‘Great Balls Of Fire’ Off The WWE Pay-Per-View Schedule After Just One Time

WWE has recently released their pay-per-view schedule, and the Great Balls of Fire pay-per-view is done after just one time. Due to the company shortening the yearly schedule as a result of the oversaturation of pay-per-views not moving the numbers in a positive way, there are some events that made the cut and some that did not. One of those events is the inaugural Great Balls of Fire pay-per-view. The first and only one of its kind happened on July 9, and was headlined by Brock Lesnar defending his Universal Championship against Samoa Joe.

Throughout the weeks heading into the event, Samoa Joe showed that he could go toe-to-toe with Lesnar, as the two brawled on an episode of Raw. The aggression of Samoa Joe even caused people in the WWE Universe to feel that he would actually defeat Lesnar for the championship. However, Lesnar was able to defeat the Samoan Submission Machine and retain his title. The event also featured other matches that were anticipated, which included Seth Rollins vs. Bray Wyatt, the 30-minute Ironman Match between the Hardy Boyz and Sheamus & Cesaro, The Miz against Dean Ambrose for the Intercontinental Championship, and Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman in an Ambulance Match.

While the Great Balls of Fire pay-per-view will be a one-and-done event, there is one more which will also be off the schedule. The No Mercy pay-per-view is no longer on the schedule this year, after being an annual event from 1999-2008, and then from 2016-2017.

As of now, the reason why WWE chose No Mercy to be off the schedule is mostly unknown from the standpoint of a public announcement. There has been some rich history over the years from that event, which includes Kurt Angle winning his first WWE Championship in 2000 and Randy Orton defeating Triple H in a Last Man Standing match in 2007. For Great Balls of Fire, both numerous media outlets as well as many members of the WWE Universe rejected the name of the event. Moreover, there was some controversy stemming from the name of the event regarding Jerry Lee Lewis, who had a rock and roll hit in the 1960s.