In what many considered a preview for the upcoming pay-per-view WWE Extreme Rules 2017, last night’s WWE Raw served its purpose. Beyond that, it did little else. The show was mainly flat and did little in the way of advancing story lines, although two of the nine events, and their results, will hold weight in next weeks show.

The Triple Threat match between Finn Balor, Samoa Joe, and Bray Wyatt, considered one of the most important matches of the night, was telling of what’s to come in next week’s Extreme Rules – all three will be facing off in the Fatal 5-Way.

While Balor and Wyatt exchanged kicks in the early goings, Joe began to maintain control of the ring as the fight progressed.In typical Triple Threat fashion, Joe’s strategy involved keeping one wrestler outside of the ring, while leaving the other inside.

After a commercial break, Joe and Wyatt teamed up to beat down on Balor, who lacks any type of size advantage over the other wrestlers.

Soon, with Joe outside of the ring, Balor entered into a second wind, looking as though he would make a miraculous come back. Sure enough, his hopes were dashed once Joe re-entered the ring. Allowing Balor to take down Wyatt, Joe saw his path to victory, tossed Balor to the floor and scored the pinfall win.

The second most consequential match was the headliner, Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins – both of whom will be in the Fatal 5-Way as well, making the match Reigns vs. Rollins vs. Joe vs. Wyatt vs. Balor.

Reigns and Rollins, having last fought nearly a year ago, proved that a rivalry between the wrestlers still existed and set up an interesting dynamic for the future beyond next week’s match.

Both wrestlers are former WWE champions and proved as much early on. Reigns and Rollins exchanged hits and neither seemed to have much of a lead headed into the first commercial break.

Rollins, who suffered a rib injury early in the match, was sluggish a step behind Reigns most of the match but fought valiantly, stunning Reigns with two Superman Punches.

In the late minutes, Rollins appeared to be in control but his ribs came back to haunt him. With a brief hesitation, Reigns delivered a spear, throwing his body into Rollins’, rendering him useless. The finishing move gave Reigns the victory.

Now with Reigns as the clear favorite for next week’s Extreme Rules match, the other four wrestlers have been pitted as the underdogs. The Fatal 5-Way match will determine which wrestler will face Brock Lesnar in the Universal Championship match.

WWE Extreme Rules 2017 will be held on Sunday, June 4 at 8 p.m. EST.

The results of the less consequential matches from Monday night’s Raw appear below.

Dean Ambrose and The Hardy Boyz defeated The Miz, Sheamus, and Cesaro

Elias Samson defeated Zac Evans

Rich Swann defeated Noam Dar

Titus O’Neil defeated Kalisto

Austin Aries and Jack Gallagher defeated Neville and TJP

NXT General Manager William Regal came to the ring in Orland on Wednesday to introduce NXT’s most recent free agent signing, and the crows was clearly impressed when Austin Aries walked onto the stage.

Austin Aries Makes WWE Debut On NXT, Gets Jumped By Baron Corbin

However, fans barely had a chance to take in the Greatest Man Who Ever Lived and his new entrance theme when Baron Corbin ran in to remind Regal of his “eye for an eye” promise by completely blindsiding Aries during his entrance and attacking him.

Corbin was removed from the #1 contender program by the GM, although it looks like he’s re-inserted himself into a new rivalry with Aries.

We will wait to see what happens between these two when NXT returns to Full Sail next Wednesday.