**MERGED**WWE Extreme Rules 2012: Aftermath & Discussion

[steven87gill]

Really enjoyed it!

Suprised Cena got the win, i had said in another thread Cena could steal a win here as WWE like to go against what fans predict, and obviously 90% of us thought Lesnar couldn't possibly lose his first match back.

Bryan/Sheamus, Punk/Jericho , Cena/Lesnar ,, these 3 matches kept me glued and the crowd were hyped throughout all 3. Seems the Faces won the show in the end (Orton, Brodus also winning) which is a bit worrying. Does having a Heel Persona mean you will always lay down for the faces?

Overall i enjoyed this PPV as much as i did Wrestlemania. Out of 10 i would give Extreme Rules 8/10. You sort of know when it's a good event as you DON'T move from the sofa because you can't take your eyes off what is coming next.

This is exactly my point, if the entire IWC are predicting one thing, VKM is almost certain to go the other way. It's why the Rock won clean at WM and why Cena won here. If we'd all been predicting a Cena win, it's likely Lesnar would've won.

So let's have an agreement, if we want someone to win, we all need to pretend that we want the .other. guy to win.

I agree that Lesnar winning here was the more logical option, but this situation isn't unsalvagable, it's all about what they do tonight. So everyone calm down please. And anyway, this proves that WWE aren't manipulating crowds into cheering for Cena as they know full well that the 'hate' will be intensified because of this win.

 

[thatotherguy]

Randy Orton vs. Kane: Quite a bit of brawling early on, a little bit much for my taste, but that's kind of the point of a falls count anywhere match. The one thing I didn't like was having Zack Ryder attack Kane. Kind of took away from the match in my opinion. Plus, I was never clear on why he did that. When things started heating up later, the match was elevated because of it, including the brawl outside the ring. The finish was just a bit wacky, as it looked like Orton was going to hit the RKO right away, but instead Kane went off the ropes and then Orton hit the RKO. Still good enough for a grade of…3/5.

Brodus Clay vs. Dolph Ziggler: Good. Good, but not good enough for PPV. Ziggler and Clay actually look to have some chemistry and a proper build-up with a stipulation attached might have elevated this match entirely. As it was, it was a good match, with Ziggler getting in enough offense to look legitimate. 2/5

The Big Show vs. Cody Rhodes: I thought the finish was brilliant in a way. This feud has been all about humiliation. So what happens? Big Show loses in a humiliating way, causing him to lose his IC title back to Rhodes. As for the match? Rhodes and Show have little to no chemistry in the ring. They don't do well with each other. It showed again tonight, just as it showed at Wrestlemania. 2.5/5

Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan: My pick for Match of the night. A great back and forth match. Bryan strategy of getting intentionally DQ'd didn't make much sense if you thought about it, but it made for some great strategy, and there were times when I was sure that Bryan was winning the title back. The psychology was on point, and it became clear that Bryan and Sheamus have chemistry together. One complaint: where was AJ? 4/5.

Ryback squashes two jobbers: I know some people are going to complain about this being on PPV. Too me this was a nice little breather in between the world title matches. It didn't take up too much time, and was honestly a bit of fun. Besides, the crowd started chanting "Goldberg". Awesome. In all seriousness, no rating on this one.

CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho: This was a little disappointing for me. The match was good, but not nearly as good as their Wrestlemania match. The stipulation really hampered them this time around, and they couldn't find a flow. Don't get me wrong, there were some really cool spots. But I think it says a lot about this match that there were parts of the match where CM Punk was in control in Chicago and the crowd was all but dead. Not that this was a bad match, but sub-par for these two. 3.5/5.

Nikki Bella vs. Layla: On one hand I'm a big fan of Layla. On the other hand, this just sort of came out of nowhere. At a guess I would say that the crowd was dead because they'd forgotten who the hell Layla was. I mean, she just sort of came out of nowhere. The match itself was good, but a little short (shocking, I know) 1.5/5.

John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar: This match turned out to be exactly what it needed to be. A resolution of the Cena vs. Lesnar story (even if it's temporary). The way I saw it, the story was that Lesnar tried to be an MMA fighter, and found himself in a wrestling match. So even though Lesnar dominated most of the match, Cena won with weapons, won with wrestling (by which I mean, his brand of power wrestling that doesn't exist in MMA) and most of all, won in typical SuperCena fashion – and there really wasn't any problem with it, because that was good. If it weren't for Sheamus/Bryan this would have been match of the night, as is, it was damn close. A few concerns about Brock Lesnar perhaps forgetting that he no longer has to actually beat his opponent half unconscious – this is Wrestling Brock, you don't actually have to physically hit John Cena. Regardless…4/5.

Overall: Not quite as good as Wrestlemania, but a very good followup, with high quality matches throughout.

• Match of the Night: Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan
• Wrestler of the Night: Daniel Bryan
• Best Feud of the Pay Per View: John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar
• Dud of the Night: Nikki Bella vs. Layla
• Worst Wrestler of the Night: Nikki Bella

Final Grade: 7/10

 

[AustinHartLesnarHBKTaz80]

first off...WOW what a great PPV!!

bryan/shaemus, punk/jericho, and cena/lesnar all delivered the goods.

but my main gripe is.....LESNAR SHOULD HAVE WON!!

why bring the guy back and have him lose his first match??!! makes no sense. i thought for sure lesnar was going to go over. i can't remember a time when a debuting or returning wrestler ever lost their first match....can you guys?? it's just smart booking IMO...

i know the wwe likes to pull surprises like this every now and then, but seriously, lesnar's momentum was just shot down and all this time to build him up just went down the drain.

i agree with a previous post that said we don't need another super cena that wins all the time. we've all seen that shit for the past 6+ years.

sure, cena is the 'face' of the company and sells all this merchandise, but a losing streak storyline is something we have never seen cena experience before.

if anything, cena losing to the rock, lord tensai, and then to brock lesnar would have added depth and freshness to his character.

a losing streak of this magnitude would have added layers of intrigue to his STALE character and have people wondering...how will cena react to this? will cena break down? will he give up? will he lash back at the fans? will he finally turn heel?? so many interesting roads to be taken had cena lost to lesnar....

it was a great main event match, don't get me wrong...but i still think lesnar should have won this one. we'll see how raw plays out though.....

 

[Pay Per Ghost]

I am looking forward to the Sheamus/Bryan battle. As I have only read results of now and must, it is THE match (next to Brock/Cena) that I wanna see unfold. The crowd seems to have ate up the D-Bry love and I look forward to its physical manifestation.


And another good battle to look forward to from Kane and Orton. They have been having a great great feud. with stellar matches

 

[keehlnate]

No it was not an accident. You are just a simpleton who thinks that Cody Rhodes will not win just because of the backstage segment with Teddy Long.

 

[DeathClutch]

That was clearly meant to happen and an easy way to shift the belt back to Cody, the whole point of Big Show winning the belt was for his WrestleMania moment simple as that. Cody needs the belt at the moment and I for one hope we haven't seen the last match of the Big Show/Cody feud.

Personally I'm hoping they end their feud at No Way Out in the cage match, that would really enhance the IC championship's image as a must have belt when guys are going into cage matches and long running feuds for it.

 

[Jonyboyuk2]

It made no sense at all to put Cena over Lesnar. For so many reasons.
1, this was Lesnars first match in 8 years in WWE. He had been hyped as a bad bad man. When Cena lost in a less brutal match 4 weeks ago, and Cena is about to go on hiatus (supposedly), it should have been about Lesnar beating Cena. And Cena leaving the ring ona stretcher to build hype. Hell, you could have had someone come out and help Lesnar win... but don't put Cena over.

This is all because Lesnar left McMahon at short notice in 2004. Vince has not forgiven him so now making Lesnar look poor compared to a WWE star.

 

[CKrantz]

I don't know about the rest of you, but It looked to me that Big Show's loss to Rhodes was a fluke or rather an accident. If you look at the way big show landed only on one foot and broke the table, it looked like he was not prepared to fall that way. I think the writers were planning to make it look like a "close shave". Rhodes will hit Show on his knees and he will barely escape the fall. But one of his feet slipped on the table and that was enough to break it. Hence, Big Show did the post match rampage which was part of the backup plan made by the writers.

It makes sense cause I never expected the writers to change Show's title reign so quickly especially to Cody who has lost all of his momentums. Even the prematch promo with Teddy Long was suggesting that Show is going to win this hence Cody was blaming everything else for his upcoming inevitable loss.

At any rate, that landing on one foot was a legit fall not scripted. Thats for sure.

I disagree. The only reason Big Show got the I.C belt in the first place is so he would have his wrestlemania moment. Rhodes needs the belt more then the Big Show at this point. This was a way to give him a cheap win. Hopefully both will move on to different feuds.

 

[Yesiamaduck]

I think if all you care about is weapon and blood then you'll love this show but it wasn't GREAT.
Kane Vs Randy Orton - Loads of mediocre brawling with the exact same finish as the dark match at the smackdown tapings I attended so I really felt flat after the ending. Where does Kane go from here? Did Orton really need to go over Kane? Can we just have Kane as an indestructible monster or someone that'll help new guys out PLEASE as opposed to feeding him to established stars which is totally pointless. *1/2
Brodus Clay Vs Dolph Ziggler - I love Brodus but this was pointless and I really hate the way Dolph is being used, but anything with Dolph selling is automatically given half a star so half a star is what it'll get. 1/2*
Tables Match:
Big Show Vs Cody Rhodes - This match wasn't anything special but I really loved the ending with Big Shows 'fail' face. It was really funny and creative & when Cody realised what happened it was all the better & the way Show obliterated Cody post match but Cody going off on his own without aid sort of put Big Show in a heel capacity and Rhodes as more of a face, double turn coming up? *
Daniel Bryan Vs Sheamus -> This was just a straight up good match with some creative booking for the 1st and 2nd falls which leaves the possibility of a rematch open because Bryan can claim he only got beaten once (due to the nature of the first fall) and the was some really good stuff here, but it's still not the classic I know they can deliver on. ***1/2
CM Punk Vs Chris Jericho -> Some truly awesome stuff here and some real high moments, especially the bit involving CM Punks sister, no it still isn't a classic though as the majority of the first 10 - 15minutes sort of fell a bit flat. ***
Nikki Bella Vs Layla -> Yes I was a bit disappointed that it wasn't Kharma, however Layla was my second guess and after a while I realised I was glad to see her back, she was always one of my favourite divas of the current lot before she got hurt, she can work a match & is fit + has charisma.... something most of the other Divas lack, she is the complete package and should be the face of the Divas. Match was okay for a Divas match, then again after months of Kelly Kelly matches I'm just glad to see someone who can run the ropes. 1/2*
Brock Lesnar Vs John Cena -> Bit vexed Cena won but really enjoyed the story the match told, and it had blood & quite a lot of it, something we haven't seen for 4 years. I liked the way Lesnar OWNED Cena and his downfall was his over confidence as opposed to Cena being booked like God. The end shoot was good and Cena actually SOLD the fact he'd been in a brutal match as opposed to just play fighting with some man in pants which is nice, Cena hinted in time off which might be just what the doctor ordered (seriously he must be seriously banged up on this schedule + it gives him a chance to become less stale) keep him off until their rematch at Summerslam. ***1/2
It was an okay show, the first hour was pretty much totally disposable and the 2nd half failed to deliver any classics but was a very solid block of television, oh yeah Goldberg won a match. 6.5/10

 

[cmjericho]

Im amazed at how many people that said the same thing you did. Saying it was not supposed to happen.. Check the look on Shows face. Check Cody screaming at the ref to ring the bell. It was obviously strategically placed there THAT CLOSE to the ring for that spot. The aftermath was not a "back up plan" that was supposed to be Show going crazy with frustration. Shows hands were holding the ropes with one foot on the apron if it was just a slip he could have stopped himself from his entire leg from hitting the floor. Cody is a heel, it was a way to get him a so called cheap win. If it was really a botch then the ref wouldnt have rang the bell because he stepped on the table he didnt go through it. Theres other ways to get around it. But no the ref knew to ring the bell therefor it was no botch it was the creative plan for cody to get a some what un cleaned win. come one guys you have been watching wrestling long enough to know this,

 

[cmjericho]

Oh yeah and I guess Cena falling through the table on his own in the match against Sheamus was a botch also?

 

[CKrantz]

Simple question, John Cena won tonight, Brock lost, what was the point in the return if you were going to have him lose his first match? If this was a regular return and he lost, fine he lost, but to return, talk a lot of shit to Cena, and then lose......just doesn't make sense in my eyes.

Well I guess it sets up a rematch down the road. Brock can say the win was a fluke

 

[JamJam]

Well, Extreme Rules has passed us by and man, what a PPV. One of the better PPVs in my opinion. Now onto the question. Seeing as how Extreme Rules was, do you think that this could be like a modern day ECW? I mean ECW is EXTREME Championship Wrestling after all. I think that the success of Extreme Rules can validate that a modern day ECW would work.

Now I know WWE and ECW are very different. But this thought passed my mind. And that was if Extreme Rules could be successful then maybe a modern day ECW would as well. I know this is a PPV so this won't always happen, but still. Thoughts?

 

[sxeholmes]

The thing about ECW, is that when it came out it was really the only thing like it at the time. WWE was very gimmicky, and WCW was still like a territory wrestling league as far as storylines and matches go..ECW brought something brand new and different to the table (at least in america)

ECW died because WWE and WCW took what ECW had going for it and ran with it. ECW helped the business big time, because it brought real exciting pro-wrestling back to television. The closest I could see to ECW today would be Ring Of Honor, but ROH isn't as exciting as it used to be, you know why? because WWE took all their guys. History repeats. Now if you're simply talking about WWE having a hardcore show every week, don't hold your breath. Extreme Rules to me is a good balance. It's becoming a better and better PPV every year. It's almost as if Wrestlemania is the sports entertainment spectacle and then Extreme Rules is like the thank you to the IWC. I don't think they need anymore then they're doing right now, ECW was good while it lasted..but it's better off dead. The only way it would work is if WWE backed it financially and gave Paul Heyman complete control. And that will never happen.

 

[HBsam31]

It was shows Wrestlemania moment when he got the win. It seems Cody needs the belt right now. Show does not. It was a classic example of a cheap heel win.

 

[Richard Blonoff]

It wasn't an accident, it was planned that way. Right before Show was ready to step into the ring he walked over to where the table was set up when he could have just stepped over the top from where he was. They had to plan a way for the 215 Rhodes to put the 500 Show "through" a table. It was going to be something flukey all along.

Even if you are saying something along the lines of "Show was supposed to save himself and only touch the table" its irrelevant because Show wasn't going to have a long title run anyway. Show has never had long title runs for one, and two, he is a guy who puts people over all the time. His win at Mania was more of a nod to his 10+ years with the company and to finally win the IC title than to start a long storyline with him as champ. Cody has plenty more years to have his big WM moments, and I'm sure the feud will continue until the next PPV with Cody going over with a more legit win.

 

[The Dragon Saga]

No, someone of Big Show's experience just randomly decided to go on the apron just ahead of the set-up table and just happened to be dropkicked in the leg at the precise time that he was stepping over the top rope. Congratulations on believing the entire point of the scenario, you may just be a genius yet.

Big Show won the IC Championship simply because the angle called for it. Cody had been mocking him, Show was getting angrier, he'd not had a Wrestlemania moment and he was a title away from completing the Grand Slam, it was a feel good moment, something that happens at nearly every Wrestlemania. Cody Rhodes winning the title back, although surprising he did it so quickly, makes sense because he benefits from the belt more. He can use it as it is supposed to be used, as a catapult into the Main Event scene once he has outworn the belt. It's smart and simple booking, not a mistake or accident.

Chances are Big Show will get a rematch for the belt and Cody will pick up the victory, ending the feud, once again making Cody look strong and further advancing him up the roster.

 

[Workrate]

Don't you remember when WWECW and how horrible it was? I'm not sure what you're advocating here. WWE should re-launch ECW? Some ECW copycat should sprout up? Because the former has happened and failed and the latter has been attempted for years and made no headway.

Basically, can we please move on from ECW? (The same applies to the Attitude Era, etc.)

 

[The Dragon Saga]

At the time of Extreme Championship Wrestling, the industry was in a completely different situation than it is now, there were territories, more talent was being produced, the mainstream wrestling brands had the clean, slick product and it was the nineties, in otherwords, everybody wanted to be a badass and everyone wanted to rebel. ECW was the rebellion of sorts in professional wrestling. It was counter culture and at the time worked.

We witnessed WWE's version of ECW. It came, was decent for a few months, had a couple moments and then detiriorated into nothingness. If it wasn't for the contract with Syfy WWE would have cut it out earlier than they did, and if it wasn't for Christian the network would have cut it out long before the change to NXT, because Christian drew in a decent fanbase to the show each week as its one noticeable talent.

Wrestling still has extreme promotions. Combat Zone Wrestling for example are beyond extreme, they have some tournament with the actual word "death" in the slogan and blade almost for the heck of it. Entire promotion is based around the same grunge-esq image Paul Heyman originally envisioned, but they don't succeed and asides from the odd talent here and there, don't produce. Two of its greatest talents are Jon Moxley, now built as WWE's Dean Ambrose and Adam Cole whose reasonable success in ROH. Two stars in a decade is a poor production rate.

I'm sure with the right direction, talent, booker and location an extreme-esq fed could work in modern day professional wrestling, but it would take a convincing person to pull it off with a good knowledge of what they're aiming for. Extreme Rules was mildly violent, didn't go next nor near the extreme that Extreme Championship Wrestling produced in its heyday, and Ring of Honor produces a much more violent product at times. It's a hard question to answer and you need to look at a lot of different things.

 

[Shotaro]

I agree with work rate here, sorry JAM. WWECW was a failure, I don't think that the mass market wants all of the blood and violence that came with that era. At one point last night I saw a baby wearing a Cena shirt in the front row and I just felt sorry for that kids mum. I doubt that she will bring her kid to a show again (if it were my kid I probably wouldn't either) until it's a lot older.

What's the big problem I hear you ask? Kids are the ones who buy EVERYTHING. go look at the WWE store, I'd wager 90% of adults wouldn't buy anything other than a t-shirt. Kids who are into CM Punk will want the cups, the wrist bands, the shirt and the action figure.

 

[SixMovesOfDoom]

Hey everyone.

As we all know, many pairings for matches last night were the same from Wrestlemania XXVIII: Kane vs Orton, Punk vs. Jericho, Cody vs Big Show, Bryan vs. Sheamus.

Now there are alread threads talking about what people thought of these matches by themselves. What I would like to explore is what people thought of the Extreme Rules match versus the WM XXVIII match. Was Orton vs. Kane at Extreme Rules better or worse than Orton vs. Kane at WM XXVIII? Stuff like that.

In my opinion, I think its obvious that Bryan vs. Sheamus at Extreme Rules was a definite improvement over Bryan vs. Sheamus at WM. What does everyone else think about this and the other duplicate matches?

 

[Wald]

I actually thought the Cena win was meant to mirror Brock's first UFC match against Frank Mir, in that Lesnar looked the stronger of the two, looked like was going to put it away with ease but got a bit sloppy and allowed his opponent to pick up a somewhat undeserved victory.

It could set up Lesnar claiming that he isn't going to make a mistake like that again and set him down the dominant heel road until Cena returns for a fresh feud

 

[RKOrob]

I preferred all the Extreme Rules matches tbh. The feuds didn't have enough time to really heat up at much as they could before Wrestlemania. Jericho didn't really start to bring up CM Punk's past until after their Wrestlemania match, which is what has made this feud so personal and captivating to watch. In terms of match quality, I enjoyed all the rematches more as well

 

[The_Sharpshooter]

I feel like all the matches were better at Extreme Rules except Cody/Show, which I consider a draw between the two PPVs.

Most matches were presented better just off the crowd alone. Stadium shows never project well on TV because you can't feel the excitment of the crowd due to distance. But Chicago crowds never disappoint and you hear them all the time. Also:

Sheamus/Bryan is better by default
Y2J/Punk was better because they took their storytelling to the next level
Orton/Kane should always fight NO DQ matches
Show/Cody had a better match at WM, but the way Big Show smashed on Cody after the match made it even to me. Glad to see Cody stand on his own!! Face turn???

 

[#heel420]

Well, Extreme Rules has passed us by and man, what a PPV. One of the better PPVs in my opinion. Now onto the question. Seeing as how Extreme Rules was, do you think that this could be like a modern day ECW? I mean ECW is EXTREME Championship Wrestling after all. I think that the success of Extreme Rules can validate that a modern day ECW would work.

Now I know WWE and ECW are very different. But this thought passed my mind. And that was if Extreme Rules could be successful then maybe a modern day ECW would as well. I know this is a PPV so this won't always happen, but still. Thoughts?

Do you not remember the neutered version that lasted from 2006-2010? Didn't work, went from being decent in the beginning to being boring in the end. It was basically a glorified episode of Superstars with a championship. IMO they should of let ECW rest in piece. We all remembered them as being the little company competing with the big guys and holding their own(Until they ran out of money). Now it's remembered as the WWE's C show on syfy.