Lesnar barely survives Joe at WWE Great Balls of Fire

Brock Lesnar barely survived the challenge of Samoa Joe to retain his WWE Universal Championship at WWE Great Balls of Fire. Photo by WWE.com

It took one big move for Brock Lesnar to escape the clutches of Samoa Joe and retain his WWE Universal Championship at WWE Great Balls of Fire Sunday (Monday Manila time) in Dallas.

The Beast Incarnate fought out of the dreaded Coquina Clutch and nailed the Destroyer with an F-5 to score the pinfall, but it took a lot from the defending champion to survive this challenge.

Joe attacked Lesnar even before Paul Heyman finished his introduction, pummeling the champion and even sending him through the Spanish announce table. The submission specialist continued to be the aggressor after Lesnar got back on his feet, as he tried for numerous times to take the air out of the champion with the Coquina Clutch, before the former UFC champion finally slipped out and connected with his finisher.

It was Lesnar’s first title defense since winning the Universal title at WrestleMania from Goldberg on April.

In the night’s other matches, Braun Strowman came out on top in his highly physical ambulance match against Roman Reigns, evading the Big Dog’s spear to the ambulance and closing the doors shut to come away with the win.

But the action didn’t end after the bell rung, as Reigns got out of the ambulance and speared Strowman to the ground, hitting him numerous times with the ambulance door before driving the Monster Among Men to the backstage.

There, Reigns reversed the ambulance at full speed, crashing the back to one of WWE’s production trucks as EMTs tried to take a bloodied Strowman out of the vehicle.

Sasha Banks came out on top of Alexa Bliss, but the countout victory kept the Raw Women’s Championship in the champion’s arms.

Irked with the result, Banks attacked Bliss on the ramp and hit her signature double-knee attack off the announce table to ground the champion.

The Miz also retained his WWE Intercontinental Championship, hitting a Skull Crushing Finale on Dean Ambrose off a distraction from Miz’ entourage Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel.

Cesaro and Sheamus successfully defended their Raw Tag Team Championships, beating the Hardy Boyz, 4-3, in their 30-minute Ironman match.

The titlists came out of the gates firing, jumping to a 3-1 lead before Matt Hardy tied the knot at three-all with a Twist of Fate from the top turnbuckle on Sheamus.

The Hardys seemed to have gained momentum of the match late, with Jeff Hardy connecting with a Swanton Bomb, but Cesaro snuck in and pinned him after the move to gain the 4-3 lead with 29 seconds remaining.

Shocked with what transpired, Jeff chased Cesaro on the outside and finally connected with a Twist of Fate, but his match-tying pinfall came too little too late.

Bray Wyatt nailed Seth Rollins with a Sister Abigail to win their match after the Eater of Worlds poked the Kingslayer in the eye.

Big Cass squashed his former tag team partner Enzo Amore, throwing him at ringside before nailing the big boot to end the match.

Heath Slater also topped Curt Hawkins in an impromptu match in the card.

In the kickoff show, Neville successfully retained his WWE Cruiserweight Championship against Akira Tozawa, crotching the challenger on the top rope before nailing the roundhouse kick for the victory.