If one were to judge a book by its cover, a PPV sounding name such as Great Balls of Fire would appear to be a trifle show. In spite of its cheesy name, though, Great Balls of Fire is shaping up to be the most must-see PPV of this year by dint of concocting tempestuous conflicts.

Ever since the roster split, Raw’s Creative Team has been the butt of many jokes. From the stagnant character developments, the repetitious storytelling, the over usage of ways to advance an angle (see: contract signings, tag team matches, champion getting pinned on Raw), dubious booking decisions, and one insipid show after the other, Raw’s product has been prosaic at best.

However, when most least expected it, a month or so before SummerSlam, Raw’s Creative Team is stringing together a loaded card by virtue of investing time into feuds and making them very deep-rooted.

On the top of card, The Beast Incarnate Brock Lesnar will defend the Universal Championship against The Samoan Submission Machine Samoa Joe. The former Triple H hitman seemed to be one of the least possible winners of the number-one contender’s match at Extreme Rules. The company seemed driven to make Finn Balor the next one to try to tame the beast, but in a dubious turn of events, Samoa Joe was victorious.





By hook or by crook, WWE made this out-of-nowhere Samoa Joe push so good that it’s hard upset by the fact that Finn Balor did not win in spite of being the only one pushed hard beforehand. It is also worth noting that Balor is pretty well-established as a main eventer; ergo, unlike Samoa Joe, he is not in need of facing Brock Lesnar to gain main event worthy credibility. In simpler terms, Samoa Joe benefits more from than match than Balor would have.





Even though Samoa Joe, in all probability, will be on the losing end of the outcome, it does not mean he cannot gain something from it. If booked well, Samoa Joe can become a prominent figure by going toe-to-toe with someone who usually makes light work of his opponents.

Nevertheless, due to the way WWE has booked this feud thus far, it seems as though they are hinting this will be a vigorous and barbaric melee.

Samoa Joe is trying to evince that he is stouthearted and unafraid of Brock Lesnar, to a point where he even attacked Paul Heyman, the one guy in WWE that Lesnar actually cares about. Samoa Joe isn’t exactly showing Lesnar any sportsmanship either, doing anything in his power to weaken Lesnar before their showdown.





Moreover, being wrestling’s Niccolò Machiavelli, Paul Heyman knows how to sell a match by talking people into the building and has it down pat. Heyman abides by a formula that WWE could learn a thing or two by. Not to say Heyman’s cannot be sophisticated and complex, but the beauty in his basic formula is its simplicity. Heyman does everything in his power to elevate Brock Lesnar’s future opponent instead of putting him down. This not only benefits his opponent, but it also benefits Brock Lesnar. It is basically Heyman telling everyone, “this guy my client is going to face would be world beater if not for Brock Lesnar.”





Owning to the work put in my all three men in addition with the booking, this is the most highly anticipated WWE main event this year.

A little further down the card is another very personal feud and that is Braun Strowman vs. Roman Reigns. Granted, it may have been an unwise decision to make this upcoming grudge match an Ambulance match, a hokey match that rarely is good, instead of just letting them vent out their frustrations on each other by slugging it out, but we must wait and see how the match is booked.

If booked well, this could be an outstanding match. Two brutes, who hate each other, slugging it out can be the most entertaining thing to watch in wrestling. It is never scientific nor pretty, but it surely can be a spectacle.

Surely, though, Braun Strowman is not the best suited opponent for Roman Reigns if WWE wants Reigns to win over the crowd. In spite of being a heel, Strowman is one of the most well liked persons on Raw. It is a mixture of how no-nonsense he is and how unsympathetic WWE’s babyfaces are. If the roles were reversed in this feud, it would be nigh on flawless with Strowman seeking revenge on Reigns for putting him out of action and costing him a title shot.

In many people’s eyes, though, Strowman is the babyface and Reigns is the heel, though sometimes it is confusing what WWE is trying to make Reigns, whether they are shoehorning him as a white meat babyface or a shades of gray tweener.





While Strowman was rumored to be Brock Lesnar’s opponent, Roman Reigns declared himself the number 1 contender for SummerSlam. Whether Strowman has a problem with this or not remains to be seen, although there was another rumor that came out saying WWE might pull the trigger on Reigns now rather than waiting until WrestleMania 34.

Unfortunately, this feud’s purpose will be to build Reigns up and boost his curriculum vitae, though that does not take away from the fact that this feud has been brewing and building for a while, reaching its potential climax at a very high point.

Even if it is not on the card yet, it is still worth talking about Enzo vs. Cass. The Cass revelation was a good twist of events, and it will be interesting to see how Cass does in this new role. He is a little shaky on the microphone and sometimes doesn’t know how to portray his dominance well, but with a little work here and a little work there, I believe Cass has the potential to be a top-tier main eventer.





The tease last night on Monday Night Raw was well done and fooled/confused a ton of people until Cass stuck him with that clothesline. One could argue that Enzo’s promo was a little too mushy and sentimental for a friendship breakup, though I believe it really established how much of a contemptible person Cass is for turning on a guy who cares about him that much. For someone who, as Cass put it, can be very annoying, Enzo cut one of his best promos of his career. His delivery was on point and his emotion was palpable. After this feud, I don’t know where Enzo will go, but when he loses his annoying shtick, he is a good promo.

You may not be a huge fan of the Miz vs. Ambrose feud, but anything that gives Miz promo time, and provides a story for a midcard title feud, is a good thing. A bad story is better than no story, as a bad story can at least flesh out the wrestlers’ characters more so. Not to say this story has been bad or anything, either. Surely, it is not lighting the world on fire, but it works. Ambrose is getting under the Miz’s skin, tormenting him, and sometimes it backfires on Ambrose because Miz comes up with ideas to get back at Ambrose.