Every Fatal 5-Way Participant Shines at Extreme Rules 2017

The Fatal 5-Way match at WWE Extreme Rules 2017 featured Raw's top Superstars, and while only one man could win, all five were elevated in a spectacular main event. 

Samoa Joe will go on to Great Balls of Fire, in what could be a curse in disguise, to take on Brock Lesnar in a potential squash match. 

The story of this bout, however, was not Samoa Joe's monumental win but rather the hard work from the top stars of a beleaguered roster that has seen historically low ratings for the past several weeks, per the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t Raj Giri of Wrestling Inc). 

The Fatal 5-Way main event thrived on subplots, which added intrigue to a match that could have easily become convoluted. Whether it was the budding Samoa Joe and Bray Wyatt alliance, the all-to-familiar-yet-still-entertaining rivalry between frenemies Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns or Finn Balor taking his aggression to the next level, this match held fans' attention from both a storyline and in-ring standpoint. 

In the climactic moments, Samoa Joe submitted Balor, who was on the verge of pinning Reigns before valiantly passing out to the Coquina Clutch.

After a masterful performance from all involved, nobody was damaged by this result. Reigns was his usual dominant self. Rollins' array of stunts confirmed he's all the way back to 100 percent. Balor was robbed of a surefire victory before suffering a gutsy loss. And Bray Wyatt just may have a new BFF down the road in Samoa Joe, who is now the No. 1 Contender for the Universal Championship. 

This is the type of matchup that could give Raw all the momentum it needs to recover from one of the worst ratings stretches in its illustrious history. WWE will not have to worry about the NBA encroaching on its viewership for at least a week, and on Monday night, it will have a chance to build on a strong main event in addition to an intriguing Universal Championship match.

Credit: WWE.com

The next NBA Finals game scheduled for a Monday is Game 5 on June 12, which may not even be necessary in the event of a sweep. With the Golden State Warriors 14-0 in the playoffs and coming off their second blowout victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers, that's a real possibility. 

Alfred Konuwa is a Featured Columnist and on-air host for Bleacher Report and Forbes. Like him on Facebook.