WWE has had pay-per-views since WrestleMania I in 1985. Since then, there have been 335 pay-per-views. There have been some very awesome names and some very dumb names. What WWE announced today, may be in the running for one of the dumbest PPV names ever.
For July’s Raw pay-per-view (technically not a pay-per-view anymore), someone in the company actually suggested naming their event “Great Balls of Fire.” And one or more of the McMahon family members for some reason signed off on that idea. The name sounds like a placeholder until someone thought of something better and the logo looks like something that someone spent about 20 seconds on.
Sure, it’s at least more creative than events named after a match like “Fatal 4-Way,” but it’s still incredibly stupid. Not to mention the easy double entendres that will occur particular for the PG era WWE.
In addition, WWE and Vince McMahon has been very cognizant on making sure their events don’t sound old and dated. That’s why WrestleMania is no longer known as the “Grandaddy of Them All” and this year’s event was very rarely mentioned as WrestleMania 33 by WWE. And now WWE has named their latest pay-per-view after a famous Jerry Lee Lewis rockabilly song that was released 60 years ago. I don’t quite get it.
It seemed like the public didn’t get it either and spent little time making fun of the name.
WWE is so aggressive about marketing a PPV name on RAW. It's going to be hilarious hearing "and at Great Balls of Fire" for an entire month.
— rick (@anamorphric) April 28, 2017
https://twitter.com/DaRealMrJoker/status/858021921761492993
WWE is calling a pay per view Great Balls of Fire and I'm in tears over here I mean hell
— Chris Roling (@Chris_Roling) April 28, 2017
Come on @WWE…
You could have much better names for your PPVs but you choose GREAT BALLS OF FIRE?
McMahon has lost his mind now.
— The Mighty (@JamTheMighty) April 28, 2017
I also just realized that @HeymanHustle is gonna have to cut promos for “Great Balls of Fire.” I am sooooo here for that
— Jack Crosby (@JCrosbyCBS) April 28, 2017
https://twitter.com/RjThaGuru/status/858022632045903876
https://twitter.com/zhahnruh/status/858022648944701440
Vincent Kennedy McMahon has gone senile.
Great Balls of Fire is the worst name for a PPV since…since…Bragging Rights.
I give up.
— The Mighty (@JamTheMighty) April 28, 2017
Great Balls of Fire could have the best match card ever with a 30 minute AJ Styles vs. Shawn Michaels match and I still wouldn't watch it
— Hawthorne James 🏁🐍 (@Kontra402) April 28, 2017
Come to think about it…if Vince McMahon was the one to name the new PPV, it would have been WWE Giant Grapefruits.
Not Great Balls Of Fire— The Mighty (@JamTheMighty) April 28, 2017
https://twitter.com/XThreeee/status/858024047946469377
The only good thing that'll come out of that WWE PPV Great Balls of Fire is all the edited supercuts people will make of Cole saying "balls"
— Renée Schitts (@Zee_Violator) April 28, 2017
https://twitter.com/Tim_Dawg_/status/858024753503895552
Great Balls of Fire ppv will just involve superstars with STDs. So a lot of Dolph Ziggler matches
— Anthony Hernandez (@tonybologna91) April 28, 2017
*Looks at trends, wonders why Great Balls of Fire is trending. Clicks on trend, INSTANTLY LOL'D*
— the joy (@setokaiba_92) April 28, 2017
Great Balls of Fire is the MOST WCW sounding PPV I've ever heard
— 3 Ts (@justTerrence_) April 28, 2017
Are you sure Vince…its kinda lam–
I SAID GREAT BALLS OF FIRE DAMMIT
— Max_Silver (@Max_Silver11) April 28, 2017
https://twitter.com/papercutrhymes/status/858028507506626560
Me too. The build up for this PPV will sound weird. "At Great Balls Of Fire" "Welcome to Great Balls Of Fire" Sounds weird right?
— Zyad Ashraf (@ZyadAshraf150) April 28, 2017
And last, but not least, SmackDown’s Becky Lynch tweeted this:
Great balls of Fire?! What the…..
— Rebecca Quin (@BeckyLynchWWE) April 28, 2017
If you’re a WWE fan, this is one of those times where you just have to throw your hands in the air and go for the ride. Like someone said, Paul Heyman and his legendary promos may be the only one who can save the name “Great Balls of Fire.”