Great Balls of Fire Rate Great Balls of Fire 2017

[Jacob Fox]

Rate this unfortunately named PPV and let us know what you thought by leaving a comment.

Discussion Question: Did it live up to being called Great Balls of Fire? :emoji_grin:

Spoiler: Results

Pre Show: Cruiserweight Championship: Champion Neville vs Akira Tazawa

Neville retained the cruiserweight championship by pin fall.

Main Show

Seth Rollins vs Bray Wyatt

Bray Wyatt won by pin fall.

Cass vs Enzo

Cass defeated Enzo by pin fall

Raw Tag Team Championship Iron Man Match: Champions Cesaro and Sheamus vs the Hardy Boyz

Cesaro and Sheamus retained their tag team championship by a score of 4 to 3.

Raw Women's Championship: Champion Alexa Bliss vs Sasha Banks

Sasha Banks defeated Alexa Bliss by count out

WWE Intercontinental Championship Match: Champ Miz vs Dean Ambrose

Miz retained the Intercontinental Championship by pin fall.

Ambulance Match: Roman Reigns vs Braun Strowman

Roman Reigns missed a spear and soared right into the ambulance, giving Strowman the victory

After the match, Roman put Braun in the ambulance and rammed the back of the ambulance into a truck. The fireman had to come with the jaws of life to get Strowman out. Strowman refused help and got to his feet and stumbled away.

Curt Hawkins vs Heath Slater

Heath Slater won.

WWE Universal Championship Match: Champion Samoa Joe vs Brock Lesnar

Brock Lesnar retained by pin fall

 

[The Gipper]

Slater vs Hawkins was MOTN

 

[Jacob Fox]

I am giving this an 8 mainly based off the last hour of the show. Although most of the earlier matches were solid and I have to admit the last 10 minutes of the Iron Man match were great, the last hour of the show elevated the show as a whole. The match between Braun and Roman was great. I loved when Roman soared into the ambulance. Roman's temper tantrum was good as well. I'm going to go out on a limb and say this was an official double turn. Roman has to be considered the heel now and with Braun refusing help and walking out on his own, he has to be considered a face now. That was the best storytelling WWE has done in a VERY long time. Very good.

Joe lost but looked REALLY strong. He dominated Lesnar and Lesnar only won by getting lucky at the end. I was happy to see Joe do well.

 

[Grievous 3D]

Okay...let's have a look...

~ Nice to see Dana & Emma on the kickoff show...I wonder what Emma wanted to
talk about? I wonder if it had anything to do with them sharing a hotel room and bed?

~ I actually watched the Neville/Tozawa match and it was pretty solid...shame the
ending was incredibly scrappy. I'm glad Neville retained.

~ And Bray defeated Seth...WTF?! Wow...I guess the WWE doesn't really care about
Seth anymore...which is a shame because I think he should be the face of the company...
not that other guy Vince loves.

~ Cass destoyed Enzo...Good!

~ Cesaro & Sheamus retained...Nice!

~ And Sasha defeats Alexa...via countout. I'm not going to get upset and start
venting...all I'm going to say is I hope this leads to Round 2 at SummerSlam
where Sasha finally gets the title back with a big pay per view win.

Also at 11:40 the match seemed a tad short...

Also this still shot...No comment...

And this was great to hear...I actually believe Sasha can't stand Alexa...which was a rumor
going around the traps at one time.



~ The Miz retained...Good. Now let's get Ambrose away from the Miz and let
them both start a new feud.

~ [HASHTAG]#IgnoreReigns[/HASHTAG]

~ Heath Slater vs. Curt Hawkins...Why?

~ And Lesnar defeats Joe clean in about 6 and half minutes...what a shock.

And I'm done.

 

[The Gipper]

~ Heath Slater vs. Curtis Axel...Why?

It wasn't Axel, it was Hawkins XD

 

[Grievous 3D]

It wasn't Axel, it was Hawkins XD

There isn't any difference really...

Well there is...Thanks for pointing out my mistake.

 

[Gman003]

I only caught the last hour or so. Not too sure lol I turned on laptop to initially watch the end of a raw from 98 when I saw that GBOF was still on so I joined in while the ambulance match was underway. Man there was some nice rasslin going on. I mean with roman getting dummied all over the place it was looking good. Then braun went smashing through the led board, crazy. Then the way the match finished was actually kind of great. Roman didn't look too weak, just made a costly mistake. But then the fun began. He tore out of there pretty quick, then sat with a sadistic look on his face before reversing the ambulance into a parked semi trailer. God DAMN! Now that is how to book a show! Congrats WWE creative, you did it. You really did it. And then making it seem as if that wasn't planned by having an 'impromptu' match was even better. Time filler for the live audience. Then braun walking away bloodied up a bit was a great touch.
I almost felt like I was watching something from the 90s there.

Them I sat through the main event which was decent. Had to figure the outcome of that before it started but Joe looked like a million bucks.

Overall I was pleased with what I watched and some highlights I saw on talking raw or whatever afterwards. Never watched one before lol. I'll give it an 8. Seems fitting.

 

[Zardnaar]

I gave it a 9, one of the best PPV's I have seen since I got the network. 5 matches I enjoyed and no bad ones (the worst maybe 2.5 or 3/5). A bit predictable except I thought Reigns would win.

I liked it a lot. Matches I liked.

Preshow Neville As Tozawa
Hardies vs Sheamus and Cesaro
Cass vs Enzo (in ring not so much, storyline yeah)

and the Brock/Joe, Reigns,/Braun match I liked all 4 looked good.

Double turn with Regns and Braun? Maks me want to watch RAW for once (in a months time)

Wanted a broken turn. If they broke the hardies, done a Reigns turn, and had Goldust/R-Truth in their I think I would have rated it a 9.5 or 10.

 

[Rosie]

Wait....

Spoiler

Did they ACTUALLY turn Roman heel?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

 

[SWL]

the way they ended that Braun/Reigns thing really came across like a double turn with the commentators going like "wtf Roman?" and admiring Braun for not giving a shit. Wouldn't be shocked if it isn't tho, especially because Braun would be a weird babyface

 

[Aurtle The Turtle]

Great Balls of Fire 2017 Rundown

Positives:

• Enzo Amore is a great promo and the company is actually giving him mic time. Even if they did bury him 10 seconds later.
• The entire Braun Strowman vs Roman Reigns Post-Match angle was one of the most interesting and unique angles WWE has ever produced and really did come across as a double turn. Too bad that nothing will come from it because RAW doesn't mean shit anymore.
• The initial burst of the Samoa Joe vs Brock Lesnar match

Negatives (wewlad there is a lot):

• 5 out of 9 matches on this card had a dusty finish. Fuck you WWE.
• There was not a single match that was anything other than above average on this card. Strowman/Reigns was just a walk and brawl with like two spots in it that weren't even that well done so don't come at me saying that was a great match. It was an angle not a match.
• Coquina Clutch > Suplex > Suplex > Coquina Clutch > Suplex > Suplex > Suplex > Coquina Clutch > F5. 6 minutes 25 seconds. That'll be 9.99 for those watching online, $50 on PPV and $30 for those in attendance please. The fact that people actually pay for this shit is baffling. See you in 3 months Brock.
  
• WWE ignoring Finn Balor completely.
• An all heel coming out on top show? WWE likes to send it's fans going home unhappy.
• Cutting away from a match finish to run a pre-taped angle, I know it was Slater vs Hawkins but that is incredibly disrespectful to those performers either way.
• Half of these are going to be matches on the next PPV because WWE can't create actual feuds so just have fuck finishes until you've had 20 matches between ya and we'll just end it. No point to this ppv.
  
• Once again, not a single great or even really good match on the entire card. 3 hours of mediocrity.

Match of the Night: Cesaro & Sheamus vs The Hardy Boyz - 6/10
Performance of the Night: Kurt Angle in the pre-tape
Final Rating: 2/10

I'm laughing at the fact that some of you are giving this show 8 out 10s because it had one good spot in the main and a nice pre-tape that was probably filmed during RAW lmao.

WWE....

 

[Jacob Fox]

I'm laughing at the fact that some of you are giving this show 8 out 10s because it had one good spot in the main and a nice pre-tape that was probably filmed during RAW lmao.

If this is a reference to my response then you have created a strawman. I gave it an 8 based off how strong I thought the last hour was, but felt it was a solid PPV altogether with the last hour elevating it further to an 8.

 

[Aurtle The Turtle]

If this is a reference to my response then you have created a strawman. I gave it an 8 based off how strong I thought the last hour was, but felt it was a solid PPV altogether with the last hour elevating it further to an 8.

I'd argue that a "solid ppv" wouldn't be an 8/10 tbh. 8/10 is a great show, 9/10 is incredible, 10/10 is godly etc. A "solid show" imo would be like a 6/10. Anyways I just thought that the show was incredibly lackluster without a single spark of uniqueness within it until the final hour and then I think people really overrated the two mains.

 

[Grievous 3D]

Negatives (wewlad there is a lot):

• 5 out of 9 matches on this card had a dusty finish. Fuck you WWE.
• There was not a single match that was anything other than above average on this card. Strowman/Reigns was just a walk and brawl with like two spots in it that weren't even that well done so don't come at me saying that was a great match. It was an angle not a match.
• Coquina Clutch > Suplex > Suplex > Coquina Clutch > Suplex > Suplex > Suplex > Coquina Clutch > F5. 6 minutes 25 seconds. That'll be 9.99 for those watching online, $50 on PPV and $30 for those in attendance please. The fact that people actually pay for this shit is baffling. See you in 3 months Brock.
  
• WWE ignoring Finn Balor completely.
• An all heel coming out on top show? WWE likes to send it's fans going home unhappy.
• Cutting away from a match finish to run a pre-taped angle, I know it was Slater vs Hawkins but that is incredibly disrespectful to those performers either way.
• Half of these are going to be matches on the next PPV because WWE can't create actual feuds so just have fuck finishes until you've had 20 matches between ya and we'll just end it.
• Once again, not a single great or even really good match on the entire card. 3 hours of mediocrity.

Here is some food for thought...No titles changed hands...No surprise returns...No big shocks...

If the WWE was an ongoing comic series...you could literally skip this issue and
miss nothing important.

The fact Lesnar/Joe went 6 and half minutes is a joke. All that amazing build up, all those fans
buying into Joe as the real deal, all those fans (me included) hoping Joe would actually get the
win and shock the entire WWE Universe...and...we get 6 & Half minutes and another lazy Lesnar
win.

The fact Finn Balor wasn't on the card is complete bullshit...and Balor...along with Gallows &
Anderson (remember them?) should all ask for a release and head back to NJPW.

The Dusty Finishes are fucking killing me. Can't we have those on RAW & SmackDown and
have the important finishes on pay per view?

The entire WWE product is blurring together into one continuous, never ending stream of
nothingness.

At least Jinder winning the title was a shock...at least Goldberg squashing Lesnar was a shock...

If you don't want to create stories and develop your characters...fine...but at least give us something
to be excited about.

You want to create "moments" then create them...don't just shovel dusty finishes and repetitive
crap at us.

Examples:
1). Why not have Miz and his Entourage attack Ambrose during the kickoff show and then have
the Miz come out during the actual pay per view and gloat saying he doesn't have an opponent
for tonight...and then the lights cut out and we hear this...



The Demon King crawls to the ring as a replacement for Ambrose, kicks the shit out of the Miz
and his buddies and wins the IC title. Then you set up a triple threat at SummerSlam and give
Balor something to do instead of sitting backstage playing with his Lego.

It would be a shocking moment that no one would have expected.

2). Why not have Nia Jax come down to ringside during the Women's title match and attack
Sasha Banks setting up Alexa for the victory...only to have Summer Rae show up and help
Sasha actually win the belt. Again...another "moment" that would help make the pay per view
actually worth watching and it would hopefully freshen up the once again stale RAW women's
division.

The WWE has the performers and production values to make there pay per views special...
but instead...because of over-saturation...a RAW pay per view may as well just be another
episode of RAW.

I guess the WWE is on autopilot and they don't really have to try anymore.

 

[Aurtle The Turtle]

If the WWE was an ongoing comic series...you could literally skip this issue and
miss nothing important.

Literally the best summary of this show. It was filler. That shouldn't have to ever be said about a PPV.