WWE Great Balls of Fire 2017 Matches: Biggest Themes Established in Build to PPV

WWE Great Balls of Fire is here, and the company has booked some epic showdowns for the event.

One of those showdowns will take place between Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman Sunday. The Big Dog has fought back from one sneak attack after another from The Monster Among Men, and now the time has come to settle the feud.

An ambulance awaits the loser of this one.

The Hardy Boyz will square off against Cesaro and Sheamus in a 30-minute WWE Iron Man match. The tag team with the most wins in a half-hour will walk away with the Raw Tag Team Championships. Matt and Jeff are ready to reclaim their gold, and many fans are surely ready to see that happen.

The WWE Cruiserweight Championship will be on the line when Neville defends against Akira Tozawa. Tozawa has the addition of Titus O'Neil in his corner, and the pairing has been an entertaining one. But The King of the Cruiserweights is likely not ready to relinquish his crown just yet.

The Miz and Dean Ambrose will wage war over the WWE Intercontinental Championship. Miz has never looked better as a top heel in WWE, and Ambrose remains one of the most popular Superstars in the company. 

This match could go either way, and fans are certainly happy with the unpredictability factor.

But the remaining four matches on the card have truly garnered the attention of the WWE faithful. Each bout is a main event on any WWE card, and each one has compelling storylines behind it. The top themes get fans interested, and now it's up to WWE to deliver on the drama.

Good Friends, Better Enemies

It was never a question of if Big Colin Cassady was going to betray Enzo Amore, but when.

Big Cass will be even bigger one day. He has the size, which means he has a very good chance of making it to the top in Vince McMahon's company. He also happens to be good in the ring. He's quick for a guy his size, and he's very athletic.

He also has the fire in his eyes. He wants it, and WWE is likely going to help him get it.

Amore, on the other hand, could potentially fall down to the first match on Monday Night Raw. There's no shame in jerking the curtain, of course, but it is a testament to the overall feeling fans have when it comes to this match.

Cass needs the win, but Amore perhaps needs it more.

The main theme behind this match is the initial betrayal. Big Cass was tired of fighting Amore's fights for him, so he decided to stop. He also believed he had the whole world ahead of him, so the time was right to cut loose of his excess baggage.

credit: wwe.com

Of course, Amore sees it another way.

The Certified G feels that Cass was doing nothing but riding his coattails and living off the glow from Amore's mic skills. With that being the case, Amore has no reason to be intimidated or fearful of his former tag team partner.

This may not be the slaughter many fans feel it will be.

Cass and Amore will bring everything they have to this feud, and it will get over because of their work. Every ounce of effort they put into making the team a success will now be spent making this rivalry a success. 

They won't hold back, and they will leave it all in the ring. That's just the way fans like it.

The Boss Wants Back on Top

From the moment she became SmackDown Women's champion, Alexa Bliss has been the buzz of WWE fans.

She's cocky, she's arrogant and she's outspoken. She's also popular, which is counterproductive to her heel character, of course. Now that she is the Raw women's champion, she is finally getting over as a top antagonist.

But The Boss wants her title back.

Sasha Banks is finally back in title contention. After waging war with Charlotte Flair and bringing women's wrestling back to the forefront, Banks slipped down to nothing. She had reached the highest of highs, then was booked low in order to come back up. 

Now fans are beginning to remember why Banks got over in the first place.

There's just something about her that says "star." She doesn't come off as phony, or as someone who's trying too hard to be loved. She is confident in her abilities, and she's extremely sure of who she is. She has determination in her eyes, and when she's fighting her heart out in a title match, fans feel it.

credit: wwe.com

She has that connection, and it's stronger than ever.

Banks does not need to shut down Bliss. Regaining the Raw Women's Championship at GBOF does not mean Bliss will fade away. But it does mean that Bliss will have a new opponent to work with. Perhaps WWE intends on rekindling that spark Banks and Charlotte had.

If that happens to any degree in this feud, Bliss will come out of it much better than when she went in.

Banks is a proven commodity, and she likely has many more title runs in her. Bliss is really just getting started, and she needs credible opponents to help her along the way. Banks is that opponent, and she could very well regain her position atop Raw's women's division.

False Gods

When fans see through an angle, there are bad times ahead.

Seth Rollins vs. Bray Wyatt has no real need to happen. There's history between the two men—that much is true. But there has just not been that much history lately to warrant a new rivalry now. It does indeed appear that they're being booked together because WWE has nothing for them to do at the moment.

But that does not mean Rollins and Wyatt are not making the best of it.

Rollins has played the false gods card against Wyatt, and it's worked thus far. While nearly every other WWE Superstar has appeared intimidated or shaken by Wyatt's tactics, Rollins has remained cool to the touch.

Rollins sees through Wyatt's rhetoric. He knows The Eater of Worlds has hollow promises and empty words. He knows that Wyatt cannot deliver on the torture he promises. That's why fans are paying attention now.

credit: wwe.com

Rollins is repeating what fans have been saying for a long time: Wyatt has lost his effectiveness.

Wyatt loses the feuds he's booked in. It's just that simple. When that happens enough, fans are often left wondering why they're supposed to care in the first place. Wyatt's character is being exposed because he just cannot come through with anything he says.

It's not his fault, of course. Wyatt is only playing the hand WWE has dealt him.

But when he faces Rollins at Great Balls of Fire, WWE must have something special for Wyatt. Wyatt must have a trick up his sleeve, a bit of horror to bring home the win. Rollins has broken him down and dissected his game.

Now it's time for Wyatt to respond and remind fans why he's so special. 

The Irresistible Force vs. The Irresistible Force

This is one of those matches that is impossible to predict. 

Will Brock Lesnar win over Samoa Joe? If so, what does that say about Joe? Does WWE simply not have the faith in him that the fans have? If Joe goes over, does that signal a slide for Lesnar, who will eventually walk away and call it a career?

While no one knows what's going to happen in the match itself, it's obvious how WWE is booking this one. 

Lesnar and Joe are unstoppable monsters who cannot be moved. The last man to embarrass Lesnar was given the F5 and pinned at WrestleMania 33.

But Joe is not worried. In fact, he welcomes the competition. He wants to throw down with Lesnar because he feels he can choke The Beast out. Joe is perhaps the most fearless man to set foot in the ring with Lesnar since The Undertaker, and now he has a chance to prove he can get the job done.

credit: wwe.com

However, Lesnar is not backing down from anyone.

Fans can speculate on how the match will end and who deserves the win. But the build to the match is something everyone can agree on. Lesnar was already a monster, and he was also a legitimate tough guy. Now fans know the same thing about Samoa Joe.

It's the most anticipated match of the night, and with good reason. Lesnar vs. Joe will get over because of the reputation each man has. More importantly, it will get over because fans know they're witnessing two real-life fighters.

No one can deny the work that Lesnar can do in the ring. But now no one can deny the work that Joe does in the ring either. It's the perfect match that hopefully will play out to perfection at Great Balls of Fire.

Tom Clark can regularly be seen on Bleacher Report. His podcast, Tom Clark's Main Event, is available on iTunes, Google Play, Amazon Android, Window Phone and online at boinkstudios.com