WWE Great Balls of Fire 2017 review: What we learned, takeaways, future projections

WWE Universal Championship Match

Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Samoa Joe

What we learned: We learned a couple of things here. First, we now know that Brock Lesnar is set to defend the WWE Universal Championship at SummerSlam. That’s not really a surprise but that does lead right into the second thing and that’s the fact WWE didn’t completely bury Samoa Joe. There was no way WWE was going to take the title off of Brock Lesnar six weeks before the second-biggest show of the year. The worry was that Samoa Joe was just another contender that Lesnar would run through but that was not the case. Joe looked extremely strong in this match, attacking Lesnar before the match even began and even put him through a table. I was hoping that Joe would get some offense in but I was pleasantly surprised at the amount.

Not only did he get the upper hand before the match, but he also controlled the pace during the bout itself, even nearly choking out the champ with the Coquina Clutch. All in all, Lesnar didn’t get a ton of offense in. Yes, he got all the German suplexes in as he does and won with the F-5 on a nice counter but this was Joe’s match and even in the loss, he looks as strong as ever. Outside of the Goldberg mess, nobody has taken Brock to the limit like Joe did on Sunday night in quite some time. The result was predictable but Samoa Joe wasn’t buried in the loss and I’m good with that.

What’s next: There are so many different ways to book the WWE Universal Championship match at SummerSlam. There’s no way Joe will get a one-on-one rematch and he might not even get into the picture at all. I do want to see this match again but the likelihood of it happening in Brooklyn is very slim. Braun Strowman has obviously worked his way to the top of the contender list but will WWE pull the trigger on that match? Word is that they’re ready to go with Lesnar vs. Reigns but I could see a multi-man match coming. Roman could say that even though he lost his match, he won the war and we get a Triple Threat with Lesnar, Reigns and Strowman. We could also get a Fatal 4-Way with those three and Samoa Joe, who could say that he’s come closer than anyone on the roster to beating The Beast. Could you imagine the brutality of a match with Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns, Braun Strowman and Samoa Joe? Yes, please.

Next: WWE Superstar Power Rankings

What was your favorite match at WWE Great Balls of Fire? Feel free to join in the conversation in the comments section below and be sure to check in with FanSided each and every day for all of your WWE needs. If you’re looking for even more wrestling news and features, head on over to Facebook and like the new Sports Illustrated Wrestling page.