Samoa Joe Makes WWE Main-Roster Debut on Raw, Attacks Seth Rollins

Former NXT champion Samoa Joe finally reached the pinnacle of sports entertainment Monday, as the 37-year-old veteran made his WWE main-roster debut on Raw.

After Triple H called out Seth Rollins for his recent antics, Joe emerged and went on a vicious assault of Rollins, per WWE:

Joe eventually got Rollins in a Coquina Clutch, per WWE:

Bleacher Report's Kevin Berge and Ryan Dilbert provided their thoughts on the decision to pair Joe with Triple H:

Following his title loss to Shinsuke Nakamura at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn II, Joe immediately became a candidate to receive a call-up to the main roster.

He recaptured the NXT title at NXT TakeOver: Toronto. However, his second reign was short-lived, as he dropped it back to Nakamura at a live event in Osaka, Japan.

After losing his rematch in a steel cage match in Australia, rumors began to heat up even more regarding a potential call-up, per Cageside Seats' Randall Ortman.

Joe has plied his craft all over the world since debuting in 1999, including successful stints with both ROH and TNA. In addition to winning world heavyweight titles for both promotions, he made a name for himself in Japan for Pro Wrestling Noah.

The Samoan Submission Specialist had essentially done it all within the wrestling business upon leaving TNA in 2015, except for competing in WWE.

He took a massive step toward accomplishing that by signing with WWE's NXT brand and debuting at NXT TakeOver: Unstoppable in May 2015, when he prevented Kevin Owens from further injuring Sami Zayn.

The Orange County, California, native immediately became one of the top stars on the NXT roster, and while the fans were already behind him due to his impressive resume, he was able to turn them against him by attacking Finn Balor and adopting a heel persona.

Samoa Joe took on a more vicious and calculating character from that point forward, which harkened back to the dominance he displayed earlier in his career during lengthy undefeated streaks for ROH and TNA.

He also seemed to hit his stride on the mic as the main foil to top faces such as Balor, Zayn and Nakamura, which may well have helped him pick up some momentum with regard to a main-roster call-up.

Even when Joe signed with NXT, there was some doubt about whether he would ever make it to the actual WWE brand due to his age and the fact that he had become so synonymous with TNA over the years.

That perception started to change when AJ Styles made his debut in the 2016 Royal Rumble match. Styles is a bit older than Joe and in the same boat when it comes to the TNA factor.

With the path clear for Joe to finally make the leap, he now has an opportunity to prove he has what it takes to make an impact in the most popular and influential professional wrestling company in the world.

Joe could be a huge addition to the main roster because of his versatility. He is capable of excelling as a heel or face, he can help create compelling feuds at a main event level or as part of the midcard and his in-ring work is as good as it gets for a man his size (6'2", 282 lbs).

There is also a dire need for depth and quality talent on the main roster due to the brand split, and Joe already has enough credibility to instantly enter the main event scene after grappling with the likes of Balor, Zayn and Nakamura in NXT.

While he may never reach the world title level that he was able to achieve during his previous stops, Joe is a complete talent who figures to work wonders in terms of providing WWE quality depth and consistent performances.

For more wrestling talk, listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot topics or catch the latest episode in the player below (some language NSFW).

Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter.