It’s not unusual for Braun Strowman to demand “competition” (Read: Human sacrifice) when he’s on a roll. And with Roman Reigns apparently absent from Raw due to a beating by The Monster Among Men last week, Strowman was certainly on a roll. What is unusual, however, is for a Superstar to volunteer his own protégé as Strowman’s foil.

Sensing opportunity, Titus O’Neil convinced Apollo Crews to step into the proverbial meat grinder against The Monster Among Men to set an example for his daughter. Despite a career performance, Crews was defeated by Strowman, who picked up even more steam ahead of his Ambulance Match against Reigns on Sunday at the first-ever WWE Great Balls of Fire pay-per-view event.

O’Neil himself was also pulverized after attempting to protect Crews, but when Strowman tried to send Crews out of the arena in an ambulance, Reigns emerged from the driver’s seat and brawled with his nemesis, eventually sending The Gift of Destruction plummeting off the stage with an earth-shaking Spear — an image that was rivaled only by the sight of Strowman rising from the ashes.

Reigns can count tonight’s battle as a hard-earned victory, but clearly, it’ll take much more to win the war.