Brock Lesnar vs. Samoa Joe: Preview, Predictions for Universal Champ's Return

Brock Lesnar will seek his pound of flesh from Samoa Joe in the universal champion's first WWE Raw appearance since the night after WrestleMania 33.

This will be no "Lesnar stands menacingly in the ring while Paul Heyman does the talking" appearance. The Beast Incarnate will storm back into the red brand seething, snarling and bloodthirsty.

A memorable collision is on the way, one that will bring about great buzz for the Great Balls of Fire pay-per-view.

At Extreme Rules, five Raw Superstars clashed to decide who would be the next No. 1 contender for the Universal Championship. Lesnar, meanwhile, remained in whatever lair he resides as his challenger emerged. Joe outlasted Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Bray Wyatt and Finn Balor in the Fatal 5-Way bout.

Shortly after leaving Balor lifeless on the canvas, The Destroyer's focus turned to Lesnar.

He told Renee Young and Corey Graves on Raw Talk after the PPV, "I am more than prepared to take myself to that very very deep, dark, violent place to get the job done. I'm just very happy that I have this opportunity to do so." 

On the next edition of Raw, Joe made sure Lesnar noticed him.

First, he claimed that he didn't fear the champion. He talked about wanting to be in Lesnar's position, to take everything away from him.

He then cornered The Beast Incarnate's advocate Heyman and told him the brutal things he would do to him before he did them. Joe clamped his python arms around the smaller man and left him out cold courtesy of the Coquina Clutch.

And nothing draws out Lesnar's protective instincts like going after Heyman. 

The manager talked to his client over the phone after the assault and told him, "I think it's time for you to instill into Samoa Joe that fear he doesn't have of Brock Lesnar." He urged him to appear on the next Raw.

That is set to come to pass.

The Raw preview on WWE.com stated that Lesnar "will respond to his No. 1 contender's sadistic attack this Monday on Raw." WWE will be looking to do a number of things with this coming confrontation. It wants to hype the July 9 PPV title bout between these two animals. And it will want to make Joe a believable threat to the monstrous Lesnar.

Joe has only been on the main roster since January. His list of victims is short. His momentum is only beginning to truly swell.

So Lesnar won't be batting The Samoan Submission Machine around come Monday night. Joe will be presented as his equal, as a titan taking on a titan, a fellow kaiju. 

Expect a pull-apart brawl much like the one Undertaker and Lesnar had last summer.

That will allow The Beast Incarnate to seek revenge without hampering Joe's rise. That will amp up the animosity between the rivals. And it will entice the audience to tune into Great Balls of Fire in a few weeks.

Lesnar will not satiate his hunger for vengeance. Joe is likely to be the one standing tall as Raw goes off the air.

Should the universal titleholder conquer Joe Monday night, Great Balls of Fire will have less appeal. There will no room to rise toward the climax.

Instead, this will be Joe's time as he shakes up the WWE food chain by downing Lesnar, making his case to be the newest alpha. It won't be until July that Lesnar makes Joe fully pay.