The WWE caravan rides into its next Pay-Per-View on May 22 at the Prudential Center in New Jersey for Extreme Rules. The main event has Roman Reigns putting his WWE World Heavyweight Championship on the line against AJ Styles.
History is in favour of the challenger as Extreme Rules has crowned a new champion five times in its six-year existence.
So will AJ get lucky as well?? Here is a list that might inspire AJ to defy the odds against Reigns – all the five WWE/World title changes that occurred at the PPV.
1. Batista beats Randy Orton – 2009
The first ever Extreme Rules PPV in 2009 saw the WWE Champion Randy Orton defend his title against Batista in a Steel Cage match. The match would see Orton trying to escape the cage multiple times before taking a Batista Bomb while still perched on the steel cage rungs to lose his title.
This would be Batista’s first reign with the WWE Championship – all his previous wins were for the World Heavyweight title.
However, the Animal would suffer an injury in the match which would result in him vacating the title – yet again – and Orton would regain his title in a fatal four-way match on Raw a few weeks later.
2. Jeff Hardy beats Edge – 2009
The main event of the ‘09 Extreme Rules was the grudge match between World Heavyweight Champion Edge and Jeff Hardy for the championship. The build-up to the match had seen Edge screw Hardy out of the title multiple times and what made the bout even more interesting was the fact that it was a ladder match.
The finish would see Hardy capture his second World title in the WWE, trapping Edge’s legs between the ladder rungs and taking down the title while staring down at the helpless champion.
The crowd would explode at the sight of the perennial fan favourite coming out on top – and the PPV had seen both world titles change hands.
But it would not be the last of the night as somewhere in the back, a Chicago native was clutching his Money in the Bank briefcase and yelling ‘It’s clobbering time’.
3. CM Punk beats Jeff Hardy – 2009
Minutes after Jeff Hardy won the World title at the 2009 Extreme Rules main event - and with the confetti still falling – CM Punk’s music hit the New Orleans Arena. Mr. Money in the Bank rushed to the ring with a referee and announced that he was cashing in his contract right there.
Punk would deliver two GTS’ to a shocked Hardy and regain his World Heavyweight Championship with the crowd too shocked to comprehend what had happened.
This match was significant for being the first time that Punk had turned heel in the WWE and would result in a series of memorable PPV matches between Punk and Hardy. Hardy would leave the WWE at the end of the feud and Punk’s vitriolic rants on the microphone during this rivalry would reinforce Mr.McMahon’s confidence in a heel Punk, eventually paving the way for the Summer of Punk two years later.
4. Christian wins the World Heavyweight title – 2011
The first world title match at the 2011 Extreme Rules is a favourite for many a wrestling fan simply because it saw long-suffering Christain finally capture the World Heavyweight Championship.
The title had been vacated following Christian’s friend Edge’s retirement at the previous Wrestlemania and Christian would square off with Alberto Del Rio in a ladder match for the World title. With all the decks stacked in favour of the WWE’s new poster boy Del Rio’s triumph, Captain Charisma surprisingly captured the title with a little distraction from Edge.
It was a special moment for Christian and the host of fans who had marvelled at his charisma and in-ring skills – he would lose the title to Randy Orton five days later, though!!
5. John Cena beats The Miz and John Morrison – 2011
What is it with Extreme Rules and multiple World title changes?? At the same show where Christian captured the World Heavyweight Championship, John Cena captured the WWE Championship in a triple threat Steel Cage match over the Champion Miz and John Morrison.
The Miz may not be everyone’s favourite person, but his in-ring skills had improved greatly during his time as the United States Champion and later as the WWE Champion in 2010-11. While his ability to annoy might have had many in the T.V audience change the channel, The Miz had just come off WrestleMania victorious in the Wrestlemania main event against Cena himself.
Even though the match had Miz’s former partner John Morrison in the mix – who was the only member of the Triple Threat whom the crowd had no problem in unanimously cheering for – the match seemed a tepid way for the Miz to lose his title.
With a run-in from R-Truth preventing Morrison from escaping the cage, Cena delivered an AA to the Miz from the top rope to claim the victory and the title.
