text: At Extreme Rules in June 2017, Joe defeated Finn Bàlor, Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, and Bray Wyatt in an Extreme Rules match to become the number one contender to the WWE Universal Championship. At WWE Great Balls of Fire in July 2017, Joe unsuccessfully challenged Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship. On the July 17 episode of Raw, Joe faced Reigns to determine the next number one contender for the Universal Championship; the match ended in a no contest after Braun Strowman interfered and attacked both men. At SummerSlam in August 2017, Joe, Reigns, and Strowman all challenged Lesnar for the Universal Championship in a fatal four-way match, with Lesnar pinning Reigns to retain his title. At a house show later that month, Joe suffered a knee injury.
  Joe returned from injury on the October 30, 2017 episode of Raw, defeating Apollo Crews. At Survivor Series in November 2017, Joe teamed with Finn Bálor, Braun Strowman, Triple H and Kurt Angle (as "Team Raw") to defeat Bobby Roode, John Cena, Randy Orton, Shane McMahon, and Shinsuke Nakamura (as "Team SmackDown") in a Survivor Series match. He went on to feud with The Shield, costing Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins a Raw Tag Team Championship match against Cesaro and Sheamus and unsuccessfully challenging Roman Reigns for the WWE Intercontinental Championship. In January 2018, Joe suffered a tear to the plantar fascia in his right foot during a match with Titus O'Neil.