Sometimes, it is just way too obvious for WWE. 

A glimpse of this layup sort of booking happened on the SmackDown after WrestleMania when Braun Strowman unexpectedly showed up and got in a scuffle with Samoa Joe, the United States champ who spent his 'Mania weekend crushing Rey Mysterio in 60 seconds. 

And Strowman certainly needs help from a guy like Joe, because his character is on life support. 

At one point in time, Strowman looked like he had a rocket strapped to his back. He was launching to the moon, serving as the big bad for the company and even coming out of encounters with Roman Reigns looking good. Sprinkle in some comical fun with him flipping vehicles and pulling down sets and it seemed a matter of time until he was holding a top title. 

Except Strowman has been relegated to joker status in a few prominent situations now. He had the weird tag team one-off with the kid and later dropped the titles. This past WrestleMania, he had the silly Saturday Night Live involvement on what was effectively a pre-show afterthought—and he didn't even get any major outside-of-the-company exposure in return.  

Strowman hasn't just been passed over. That has happened plenty in recent years, even after Reigns left for personal reasons, with WWE just slapping the Universal title back on Brock Lesnar.

Other than the pointless win to close the show in Saudi Arabia in April 2018, Strowman hasn't been given the shine of someone otherwise booked the way he has—not to mention his sheer size and athleticism combo so few boast. 

In other words, Strowman is slowly flirting with becoming the next Bray Wyatt, or perhaps the Big Show. He's an afterthought, and when it comes time to make the big matches, he's not getting the big spots.

But Joe is something else entirely. 

Joe is a seasoned veteran with experience in multiple companies and an immense command of a character everyone knows, and he is the perfect foil for Strowman. 

Just look at the intensity of this exchange: 

Joe just brings it out of people. He cuts some of the best promos in the company, and even while losing, he is about as intimidating as it gets. 

After losing to Lesnar last year, Joe went right back at him the next night and got a major crowd reaction, as well as a reaction from Lesnar himself: 

By the way, that match against Lesnar was superb, and Joe came out of it looking like a true threat to take him down. Even speaking in hindsight despite Seth Rollins' great run lately, Joe taking down Lesnar would have been just as worthwhile. 

WWE is already hinting at fans this feud will pair juggernauts by showing Strowman almost going to sleep after Joe got creative and hit his submission by first climbing the turnbuckle.

It's this creativity and believability as an opponent Strowman needs first and foremost. But Joe's promo ability and the sheer intensity he brings out of his opponents on a nightly basis is just as important, if not more so. 

But WWE has to not ruin it. The company known for making last-minute decisions got a whole lot right at WrestleMania by having the good guys win the big title matches, just as fans wanted. Yet the obvious decision hasn't always come to fruition. 

With the superstar shakeup looming, there is always a chance this hint at a feud gets cast aside after bigger roster and story changes. For Strowman's sake, that can't happen. 

Wrapped up in here, though only in a small subtext, is the United States title. It hasn't been a big deal often lately and probably wouldn't be in this instance, but fighting for any sort of title is better than bouncing around as a comedy act without direction. 

If Strowman is lucky, Tuesday wasn't one of those weird one-off storylines leading to nowhere, but it could be once the rosters get reshuffled. The crowd was into it. Both wrestlers clearly were. Fans probably didn't know they wanted this feud until they saw it. 

Displaced as a big bad by Drew McIntyre and Bobby Lashley and without a real direction after the shoving aside of his character again, Tuesday was a glimpse of what Joe can provide to help get Strowman back to relevancy.