WWE Great Balls of Fire 2017: Feuds Most Deserving of Midcard Spot

Monday night provided plenty of additions to the WWE Great Balls of Fire 2017 pay-per-view as well as some insight into where WWE plans to go for the remainder of the Jully 9 card. 

Here's a look at the current lineup as of Tuesday morning:

• Brock Lesnar vs. Samoa Joe for the WWE Universal Championship
• Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman in an Ambulance Match
• Alexa Bliss vs. Sasha Banks for the Raw Women's Championship
• Seth Rollins vs. Bray Wyatt
• Neville vs. Akira Tozawa for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship

With five matches booked, there is plenty of room for WWE to slot a few midcard matches into the show to advance a number of Superstars in preparation for SummerSlam on August 20. 

Let's take a look at how the midcard for WWE Great Balls of Fire should round out the card.

Cesaro and Sheamus vs. The Hardy Boyz for the WWE Tag Team Titles

While it hasn't been officially booked yet, Great Balls of Fire should mark the final showdown for the two top teams in the division. 

These teams have been battling for the tag team championships since WrestleMania 33 and have provided some very good matches in the process. But the back-and-forth needs to finally come to an end. 

Since this feud began, the rest of the tag team division has stalled. WWE's focus has been entirely on these two squads, relegating other teams to cameos, six-man matches geared to advance singles competitors or completely off the show. 

It's time for a new team to join the fray for the title belts, and the only way for that to happen is to wrap up this feud. 

Goldust vs. R-Truth

The mini-feud that R-Truth and Goldust have conjured out of their experiment as a tag team has been enjoyable enough, giving two low-rung midcard performers a chance to gain some of the spotlight on Monday nights.

It's also a feud that doesn't have a long shelf life and needs to be wrapped up quickly. 

Monday's beatdown by Goldust was a perfect appetizer for what is sure to be a kickoff show match at Great Balls of Fire. The viciousness on display by Goldust is a welcome surprise, a far cry from the happy-go-lucky comedy act that never fit the Goldust character.

Returning to his roots as The Bizarre One could mark a renaissance and should be a small step toward regaining that former glory.

While his vignettes have been disjointed and (frankly) unwatchable, in the ring R-Truth has been very good as the jaded partner looking for vengeance. These two men can put on a good wrestling match if given both the opportunity and the time.

Should it be on the main card? No, especially since WWE would likely ask them to fill space or cut their program short to make up for any timing issues in the production. But a kickoff show match, where they can just go out and focus on putting on a good match, would be good for both men. 

Cedric Alexander vs. TJ Perkins

Since returning from injury, Cedric Alexander has been on the periphery of the cruiserweight championship scene. But that hasn't stopped him from impressing in each of his matches. 

Now it's time for WWE to start building Alexander into the next cruiserweight title contender, a spot he seemed to be ascending toward before suffering a knee injury in March (h/t Pro Wrestling Sheet).

While much of his time on television has been devoted to continuing the Alicia Fox-Noam Dar feud, Alexander has also faced The Brian Kendrick and Ariya Daivari on 205 Live and Main Event, respectively (h/t ProFightDB.com). 

Another match against Perkins, a legitimate challenger who's been around the title scene himself, at the Great Balls of Fire pay-per-view could catapult Alexander to a title shot heading into SummerSlam. It certainly would put his name near the top of the list and help him stand out among the second rung of cruiserweights. 

Whatever WWE plans for Alexander, a move away from Dar and Fox and closer to challenging Neville would be welcome. 

Finn Balor vs. Elias Samson

Much like the rest of the WWE Universe, Balor doesn't like Samson's music. This much is clear. 

Their interactions over the last two weeks signal a forthcoming bout at Great Balls of Fire, which appears nothing more than a way to showcase two Superstars that have no meaningful direction at the moment. 

That in itself is fine, as long as this mini-feud is contained to the upcoming pay-per-view and doesn't extend far past it.

Balor is too big a name and too popular a Superstar to be placed in a long-term program with Samson at the moment. That's more an indictment on WWE and its handling of Samson, who has been bandied about since an impressive in-ring debut against Dean Ambrose in May. 

What could have been an interesting three-way dynamic between The Drifter, Ambrose and The Miz instead became a footnote in the continuing Intercontinental Championship feud. Now he faces off against one of Raw's biggest Superstars and its first universal champion in what's sure to be a steppingstone moment for The Demon King. 

WWE needs to wrap up this storyline quickly but without making Samson look foolish in the process. 

Big Cass vs. Enzo Amore

WWE has done an excellent job portraying Big Cass as the ultimate heel since he turned on Enzo Amore two weeks ago. It needs to continue that trend at Great Balls of Fire. 

On paper, a Big Cass-Enzo Amore match is a lopsided affair. It should be booked as such, too, if only to generate more sympathy for the Smacktalker Skywalker. WWE should follow the script its developmental program did for Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn at NXT TakeOver: Rival. 

Letting Cass unleash his frustration on Amore to the point of a stoppage would generate tremendous heat on the emerging heel. Amore's shtick might have grown tiresome on some WWE fans, but he continues to be a popular figure among most casual fans. Seeing him continue to get up only to be knocked back down would be a powerful story. 

Let Raw general manager Kurt Angle stop the match. Having Big Show come to the aid of a fallen Amore would give Cass his next logical opponent. It would cement Cass as one of Raw's top heels moving forward while putting a definitive end to the once-beloved Realest Guys in the Room Era.