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Extreme Rules could easily be considered to be the most well-rounded pay-per-view of 2018. WWE was able to put together some interesting matches that included the most elite storytelling from their biggest stars.
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There were 12 matches on the card for the most extreme event in WWE's calendar year and it's hard to believe that there was one that could be considered below par, when the entertainment purposes are brought into the conversation. Extreme Rules was definitely the perfect stop on the road to SummerSlam next month since the show did everything it was expected to when it comes to hyping the Biggest Party of the Summer.
Whilst the show is now over and the dust has already settled, it's nice to look back and see what statistics have changed in the wrestling world following their stop in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania on Sunday night.
#5. Roman Reigns defeated clean on PPV for the first time by anyone but Brock Lesnar in more than a year
Roman Reigns was defeated by Bobby Lashley following a spear on Sunday night and now the WWE Universe is aware that these two men will collide in Cincinnati, Ohio next week on Raw to crown a number one contender for the Universal Championship.
Reigns has been WWE's experiment at the top of the pile for the past four years, which means he isn't defeated clean very often, and even less on pay-per-view. Other than his recent losses to Brock Lesnar, who has obviously got The Big Dog's number, the only other person to be able to defeat Reigns on Pay-per-view throughout the past two years was Braun Strowman back at Payback in 2017.
Interestingly there are only two other men who have ever defeated Reigns clean on pay-per-view in his main roster career and they are his former Shield teammates Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose who defeated Reigns at Money in the Bank and Battleground back in 2016 respectively.
This could mean that WWE has some huge plans for Lashley heading into SummerSlam, or that Reigns is expected to even the scales with a victory next week.
#4 Asuka's fastest ever loss
Incredibly, one of the only flaws on the Extreme Rules card was the match between Carmella and Asuka, but the entertainment value was obviously much more important for WWE when it comes to booking the SmackDown Women's Championship.
Asuka was undefeated for 914 days before she was handed her first loss to Charlotte back at WrestleMania. Just three months later, she has been defeated by Carmella twice on pay-per-view and this past weekend it was her fastest loss when she was beaten in less than six minutes.
#3 The fifth consecutive show that the WWE Champion failed to main event
AJ Styles has been the WWE Champion since November when he was able to defeat Jinder Mahal in the United Kingdom, but ever since the brand split was taken away on pay-per-view WWE have been looking elsewhere for their main eventers.
Styles has failed to main event a pay-per-view since Fastlane back in March after missing his chance at WrestleMania (Roman Reigns vs Brock Lesnar) The Greatest Royal Rumble (Rumble match) Backlash (Roman Reigns vs Samoa Joe) and Money in the Bank (Mens MITB ladder match).
This statistic is made all the more harrowing since Universal Champion Brock Lesnar hasn't performed at the past two pay-per-views, which means that WWE has favorited other titles and talent over their WWE Champion.
#2 First time this year that the main event has been a singles match and Roman Reigns wasn't in it
Roman Reigns' match against Bobby Lashley was expected to main event Extreme Rules since Reigns has main evented a large number of pay-per-views over the past year. Aside from Fastlane which was a SmackDown exclusive pay-per-view, Reigns has main evented every pay-per-view that didn't have a multi-man match as their main event.
In fact, you have to go all the way back to No Mercy back in 2017 to find a pay-per-view that Roman Reigns was part of, but it was main-evented by a singles match but it didn't include the former World Champion.
#1 First Intercontinental Championship main event in more than 17 years
Seth Rollins and Dolph Ziggler main evented Extreme Rules with their Ironman match for the Intercontinental Championship, a match that was won by The Showoff after the match was taken to sudden death with the score at 4-4 before Drew McIntyre's interference tipped the scales and won the match for Ziggler.
This was the first time that the Intercontinental Championship had main-evented at pay-per-view since Backlash 2001, which wasn't a singles match and was actually a match for the WWF Championship, Tag Team Championships and The IC title between Triple H, Steve Austin, The Undertaker, and Kane.
This means that we have to go all the way back to 1996 to see the last singles Intercontinental Championship match in the main event between Goldust and The Undertaker at In Your House: Beware of the Dog.
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