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The community at Cageside Seats was recently asked to assign star ratings for all 9 matches that took place at Great Balls of Fire.
The votes have all been tabulated, and for every match I will include these summary statistics:
- Votes: Total number of votes cast for a given match.
- AVG: The weighted average of every vote.
- Q1: First quartile, which is the value that roughly 25% of the votes fall at or below.
- Q2: Second quartile (aka median), which is the value that roughly 50% of the votes fall at or below.
- Q3: Third quartile, which is the value that roughly 75% of the votes fall at or below.
- Meltzer: Dave Meltzer’s star rating for a given match.
- Meltz Gap: The magnitude of the difference between Meltzer and AVG.
- Cain: My own personal star rating for the match.
- 5-stars: The percentage of votes for 5 stars.
- 4-stars or more: The percentage of votes for at least 4 stars.
- 2.25 to 3.75 stars: The percentage of votes for more than 2 stars but less than 4 stars.
- 2-stars or less: The percentage of votes that did not surpass 2 stars.
- 0-stars: The percentage of votes for 0 stars.
The following sortable table includes all the results of the Cageside Community Star Ratings for Great Balls of Fire.
Star Ratings: Great Balls of Fire
| Match | Votes | AVG | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Meltzer | Meltz Gap | Cain | 5-stars | 4-stars or more | 2.25 to 3.75 stars | 2-stars or less | 0-stars |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match | Votes | AVG | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Meltzer | Meltz Gap | Cain | 5-stars | 4-stars or more | 2.25 to 3.75 stars | 2-stars or less | 0-stars |
| Cesaro & Sheamus vs Hardy Boyz | 212 | 4.27 | 4 | 4.25 | 4.75 | 3.25 | 1.02 | 3.5 | 20.28% | 82.55% | 16.98% | 0.47% | 0.00% |
| Slater vs Hawkins | 525 | 4.05 | 4 | 5 | 5 | N/A | N/A | 0.25 | 70.29% | 75.24% | 6.67% | 18.10% | 7.24% |
| Lesnar vs Joe | 607 | 3.74 | 3.5 | 4 | 4.25 | 3.5 | 0.24 | 3.25 | 7.58% | 55.19% | 38.06% | 6.75% | 1.48% |
| Alexa vs Sasha | 325 | 3.7 | 3.25 | 3.75 | 4.25 | 2.75 | 0.95 | 3.75 | 8.62% | 42.15% | 52.92% | 4.92% | 0.92% |
| Reigns vs Strowman | 697 | 3.65 | 3.5 | 4.25 | 4.75 | 3.75 | 0.1 | 3 | 24.82% | 67.14% | 14.20% | 18.65% | 5.31% |
| Rollins vs Wyatt | 199 | 3.39 | 3 | 3.5 | 4 | 2.75 | 0.64 | 3.25 | 9.55% | 33.17% | 56.78% | 10.05% | 2.51% |
| Neville vs Tozawa | 65 | 3.34 | 2.75 | 3.5 | 4 | 3.25 | 0.09 | 2.75 | 9.23% | 30.77% | 55.38% | 13.85% | 0.00% |
| The Miz vs Ambrose | 134 | 2.96 | 2.25 | 3 | 3.75 | 2.5 | 0.46 | 1.75 | 8.96% | 21.64% | 55.97% | 22.39% | 3.73% |
| Enzo vs Big Cass | 173 | 2.47 | 1.5 | 2.5 | 3.5 | 1 | 1.47 | 1 | 6.36% | 16.76% | 41.62% | 41.62% | 6.36% |
Here is a graphical summary of some of the numbers from the table. For any given match, the bottom of the blue rectangle is Q1 and the top of the blue rectangle is Q3. In most cases the blue rectangle includes the values where roughly the middle 50% of the votes were cast for that match. The thin line above the blue rectangle shows where roughly the highest 25% of the votes were cast, and the thin blue line below the rectangle shows where roughly the lowest 25% of the votes were cast. The matches are displayed left to right, sorted by AVG in descending order:
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Analysis
Cesaro’s Iron Man match had a spectacular result of no votes below 2 stars. The 20.28% votes for 5 stars is suspiciously high, but there was no lower tail to bring it back down. 82.55% of the votes were for 4 stars or more, and this match ended with the highest community AVG of the night with a score of 4.27 stars.
The results for the infamous Slater versus Hawkins match certainly got a big laugh out of me. 70.29% of the votes were for 5 stars and 7.24% of the votes were for 0 stars; these were the highest marks in both categories out of all 9 matches. To give you an idea of how that percentage for 5 stars stacks up to past matches, the great Styles versus Cena match from Royal Rumble 2017 had 46.76% of its votes for 5 stars. Many of the Cageside community members were simply blown away by that alleged Canadian Destroyer from the top rope, and the overall AVG of 4.05 stars ranks it as the second best match of the night.
Lesnar and Joe came in next with an AVG of 3.74 stars. Not too many people disliked this match, as only 6.75% of the votes were for 2 stars or less.
Bliss versus Banks did well but fell just short of Lesnar and Joe, with an AVG of 3.70 stars. These two matches performed similarly on the extremes; the main difference is that Lesnar had 55.19% of the votes for 4 stars or more, compared to 42.15% for Bliss. Similarly, Bliss had 52.92% of its votes between 2.25 to 3.75 stars, whereas Lesnar scored 38.06% in this middle category. This is why the blue box for Sasha’s match dips a little below Lesnar’s blue box in the above chart.
Strowman’s ambulance match had a bunch of voter abuse going on at both extremes and so the less that is said about this one the better. The overall AVG was 3.65 stars.
Wyatt versus Rollins scored an AVG of 3.39 stars, just beating out Neville versus Tozawa at 3.34 stars. You can look at the percentages in the table above to see that these matches scored very closely in almost every category. The main difference is that Wyatt’s match had nearly 3 times as many votes as Neville’s match (199 votes vs. 65 votes).
Ambrose’s match scored an AVG of 2.96 stars, which is the second lowest AVG for all 9 matches. Only 21.64% of the votes were for 4 stars or more, which is also the second lowest mark of the night for that category.
Enzo and Cass come in last with an AVG of 2.47 stars. 41.62% of the votes were for 2 stars or less, and another 41.62% of the votes landed between 2.25 to 3.75 stars. 6.36% of votes were for 0 stars, trailing only Slater’s match in that category. There were 173 total votes for this one, so the voter interest was still well above the paltry cruiserweight mark.
Dave Meltzer’s rating of 3.25 stars for Cesaro’s match was well below the community AVG (4.25); he certainly did not think it was a great match. Meltzer’s 2.75 star rating rating for Alexa and Sasha was also roughly 1 full star below the community AVG (3.70 stars).
Meltzer agreed that Enzo and Cass had the worst match of the night, but his rating of 1 star was still nowhere near the vicinity of the community AVG of 2.47 stars. Meltzer also agreed that Miz and Ambrose had the second worst match of the night. This is all ignoring Slater’s match, which Meltzer didn’t bother to grade.
The Meltz Gap values for Lesnar, Strowman, and Neville were all less than 0.25 stars, and so that’s where he had the closest agreement with the community results.
Community Feedback
Finally, here are some thoughts on these matches from various Cagesiders:
Cesaro & Sheamus vs. Hardy Boyz
Comment from: Jameslinx9
3.5
May seem harsh but I did feel there were some botches in here. Excellent story during the match however, and did well to sustain interest. Great finishing sequence helped.
Comment from: TheHammster
4.75
It got off to a slow start (hence why I couldn’t go 5 stars). But that Canadian Destroyer off the top rope was the most incredible move I’ve ever seen. This is how you make the most of your time.
Comment from: BarryHorowitzguy
It's not a good sign when...
it’s 10:55 pm and your main event hasn’t started yet.
Good quality grappling but not nearly long enough.This isn’t a Goldberg match so that excuse can’t be used. Maybe Brock is the problem and he isn’t willing to give any more than 10 mins anymore.
3 stars
Comment from: TheEighthDoctor
5 stars all the way.
Loved it all. Loved the story being told, both women brought it, loved both the match finish and segment finish. Just good damn wrestling. 100% invested in everything.
I feel like this is the feud both women have been waiting for and I can’t wait to see them top this.
Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman
Comment from: marsexxxy23
I gave it 4 stars because it was a solid match
without many noticable botches, but the no selling of chair shots and Romans look of disbelief added a lot to the match.
The only spot I felt could have been stronger was when BRAUN went thru the LED wall, it seemed a little unbelievable, but this is wrestling were talking about so I’ll let it slide.
The post match beat down and attempted murder was MONEY tho, and a murderous, heel Roman is someone I can get behind.
Comment from: Abigail Wyatt
Is there a 'their match on Monday was better' option?
This match was solid but not particularly notable.
Comment from: phlash74
2 stars, pretty disappointing for me given the talents involved
Finish was really strange, I get that Neville used the ropes to low blow Tozawa but then he finishes him with a kick to the gut?
Comment from: Christopher Hughes
Weakest Match on the Card.
But the card and the show was pretty solid. I’m ready for this feud to end though. The match was a 2 outta 5 tops…. Same ending with the same ol’ story and same ol’ players. Move on WWE.
Comment from: The Skinnyfatass
Everything about this match, from the bar code generic entrance and music of Big Cass, to the in-ring action, to the promo by Enzo, showed why WWE screwed the pooch by breaking these two up, and why they needed each other.
Those are the results for the Cageside Community Star Ratings for Great Balls of Fire. Thanks to everyone who participated!
Which number stands out to you the most?