If you doubted for one second that WWE couldn’t have delivered a great PPV which wasn’t amongst the Big Four, then be ready to stand corrected. Over the years, it has become amply clear that not hyping a particular event doesn’t mean that it won’t have something memorable happening.
A lot of things happened in this PPV that will be remembered for a long time. There were great matches and amazing moments. And after watching the pre-show of this PPV, one might want to make watching most pre-shows a fixture. Extreme Rules gave us its fair share of some amazing performances on the mic and in the ring. Here are the 5 points to note -
He’s Back
Sure, AJ Styles and Roman Reigns had a brilliant feud leading upto Extreme Rules. Styles was more determined than ever and of course, Reigns was booed in New Jersey. But Styles was adamant that he wanted to win on his own and Reigns was fighting as a family man.
The match started out even in the ring and outside of it until finally Reigns slammed Styles onto the announcers’ table after the latter came running at Reigns through the barricade.Back and forth they went and like clockwork, the friends came out and so did the brothers and eventually Reigns was able to overcome and win.
But this wasn’t the end Reigns or the fans may have been hoping for. Rollins appeared more than a week before his rumored return and gave the champion a pedigree. WOW! Hope is back. Now, Rollins being Stephanie McMahon’s ally could clash with Shane McMahon. This is going to be intriguing.
Stealing A Win
Miz is such a great character. Before his match and even before the show kicked off, he stood backstage trying to act out a monologue reminiscing about how this is his time and he had background music. When he was done, he thought he could do better and then went for a second take.
Then he walked out to wrestle possibly the best match of the night. All four men gave the audience a breathless feat. Cesaro was spectacular as always, bringing out moves in the most beautiful way possible - in one instance he turned the giant swing on the Miz to Sharpshooter. The Miz tapped out but the referee was too busy trying to get Maryse to shut up.
A Helluva Kick from Sami to Cesaro ended in Kevin Owens dragging Zayn out before he could pin Cesaro and Miz taking the advantage to pin and win.
Told you Momma!
Rusev is also a great character. Before the show kicked off he and Lana had a backstage interview where Rusev revealed that he called his mother and told her that he is the new United States Champion. Mind you, this is the pre–show and he hadn’t even competed in the said title match.
When the match happened, Kalisto fought his heart out. He tried using his speed and aerial moves, there were huricanranas and moonsaults but he was splattered by the power of the Bulgarian Brute.
After thumping the champion on the apron, which worried the official, Rusev pulled Kalisto in the ring to lock in the Accolade. The referee resisted. He tried a second time, the referee again did not allow him. But Rusev majestically ignores the ref and locks Kalisto in the Accolade, quickly gaining the win by submission. And we have a new champion.
TACKS!
Let’s just say that this Ambrose match was more extreme than his WrestleMania match was all hyped to be and one needs to just glad that Ambrose won his second straight PPV. Good for him and the fans.
This match had to follow the terrific fatal four way Intercontinental match. While the match was unique in the term that it was the first ever Asylum match, the most amazing moment of it all was the moment leading to the climax where Ambrose laid out a bag of thumbtacks.
Who else could have actually predicted that this would happen? Jericho was petrified but eventually went into that torture device after performing a Codebreaker. Ambrose gained the victory via pinfall.
The Heel
Darn you, Charlotte! To the credit of WWE, they have built the heel that the women’s division needs. While Natalya hasn’t been an interesting character, this feud has precisely worked because of all the heat Charlotte has garnered, partly thanks to her father’s intrusive presence.
But this match was different since the champion would lose her title if her father even walked down the ramp. So, possibly the next best thing Charlotte could do was this - get Dana Brooke all dressed like Ric Flair and help her get the win.
This happened and now Brooke has a new opponent, it seems and Charlotte can maybe now move on to a new opponent.
