WWE Great Balls of Fire 2017: Full Match Card Predictions After Extreme Rules

WWE Great Balls of Fire 2017 will showcase the shifts in Raw's title pictures that comprised Extreme Rules.

Sunday's pay-per-view saw The Miz and Cesaro and Sheamus walk out of Baltimore with the Intercontinental and Raw Tag Team Championships, respectively. Alexa Bliss and Neville, meanwhile, trounced their challengers in decisive fashion.

The first edition of Great Balls of Fire is now set to see these champions face new rivals July 9 in Dallas.

A black-clad powerhouse will go after The Miz's crown. Neville's sidekick will grow greedy for gold.

The one bout that is locked up is Samoa Joe vs. Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship. The Destroyer earned this major opportunity by winning a Fatal 5-Way match at Extreme Rules.

What other bouts will make up the Great Balls of Fire card? Extreme Rules' action and ongoing stories on Raw foreshadow what's to come.

Neville vs. TJP (Cruiserweight Championship)

At Extreme Rules, Neville ended his trilogy of matches with Austin Aries just the way he did the first and second one—as the victor.

The King of Cruiserweights took Aries' best shots before clamping on Rings of Saturn to force the challenger to tap out. There was an added decisiveness to this win thanks to its submission finish.

That likely spells the end for Neville vs. Aries.

The champ now needs a fresh rival. And he may not have to look far to find one. His current lackey, TJP, is poised to step up to Neville.

Their alliance was built around Neville promising TJP a future title shot. The minion has been loyal and taken down Neville's enemies for him. That won't last, however. 

By the time Great Balls of Fire rolls around, these two should be at each other's throats.

Neville has already taken down much of the rest of the roster. And the rising Akira Tozawa taking on Neville is something WWE would be better off saving for SummerSlam. For now, it will be TJP's turn to try to dethrone the king.

R-Truth vs. Goldust

The brewing feud between Goldust and R-Truth didn't make the Extreme Rules card.

The men who once formed The Golden Truth split up too close to the PPV for WWE to properly set up a bout between them. That won't be an issue for Great Balls of Fire.

The company has five weeks to allow the bad blood between Goldust and R-Truth to grow. There's room for ample vignettes, brawls and trash-talk sessions to allow this story to reach a proper climax.

This may not have sounded like a PPV-worthy match a few weeks back, but Goldust's return to his Attitude Era character has been intriguing. And the early stages of this rivalry have clicked. Great Balls of Fire is set to welcome a midcard bout that will exceed expectations.

The Miz vs. Roman Reigns (Intercontinental Championship)

The Intercontinental Championship match certainly didn't fit the Extreme Rules theme, but fans of The Miz have to be happy with the result regardless.

The A-Lister is IC champ again after outsmarting and overwhelming Dean Ambrose on Sunday. The Miz has now held the title seven times.

It likely won't be Ambrose who tears that gold from him this time.

Their feud may be over. It's been going since they were both on SmackDown last year. It didn't feel fresh when it got transferred to Raw. WWE is bound to move on.

Roman Reigns, meanwhile, is in need of an enemy and a direction.

After losing the Fatal 5-Way match at Extreme Rules, he has to watch Samoa Joe go after the Universal Championship. WWE isn't going to let Reigns sit idly by while a PPV unfolds, however. The Big Dog can instead go after the IC title until charging back into the Universal Championship picture.

Reigns is best suited to face someone who can carry the verbal load of a feud. The Miz is one of the best at just that. And as one of Raw's best heels, The A-Lister is among WWE's top options to get Reigns over as a babyface.

Sheamus and Cesaro vs. The Hardy Boyz vs. The Revival (Tag Team Championship)

The ending of Sheamus and Cesaro's win over The Hardy Boyz at Extreme Rules pointed to this tale being far from over.

Matt and Jeff Hardy were a half a second behind the challengers in the race to escape the ring. A result that close often begets a rematch. Plus, WWE often leans on the "rematch clause in the contract" trope.

This rivalry, though, is poised to welcome another pair of rivals.

The Revival is on its way back. Dash Wilder's jaw injury slowed down the former NXT champs. But when the bruiser is healed, he's likely to find himself in the title hunt alongside Scott Dawson.

A three-way feud would jazz up the top of the tag team scene, helping to introduce The Revival along the way.

Cesaro and Sheamus' smashmouth style would mesh perfectly with The Revival's offense. And the added team could help mask that The Hardys have lost a step.

Enzo Amore vs. Big Cass

Enzo Amore didn't compete at Extreme Rules. He was too busy recovering from the latest blindside backstage attack.

Someone has been clobbering the loudmouth from behind. The reveal of the mystery who clobbered him will determine where he's headed next.

Should it be his own tag team partner Big Cass who clocked him, a battle of allies is on its way.

The early signs point to this being an inside job. Announcer Corey Graves hinted that he knew Cass was responsible. Cass' angry denial sounded like overcompensation. 

If that's true, a David-vs.-Goliath battle between The Realest Guys in the Room is on its way.

Alexa Bliss vs. Sasha Banks (Raw Women's Championship)

Bliss took down Bayley in the most dominating performance of the night. She throttled Bayley with a kendo stick to retain the women's title.

That emphatic, decisive ending felt like Bayley's last shot at the gold for a while.

Sasha Banks, meanwhile, picked up some momentum on the PPV. She and Rich Swann took down Alicia Fox and Noam Dar in mixed tag action. That allowed her to emerge from that short rivalry as the winner.

And with few babyface options to send after Bliss, The Boss' turn is likely next.

Nia Jax is a possibility as a contender before long as Bliss promised her a title shot if they became allies. That story may take a slow-burn approach, though.

Besides, the PPV may already have three friends-turned-foes on tap in Amore vs. Cass, Neville vs. Perkins and R-Truth vs. Goldust.

Finn Balor vs. Bray Wyatt

Two men who made their mark on Extreme Rules only to taste defeat are poised to soon face each other.

Bray Wyatt was a destructive force during Sunday's Fatal 5-Way match. Finn Balor bowled over the competition and nearly has Reigns beat at the end.

Wyatt and Balor's interactions during the match sparked a feud that had been teased previously.

Each Superstar clocked the other with a steel chair. They leaped at each other as the bout opened. There was an added level of animosity between them.

Little has come of their previous encounters, but that is set to change now that Balor's not chasing down Lesnar and Wyatt's long done tangling with Randy Orton.

Great Balls of Fire will mark the first of several PPV bouts between them.