Tag: great balls of fire 2017

WWE Great Balls of Fire fan feedback

Posted on by F4W Staff

Thumbs Up

  • Best Match: Ambulance Match
  • Worst Match: Ambrose vs. Miz

Show started off well with a good cruiserweight match between Neville and Tozawa. Crowd at least is into it. Neville dropping the title on a preshow seems unlikely and who knows who will come around to take it from him. 

Rollins vs. Wyatt was a fine match. Glad to see Wyatt pick up a win here, but will it actually lead to anything or just Rollins getting his win back?

Enzo vs. Big Cass was basically what I expected which is Cass going over and squashing his former friend. Not sure what to do with Enzo now. Manager or cruiserweight seems like the best options.

Tag team Iron Man match was good. Not sure what happened at the end with Cesaro being the legal man or so they said. I’d like to see footage of this since it seemed like the ref lost control. 

Raw Women’s match was also pretty solid except for the count out. I really don’t get the count out rule in this day and age especially when they use this finish so often in title matches that it makes the rules, the ref, and everyone but the champ look stupid. I mean if you are the champ why wouldn’t you just get counted out every single time and be Champion forever.

Ambrose vs. Miz was a weak match. Nothing new here and the wrestling wasn’t anything special. Should the ref allow this many people at ringside? It’s not a lumberjack match. Let’s hope this feud is over.

Strowman vs. Reigns delivered again, although not as good as some of their other matches. Strowman wins and Reigns destroys him after, but was this a double turn? Roman has to be a heel for trying to kill someone right? I sure hope Kurt Angle doesn’t reward an attempted murder with a main event title match at Summer Slam.

Despite the short length the main event was good. I think they could have used a few more minutes, but it came across well. I’d like to see Joe get more main event matches and even a title run. I would have let him kick out of the first F5 at least. 

Overall a decent show good enough for a thumbs up.

– Robb Block

**********

Thumbs Up. 

Enjoyed the show overall, some really cool/clever spots throughout, many of the finishes were clunky but that’s about par for the course with WWE. Commentary isn’t a net-positive but that’s another par for the WWE course. Booker T. uses far too many superlatives too often when selling the matches, and that comes across as disingenuous and hokey. 

Would’ve preferred a more realistic, UWFi-style match out of Joe/Brock if only because fans are so much more educated when it comes to submissions and general grappling due to the massive expanse of MMA and thus, the Joe chokeout spots didn’t resonate as much as they could’ve if they’d have worked it a little bit more like a shoot and sold when Joe would get a hook in etc.

I think it would’ve been cool and different in a positive way if they let Joe’s submissions look a bit more authentic and threatening. By comparison, I felt as though the Whittaker/Romero fight last night had more drama (Joe/Brock clearly had the better build) and even the third round pop Werdum got after he hurt Overeem and went for the takedown, knowing his BJJ credentials “told better stories” and that was without the benefit of being able to lay out spots. Joe/Brock was fun for a “Hoss Fight” but it felt like they left a much more cerebral and realistic match on the table.

  • Best Match: Hardys vs. Cesaro and Sheamus
  • Worst Match:  Enzo vs. Big Cass

– Jeff Parker

**********

Thumbs down

  • Best match: Samoa Joe vs. Brock Lesnar

Liked Banks/Bliss (though the finish was weak, as is the case with most women’s PPV matches) and the main event (though Joe should’ve kicked out of the first F5, and it could’ve gone another ~4 minutes), everything else was uninteresting.

– Tyler Shillman

**********

Overall thumbs in the middle … Probably should be a slight thumbs up, but never gave the show my full attention from beginning to end.

  • Best – Lesnar vs Joe – the way they ended the Reigns match I had hopes that Joe could get a longer rivalry out of this – guess I was in fantasy land. Good while it lasted, but ending was flat as a “smart” Joe would simply have rolled out the ring.
  • Worst – between Rollins and the Ambrose match I probably saw less than a minute combined…just don’t need those same old same old match ups…boring

Ending of Reigns/Strowman was lame, lame, lame – this kind of stuff should be on Raw. Like we are supposed to believe in this crap. Match was good for what is was.

Hope to god that Enzo finds a buddy to team with! Otherwise it’s Santino Marella all over again. Could they do a “loser leave Raw” and have Cass hook back up with Carmella? As I don’t see him panning out as a single long term.

Iron man and women’s match were just there.

There is NO intrigue to anything on raw at the moment. The acts I like, they have killed dead -Bayley/Sasha rivalry, 205, Enzo, Finn etc.

– Peter L

**********

Thumbs Up

  • Best Match: Hardys vs Sheamus/Cesaro
  • Worst Match: Enzo vs Cass

Imagine a WWE PPV where the only clean babyface winner is Heath Slater. Talk about not giving the babyface heat. 

But do they really give the SummerSlam main event to an attempted murderer? Unless they’re going to do a three-way with Roman/Strowman/Brock, there is no explanation short of a suspension for Reigns deliberating doing what he did. I know it’s pro wrestling. But when Strowman tipped over the ambulance with Reigns in it? They had a match. But if Strowman won the match to face the champion at SummerSlam, what’s the point of giving him another match with Reigns before that? Unless this was a double-turn and they’re going to have Lesnar come out on Raw and there’s no finish to the rematch on TV…. 

– Jeff Cohen

**********

Thumbs in middle.

Enjoyed the Iron Man Match, well the last 10 minutes was real good. 

Majority of the rest felt like a good Raw. 

Ambulance Match stuff really took me out of it. It was so stupid and long. Why didn’t someone just drive the ambulance forward? Anyway, really Vince thing to do and he probably has no idea it turned Braun full face. Not to mention the supposed face threw a temper tantrum, stole an ambulance and attempted murder. And Vince wonders why nobody takes to Roman.

Worst Match: Enzo-Cas. Wasn’t designed to be good but there are more effective ways to do a squash match. 

Best Match: Iron Man Match. Main event was fine as the crowd came alive but it was super rushed and the ending was lame. 

– Mike Flynn

WWE Great Balls of Fire live results: Brock Lesnar vs. Samoa Joe

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Preview by Joseph Currier

A legitimate dream match headlines the show as the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas hosts Great Balls of Fire tonight.

Brock Lesnar will defend his Universal Championship against Samoa Joe in that main event. Joe became number one contender when he won a fatal five-way match at Extreme Rules, and he’s consistently been presented as a legitimate challenger to Lesnar since.

We’re looking for your thoughts on this show as well as the UFC 213 show yesterday, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected]

Braun Strowman and Roman Reigns will also face off in an ambulance match, Seth Rollins will clash with Bray Wyatt, and Enzo Amore and Big Cass’ feud will lead to them having a match tonight.

In the other title matches at Great Balls of Fire, Alexa Bliss will defend her Raw Women’s Championship against Sasha Banks, Cesaro & Sheamus will put their tag titles on the line against The Hardys in a 30-minute Iron Man match, Dean Ambrose will challenge for The Miz’s IC title, and Neville and Akira Tozawa will square off for the Cruiserweight title on the pre-show.

Our coverage begins with that kickoff show match before the main card starts at 8 p.m. ET.

**********

WWE CRUISERWEIGHT CHAMPION NEVILLE VS. AKIRA TOZAWA

The crowd heat was more than the usual cruiserweight bout. Tozawa did two topes early, and also hit the senton off the top and Neville rolled out of the ring. The finish saw Neville crotch Tozawa on the top rope and then kick the top rope to do more damage. When Tozawa fell in the ring, Neville pinned him after a spin kick to the gut. Good match.

SETH ROLLINS VS. BRAY WYATT

This was a basic match where Wyatt won after a finger in the eyes and Sister Abigail while the ref was distracted. It was slow paced until a nice comeback by Rollins but this was nowhere close to a usual Rollins PPV match.

Carly Caruso interviewed the Hardys. Matt did a regular promo, but threw in the word “delightful” as a wink to the audience. Jeff talked about being in the first tag team tables match, first tag team ladder match, and the 30 minute tag team IronMan match. There have been 60 minute tag team iron man matches in the past, so I’m not sure how great a talking point that is.

Enzo Amore did a long interview talking about the song “That’s Life” by Frank Sinatra.  He said Cass is 7 feet tall but that’s all he is while Enzo said he was about to become a larger-than-life star.

ENZO AMORE VS. BIG CASS

After all that, this match was a total one-sided squash. The announcers put over Cass like crazy with Booker T pushing before the one-sided slaughter that it would be a one-sided slaughter. Cass got legit heat beating on Enzo but the announcers portrayed this like it was a one-and-done. Cass pressed him overhead and threw him over the top rope to the floor. Enzo came back in to beat the count, but Cass used a running boot for the pin and win.

RAW TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS SHEAMUS & CESARO VS. HARDYS IN A 30-MINUTE IRON MAN MATCH

Sheamus & Cesaro won in a good match. At 29:30, Jeff hit the swanton on Sheamus but as he landed, Cesaro, who had tagged in, pinned Jeff and Cesaro ran away for the last 30 seconds although Jeff hit the twist of fate on Cesaro and got the two count when time ran out.

The announcers were working hard to put it over as a match of the year candiate, but it was nothing close to that. Sheamus pinned Matt in the first fall in 16 seconds. Sheamus pinned Jeff to go up 2-0 with an assisted white noise. Jeff pinned Cesaro with a twist of fate to make it 2-1. Matt was counted out to make it 3-1 after he was rammed into the post. Jeff pinned Cesaro to make it 3-2 with a cradle. Matt pinned Sheamus with a twist of fate to tie it at 3-3 before Sheamus & Cesaro won it 4-3.  Matt was bleeding badly from the right eye in the last few minutes. 

RAW WOMEN’S CHAMPION ALEXA BLISS VS. SASHA BANKS

Bliss took a countout loss on purpose to retain the title, likely a late change. After the match they continued to brawl. Banks knocked her off the announcers table and gave her a Thesz press off the table to the floor, busting open Bliss’ nose. The match was good until the weak finish and they gave people a good spot to make up for it. The match was pretty standard until a great rope break spot when Banks had the bank statement on Bliss and she finally made the ropes.

I-C CHAMPION THE MIZ (w/Maryse) VS. DEAN AMBROSE

Miz retained after Ambrose hit a tope and then flipped Curtis Axel into the ring, leading to Bo Dallas hitting Ambrose with a foreign object and Miz hitting the SCF for the win. Just before the finish, Ambrose hit Dirty Deeds but Maryse put Miz’s foot on the ropes. This was like every Miz vs. Ambrose match. Ambrose’s mouth was busted open so that makes three people with hardway blood so far tonight.

ROMAN REIGNS VS. BRAUN STROWMAN IN AN AMBULANCE MATCH

Strowman won when Reigns went for a spear, missed, and flew into the ambulance. Reigns later came out of the back of the ambulance and destroyed Reigns with a spear and rammed the ambulance door into his bad elbow over and over. He then put Strowman in the ambulance and drove off. He then sped up and rammed the back of the ambulance into a semi-trailer with Strowman trapped in the back.

They showed a fire truck coming and needing the jaws of life to open the ambulance. A match between Heath Slater and Curt Hawkins was hapening in the ring (Slater won), but the match wasn’t shown as they were focusing on the back. They showed Kurt Angle and Jamie Noble watching. They got the door open and Strowman was covered in blood from the elbow attack. He got up on his own and was staggering around. They showed blood all over his face and he walked off limping, refusing medical attention. This came across like a major babyface turn.

WWE UNIVERSAL CHAMPION BROCK LESNAR VS. SAMOA JOE

Lesnar retained with an F-5 in just over 6:00 after powering out of the choke. Joe attacked Lesnar before the match and used a uranage to put him through the table. Lesnar got back in the ring and they started the match. Joe kept getting the choke on and Lesnar kept turning purple.  Lesnar kept breaking the move. The match was like the Goldberg Mania match where it was all big spots one after the other with Lesnar constantly doing German suplexes and Joe getting the choke on.

I’m sure many won’t like the biggest match in months being so short. Still, there’s a lot to talk about. We’ll be back tonight on Wrestling Observer Radio to recap it all.

WWE adds two more title matches to Great Balls of Fire card

Posted on by Joseph Currier

After Enzo Amore vs. Big Cass was announced earlier in the day, WWE rounded out the card for Great Balls of Fire with the addition of two title matches tonight.

Cesaro & Sheamus will defend their tag titles against The Hardys in a 30-minute Iron Man match at the pay-per-view. Kurt Angle announced that in a backstage segment on Raw, with the champions approving of the stipulation. The teams previously went to a draw in a two-out-of-three falls match on an episode of Raw last month due to getting counted out after splitting the first two falls.

It was also confirmed that Dean Ambrose would be challenging for The Miz’s Intercontinental Championship at Sunday’s PPV. Part of the storyline was that Ambrose wanted the match to take place tonight, but Angle made it for Great Balls of Fire after Heath Slater asked for a title shot as well. Slater was given a match against Miz on Raw.

The Miz successfully defended his championship against Slater before laying out Ambrose with the help of his entourage.

The American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas will host Great Balls of Fire on Sunday night. The updated card is:

  • Universal Champion Brock Lesnar defending against Samoa Joe
  • Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman in an ambulance match
  • Raw Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss defending against Sasha Banks
  • Seth Rollins vs. Bray Wyatt
  • Intercontinental Champion The Miz defending against Dean Ambrose
  • Raw Tag Team Champions Cesaro & Sheamus defending against The Hardys in a 30-minute Iron Man match
  • Enzo Amore vs. Big Cass
  • WWE Cruiserweight Champion Neville defending against Akira Tozawa (kickoff show)

Enzo Amore vs. Big Cass set for WWE Great Balls of Fire

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Big Cass betraying Enzo Amore will officially lead to a match between the two at Great Balls of Fire.

It was announced that Cass would be facing Amore at the pay-per-view prior to Raw going on the air tonight. Amore then opened the show with a promo, calling his former tag team partner a “seven-foot catchphrase.” Cass got a chance to respond in a backstage interview until Amore jumped him and they were pulled apart.

Two weeks ago, Cass was revealed as the person responsible for multiple backstage attacks on Amore. There was also a segment last week where Amore wanted to forgive Cass after Cass had apologized to him, but it was all a ruse as Cass then attacked him again.

WWE will round out the card for Great Balls of Fire on Raw later tonight before the PPV takes place at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas on Sunday. The current lineup is:

  • Universal Champion Brock Lesnar defending against Samoa Joe
  • Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman in an ambulance match
  • Raw Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss defending against Sasha Banks
  • Seth Rollins vs. Bray Wyatt
  • WWE Cruiserweight Champion Neville defending against Akira Tozawa
  • Enzo Amore vs. Big Cass

Two more title matches added to WWE Great Balls of Fire card

Posted on by Joseph Currier

WWE continued to build to Great Balls of Fire on Monday night’s episode of Raw.

Two more title matches were confirmed for the pay-per-view, with Sasha Banks challenging Alexa Bliss for the Raw Women’s Championship and Neville putting his Cruiserweight title on the line against Akira Tozawa. As was previously revealed, Brock Lesnar defending his Universal Championship against Samoa Joe will headline the show.

Banks won a gauntlet match in the main event of Raw to determine Bliss’ next challenger. Nia Jax dominated Bayley, Mickie James, Dana Brooke, and Emma before Banks entered last and submitted her with the Banks Statement.

It was Titus O’Neil who revealed that Tozawa would challenge for the Cruiserweight title at the PPV, with him also announcing that their storyline has resulted in Tozawa joining “Titus Worldwide.”

Bray Wyatt indicated that he’d be having a match with Seth Rollins at Great Balls of Fire as well. Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman in an ambulance match is the only other match that has been confirmed as of now. More will become official on next week’s go-home show before the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas hosts the PPV on July 9th.

Ambulance match set for WWE Great Balls of Fire

Posted on by Joseph Currier

While Roman Reigns did end up announcing his SummerSlam plans on Raw tonight, the angle did more to set up his match at Great Balls of Fire.

It will be Reigns vs. Braun Strowman in an ambulance match at Great Balls of Fire. That was set up after Strowman returned on Raw tonight to cost Reigns a match against Samoa Joe.

Reigns opened the show by revealing that his sights are set on the Universal Championship at SummerSlam. He slighted Samoa Joe by referring to him as “that guy they call Joe,” which was the catalyst for the two to have a match later. Strowman returning in an ambulance was shown on the video screen, which distracted Reigns and allowed Joe to win with the Coquina Clutch.

Strowman then laid out Reigns and challenged him to the ambulance match, with it being confirmed as official shortly after.

The appearance was Strowman’s first since undergoing elbow surgery last month. Dave Meltzer had reported then that Strowman was scheduled to be out for six to eight weeks.

The American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas will host Great Balls of Fire on July 9th. Brock Lesnar defending his Universal title against Samoa Joe is the only other match officially announced as of now.