Great Balls of Fire 2017: The Silly Name Hid One of Raw's Best Nights

Neville and Akira Tozawa give the Kickoff show a competitive match built around speed, timing, and a champion who always seems one step ahead. Tozawa’s bursts of offense create several clean momentum swings, and the Dallas crowd responds whenever he accelerates. Neville’s control is deliberate without becoming dull, while the near falls establish that Tozawa can threaten the champion even if the result never feels truly uncertain. The finish is weaker than the body of the match, with Neville exploiting Tozawa’s positioning and ending things after a kick. It is solid cruiserweight wrestling with enough pace to reward a full watch, but the ending prevents it from feeling like a major championship performance.

Bray Wyatt and Seth Rollins open the pay-per-view with capable work that never develops the urgency expected from two former world champions. Rollins brings the cleaner athletic sequences, while Wyatt slows the pace and tries to turn the match into a fight on his terms. There are enough counters and momentum changes to keep the audience involved, but the bout lacks memorable near falls or a convincing sense of escalation. Wyatt’s eye attack creates the opening for Sister Abigail and gives him a needed victory. The result is useful for Wyatt, yet the match feels like a competent television main event transplanted onto a pay-per-view rather than a feud reaching a meaningful peak.

Big Cass versus Enzo Amore is designed as a one-sided breakup match, and it succeeds only if domination is the entire objective. Enzo’s pre-match promo gives the segment more personality than the wrestling itself, because once the bell rings he is almost completely overwhelmed. Cass uses the size difference exactly as expected, cutting off every attempt at resistance and stretching a squash into more than five minutes. The big boot ends the match decisively and establishes Cass as the stronger half of the former team. There is logical character work here, but virtually no competitive tension, no meaningful comeback, and no reason to revisit the bout outside the context of their split.

Cesaro, Sheamus, Matt Hardy, and Jeff Hardy turn the thirty-minute format into the strongest wrestling match on the show. The champions score early and force the Hardys to chase, giving the entire match a clear mathematical story instead of simply filling time between falls. Each point advances that story, from the early 2–0 hole to the Hardys’ late comeback and the 3–3 tie. Cesaro stealing the decisive fall after Jeff’s Swanton creates a smart final twist, and the last seconds produce genuine urgency as Jeff races for an equalizer. The bout is long without feeling empty, well structured without feeling mechanical, and one of the better tag-team matches on WWE’s 2017 main-roster schedule.

Sasha Banks and Alexa Bliss wrestle a sharper match than the countout finish suggests, with both women leaning into the rivalry’s personal edge. Banks pushes the pace and targets openings aggressively, while Bliss mixes character work with increasingly confident offense. The Bank Statement gives the challenger a believable path to the title, and the match is physical enough to feel distinct from a routine television defense. Bliss choosing the countout protects the championship and keeps the feud alive, but it also denies the audience a decisive pay-per-view ending. The post-match fight, capped by Banks launching herself from the announce table, restores some energy and makes the overall segment stronger than the official result.

The Miz and Dean Ambrose are reliable opponents by this point, which is both the strength and weakness of another championship meeting. They know how to pace the match, build Ambrose’s comeback, and use the Miztourage to create layers around the champion’s control. The crowd reacts to the familiar signature sequences, but there is little here that feels fresh after months of interaction between the two. Maryse, Curtis Axel, and Bo Dallas all affect the closing stretch before Miz lands the Skull Crushing Finale. The finish is consistent with Miz’s character and protects the championship, yet the interference-heavy layout makes the match feel like another chapter rather than a definitive pay-per-view payoff.

Braun Strowman and Roman Reigns turn the Ambulance Match into the event’s best combination of violence, character, and spectacle. The lack of pinfalls changes the rhythm, but both men use the environment well and make every attempt to reach the ambulance feel increasingly desperate. Strowman winning by sidestepping the Spear protects Reigns without making the finish feel contrived, and it gives Braun another major victory in their feud. The post-match angle is even more memorable, with Reigns trapping Strowman inside the ambulance and crashing it into a production truck. The stunt is excessive in the way wrestling sometimes needs to be, and Strowman emerging later on his feet strengthens his monster presentation.

Brock Lesnar and Samoa Joe deliver a compact heavyweight fight that wastes almost no motion. Joe attacking before the bell and driving Lesnar through the announce table immediately establishes that the challenger is not intimidated by the champion. Once the match starts, Joe repeatedly threatens with the Coquina Clutch while Lesnar answers with German suplexes and raw explosiveness. The short runtime prevents the bout from reaching a classic level, but it also creates urgency because every exchange feels potentially decisive. Lesnar escaping the final choke and winning with one F-5 protects his finish while leaving Joe dangerous in defeat. It is a very good main event that feels more like a fierce sprint than a complete epic.