WWE pay-per-views continue to come thick and fast, this past Sunday saw Raw host their brand-exclusive Extreme Rules event.
Overall it was a good show, but as with all WWE show, their were positives and negatives.
So with that in mind, let’s run down the ‘5 Good’ and ‘5 Bad’ moments from Extreme Rules…
#1 Bad – Extreme-ish Rules
First of all, the pay-per-view didn’t exactly live up to it’s name.
Some matches had moments, but none of them could truly be described as ‘extreme’. This didn’t affect the enjoyment of the show, but if you’re going to call an event ‘Extreme Rules’, you expect to see plenty of chair shots and table spots, and they were scarce over the course of the broadcast.
It remains to be seen whether or not Raw’s next special event will have any ‘Great Balls of Fire’.
#2 Bad – The Hardys win…don’t they?
Outside of the main event fatal-5-way match, the steel cage tag team match between The Hardys and Cesaro & Sheamus was arguably the most anticipated bout.
The two teams put on a good show and delivered a compelling match. However, the finish left man people confused. It was established early on by the commentary team that there were no pins or submissions in this match, the only way to win was by both members of a team escaping the cage.
This is nothing new in the world of WWE, so when Jeff Hardy escaped, fans presumed that if Matt escaped before Cesaro & Sheamus then The Hardys would retain the Tag Team Titles.
Apparently not, as when Jeff would re-enter the cage, via a ‘whisper in the wind’ from the top of the structure, it now meant that he must escape the cage again in order for his team to win. I’m fairly certain that this has never been the case in the past and it resulted in a head-scratching finish when Cesaro & Sheamus escaped narrowly before Jeff was able to for a second time, and therefore captured the Raw Tag Team Championships.
#3 Bad – Samson sings
Unlike many fans, I am enjoying Elias Samson’s work since his main roster call-up.
His random strolling through backstage segments was a fun moment on Raw’s weekly broadcast and his songs are genuine heat magnets that are almost drowned out by the crowd’s booing. He is one of the few genuine heels in WWE today.
However, his segment at Extreme Rules was fairly pointless. Samson got major heat, as per usual, but I was waiting for someone to come out to interrupt him and it never happened.
Which makes me question why he was given time to perform his song, I guess Kurt Angle must be a fan of his musical talents.
#4 Bad – Filler match on PPV
It’s not like I was looking forward to seeing Rich Swann and Sasha Banks face Alicia Fox and Noam Dar, but I thought something significant or some kind of character development may occur in this match.
But nope, nothing of note happened in the short time they had, besides Swann breaking WWE’s curse and picking up the win in his hometown.
If you nipped to make a tea or go to the bathroom during this match, you certainly didn’t miss anything.
#5 Bad – Bayley looks like an idiot
One of the most talked about booking decisions coming out of Extreme Rules concerns former NXT Women’s Champion Bayley.
She lost to Bliss in their ‘kendo stick-on-a-pole’ match in a little over 5 minutes and looked stupid in the process. Not only did Bayley want this match with Bliss, but she had been battered by the Raw Women’s Champion with a kendo stick in recent weeks. Also, she said prior to the match that she had been studying the likes of Tommy Dreamer and Sandman to prepare for the stipulation.
So why on Earth was she scared to use the weapon on Bliss when she had the chance?
It was painful to watch Bayley look so clueless and, quite frankly, pathetic during this match. However, I am not totally against the decision to have her lose so emphatically…
#1 Good – Bliss batters Bayley
Like I said, the way it was done was poor, but I believe the devastating loss for Bayley may turn out to be a blessing in disguise for her.
Bayley just hasn’t come across as the same loveable underdog that she was in NXT and this defeat could act as something of a reset for her character. A long and arduous journey back to the top of the women’s division may be exactly what she needs.
Also, it’s good to see a dominate display from a champion once in a while and hopefully this could propel Raw Women’s Champion, Alex Bliss, on to bigger and better things.
#2 Good – Miz regains the I.C. Title
The opening match of Extreme Rules was the Intercontinental Championship bout between Dean Ambrose and The Miz, with the caveat that if Ambrose was disqualified, he would lose the championship.
Although the stipulation was stupid considering the pay-per-view, it was a fun match and saw Miz recapture the I.C. title, which was the right decision in my opinion.
The belt hasn’t felt prestigious on Ambrose and Miz made it feel more special than it has in years during his previous reign. Hopefully he will able to do that again this time around.
#3 Good – Sheamus & Cesaro capture the Raw Tag Team Titles
As I stated previously, I enjoyed the steel cage match between Cesaro & Sheamus and The Hardys apart from the odd finish.
The positive from the finish is that it crowned new Raw Tag Team Champions in Cesaro & Sheamus, which again, I think was the right call from WWE.
The odd pairing of the ‘Swiss Superman’ and ‘Celtic Warrior’ has been more enjoyable than anyone would have thought when it began almost a year ago. I think they needed this win as it was hard to see where they would go from here if they had lost. As for The Hardys, it will now be interesting to see how they react to this loss. Will their brotherly bond be ‘broken’?
#4 Good – Fantastic Fatal 5-way
The main event of the night was worthy of headlining almost any pay-per-view, as it pitted the five top active talents on the Raw roster against each other to determine the next challenger to Brock Lesnar’s Universal Championship.
The alliance between Bray Wyatt and Samoa Joe made for some interesting spots, although you knew the partnership wouldn’t last. But it was the last ten minutes or so that really stood out in this match.
Roman Reigns spearing both Joe and Finn Balor through the barricade, just before Seth Rollins hit a frog-splash from the ring to a prone Wyatt on the commentary table were the spots of the night. This was followed by some back and forth action in the ring that kept the audience guessing as to who would pick up the victory.
#5 Good – The Destoyer vs. The Beast set for Great Balls of Fire
Ultimately, it was Samoa Joe who choked out Finn Balor to pick up the win and it is he that will face Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship at ‘Great Balls of Fire’.
This is truly a monumental main event for die-hard wrestling fans and is a match that many thought they would never see.
Although it is expected that Lesnar will retain and go on to face Braun Strowman at SummerSlam, an evenly contested bout between ‘The Beast’ and ‘The Destroyer’ could potentially be a match of the year candidate.
Also, it will give Samoa Joe a chance to show some of the more casual fans that he is one of the greatest wrestlers on the planet today.
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