In the main event, Brock Lesnar defeated Samoa Joe to retain the Universal Championship.

On March 21, 2017, WWE announced that it would be reviving the Bad Blood pay-per-view (PPV) to be held on July 9, 2017, from the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut.

[2] On April 28, however, the company announced that these plans were scrapped in favor of a new event titled Great Balls of Fire which would instead be held at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas on July 9.

WWE Hall of Famer Jerry Lawler stated that his personal attorney, who also represented Lewis, had asked him about pursuing legal action over the title, but that he "called them and got everything worked out", including securing rights to use the song itself as part of the event.

Lesnar was notably absent from Raw for several weeks due to his status as a part-time wrestler.

During this time, Reigns, Braun Strowman, Seth Rollins, Finn Bálor, Bray Wyatt, and Samoa Joe each expressed their desire to challenge Lesnar for the Universal Championship.

Due to Strowman being sidelined from an arm injury, General Manager Kurt Angle scheduled an extreme rules fatal five-way match at Extreme Rules between the remaining five, with the winner earning a title match at Great Balls of Fire.

[13] Joe won the match[14] and confronted Heyman the following night on Raw, stating that he did not fear Lesnar and wanted to face him.

[18] On the April 3 episode of Raw, Braun Strowman, who had been feuding with Roman Reigns since the Royal Rumble, interrupted Universal Champion Brock Lesnar and indicated his desire to face him for the title, but left before a fight could occur.

[20] The next night on Raw, General Manager Kurt Angle informed the audience that both men were injured.

[13] On the June 19 episode of Raw, Reigns proclaimed himself to be the number one contender for the Universal Championship at SummerSlam.

[23] Angle then scheduled a six-woman gauntlet match for the June 26 episode where the winner would face Bliss for the Raw Women's Championship at Great Balls of Fire.

[17] On the May 15 episode of Raw, Seth Rollins was scheduled to face Bray Wyatt as part of the buildup to their fatal five-way match at Extreme Rules.

[26] On the June 26 episode of Raw, O'Neil informed both Neville and Tozawa that he had negotiated a title match between the two at Great Balls of Fire.

[27] On the May 22 episode of Raw, Enzo Amore was found unconscious backstage after being attacked from behind by an unknown assailant,[28] and again the following week, where The Revival (Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson) became suspects.

Big Show, in Cass' place, teamed with Amore in a victory over Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson.

[16] On the June 19 episode of Raw, General Manager Kurt Angle held a meeting about the attacks on Amore and Cass.

After Angle cleared The Revival of any wrongdoing, Graves showed video surveillance of Cass staging his own attack from the previous week.

[17] On the July 3 episode, Amore said that he would fight back and the two brawled until Angle separated them and made a match between them at Great Balls of Fire.

Later, Maryse threw Miz a celebration party which consisted of champagne, a bear mascot, and a huge red gift.

Following this, Ambrose was attacked by two men dressed in bear costumes who were revealed to be Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas, who Miz had earlier invited to be part of his entourage.

[16] The following week on Raw, Ambrose teamed with Heath Slater and Rhyno in a losing effort against The Miz and his Miztourage (Axel and Dallas).

[18] During the Great Balls of Fire Kickoff pre-show, Neville defended the WWE Cruiserweight Championship against Akira Tozawa (with Titus O'Neil).

[31] After that, Cesaro and Sheamus defended the Raw Tag Team Championship against The Hardy Boyz in a 30-minute Iron Man match.

[31] Next, The Miz (with his "Miztourage": Curtis Axel, Bo Dallas, and Maryse) defended the Intercontinental Championship against Dean Ambrose.

[31] Whilst backstage personnel and emergency services attended to Strowman, Heath Slater defeated Curt Hawkins in an impromptu match off-screen.

[31] In the main event, Brock Lesnar (accompanied by Paul Heyman) defended the Universal Championship against Samoa Joe.

[36] On the post-Great Balls of Fire episode of Raw, General Manager Kurt Angle congratulated Brock Lesnar on retaining the Universal Championship.

Angle then scheduled Reigns to face Joe the following week where the winner would face Lesnar for the title at SummerSlam,[37] however, the match ended in a no-contest after Strowman returned and attacked both,[38] and Angle scheduled a fatal four-way for the Universal Championship at SummerSlam.

[37] The Miz hosted his own award show, The Mizzies, in response to retaining the Intercontinental Championship against Dean Ambrose.