
After a very lackluster start to his run in AEW, things started changing for Jay Lethal after several months of doing pretty much nothing. He was having a few more televised matches, with a gradual change to his character, making it seem as though a heel turn was in the cards. This came at ROH’s return to PPV under its new ownership, following Tony Khan’s purchase of the company. At the Supercard of Honor event in 2022, Lethal decisively turned heel, aligning with Sonjay Dutt.
Following the main event, Lethal confronted the ROH World Champion, Jonathan Gresham, which prompted the shocking return of Samoa Joe, who used to be a huge name in ROH before joining TNA, followed by a stint in WWE. He stared down Lethal to end the show, starting their rivalry on April 1st. It is now July, and it looks to be nearly another month before they finally have their blow-off match, with it being slated to take place at the Death Before Dishonor PPV. However, in between their initial face-off and current day, the feud has been a slog.
Satnam Singh’s Underwhelming Debut Hurt The Samoa Joe vs Jay Lethal Feud
After annoyance at Joe for getting involved in his business, Lethal targeted him on Dynamite, with their ROH history with one another being brought up briefly, although for whatever reason, this hasn’t been overly touched on ever since. A week later, Joe would defeat Minoru Suzuki to become the new ROH Television Champion, although post-match, Lethal and Dutt would lead an assault on Joe at the hands of a debuting Satnam Singh – a 7-foot giant who instantly became the largest competitor on AEW television.
With a questionable ‘lights out’ segment to debut him, and it being clear that he wasn’t the most mobile of performers, there was a lot of criticism for the angle. Despite barely being a part of AEW TV since his debut, thrusting Lethal to the main event on an episode of Dynamite in a story which was mostly based around ROH felt a little awkward and out of place. From there, the trio would come to blows with Joe, with each party taking turns in who would stand tall in a collection of post-match brawls and backstage interactions, but everything has been mostly by-the-book with very little creativity involved.
The Samoa Joe Vs Jay Lethal Rivalry Has Been A Boring Part Of Both AEW And ROH
Joe has been out injured for a few weeks, which has led to Lethal, Dutt, and Singh appear almost exclusively in quick backstage segments in which they summarised the events of the feud, before calling out Joe once again, with no change or development from week-to-week. By the time Lethal and Joe do battle, it will have been nearly four months since the rivalry began, yet there has been very little change to make things feel more personal or intriguing, and whilst not every feud can have huge angles and a crazy story, this has been presented with the bare minimum of storytelling.
Although Lethal & Dutt have decent delivery when it comes to their promos, there is very little reaction to whenever they talk, with the audience taking a collective sigh when they show up on the TV screen, as nothing has been done to set them apart from everyone else. The introduction of Satnam Singh to their faction should’ve been a great addition, and whilst Singh has been made to look strong, he holds zero aura and doesn’t feel like a true threat, which is a failure on AEW’s part, as booking a big man is always the easiest just after they debut.
AEW is a company which produces a lot of variety, although sometimes some of the week-to-week content can run a little dry with certain feuds, with a lot of rivalries being continued simply by post-match attacks and brawls, but this is a level even below that, as the physical interactions haven’t been interesting in the slightest. Ever since Singh’s debut, no risks have been taken with this rivalry, but if it is to feel like a PPV-worthy match, something more needs to be done to drum up some interest and intrigue.