Brock Lesnar vs. Samoa Joe WWE Great Balls of Fire 2017 Match Preview and Pick

A dream match of sorts will unfold Sunday night at WWE Great Balls of Fire as Samoa Joe challenges Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship in the summer's most hotly anticipated match.

Well over a decade since each rose to prominence, they take to the squared circle for a titanic clash that will either confirm The Beast Incarnate's status as the baddest man in professional wrestling or serve as the coronation of Joe as the toughest son of a bitch the industry has to offer.

A hard-hitting, physical war that will settle the differences between the most dominant badasses of their generation, the contest headlines a show with the potential to be one of the year's best.

The Unstoppable Force vs. The Immovable Object

In 2003, Lesnar was at the height of his first run with WWE. The Next Big Thing, as he was anointed by the marketing machine, was the face of SmackDown and the star tapped to carry Vince McMahon's company for the next 20 years.

And he was damn capable.

A super athlete who mixed unprecedented speed and agility for an athlete of his size with uncanny power and a smashmouth mat game, he was the complete package between the ropes. He was a hulking phenom but a graceful wrestler with the ability to obliterate his opponent if need be or steal the show with a classic when the opportunity arose.

Lesnar was the guy in the most prominent wrestling promotion in the world, but there was another wrestler stealing headlines and winning championships without the backing of a publicity juggernaut.

His name was Samoa Joe, and he would take an independent promotion targeting a niche, passionate audience and turn it into one of the most respected indy companies in the sport.

He won the Ring of Honor Championship in May 2003 and proceeded to hold it for 19 months, losing it to Austin Aries. During that time, he established himself as one of the hottest acts in professional wrestling.

He would continue that trend into TNA, in which he went a year without losing. The first man to beat him there? WWE Hall of Fame inductee and Raw general manager Kurt Angle.

Joe became the unstoppable force Lesnar should have been. He was the badass without the tired storyline tropes and questionable booking the former NCAA amateur wrestling champion had to suffer through.

The Superstars never quite made it into the same place at the same time, though, and fans were forever robbed of the opportunity to witness a battle between the most physical, unforgiving, uncontrollable forces in their field.

Background

At Extreme Rules on June 4, Samoa Joe defeated Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, Bray Wyatt and Finn Balor in a Fatal 5-Way match to become the No. 1 contender to the Universal Championship. Seeking to make an impact in short order, Joe confronted the advocate to the champion, Paul Heyman, and proceeded to send a message to Lesnar by choking the former ECW owner unconscious in the center of the ring.

When Heyman returned to television, flanked by his Beast Incarnate, Joe made it clear he will not stoop to beating up a manager, only to hide from his charge. No, The Destroyer walked right up to the universal champion and instigated a brawl that could be stopped only by the Raw roster holding the gladiators back.

Immensely confident in his abilities, Joe caught Lesnar by surprise, attacking him from behind on the June 26 episode of Raw and trapping him in the Coquina Clutch. The Beast Incarnate's face turned several shades of red, with oxygen escaping him. In that moment, he realized the danger that will oppose him Sunday night.

On Monday, Lesnar sat in a dark room with Heyman by his side and arrogantly egged Joe on, daring him to come find him. On the surface was a cool, cocky confidence. Behind his eyes, though, was a man who knew Joe will provide him with one of the toughest challenges of his career come Great Balls of Fire.

Again, bodies kept the two from coming to blows, and while Lesnar may have acted big and bad, there is a strong likelihood that the regularly unflappable champion was glad for it.

Prediction

This will be the hardest hitting, stiffest, most physically brutal Universal Championship match in the brief history of that title.

Bar none.

Joe and Lesnar work styles that leave opponents red with welts and visible scarring. They are unforgiving and merciless in their assaults. In an industry often dubbed "fake" by critics, nothing either of those Superstars does between the ropes lacks realness.

When Lesnar uses his superhuman strength to lift Joe off the ground and slam him to the mat with a suplex, it hurts. When Joe answers with a series of open-hand thrusts and bone-crushing kicks, it hurts. There will be pain Sunday night.

There may even be blood.

Joe will test Lesnar's resolve with a series of submissions. Maybe even the Coquina Clutch.

In the end, though, it will be Lesnar who gets the last laugh and scores the hardest-fought victory of his career.

It is the outcome that makes sense given the direction WWE clearly wants to take, with both Braun Strowman and Reigns waiting in the wings. 

Even if having Joe conquer the unconquerable monster would make for a hell of a story.

Prediction: Brock Lesnar retains the WWE Universal Championship in an all-time classic.