WWE ‘Great Balls of Fire’ preview and predictions

Goodness, gracious, Great Balls of Fire! Say what you want about the silly title, we’re right there with you. That said, tonight’s show out of Dallas is stacked with some great match ups to help us prepare for the build to SummerSlam next month in Brooklyn. Check out my predictions for the show below and follow us @Wrestling Desk for all of the latest WWE commentary, breaking news and smart remarks. 

Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Samoa Joe (WWE Universal Championship)

This will be Brock Lesnar’s first Universal Championship defense since defeating Goldberg for belt back in April. While many are not a fan of his current schedule, or lack of, the former UFC heavyweight champ continues to bring that big fight feel when he does compete and this time around it’s no different. 

Joe has been fantastic in the build up for this match. So much so that he may have even won over WWE officials in the process forcing them to potentially extend this program. While I don’t think that will be the case due to Braun still being the hotter opponent for Brock right now heading into Summerslam, the 2nd biggest WWE event of the year, it’s been fun while it lasted and it will only help Joe’s stock in the near future. I like Lesnar to take this one with Joe looking extremely strong in the process. Expect this one to be a 10 minute version of Brock vs. Goldberg II. 

Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman (Ambulance Match)

Strowman versus Lesnar was the original plan for this PPV but Strowman shattered his elbow forcing him to be shelved for 6 months. 2 months later and ‘The Monster Among Men’ is back. Except instead of taking on Brock right out of the gate, he’ll finish off what has been an incredible feud with Reigns in an Ambulance Match. This one is going to be great folks. Put your Reigns hate aside for a minute and enjoy it. Reigns’ has been fantastic over the past year in PPV matches and Strowman is an absolute star on the rise for the RAW brand. Strowman should go over here with Reigns still looking extremely strong in the process. Don’t be surprised if we even get a tease for “The Beast” versus “The Monster” for Summerslam before going off the air. 

Alexa Bliss (c) vs. Sasha Banks (RAW Women’s Championship)

The RAW women’s roster has been the weaker of the two brands since the Charlotte Flair and Sasha Banks feud came to an end. Alexa Bliss was brought over to give this group a shot in the arm but unfortunately all we’ve gotten out of that so far has been the burial of Bayley and one of the worst segments in the history of WWE programming. Hopefully, Sasha Banks can prove her worth and get everything back on track. Banks gets the victory here and we get an angry Bliss chasing “The Boss” into Summerslam. There’s no reason to not have this program run for at least a couple more shows. These two are your strongest players right now in the division. Let’s just hope the creative team can find a way to make another interesting feud for the women outside of a title feud. You wouldn’t think it’d be that hard to have two women’s feuds at once on one brand, right? 

Cesaro & Sheamus (c) vs. The Hardy Boyz (RAW Tag Team Championship, 30-minute Iron Man Match)

This is the blow off for the only feud right now in the RAW tag team division (it’s actually been booked worst than the women’s division) and it’s finally being blown off which means The Revival should be back in time for Summerslam or a duo is coming up from NXT. Having said that, these two teams have continued to bring it when it comes to big matches and this should be no different. The cage match at Extreme Rules was fantastic but even that felt long at 15 minutes. In the end, expect The Hardy Boyz to emerge victorious with Sheamus and Cesaro headed to splitsville. The big question here is whether or not ‘Boring’ Matt Hardy will transform back into ‘Broken’ Matt Hardy. While it’s not expected to happen anytime soon, never say never. 

Enzo Amore vs. Big Cass

This breakup was right up there with Owens-Jericho in terms of heartbreak and agony. Enzo has shown us some more layers to his character with his mic work in the lead up to what should be an absolute squash match with Cass swinging the hammer. It’ll be interesting to see what’s next for both of these men moving forward. While many are worried about what’s in store for Enzo, he’s actually perfect for WWE when it comes to their love for incorporating comedy and silliness into their weekly programming. It’ll be up to Cass to prove that he can go in the ring with the elite of the elite minus his hype man. 

Seth Rollins vs. Bray Wyatt

Bray Wyatt has to be that one talent on the roster that continues to provide the most head scratching, mind numbing moments. This has been going on for years now and I feel like it’s not because of him. As a fan of the guy, I was really hoping they’d get it right beginning with his title reign but it’s been even worse since then. He’s nothing more than a body for Rollins to get a victory over here in what has been another underwhelming build to a nothing mid card match.

The Miz (c) vs. Dean Ambrose  (Intercontinental Championship)

With the Miztourage and Maryse by his side, I have a tough time seeing The Miz dropping the IC title anytime soon. I’d go as far as to say The Miz has been the best thing to happen to the IC title over the past year and that it’d be nice to see him given a new feud (outside of Ambrose and Ziggler for once) after this show. This is another example of lazy booking moving these guys from Smackdown to RAW and still not finding them a new program. 

Neville (c) vs. Tozawa (Cruiserweight Championship)

Neville retains and Titus entertains. This division needs Ricochet. Or something.