From the WWE Rumor Mill: Two top injured Superstars advertised to return
What's the story?
WWE are now advertising Samoa Joe and Jason Jordan for their Ireland and UK tour in May. While Joe had been cleared to return to in-ring action, there was a lot of ambiguity surrounding Jordan's comeback until WWE's listings started doing the rounds.
In case you didn't know...
The Samoan Submission Machine injured his right foot in a match against Rhyno on the January 8th, 2018 episode of Raw. He's been cleared to return to in-ring action and is expected to join the WrestleMania festivities.
However, Jason Jordan would have to sit this year's Mania out owing to a neck injury that required surgery. Initially rumored to be out for a year, Jordan's quick recuperation is a welcome sign for the WWE in the post-WrestleMania season.
The heart of the matter
WWE has been advertising the line-ups for their round of shows scheduled to take place in May in UK and Ireland. Alongside top names such as Roman Reigns, AJ Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura, WWE has also confirmed the appearances of Joe and Jordan.
Below are the listings, courtesy of RingSideNews:
Roman Reigns vs Samoa Joe
Intercontinental Championship Triple Threat Match
Seth Rollins vs Finn Balor vs The Miz w/ The Miztourage
Braun Strowman vs Elias
RAW Tag Team Championship Match
Titus Worldwide w/ Dana Brooke vs The Bar
RAW Women’s Championship Fatal Five Way Match
Bayley vs Sasha Banks vs Mandy vs Sonya Deville vs Alexa Bliss
WWE United Kingdom Championship Match
Pete Dunne vs Jordan Devlin
Asuka vs Nia Jax
Gallows, Anderson, and Goldust vs The Revival and Curt Hawkins
Matt Hardy, Bray Wyatt Jason, Jordan, Paige and the returning Alica Fox have also been announced for the shows.
The Smackdown roster will also have their own house shows that would be headlined by a Fatal-5 way WWE Championship match featuring AJ Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura, Dolph Ziggler, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn.
It's interesting to note that listings show Bobby Roode vs Jinder Mahal for the US title which is odd considering Orton will defend the title against the duo at WrestleMania. Whether it's a spoiler or a botch is anyone's guess to make.
Additionally, Aleister Black will be appearing as part of the blue entourage in matches against fellow NXT star Alexander Wolfe.
What's next?
Live event cards are subject to change and the ones for the tour in May will be drastically altered by the outcomes of the matches at Mania.
With a host of title changes set to happen in New Orleans on April 8th, the fans in UK and Ireland will get an upgrade of existing offerings from WWE.
Author's take
RAW needs the likes of Joe and Jordan back in the important phase after WrestleMania 34. While Joe's availability comes as no surprise, the relatively premature return of Jordan from a neck injury is very good news for WWE officials.
With Big Cass also cleared to wrestle again, Raw will get some much-needed reinforcements after the grandest spectacle of them all is in the books.