WWE Great Balls of Fire 2017 Review

WWE Great Balls of Fire 2017
July 9, 2017
Dallas, Texas

The first and only Great Balls of Fire event saw Samoa Joe get the opportunity of a lifetime as he challenged Brock Lesnar for his coveted Universal Championship. Also, Roman Reigns looks to slay Braun Strowman in an Ambulance Match!

Match 1: Bray Wyatt vs. Seth Rollins
Solid match choice to kick off the show as two top guys for the Raw brand look to start the show off on a hot start... no pun intended. Pretty good match here between the two as they shared the offense against each other pretty evenly throughout. You get your usual array of cool moves from the two in a stalemate before Seth Rollins let his emotions get the best of him. Rollins kept punching Bray Wyatt before getting his eyes poked and walking into a Sister Abigail to seal his his fate. Interesting call to have Wyatt go over Rollins here. Despite that, pretty standard match for these two here that underwhelmed just a bit. 
Winner: Bray Wyatt
Rating: **3/4

Match 2: Enzo Amore vs. Big Cass
One of my favorite storylines of 2017 was actually the breakup of Enzo Amore and Big Cass. The emotion felt real and Enzo delivered some awesome work on the mic as usual. Before their match here, Enzo delivered yet another impassioned promo before having to fight his former brother. Despite the drive and attitude, Cass tossed Enzo around like a doll and made it look easy. Enzo did a phenomenal job in selling the attack as a big boot from Cass sealed the deal for Enzo. A glorified squash match, would have been nicer to see Enzo actually get some offense in after delivering that awesome promo.
Winner: Big Cass
Rating: 1/2*

Match 3: WWE Raw Tag Team Championship - 30-Minute Iron Man Match - Cesaro & Sheamus (c) vs. The Hardy Boyz
The Hardy Boyz look to continue their magic since returning to the WWE by beating Cesaro & Sheamus in a big match here at Great Balls of Fire. Still can't get over how dumb that name is. Regardless, this was a treat to watch and the fans were eating up every minute of it from the start. The Hardy Boyz get themselves into a predicament early on as they fall behind by two pins agaainst Cesaro & Sheamus. However, Jeff & Matt Hardy fight and claw their way back to tie things up and from there, the match really just went into another level. The nearfalls were believable and had me on the edge of my damn seat. Jeff Hardy hit a Swanton Bomb on Sheamus nearing the end of the match and looked to score both the pin and win for his team before Cesaro comes in out of nowhere and pins Jeff! Jeff chases Cesaro around the ring before pushing him back in and nailing a Twist of Fate! It's too little, too late. Jeff is not able to score the pin before the final buzzer rings. Impressive match from all four veterans in the ring. This really shows you how good The Hardy Boyz are as even in 2017, they can still pull off amazing matches like this.
Winners: Cesaro & Sheamus
Rating: ****1/4

Match 4: WWE Raw Women's Championship - Alexa Bliss (c) vs. Sasha Banks
Alexa Bliss tries to further her reign as the top woman on the Raw brand against the experienced and talented Sasha Banks. Despite all the crap the division gives Bliss, there's no doubt that she can hold her own against the very best and she showed just that here. She is able to show Banks throughout the match her how her cunning abilities gave her an advantage until Banks was able to turn the storm back against Bliss. The crowd was on fire for this one and got even more fired up when Banks nearly submitted Bliss with her Banks Statement submission. However, Bliss is able to escape and get herself counted out to retain her title as Banks technically wins the contest. Frustrated, Banks takes the fight to Bliss afterwards and jumps off the announcers table to take out Bliss. Solid match here between two of the brightest women on the Raw brand.
Winner: Sasha Banks (via countout)
Rating: ***1/4

Match 5: WWE Intercontinental Championship - The Miz (c) vs. Dean Ambrose
With The Miz having both Maryse and his Miztourage at ringside, Dean Ambrose has his hands full at all ends of the spectrum if he wants to be the Intercontinental Champion. More than anything, this was just really a handicap for Ambrose as he was constantly taking out both Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel throughout the match. Solid action from the two here with Ambrose nursing one of his knees throughout and having trouble in putting The Miz out of action because of it. Ambrose looks to finally have things sealed with a Dirty Deeds until Maryse places Miz's foot on the bottom rope on the count. Later on, Dallas hits Ambrose from behind which gives Miz an opening to hit a Skull Crushing Finale to seal the win. Miz was hot at this point and it was a shame they didn't continue that heat into a world championship feud. The reactions he garnered here were the loudest of his career.
Winner: The Miz
Rating: ***

Match 6: Ambulance Match - Braun Strowman vs. Roman Reigns
For whatever reason, these two have some serious chemistry. The crowd reactions they get every time they face off against each other is for real. Every match and every chance they get, they literally just beat the living daylights out of each other... and I'm here for all of it. Roman Reigns tried to work on the surgically repaired shoulder of Braun Strowman throughout the match but never really got much out of it. Strowman was an animal on a terror at this point and not even steel chair shots were affecting him. Strowman was freaking gold here. They took the fight to the stage where the mayhem continued with Reigns tossing Strowman through the LED board on the stage and Strowman tossed Reigns off the stage against he ambulance. Reigns looked to end the match by delivering a Spear to Strowman into the ambulance before Strowman was able to move out of the way and let Reigns toss himself into the back of the ambulance for Strowman to shut the doors on him. Afterwards, Reigns Spears Strowman and tosses him back into the ambulance. Reigns then takes the ambulance backstage where he drives it into a truck trailer. Kurt Angle comes out and looks on in disbelief, pretty funny sight of him acting shocked. Very reminiscent of the Parking Lot Brawl that JBL and John Cena had years ago. Lots of carnage, lots of ridiculousness and most importantly, lots of fun. I thoroughly enjoyed this match and if you didn't, then chances are you take things too seriously. Wrestling is supposed to be fun and this is a perfect example of how much fun it can be.  
Winner: Braun Strowman
Rating: ****1/4

Match 7: Curt Hawkins vs. Heath Slater
While this match is going on, we also get a side video of paramedics trying to get Braun Strowman out of the ambulance. Pretty odd for the commentators to basically completely ignore the action in the ring while they put their attention to Strowman. I guess it's their way of not letting the crowd get too bored from just watching the screen. Heath Slater beats Curt Hawkins and they don't even show the finish or really even talk about it. The focus is Strowman getting out of the ambulance and refusing to receive medical attention. Odd.

Winner: Heath Slater
Rating: n/a

Match 8: WWE Universal Championship - Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Samoa Joe
Absolutely loved the hype for this match, Brock Lesnar actually looked motivated throughout the feud for this one. Apparently, Lesnar loved working with Samoa Joe so much that he even requested to work with him again. Joe brought the fire and intensity to Lesnar without any intimidation or hesitation. Before the bell, Joe attacked Lesnar and drove him through one of the announcers tables. From there... the fight was on. Joe gave Lesnar all he could give him and nearly had him with a Coquina Clutch until Lesnar was able to hit an F5 to seal the tough win. Exactly what this needed to be and exactly the type of match that works best for Lesnar. Not too long and not too short but filled with tons of action throughout the entire thing that had myself itching for more. Joe took the loss but definitely comes out of this match and feud looking like a million dollars for putting Lesnar to the limit.

Winner: Brock Lesnar
Rating: ***1/4

Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
This was a pleasant surprise. Three matches really stood out for me here; the Raw Tag Team Championship match, the Ambulance Match and the Universal Championship match. The show never once felt like it dragged on and they filled the three hours of time nicely. Do yourselves a favor and go watch these matches!

Rating: 8/10