WWE Great Balls of Fire Kickoff
1. WWE Cruiserweight Championship - Neville (c) vs. Akira Tozawa - Along with Rich Swann vs. TJP from last Tuesday's 205 Live, this was probably the best CW match since Neville vs. Aries I from the WrestleMania kickoff show. Neville and Tozawa worked at a good pace in front of an energetic crowd and, again like Swann vs. TJP, is more along the lines of what most of us were expecting/hoping when watching the CWC this time last year. The ending and overall performance of this match is an indicator that Tozawa is in line for another shot, hopefully on the main card. The ending might seem a bit anti-climactic but I thought it worked as it did a good job of selling how rough Neville kicking the top rope while Tozawa was crotched on it was supposed to be; realistically, if you take anything that's supposed to be even a glancing nutshot, it pretty much takes the fight out of you. ***1/4
WWE Great Balls of Fire Main Card
1. Seth Rollins vs. Bray Wyatt - I wasn't really sure what to expect going into this match but it ultimately turned out to be a lot better than I was expecting. There was some good, physical back & forth stuff while they worked at a good pace with few rest holds. Rollins' athleticism complimented Bray's brute force in a good showcase for both of them. I was surprised, albeit pleasantly, that Wyatt won as he seems to always come up short in ppv matches. If this program is to continue, I hope they jack up the intensity over the course of the coming month. Wyatt scored the win with Sister Abigail's Kiss after a poke to the eye. The loss didn't hurt Rollins and it gave Bray something he's needed for a the past few months. ***1/4
2. Enzo Amore vs. Big Cass - Not really too much to say about this. Enzo's pre-match promo, while probably a bit longer than necessary, showed more of his charismatic mic work but the match itself was a general squash. If the plan is to keep this feud going but to keep having Cass squash Enzo, then I'd rather they just moved both guys on. If the purpose was to make Enzo look like a scrappy underdog, then it failed because Cass simply didn't deliver nearly the sort of beating necessary in order to really make Enzo look sympathetic. This is 100% speculation on my part but after watching everything go down last night, I'm wondering if they simply cut this match short. *1/4
3. WWE Raw Tag Team Championship - Sheamus & Cesaro (c) vs. The Hardy Boyz - I thought this was a really fun match that made intelligent use of the ironman concept. The tactics employed by the heels was smart, old school tag team wrestling that helped keep the fans engaged throughout. The first 10 minutes might've seemed a bit slow, but it was also logical when you consider that Sheamus & Cesaro's strategy of getting a fall almost immediately after the bell rang would be to keep the faces grounded and vulnerable. The last 10-12 minutes or so were especially good as the match had built up very nicely while telling a great story as now the babyfaces were gaining momentum and they needed to up the tempo if they hoped to close the gap on Cesaro & Sheamus. When the ending came, or rather just before it, I distinctly heard a slapping sound when Sheamus was pushed back towards his corner, we didn't see the tag on camera but I quickly assumed that it was either Cesaro making the blind tag and/or the ref seeing it and slapping his own hand to acknowledge that he'd seen it. Jeff nailed Sheamus with the Swanton Bomb, only Sheamus wasn't legal, and Cesaro rolled up him to put the heels up 4 falls to 3 with about 25 seconds remaining. Cesaro then running to get away from Jeff Hardy, to run down precious seconds on the clock, also was a great bit of storytelling and even though Hardy managed to hit the Twist of Fate, time ran out really just as the ref delivered a 1 count. Personally, I think they need to end the feud as I think they've done as much as they can. ****1/4
4. WWE Raw Women's Championship - Alexa Bliss (c) vs. Sasha Banks - The ladies had a tough job following the 30 minute ironman tag team match, but they did a good job in what I think was Alexa Bliss' best match on the main roster. It was a nice physical outing with a good sense of urgency. The ending of Alexa taking a count out loss was initially disappointing but I enjoyed it when I saw she and Sasha brawling up to the commentary table. Sasha's leap onto Alexa was a nice spot and makes me feel that their next bout, which will probably be at SummerSlam, will be a Falls Count Anywhere match. I don't know exactly why I think that, it just seems like it's a means of keeping Alexa from doing something to get counted out or disqualified at what's generally the 2nd biggest show of the year. ***
5. WWE Intercontinental Championship - The Miz (c) vs. Dean Ambrose - This bout wasn't nearly as good as their last one and left me feeling disappointed. Their last bout had a sense of urgency and energy about it whereas this one mostly felt like they were generally just going through the motions. When you consider that they feuded for a good while on SmackDown before moving to Raw, I think it's time to end the program. Miz scored the win via the Skull Crushing Finale and he has his flunkies out there helping him, so I think it's time for new challenges. **
6. Ambulance Match - Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman - This was a really fun, chaotic brawl that had me genuinely wondering who would win and left me highly excited in seeing the fallout of this match on tonight's Raw. Even though the post match happenings with the ambulance might not technically count as part of the official match, I'm counting it because it's such a big buzz generator and was so over the top fun, like a lot of what's gone on with the Reigns vs. Strowman feud. Both of them worked hard and delivered a physical outing that had some big moments, such as Reigns putting Strowman through the LED screens up on stage. The ending seemed a bit weak, however, as it looked like a way to give Strowman a victory without "beating" Reigns. Reigns has Strowman lined up and is ready to spear him into the ambulance only for Strowman to sidestep him, Reigns goes flying into the back of the ambulance and Strowman slams the door about the 17 minute mark to officially win. As Strowman celebrates, Reigns emerges from the back of the ambulance looking murderous and assaults Strowman before locking him in the back of the ambulance. Reigns pulls the driver out and takes off before stopping backstage, puts it in reverse, floors it and crashes the ambulance into an equipment trailer. As Reigns stumbled from the scene, everyone's screaming for help backstage while an "impromptu" match between Heath Slater and Curt Hawkins is happening, though we didn't see hardly any of it as the cameras were backstage when the fire department and paramedics used the jaws of life to open the ambulance to retrieve Strowman. Strowman did a helluva job selling the "injuries" he sustained in the ambulance, he had blood all over his face and elbow, was walking with a bad limp and was incoherently rambling as he shuffled off. My guess is that Strowman's "injuries" will keep him on the shelf so that he misses SummerSlam, thereby giving Roman Reigns the shot at Lesnar's Universal Championship. If that's the case and Reigns wins, then he automatically has credible opponents in Strowman and Joe as each of them hold a couple of victories over him. ****1/4
7. WWE Universal Championship - Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Samoa Joe - While I think they could've done a bit more with this, they ultimately accomplished what they wanted and needed to in spades. The match itself officially lasted about 7 minutes, though the pre-match attack by Joe ultimately stretched things out to probably around 10 minutes or so of action overall. Joe's assault on Lesnar and Lesnar selling it in a similar manner to what we've seen most of Lesnar's opponents do, which is selling each move he gives as though you've just been hit by a rhino on PCP, was a nice touch as it further enforced the notion that Brock Lesnar was in danger of losing. Joe did go to Suplex City but he continued to give as good as he got and commentators did a great job in selling the effects of the Coquina Clutch and how, due to Lesnar's struggles, prevented Joe from locking it in 100%. I will say this about Lesnar: nobody in wrestling is able to make you believe that they're ready to pass out and drop dead from a submission better than Lesnar. The guy turns a half dozen different shades of purple before your eyes and it actually does look kind of scary when you get down to it. In the end, Lesnar manages to slip out of the final Clutch attempt and hits Joe with an F5 for the win. The commentators also did a great job in selling Lesnar "surviving" against Joe in that it wasn't some cakewalk and Joe's intense glare as Lesnar was making his way up the ramp only enforced the notion that I'd like to see these two go at it again. As I said, all in all, the whole thing was only about 10 minutes but it was an insanely good 10 minutes. ****
Final Thoughts - Silly name aside, Great Balls of Fire was a damn good show and, in my view, the best of the Raw brand ppvs. The low points of the show were Enzo vs Cass and Miz vs. Ambrose, but the rest of the show delivered. To be honest, I think they should've done the whole Enzo vs. Cass bit on the kickoff show and put the Cruiserweight Championship on the main card. Aside from Enzo vs. Cass and the IC title match, every bout on the card was, in my view, between 3.25 and 4.25 stars. Rollins and Wyatt delivered a surprisingly good opener, the 30 minute tag title ironman match made terrific use of the concept, Alexa vs. Sasha was Alexa's best showing on the main roster to date, Reigns vs. Strowman was great chaos and Lesnar vs. Joe delivered in a way that made Joe look like a badass.
Grade: A-
