As announced earlier, WWE has confirmed a new PPV named great Balls of Fire to take place in the month of July. This one will take place on 9th of July at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. It is going to be an exclusive night hosted by Monday Night Raw.
This one came as a huge surprise since the returning Bad Blood PPV was scheduled on the above-mentioned date. The XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut was gearing up for hosting a PPV event after a decade. But, this announcement wiped out all the previous plans.
Recently, Bryan Alvarez of Wrestling Observer Newsletter discussed, as of why WWE would have cancelled the plans of arranging the Bad Blood PPV.
This might have been yet another successful PPV return after Backlash and No Mercy, last year. Plus, already fans have started to give major negative reactions over the name, Great Balls of Fire.
Bryan stated that the date of the inaugural PPV clashes with the death anniversary of Bryan Pillman who was a WWF mainstay, formerly. This man has breathed his last on October 5th, 1997, the exact same date of Bad Blood PPV on that year. He was a victim of an arteriosclerotic heart disease leading to an early death.
Pillman was part of two well-known factions in the WWF. He associated with Stunning Steve Austin to form the team of The Hollywood Blonds. Later, he became part of the Four Horsewomen stable alongside Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, and Chris Benoit.
WWE wants to disassociate themselves with any of the controversial incidents that took place especially considering that Pillman’s name is linked to Chris Benoit, as well.
Plus, Bad Blood was part of a non-PG gimmick. At this time, the company turned into a full PG mode with no violent content in the programming. So, they stayed away from creating any such controversy. Previously, in 2003 and 2004, Bad Blood was hosted by the company but we should keep in mind that WWE has not gone PG, back then.
The Great Ball of fire is going to be the third Raw-exclusive PPV after Wrestlemania. Brock Lesnar is set to defend his Universal championship for the very first time on that night. We are yet to learn about his opponent on that night.