WWE Great Balls of Fire 2017: 4 Raw Stars on the Rise After the Show

Credit: WWE.com

3. Samoa Joe

Samoa Joe was someone that a lot of people thought would never make it to WWE. Even when he was in NXT, it was still questionable what his future would consist of on the main roster.

Well, here is now main eventing a PPV against Brock Lesnar for the WWE Universal Championship. These two monsters had to follow the grueling Reigns vs. Strowman match and aftermath, but the duo were up to the challenge and knocked it out of the park.

Joe, like he had done on previous RAW episodes, blindsided Lesnar before the match started, and he threw him into an announcer’s table. A dazed Lesnar agreed to start the match once he made his way back to the ring, and Samoa Joe jumped him immediately.

Samoa Joe hit Lesnar with several strikes and slams, and he dominated a majority of the match. Once it got down into the grit of things, it became a coquina clutch vs. suplex contest.

Samoa Joe would get the coquina clutch on Lesnar for a while only for Lesnar to break it with a couple of suplexes. Then, Joe would regain control and lock the coquina clutch again until Lesnar broke it and delivered some suplexes.

Just when it seemed as though Samoa Joe finally had the coquina clutch locked in for good on The Beast as he was starting to head to the ground, Lesnar countered into a vicious F-5 that put Samoa Joe down for the three count.

While Samoa Joe ended up losing this match, there is now no question that he belongs in the Universal Championship picture. He showed that he can hang and outperform some of the company’s best talents.

Samoa Joe’s efforts in Great Balls of Fire may have earned him a serious world title run in the near future.