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Extreme Rules 2020 certainly was a Horror Show.
The Horror Show at Extreme Rules was bizarre, to say the least. It was below-part when compared to the other pay-per-views WWE put out during the 'pandemic era'. We had some title changes. We had some other title changes…maybe. We had a man lose an eye. We even had another insane Bray Wyatt cinematic match. And now, it is almost time for SummerSlam!
As I am still trying to figure out if Braun Strowman drowned at the end of the Swamp Fight, I will distract myself and present my list of the top five most surprising moments of WWE The Horror Show at Extreme Rules:
#5 MVP crowned US Champion at Extreme Rules
It was certainly a shock when it was announced that Apollo Crews wouldn't defend his United States Title at Extreme Rules just mere moments before the title match was scheduled to begin. The reason for his absence makes very little sense. I mean if you knew Apollo Crews was "injured" from his Lashley attack, then why schedule this match in the first place? Crews hasn't appeared on RAW since June 22nd. Since we have a pandemic going on, it is certainly suspicious.
What happened next was even more surprising. MVP walked out and claimed the new United States title. He wasn't interrupted by Crews or any other challenger. The announcers even claimed he wasn't the actual United States Champion. So are we going to have a match with two United States title belts? It was one of many confusing things from this non-match.
#4 Rey Mysterio loses an eye (it seems) at Extreme Rules
Going into Extreme Rules, I was certainly confused by the Eye for an Eye match. I am sure many other pro wrestling fans felt the same way. How could they possibly remove an eyeball from Seth Rollins or Rey Mysterio's face without it looking utterly ridiculous? They didn't go with a cinematic match on Sunday, but they did make some unique choices to show an eye-gouging at Extreme Rules.
The match was surprisingly good. Rey Mysterio and Seth Rollins were having a strong hardcore style match. That should have been expected between two great in-ring talents. But the eye stipulation certainly hurt the match overall and led to its unique ending.
Seth Rollins pushed Rey's eye into the steel steps. Rollins went over to attack Mysterio again but sold it like something horrible happened. He even threw up. Rey simply covered his eye and left. We briefly saw a fake eye but no CGI or blood. That is likely the best way to do this stipulation. But it would have made more sense not to do an eye match in the first place.
#3 Confusing ending to RAW Women's Championship match at Extreme Rules
It was really great to see Asuka win the Women's Championship on the RAW after Money in the Bank. Sure, she was gifted it when Becky Lynch left, but it was a wonderful moment regardless. Asuka deserves it for her great in-ring and character work. I just wish she would get the same respect in her recent pay-per-view matches.
The match between Sasha Banks and Asuka at Extreme Rules was excellent. These are truly two of the best wrestlers in the company. The mat wrestling was fantastic. It seems poised to be one of the better matches of the year. Then the finish happened.
We had title belts thrown into the ring. We had Bayley attempt to attack Asuka. We had Asuka spray green mist in the referee's face. At this point, Bayley hit Asuka with the Tag title and stole the ref's shirt to count the pinfall. Then Sasha Banks simply left Extreme Rules with the RAW Women's Title. What just happened?
WWE will undoubtedly continue this story into SummerSlam. We should be excited to see Sasha against Asuka yet again. But to see such an overbooked finish at Extreme Rules made little sense. It is the second stolen belt finish in one show. It clearly hurts the match quality to have such an overbooked finish.
#2 Drew McIntyre’s Claymore Kick to end the match at Extreme Rules
Say what you will about this year in the WWE, but Drew McIntyre has been fantastic in 2020. He was becoming really popular with WWE fans when the WWE had crowds earlier this year. In the pandemic era, you could make the case he actually has had the best matches since he won the WWE Championship at WrestleMania. That certainly didn’t change on Sunday night at Extreme Rules.
It was a surprise to see Dolph Ziggler’s stipulation. He basically created an Extreme Rules match only for himself. Drew could have even lost the title by disqualification or count-out. It added in some good drama to the WWE Championship match. The wrestling was excellent, but the finish was what truly sold it. Drew McIntyre basically hit a Claymore Kick out of nowhere. Randy Orton would be impressed by that finish. It helped that Dolph Ziggler sold it like a champ. It would be great to see Drew’s finisher sold as match ending in the future as well.
McIntyre has been booked strong. It was a pleasant surprise on a night that really needed it.
#1 The entire Swamp Fight
Bray Wyatt sure lives in some strange places.
The Swamp Fight at Extreme Rules was just as insane as the last cinematic match that Bray Wyatt was involved in. It is easy to call this match more of a storyline than an actual fight. We even had a long Wyatt monologue. But that wasn't even the craziest part of the Swamp fight.
We had shovels used as weapons by 'sheep mask' Braun on current Braun, we had snakes biting people and a man set on fire. It got even stranger when Alexa Bliss showed up to tempt Braun Strowman. Braun has apparently wanted evil Alexa this entire time. When you are hopped up on snake venom, I guess that makes a lot of sense.
Then the match at Extreme Rules turned into a true horror movie. We even had a few good jump scares. Braun seemed to successfully drown Wyatt. But since Braun has never seen a horror movie ever, he let down his guard and was suddenly pulled into the swamp by Bray Wyatt. After a few moments, the water turned red and The Fiend emerged. And that was how Extreme Rules closed.
I guess Bray Wyatt won. It is hard to say since it wasn't actually a match. But it is even harder to determine what actually happened at the ending. But we do know this feud isn't actually over, unless Braun Strowman actually drowned. Much like the rest of the show, it was really, really confusing.
