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As we close in on Extreme Rules a week from Sunday, the card is very slowly taking shape. As of Monday night, only three matches had been announced thus far. Tonight on Smackdown!, a fourth match was added. As a result of last week’s assault on Randy Orton and his father, Bob Orton Jr., Randy Orton will now face Kane in a Falls-Count-Anywhere Match.
For those keeping score, this is the third match between the two in just a few weeks. The score right now is 1-1, with Kane picking up the win at Wrestlemania 28, and Orton winning a Street Fight just a couple weeks later on Smackdown! Hopefully, this will be the final match in the series, and the two men can move onto other things from here.
Based on all of the brawling in the crowd, the stipulation of Falls-Count-Anywhere was added. So, instead of the two men brawling needlessly in the crowd every week, there will now be a reason for it. At this point, it’s really about the only way I can see this match being interesting. Kane is past his prime at this point, and wrestles very basic, formulaic matches. Orton, despite being significantly younger than Kane, wrestles a very similar style. If you didn’t watch their match at Wrestlemania, aside from the finish (which saw Kane chokeslam Orton from the middle turnbuckle for the pin), it was very slow-paced and predictable. Despite their rematch featuring the Street Fight stipulation, it was more of the same, with Orton eventually scoring the win following a very predictable RKO on a folding chair.
While a Falls-Count-Anywhere Match is along the line as a Street Fight, it does have the added bonus of brawling all over the building, which can allow for some creative spots, if and when allowed. Kane has been in these kinds of matches before, with a high profile (and good) one with Big Show and Raven at Wrestlemania 17. Orton has also been in these types of matches, yet still sticks to the same formula of kicks and RKO attempts on various objects.
Having said that, this still could be an enjoyable match. With two guys like Orton and Kane, the added stipulation makes for a little bit more interesting match, and if they can keep the pinfall from happening in the ring, with a good portion of the match taking place throughout the building, it will be at least watchable. In this one, I’m going to pick Orton as the winner. Kane is likely in the last year or so of his career, and with Orton being one of WWE‘s “Golden Boys” with John Cena, losing a feud to Kane here is highly unlikely.
