WWE Extreme Rules
Izod Center
East Rutherford, New Jersey
May 4, 2014
Thumbs Up
1. Rob Van Dam vs. Jack Swagger vs. Cesaro - I thought this was a fun match to kick the show off with and I liked that they added the elimination aspect to it, even though it was only added at some point yesterday. I thought that Cesaro and RVD worked especially well together, while Swagger generally just seemed to be there as fodder. I suspected that would be the case, but it didn't keep me from enjoying the match. Cesaro looked like a beast at times by showing off that natural strength of his. The spot where he suplexed Swagger into the ring off the apron only for RVD to land the Five Star Frog Splash to eliminate him was a nice touch. I enjoyed the 1 on 1 aspect of the match with RVD & Cesaro more than the triple threat. There wasn't a lot of hardcore stuff in the match, apart from the use of a trash can late in the match, but it was still fun. Cesaro scoring the win about the 12.5 minute mark after hitting the Neutralizer on top of the trash can.
***
3. Big E vs. Bad News Barrett for the WWE Intercontinental Championship - Even though the fans didn't seem to be into this match to a huge degree, I thought both guys put out a good effort in a solid, physical match. It did seem a little slow at times, it took a little time for the two to find their rhythm, but they did get things together. Even though Bad News Barrett is a heel, with a few minor alterations, I think he could pretty easily be made into a solid babyface character. Both men worked hard, sold each other's offense well and the ending came about the 10 minute mark with Barrett finally hitting the Bull Hammer to become IC champ for the 4th time. I'm very, very, very cautiously optimistic about Barrett this time around, but I'm not fully on board yet because we've been down this road with Barrett and the IC title before.
**1/2
4. The Shield vs. Evolution - A great match between these two factions that told a good story and was packed with wild action. All six wrestlers, even Batista, worked well together and even though it ultimately became a bit of a wild brawl, it didn't get too crazy so as to ultimately detract from the match itself. The 2nd half is when the bout really became the brawl we were expecting with Ambrose & Rollins and Trips & Orton eventually fighting all over the arena, leaving Reigns & Batista in the ring. Rollins' spot on Orton & Trips looked great, even though it looked like poor Dean Ambrose took most of it himself.
Inside the ring, Roman Reigns ultimately gets the better of Batista, getting out of the attempted Batista Bomb, hitting him with the Superman Punch and finally landing the spear to give The Shield the clean win a little past the 20 minute mark.
***1/2
6. Paige vs. Tamina Snuka for the WWE Divas Championship - There wasn't a ton of crowd support here comparatively speaking, but there was more than we usually see from a Diva match. I thought it was a good effort from the ladies and it's becoming more & more obvious that Diva matches are progressively becoming more physical. Paige played her part well as almost sort of a female Daniel Bryan in that she's been painted as something of an underdog because of her youth and newness to the roster. She sold Tamina's offense well, and vice versa, and that kid's definitely not afraid of taking a bump. Paige eventually gets the upper hand and puts Tamina in the modified Scorpion lock for the clean win about the 7 minute mark.
**1/2
7. Daniel Bryan vs. Kane for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship - I wasn't entirely sure what to expect out of this match. I didn't know if Kane would just dominate it from bell to bell, whether it'd be back & forth or what, but I enjoyed the bout a lot more than I expected. Ultimately, the match did what it was supposed to: deliver a good story, a good physical outing, make Kane look like a formidable opponent and Bryan like a tough & fearless scrapper. I also liked that they kept Brie and Stephanie out of the match altogether, keeping the focus on the two guys wrestling, so that Bryan wouldn't retain in some sort of flukey way. The crowd wasn't as white hot as they've been in the past for Bryan's matches. I imagine that most people just weren't jacked to the roof about Kane being his first opponent as champ, but the match still received a strong response from the crowd. The stuff backstage with the forklift was inventive. It might have slowed things down for a while, which may have hurt the match a little, but I thought it was a good example of Bryan's fire. Kane was "knocked out" after being hit with the crowbar, Bryan was tired from a physical confrontation and he couldn't just drag 320 pounds of dead weight all the way back to the ring. He couldn't win unless it was in the ring, and he wanted to win badly, so he did what he had to. The table spot was a nice touch, though the fire extinguisher took a bit away from it. But, at the same time, what else could you expect? They're not gonna stand there and let the guy burn. The match ends with Bryan nailing Kane with the running knee, getting the win and retaining the title about the 23 minute mark.
***1/4
Thumbs Down
2. R-Truth & Xavier Woods vs. Alexander Rusev - I just didn't really see much of a point to this match. We've already seen Rusev destroy both of them in singles matches, we've seen him lay them both out simultaneously before, so why do it again at a ppv? I get that they want Rusev to look dominant, but the formula simply isn't working for me. It's a hackneyed, outdated formula that simply doesn't work anymore.
NA
5. John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt - This was easily the most disappointing match of the night. As I pretty much said in the "Super Cena Strikes Again" thread, WWE went so far over the top in protecting John Cena here that it almost feels like Bray Wyatt lost the match. There was so much interference from Harper & Rowan in the match that it made the element of cage matches designed to prevent interference completely irrelevant. On top of that, Cena had the bout won probably half a dozen times and only didn't because of the insane amount of interference. They should've simply had a 3 on 1 handicap bout in the first place because it's essentially what the match turned into. The worst part, for me, was Cena just managing to overcome all 3 of them. The spot in the match where Cena is trying to exit the door of the cage with Harper & Rowan holding the door closed and is still managing to push the door open despite two big, brawny 300 pound men pushing against him was just too much. The ending with the kid singing to distract Cena was original and I think it would've otherwise been fine had the match not been absolutely packed with interference from Harper & Rowan and Cena still managing to beat back all 3 of them.
*1/2
Final Thoughts
Overall, I thought Extreme Rules was a pretty solid show. The undercard generally delivered solid to strong matches, with the triple threat opener being the strongest of them. The six man tag bout was the best match of the night while the WWE WHC bout was more than I was expecting, delivered the right outcome and had Bryan looking like a strong champion. The steel cage match was lousy for me. I'm not hating on Cena, I defend the guy from hate most of the time, but there's no defending the Super Cena performance of last night. It was a lousy booking decision that made The Wyatt Family look weak despite Bray winning the match. As I said, WWE went so overboard with protecting Cena, as if Cena losing without a shitload of interference is somehow gonna cause the sky to fall, that it almost felt like Bray Wyatt lost the match.
Grade: B-
did I just read? Runner up? My goodness.
