Jack-Hammer
YOU WILL RESPECT MY AUTHORITAH!!!!
Keep all discussion regarding the ppv, fantasy cards, etc. in here.
WWE Extreme Rules 2017 General Discussion & Reviews
- Thread starter Jack-Hammer
- Start date
Spencesc11
Getting Noticed By Management
If WWE wants ratings then do this.....
Reigns wins the Fatal 5-way pinning Joe or Wyatt.
At Great Balls of Fire during Brock vs. Reigns you have Heyman's new henchman (Gallows & Anderson come out to take out Reigns when the ref is down. Lesnar smirks and goes to grab Reigns to deliver the F-5 and out comes Rollins & Ambrose they hit the ring after taking out Anderson & Gallows. The Shield reunites in the center of the ring and deliver the triple power bomb to Brock Lesnar. Reigns covers and gets the 1, 2, 3, victory. The band is back together!!! The next night on Raw Heyman comes out and says my client is going to take some time off but when he's ready he will reclaim what was stolen from him. Heyman then introduces the Club as his newest clients and then the surprise 3rd member of his new group comes out ADAM COLE!!! The Club now has an identity with Heyman also involved.
And at next year's Wrestlemania
instead of Brock vs. Reigns again you have Roman Reigns vs. John Cena!!!
Reigns wins the Fatal 5-way pinning Joe or Wyatt.
At Great Balls of Fire during Brock vs. Reigns you have Heyman's new henchman (Gallows & Anderson come out to take out Reigns when the ref is down. Lesnar smirks and goes to grab Reigns to deliver the F-5 and out comes Rollins & Ambrose they hit the ring after taking out Anderson & Gallows. The Shield reunites in the center of the ring and deliver the triple power bomb to Brock Lesnar. Reigns covers and gets the 1, 2, 3, victory. The band is back together!!! The next night on Raw Heyman comes out and says my client is going to take some time off but when he's ready he will reclaim what was stolen from him. Heyman then introduces the Club as his newest clients and then the surprise 3rd member of his new group comes out ADAM COLE!!! The Club now has an identity with Heyman also involved.
And at next year's Wrestlemania
instead of Brock vs. Reigns again you have Roman Reigns vs. John Cena!!!
So tonight the WWE's Raw brand held the 2017 edition of Extreme Rules. A PPV brand I've never been all that fond of. It's never "extreme". I went into this event with very low expectations. It's bad enough that the show was going to be incomplete no matter what due to Brock holding the Universal Championship hostage, the card didn't interest me much on paper. If I didn't have the WWE Network then I would have skipped the show completely. Since I do have the network I decided to go ahead and give it a chance. I paid the monthly fees anyway, so why not. Watching this was something to do with friends on a sunday.
Pre-Show: Apollo Crews VS Kalisto
A fine match for pre-show standards. Kalisto getting the win was a nice surprise.
Dean Ambrose VS The Miz [Intercontinental Championship]
The weird stipulation for this one had me concerned going into the match. It ended up being pretty good. When Miz had Maryse slap him, I thought that was going to be it. That would have been a stupid ending. The way it actually did end made more sense. Maybe now Dean can move on to bigger and better things.
Alicia Fox & Noam Dar VS Sasha Banks & Rich Swann [Mixed Tag Team match]
Sasha and Swann winning was 100% the right call. Alicia Fox isn't great and I couldn't care less about Noam Dar. Looks like we might have our next Cruiserweight and Raw Women's Champion contenders.... The match itself wasn't anything spectacular. One of the worst of the night and had Sasha not been in it then it likely would have been the worst. She made it watchable.
Alexa Bliss VS Bayley [Raw Women's Championship]
Well, that happened. As much as I like Alexa, even I as an Alexa mark was disappointed. The match ended way too quickly. While I did want Alexa to retain they missed out on something here. Bayley should have been booked as more of a challenge. It was very one sided and ended too fast. At least Alexa retained.
Hardy Boyz VS Cesaro & Sheamus [Cage Match for the Raw Tag Team Championship]
Ugh.... This is another that had potential but they missed it. Why would The Hardys have even chosen a Cage stipulation anyway? It should have been TLC or something more hardcore. The ending was stupid and I really disliked it. Plus, The Hardys should have retained.
Neville VS Austin Aries [Submission match for the Cruiserweight Championship]
I'm glad this made it onto the main card. I was worried it might get bumped down to the pre-show. That being said.... Yet again, another match that had potential but missed out on said potential. I was a bit surprised Aries didn't win the title. He's had multiple chances. This has to be it for that feud. I would predict Swann gets the next title shot.
Bray Wyatt VS Finn Balor VS Roman Reigns VS Samoa Joe VS Seth Rollins [Fatal Fiveway for the #1 Contendership to the Universal Championship]
Goodness what a cluster mess this match was. It could have been so much worse though. Joe is not who I would have guessed would win. At least it wasn't Reigns. I'll be at Great Balls Of Fire so if Samoa Joe VS Brock Lesnar is the match that main events it I am fine with that. This would been cool for a Universal Championship match, you know, if we HAD a title for these guys to fight for. Match of the night if I had to pick one, mainly due to several matches falling short of their potential.
Overall Thoughts
Well this show sucked. It wasn't the total waste of time I expected going into the event, although it was hardly great. A longer Women's Championship match (with Alexa still retaining) and an actual Universal Championship match would have helped. As would some more stipulations that truly fit the brand name, despite year after year that problem never goes away. Smackdown had the better show this PPV cycle with their Backlash event, however not by much. I definitely think next month will be a better PPV cycle with both Money In The Bank and Great Balls Of Fire being steps up for their respective brands from the nonsense we had this month. This was the second to worst show of the year falling only behind Fastlane for me.
Dagger's 2017 WWE PPV Rankings
1. Wrestlemania 33
2. Elimination Chamber 2017
3. Royal Rumble 2017
4. Backlash 2017
5. Payback 2017
6. Extreme Rules 2017
7. Fastlane 2017
Pre-Show: Apollo Crews VS Kalisto
A fine match for pre-show standards. Kalisto getting the win was a nice surprise.
Dean Ambrose VS The Miz [Intercontinental Championship]
The weird stipulation for this one had me concerned going into the match. It ended up being pretty good. When Miz had Maryse slap him, I thought that was going to be it. That would have been a stupid ending. The way it actually did end made more sense. Maybe now Dean can move on to bigger and better things.
Alicia Fox & Noam Dar VS Sasha Banks & Rich Swann [Mixed Tag Team match]
Sasha and Swann winning was 100% the right call. Alicia Fox isn't great and I couldn't care less about Noam Dar. Looks like we might have our next Cruiserweight and Raw Women's Champion contenders.... The match itself wasn't anything spectacular. One of the worst of the night and had Sasha not been in it then it likely would have been the worst. She made it watchable.
Alexa Bliss VS Bayley [Raw Women's Championship]
Well, that happened. As much as I like Alexa, even I as an Alexa mark was disappointed. The match ended way too quickly. While I did want Alexa to retain they missed out on something here. Bayley should have been booked as more of a challenge. It was very one sided and ended too fast. At least Alexa retained.
Hardy Boyz VS Cesaro & Sheamus [Cage Match for the Raw Tag Team Championship]
Ugh.... This is another that had potential but they missed it. Why would The Hardys have even chosen a Cage stipulation anyway? It should have been TLC or something more hardcore. The ending was stupid and I really disliked it. Plus, The Hardys should have retained.
Neville VS Austin Aries [Submission match for the Cruiserweight Championship]
I'm glad this made it onto the main card. I was worried it might get bumped down to the pre-show. That being said.... Yet again, another match that had potential but missed out on said potential. I was a bit surprised Aries didn't win the title. He's had multiple chances. This has to be it for that feud. I would predict Swann gets the next title shot.
Bray Wyatt VS Finn Balor VS Roman Reigns VS Samoa Joe VS Seth Rollins [Fatal Fiveway for the #1 Contendership to the Universal Championship]
Goodness what a cluster mess this match was. It could have been so much worse though. Joe is not who I would have guessed would win. At least it wasn't Reigns. I'll be at Great Balls Of Fire so if Samoa Joe VS Brock Lesnar is the match that main events it I am fine with that. This would been cool for a Universal Championship match, you know, if we HAD a title for these guys to fight for. Match of the night if I had to pick one, mainly due to several matches falling short of their potential.
Overall Thoughts
Well this show sucked. It wasn't the total waste of time I expected going into the event, although it was hardly great. A longer Women's Championship match (with Alexa still retaining) and an actual Universal Championship match would have helped. As would some more stipulations that truly fit the brand name, despite year after year that problem never goes away. Smackdown had the better show this PPV cycle with their Backlash event, however not by much. I definitely think next month will be a better PPV cycle with both Money In The Bank and Great Balls Of Fire being steps up for their respective brands from the nonsense we had this month. This was the second to worst show of the year falling only behind Fastlane for me.
Dagger's 2017 WWE PPV Rankings
1. Wrestlemania 33
2. Elimination Chamber 2017
3. Royal Rumble 2017
4. Backlash 2017
5. Payback 2017
6. Extreme Rules 2017
7. Fastlane 2017
So this was a wasted of time
The kickoff mach was a reall good match which was a good way to start the show sadly it was all downhill after that.
Ambrose vs miz was a decent match but this is yor typical miz/ambrose match and it got boring after a while.
The mixed tag match was what it was. Good match but the more memorable thing about the match was rich swann finally beating the curse and winning in his home town.
Alexa vs bayley was awful. Again nothing again the performers but the fact they didn't get alot of time felt like this match was rush and didn't help bayley at all.
The steel cage match felt clumsy and taking the pinfall or submission stipulation took alot of the drama out od the match and telegraph the finish
The cruiserweight submission match was really confusing because I thought that they could only finish the match by submission but the ref was treating this match like a normal match which took me out of it..
The main event was realy good for what it was but sad to see that they decided to have samoa joe has the sacrificial lamb for lesnar at great balls of fire. I would have love to see these 2 in a small feud but sadly that's not happening now.
So in the end, if you don't count the kickoff match which for me was the match of the night it was one of the worst show of the year for wwe and it showed that the raw creative team need to change how they are thinking because what they are doing right now doesn't work especially for the undercard.
The kickoff mach was a reall good match which was a good way to start the show sadly it was all downhill after that.
Ambrose vs miz was a decent match but this is yor typical miz/ambrose match and it got boring after a while.
The mixed tag match was what it was. Good match but the more memorable thing about the match was rich swann finally beating the curse and winning in his home town.
Alexa vs bayley was awful. Again nothing again the performers but the fact they didn't get alot of time felt like this match was rush and didn't help bayley at all.
The steel cage match felt clumsy and taking the pinfall or submission stipulation took alot of the drama out od the match and telegraph the finish
The cruiserweight submission match was really confusing because I thought that they could only finish the match by submission but the ref was treating this match like a normal match which took me out of it..
The main event was realy good for what it was but sad to see that they decided to have samoa joe has the sacrificial lamb for lesnar at great balls of fire. I would have love to see these 2 in a small feud but sadly that's not happening now.
So in the end, if you don't count the kickoff match which for me was the match of the night it was one of the worst show of the year for wwe and it showed that the raw creative team need to change how they are thinking because what they are doing right now doesn't work especially for the undercard.
Extreme Rules is in the books and considering the build to the PPV was lame, and how horrible RAW has been lately, went into this not expecting much. I was however pleasantly surprised. Missed the preshow completely due to being out, but will look up the Kalisto/Crews match later.
Dean Ambrose VS The Miz [Intercontinental Championship]
Pretty good match with Ambrose trying not to be bad and the Miz trying his hardest to make Ambrose disqualify himself. Good back and forth action and am glad to see the Miz get the title. It's time for Ambrose to move on to something else, even though I have no idea what it will be.
Alicia Fox & Noam Dar VS Sasha Banks & Rich Swann [Mixed Tag Team match]
This wasn't a bad match either. Sasha taking out Dar with the double knees was the highlight. She also added some star power to it. I like Rich Swan and hope that he can get a title shot against Neville sooner rather than later.
Alexa Bliss VS Bayley [Raw Women's Championship]
Easily the worst match of the night. I have no idea what the hell they are doing with Bayley. She came up from NXT with such fanfare and they have booked her as a failure ever since. Yes we all know she's the underdog, but the creative department are giving the fans no reason to get behind her. Add to the fact that Bliss is such a great heel, Bayley looks like a schoolgirl next to her. A gimmick change for Bayley, maybe give her a little more edge would be helpful. Another thing was, wasn't the idea to get the keno stick off the pole? Once off why didn't the match end, isn't that usually how pole matches work?
Hardy Boyz VS Cesaro & Sheamus [Cage Match for the Raw Tag Team Championship]
Not disappointed to see the belts back on Shesaro but wondering where the tag team division goes from this point. The Hardy's will have a rematch of course, might be time for them to start putting some of the other tag teams in the division over. If you watched RAW for the past month or so, you would think there are only two teams in the whole division, that has to change.
Neville VS Austin Aries [Submission match for the Cruiserweight Championship]
Another good match but a head scratcher. Seriously thought Aries would pull this one out, but not to be. I guess the next opponent for Neville is TJP, because this feud must be over with by now.
Bray Wyatt VS Finn Balor VS Roman Reigns VS Samoa Joe VS Seth Rollins [Fatal Fiveway for the #1 Contendership to the Universal Championship]
Thought it would be terrible and it wasn't. Figured that Joe and Bray would team up against the rest, have no idea why the rest didn't team up against them though. Faces are so stupid at times. Glad to see Joe win and as long as it's competitive with Lesnar should be a good match. Wondering if Rollins injured his leg again. When he did the frogsplash on Wyatt, the table didn't break the way it should have. The steel steps stopped it from hitting the ground and Rollins looked like he hurt his shin on the impact. Anyway, good match and much better than expected.
Overall Thoughts
They put on a good show despite an awful build. Was hoping for Lesnar to come out at the end and give the winner of the main event a stare down or deliver a bunch of F5's to the group, yea that didn't happen. One of RAW's better PPV's recently.
Dean Ambrose VS The Miz [Intercontinental Championship]
Pretty good match with Ambrose trying not to be bad and the Miz trying his hardest to make Ambrose disqualify himself. Good back and forth action and am glad to see the Miz get the title. It's time for Ambrose to move on to something else, even though I have no idea what it will be.
Alicia Fox & Noam Dar VS Sasha Banks & Rich Swann [Mixed Tag Team match]
This wasn't a bad match either. Sasha taking out Dar with the double knees was the highlight. She also added some star power to it. I like Rich Swan and hope that he can get a title shot against Neville sooner rather than later.
Alexa Bliss VS Bayley [Raw Women's Championship]
Easily the worst match of the night. I have no idea what the hell they are doing with Bayley. She came up from NXT with such fanfare and they have booked her as a failure ever since. Yes we all know she's the underdog, but the creative department are giving the fans no reason to get behind her. Add to the fact that Bliss is such a great heel, Bayley looks like a schoolgirl next to her. A gimmick change for Bayley, maybe give her a little more edge would be helpful. Another thing was, wasn't the idea to get the keno stick off the pole? Once off why didn't the match end, isn't that usually how pole matches work?
Hardy Boyz VS Cesaro & Sheamus [Cage Match for the Raw Tag Team Championship]
Not disappointed to see the belts back on Shesaro but wondering where the tag team division goes from this point. The Hardy's will have a rematch of course, might be time for them to start putting some of the other tag teams in the division over. If you watched RAW for the past month or so, you would think there are only two teams in the whole division, that has to change.
Neville VS Austin Aries [Submission match for the Cruiserweight Championship]
Another good match but a head scratcher. Seriously thought Aries would pull this one out, but not to be. I guess the next opponent for Neville is TJP, because this feud must be over with by now.
Bray Wyatt VS Finn Balor VS Roman Reigns VS Samoa Joe VS Seth Rollins [Fatal Fiveway for the #1 Contendership to the Universal Championship]
Thought it would be terrible and it wasn't. Figured that Joe and Bray would team up against the rest, have no idea why the rest didn't team up against them though. Faces are so stupid at times. Glad to see Joe win and as long as it's competitive with Lesnar should be a good match. Wondering if Rollins injured his leg again. When he did the frogsplash on Wyatt, the table didn't break the way it should have. The steel steps stopped it from hitting the ground and Rollins looked like he hurt his shin on the impact. Anyway, good match and much better than expected.
Overall Thoughts
They put on a good show despite an awful build. Was hoping for Lesnar to come out at the end and give the winner of the main event a stare down or deliver a bunch of F5's to the group, yea that didn't happen. One of RAW's better PPV's recently.
Jack-Hammer
YOU WILL RESPECT MY AUTHORITAH!!!!
WWE Extreme Rules Kickoff Show
1. Kalisto vs. Apollo Crews - This was the first kickoff show match I've watched in a while and it was pretty decent. Truth is, it was much better than the usual preshow match that featured both guys getting a good opportunity to show off some of their athleticism. The Baltimore crowd was also pretty into this match and gave both wrestlers their attention. Kalisto showed resilience that led to Titus getting on the ring apron out of frustration, thereby causing Crews to be distracted; Kalisto takes advantage by running over to both of them and hitting Salida del Sol on Crews, while simultaneously kicking Titus, for the win. A good 10 minute match that I wouldn't have minded being on the main card. **3/4
WWE Extreme Rules
1. WWE Intercontinental Championship: Dean Ambrose vs. The Miz - Miz & Ambrose have really good in-ring chemistry with each other and worked hard to put on a very entertaining start to the main card. I was worried that they would go overboard with the various shenanigans of Miz trying to get Ambrose disqualified but they didn't, they made the stipulation part of the story in a good way without detracting from the match itself. Miz's attempts to get Ambrose DQ'd were fun, including getting Maryse to slap the piss out of him in the hopes that the ref would disqualify Ambrose because of it. The ref saw through the attempt and tossed Maryse from ringside while the fans popped huge. At various times, there were dueling "Let's Go Ambrose - Let's Go Miz" chants, and this is the first time I can really recall Miz getting chants, primarily from the men in the audience; quite a difference 1.5 years can make in a career. As Maryse is getting sent back, with the ref watching her, Miz tosses Ambrose into the ref from behind and knocks him out of the ring. The ref looks at Ambrose and looks to be on the verge of disqualifying Ambrose while walking around the side of the ring heading towards the timekeeper/ring announcer area while Ambrose is pleading with him, the fans were really invested here and Miz takes advantage to sneak up behind Ambrose and deliver the Skull Crushing Finale. The ref slides back into the ring and delivers the three count, ending the match at the 20 minute mark with Miz winning the Intercontinental Championship for the 7th time. ***3/4
2. Rich Swann & Sasha Banks vs. Noam Dar & Alicia Fox - This match was okay for what it was, which was a harmless buffer match. It went about 6.5 minutes, so it didn't overstay its welcome and Banks did lend some star power here. Swann has a lot of energy, I could honestly see this kid as part of New Day, if they were still on Raw, and he's one of the more entertaining of the Cruiserweights. The highlight of the match was Sasha's spot of landing the double knees from the top rope onto Dar on the outside. Swann scores the victory on Dar after hitting his finisher, a sweet looking Phoenix Splash. **1/4
3. WWE Raw Women's Championship: Alexa Bliss vs. Bayley - The weakest match on the card really, partially because it was kept so incredibly short as it only went about 5 minutes. The building story to the program seemed to be Bayley getting "extreme", overcoming being so nice in order to do what she needed to do to win but that wasn't what went down during the match. In fact, what went down was exactly what Alexa Bliss had claimed: Bayley couldn't get "extreme" as she hesitated when it came to using the kendo stick and it cost her. Alexa beat Bayley for several minutes with the stick before hitting her DDT finisher for the win. I think Alexa retaining was the right choice, but they didn't have to make Bayley look like such an idiot in the process. *3/4
4. WWE Raw Tag Team Championship: The Hardy Boyz vs. Sheamus & Cesaro - This match was better than I expected. I wasn't entirely sure what to expect here but I thought they put forth a good effort and they made good use of the cage. In a lot of WWE cage matches these days, the cage itself hasn't gotten a whole lot of use as a weapon but both teams utilized it pretty well here. I liked the stipulation of both team members having to be out of the cage to win because, frankly, it makes sense. Of course, there were a lot of escape attempts and while that can get redundant after a while. At one point, Jeff Hardy escapes the cage though, as the commentators pointed out, that leaves your partner to face two men alone, though the person can re-enter the cage but that negates their first escape. Jeff Hardy hit his big spot off the top the cage, which we all knew was coming and it felt right. I was surprised to see Sheamus & Cesaro win here, they were definitely the underdogs and I think most of us expected the Hardy Boyz to move on. Jeff was pulling a prone Matt slowly out the door while Sheamus & Cesaro did the "slow climb" out of the cage in order to try and build the suspense, which it did to some degree, as they both hit the floor a few seconds before Jeff successfully pulled Matt out of the cage door to the floor. ***1/4
5. WWE Cruiserweight Championship: Neville vs. Austin Aries - A strong performance from these two with, again, a surprising outcome. I've really enjoyed Neville in his role and I hope this means he'll move up the card eventually. The match told a good story with both men coming off really determined to finish each other with some believable submission attempts at various points, with both successfully locking in the Ring of Saturn and Last Chancery respectively. Neville appears to attempt to get himself DQ'd again by grabbing the referee, the same ref for their match at Payback I believe, but it doesn't go down. The end comes after Aries attempts his suicide dive, only for Neville to duck so that he goes splat against the floor. Neville rolls Aries back into the ring and hits a sick looking Red Arrow from the top before immediately transferring into the Rings of Saturn once again, with Aries visibly submitting and giving Neville the win a little before the 18 minute mark. I'm not really sure who's next for Neville and while it wouldn't have bothered me to see Aries pick up the win, I'm not bothered by Neville retaining either. ***1/2
6. Fatal Fiveway WWE Universal Championship #1 Contender's Match - A wild 30 minute brawl in which all five men had a good opportunity to show what they can do. I liked the dynamic of the two heels, Samoa Joe & Bray Wyatt, working together through the first half of the match to help take out the babyfaces. Reigns came off as the role of alpha male, Rollins & Balor came off as scrappy babyfaces, Bray was a manipulator while Joe was just a badass and it all came together very nicely. As you'd expect in this sort of setting, there were some big spots including Roman Reigns spearing both Balor & Joe through the barricade around the timekeeper's area and Seth Rollins putting Bray Wyatt through one of the announce tables with a sick looking Frog Splash from the top rope. My only real complaint was that Reigns with a little punch happy with the Superman Punch, as he sometimes does, as he hit the thing about four or five times. At the end of the match, or towards the end, Balor rallies and takes out most everyone, saving Reigns for last. He hits the running dropkick that sent Reigns crashing into the turnbuckles before quickly climbing the ropes and successfully hitting the Coup de Grace on Reigns for a two count before Samoa Joe comes up from behind and locks in the Coquina Clutch. Reigns is unable to break it up as he's selling Finn's finisher while Bray & Rollins are nowhere in sight so Balor passes out from the move and the ref calls for the bell. Samoa Joe is #1 contender for the WWE Universal Championship. ****1/4
Final Thoughts - I enjoyed Extreme Rules, it was a major improvement over Payback and one of the better Raw brand ppvs. My only real complaint was the Raw Women's Championship match as it was too short and Bayley came off looking like a weak, idiotic babyface. There were a few surprises such as Sheamus & Cesaro regaining the Raw Tag Team Championship and Neville retaining the Cruiserweight Championship; I also figured that either Rollins or Balor would win the main event to face Brock Lesnar next month but I've got no problem with Joe getting a shot. My concern is that they wind up feeding Joe to Lesnar instead of making it a competitive match.
Grade: B
1. Kalisto vs. Apollo Crews - This was the first kickoff show match I've watched in a while and it was pretty decent. Truth is, it was much better than the usual preshow match that featured both guys getting a good opportunity to show off some of their athleticism. The Baltimore crowd was also pretty into this match and gave both wrestlers their attention. Kalisto showed resilience that led to Titus getting on the ring apron out of frustration, thereby causing Crews to be distracted; Kalisto takes advantage by running over to both of them and hitting Salida del Sol on Crews, while simultaneously kicking Titus, for the win. A good 10 minute match that I wouldn't have minded being on the main card. **3/4
WWE Extreme Rules
1. WWE Intercontinental Championship: Dean Ambrose vs. The Miz - Miz & Ambrose have really good in-ring chemistry with each other and worked hard to put on a very entertaining start to the main card. I was worried that they would go overboard with the various shenanigans of Miz trying to get Ambrose disqualified but they didn't, they made the stipulation part of the story in a good way without detracting from the match itself. Miz's attempts to get Ambrose DQ'd were fun, including getting Maryse to slap the piss out of him in the hopes that the ref would disqualify Ambrose because of it. The ref saw through the attempt and tossed Maryse from ringside while the fans popped huge. At various times, there were dueling "Let's Go Ambrose - Let's Go Miz" chants, and this is the first time I can really recall Miz getting chants, primarily from the men in the audience; quite a difference 1.5 years can make in a career. As Maryse is getting sent back, with the ref watching her, Miz tosses Ambrose into the ref from behind and knocks him out of the ring. The ref looks at Ambrose and looks to be on the verge of disqualifying Ambrose while walking around the side of the ring heading towards the timekeeper/ring announcer area while Ambrose is pleading with him, the fans were really invested here and Miz takes advantage to sneak up behind Ambrose and deliver the Skull Crushing Finale. The ref slides back into the ring and delivers the three count, ending the match at the 20 minute mark with Miz winning the Intercontinental Championship for the 7th time. ***3/4
2. Rich Swann & Sasha Banks vs. Noam Dar & Alicia Fox - This match was okay for what it was, which was a harmless buffer match. It went about 6.5 minutes, so it didn't overstay its welcome and Banks did lend some star power here. Swann has a lot of energy, I could honestly see this kid as part of New Day, if they were still on Raw, and he's one of the more entertaining of the Cruiserweights. The highlight of the match was Sasha's spot of landing the double knees from the top rope onto Dar on the outside. Swann scores the victory on Dar after hitting his finisher, a sweet looking Phoenix Splash. **1/4
3. WWE Raw Women's Championship: Alexa Bliss vs. Bayley - The weakest match on the card really, partially because it was kept so incredibly short as it only went about 5 minutes. The building story to the program seemed to be Bayley getting "extreme", overcoming being so nice in order to do what she needed to do to win but that wasn't what went down during the match. In fact, what went down was exactly what Alexa Bliss had claimed: Bayley couldn't get "extreme" as she hesitated when it came to using the kendo stick and it cost her. Alexa beat Bayley for several minutes with the stick before hitting her DDT finisher for the win. I think Alexa retaining was the right choice, but they didn't have to make Bayley look like such an idiot in the process. *3/4
4. WWE Raw Tag Team Championship: The Hardy Boyz vs. Sheamus & Cesaro - This match was better than I expected. I wasn't entirely sure what to expect here but I thought they put forth a good effort and they made good use of the cage. In a lot of WWE cage matches these days, the cage itself hasn't gotten a whole lot of use as a weapon but both teams utilized it pretty well here. I liked the stipulation of both team members having to be out of the cage to win because, frankly, it makes sense. Of course, there were a lot of escape attempts and while that can get redundant after a while. At one point, Jeff Hardy escapes the cage though, as the commentators pointed out, that leaves your partner to face two men alone, though the person can re-enter the cage but that negates their first escape. Jeff Hardy hit his big spot off the top the cage, which we all knew was coming and it felt right. I was surprised to see Sheamus & Cesaro win here, they were definitely the underdogs and I think most of us expected the Hardy Boyz to move on. Jeff was pulling a prone Matt slowly out the door while Sheamus & Cesaro did the "slow climb" out of the cage in order to try and build the suspense, which it did to some degree, as they both hit the floor a few seconds before Jeff successfully pulled Matt out of the cage door to the floor. ***1/4
5. WWE Cruiserweight Championship: Neville vs. Austin Aries - A strong performance from these two with, again, a surprising outcome. I've really enjoyed Neville in his role and I hope this means he'll move up the card eventually. The match told a good story with both men coming off really determined to finish each other with some believable submission attempts at various points, with both successfully locking in the Ring of Saturn and Last Chancery respectively. Neville appears to attempt to get himself DQ'd again by grabbing the referee, the same ref for their match at Payback I believe, but it doesn't go down. The end comes after Aries attempts his suicide dive, only for Neville to duck so that he goes splat against the floor. Neville rolls Aries back into the ring and hits a sick looking Red Arrow from the top before immediately transferring into the Rings of Saturn once again, with Aries visibly submitting and giving Neville the win a little before the 18 minute mark. I'm not really sure who's next for Neville and while it wouldn't have bothered me to see Aries pick up the win, I'm not bothered by Neville retaining either. ***1/2
6. Fatal Fiveway WWE Universal Championship #1 Contender's Match - A wild 30 minute brawl in which all five men had a good opportunity to show what they can do. I liked the dynamic of the two heels, Samoa Joe & Bray Wyatt, working together through the first half of the match to help take out the babyfaces. Reigns came off as the role of alpha male, Rollins & Balor came off as scrappy babyfaces, Bray was a manipulator while Joe was just a badass and it all came together very nicely. As you'd expect in this sort of setting, there were some big spots including Roman Reigns spearing both Balor & Joe through the barricade around the timekeeper's area and Seth Rollins putting Bray Wyatt through one of the announce tables with a sick looking Frog Splash from the top rope. My only real complaint was that Reigns with a little punch happy with the Superman Punch, as he sometimes does, as he hit the thing about four or five times. At the end of the match, or towards the end, Balor rallies and takes out most everyone, saving Reigns for last. He hits the running dropkick that sent Reigns crashing into the turnbuckles before quickly climbing the ropes and successfully hitting the Coup de Grace on Reigns for a two count before Samoa Joe comes up from behind and locks in the Coquina Clutch. Reigns is unable to break it up as he's selling Finn's finisher while Bray & Rollins are nowhere in sight so Balor passes out from the move and the ref calls for the bell. Samoa Joe is #1 contender for the WWE Universal Championship. ****1/4
Final Thoughts - I enjoyed Extreme Rules, it was a major improvement over Payback and one of the better Raw brand ppvs. My only real complaint was the Raw Women's Championship match as it was too short and Bayley came off looking like a weak, idiotic babyface. There were a few surprises such as Sheamus & Cesaro regaining the Raw Tag Team Championship and Neville retaining the Cruiserweight Championship; I also figured that either Rollins or Balor would win the main event to face Brock Lesnar next month but I've got no problem with Joe getting a shot. My concern is that they wind up feeding Joe to Lesnar instead of making it a competitive match.
Grade: B
I liked the show. As always with the one branded PPVs you should always go in with a low bar and be happy if it just reaches that bar. Well this show easily beat the bar for me. Well the wrestling did anyways. There were a lot of little things that just bugged me in each of the matches. I'll start with;
Miz vs Ambrose: It was so obvious and how the match was going to play out but it still turned out to be good and probably the best finish they could've gone with, a pin fall so the Miz can brag. One of the better matches between the two. I just didn't like the fact that Ambrose had to stop himself mid motion to not do something that would do himself. Like seriously Dean, you don't do it in any of the other matches when the stipulation isn't resulting you losing the title, so why would you do it in the one match when you can. Good Matt apart from those little things.
Mixed tag match: Yeah probably a Raw match but it featured cruiserweights on the main card and Sasha so why not.
Bayley vs Bliss: A short match in which Bayley looks like a fool. How could something else make their homecoming segment look good? I never have been on the Bayley train so her booking isn't as what I think it is compared to what it is. I should've guessed earlier but Sasha is next in line right? Losing to eventually turn her heel somewhere in the winter. A lot sooner than what I was thinking a couple days ago but indunnk why I wasn't thinking like this before.
Hardyz vs The typical European stable without hating America: Another good match I thought. I don't really get the booking at the end. First off how is Jeff more hurt from a whisper in the wind from the top of the cage than Cesaro and Sheamus. Jeff took one brogue kick and a headbutt while on the outside and the other guys took probably just as much while Jeff wasn't in, so what's the go there haha. Secondly does this lead to the broken gimmick. Will Matt bring up that the rule was never that before. I know Michael Cole brought it up on commentary but WWE need to release a rule book so we know what's going on.
Neville vs Aries: I was surprised at Aries losing here but I loved the match. Two good wrestlers just putting holds on each other, it's awesome. Nothing big to say.
Wyatt vs Rollins vs Reigns vs Balor vs Joe: Hindsight says Jor was the most logical choice. It's the best way to sell the next PPV. Much better match than I was expecting. I was hoping for a Reigns win only because I knew that wouldn't of happened but I predicted a Rollins win. Everyone shined. Where to go for the others. Reigns vs Atrowman, Balor vs Wyatt and Rollins vs ???. Miz maybe. Who does Dean have as well. Does Wyatt go onto the Hardyz maybe. I like that there is so many questions.
Good PPV overall.
Miz vs Ambrose: It was so obvious and how the match was going to play out but it still turned out to be good and probably the best finish they could've gone with, a pin fall so the Miz can brag. One of the better matches between the two. I just didn't like the fact that Ambrose had to stop himself mid motion to not do something that would do himself. Like seriously Dean, you don't do it in any of the other matches when the stipulation isn't resulting you losing the title, so why would you do it in the one match when you can. Good Matt apart from those little things.
Mixed tag match: Yeah probably a Raw match but it featured cruiserweights on the main card and Sasha so why not.
Bayley vs Bliss: A short match in which Bayley looks like a fool. How could something else make their homecoming segment look good? I never have been on the Bayley train so her booking isn't as what I think it is compared to what it is. I should've guessed earlier but Sasha is next in line right? Losing to eventually turn her heel somewhere in the winter. A lot sooner than what I was thinking a couple days ago but indunnk why I wasn't thinking like this before.
Hardyz vs The typical European stable without hating America: Another good match I thought. I don't really get the booking at the end. First off how is Jeff more hurt from a whisper in the wind from the top of the cage than Cesaro and Sheamus. Jeff took one brogue kick and a headbutt while on the outside and the other guys took probably just as much while Jeff wasn't in, so what's the go there haha. Secondly does this lead to the broken gimmick. Will Matt bring up that the rule was never that before. I know Michael Cole brought it up on commentary but WWE need to release a rule book so we know what's going on.
Neville vs Aries: I was surprised at Aries losing here but I loved the match. Two good wrestlers just putting holds on each other, it's awesome. Nothing big to say.
Wyatt vs Rollins vs Reigns vs Balor vs Joe: Hindsight says Jor was the most logical choice. It's the best way to sell the next PPV. Much better match than I was expecting. I was hoping for a Reigns win only because I knew that wouldn't of happened but I predicted a Rollins win. Everyone shined. Where to go for the others. Reigns vs Atrowman, Balor vs Wyatt and Rollins vs ???. Miz maybe. Who does Dean have as well. Does Wyatt go onto the Hardyz maybe. I like that there is so many questions.
Good PPV overall.
A very good PPV considering the wrestling and entertainment. Some mind-boggling booking like Bayley losing in 6 minutes in a bad match, Aries losing again, the method of Cesaro/Sheamus' title win, etc.
Nowhere near wastage of time. That's too much of exaggeration. Betting odds favored Samoa Joe and so did the match result. Fingers crossed about Joe not getting squashed against Brock. I'm not too faithful about it though.
Easily one of the better PPVs of 2017.
Nowhere near wastage of time. That's too much of exaggeration. Betting odds favored Samoa Joe and so did the match result. Fingers crossed about Joe not getting squashed against Brock. I'm not too faithful about it though.
Easily one of the better PPVs of 2017.
