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At WWE Extreme Rules, we had exactly one match with the Extreme Rules stipulation. And how did that title match end? It is safe to say that WWE fans will be talking about the ending of the WWE Universal Championship match for a long time.
WWE Extreme Rules was certainly a memorable night. We have two wonderful tag team matches, a tragic ending for Lilly, a huge return in the Smackdown Women’s Championship match and a very polazing ending to the main event. It was a unique night of professional wrestling in Columbus.
As we try to figure out how the 190 pound Finn Balor broke the top rope during the main event, we should try to distract ourselves and present the list of the top five most surprising moments of WWE Extreme Rules 2021:
#5. All champions retained at WWE Extreme Rules 2021
When WWE returned to live crowds in July, it provided many surprising moments for fans to enjoy. At Extreme Rules, they seem to be reverting back to the status quo.
Five championships were defended on Sunday night and all five champions retained their titles. That was somewhat to be expected but it proves that things in the WWE are really returning to normal.
The Usos retained their tag team titles clean, Charlotte distracted Alexa Bliss to retain, Damien Priest won by a roll-up, Becky Lynch kept her title by disqualification and Roman certainly held his title in a unique way.
WWE seems ready to move on to the big Saudi Arabia show and maybe even Survivor Series. It is the company’s right to do so but fans looking for big moments were certainly disappointed.
#4 The Usos defeated the Street Profits clean at WWE Extreme Rules 2021
At WWE Extreme Rules, we got another title match between The Usos and The Street Profits. We have seen them together in the WWE ring a lot in recent months.
Yet again at WWE Extreme Rules they put on another fast-paced and very exciting encounter. It seems certain teams have a lot of chemistry together and these two tag teams do so in spades over and over again.
The ending of the match was its most surprising moment. Montez Ford took a beating for the majority of the time, especially to his injured ribs from his Smackdown match.
He was about to be at the receiving end of some superkicks when Dawkins sacrificed himself for his tag partner instead. It was all for naught as the Usos were able to double team the now isolated Ford and pick up the clean victory.
The huge question is where the Smackdown Tag Team Division goes from here. The Usos have now defeated pretty much the entire division and in clean fashion. It is hard to see where the next challenger will come from after WWE Extreme Rules. But we know there will be some fun tag team matches to watch regardless of the future opponents they face.
#3 Charlotte destroys Lilly at WWE Extreme Rules 2021
Before WWE Extreme Rules, Alexa Bliss had been playing a lot of mind games with Charlotte Flair. It seemed possible we would have more strange moments with Alexa Bliss and Charlotte on Sunday night at WWE Extreme Rules. Would Lilly be involved somehow? The answer was a definite no. It was likely a bigger surprise to just have a clean, competitive eleven minute match instead.
Charlotte controlled the majority of the match but Alexa found a way to make a comeback and get some believable near falls. The finish was certainly creative. Charlotte grabbed Lilly the doll and threw it at Bliss. Bliss caught it but the distraction allowed Charlotte to hit the boot followed by Natural Selection for the win. You have to admit, it was a smart move by the heel Flair.
The post-match events were a bizarre surprise for sure. Charlotte wasn’t content with just the victory and decided to destroy Lilly as well. It was a cruel move by Flair to “murder” a doll. If this was the end of Lilly, it was a sad and unique end to her time in the company.
#2 Sasha Banks returns to ruin the Smackdown Women’s Championship at WWE Extreme Rules 2021
At WWE Extreme Rules, we finally got a full match between Becky Lynch and Bianca Belair for the Smackdown Women’s Championship. For sixteen wonderful minutes, we had an excellent match-up between two of the best in the WWE Smackdown Women’s Division. It was just disappointing to see this co-main event at WWE Extreme Rules end in disqualification. That seems to defeat the purpose of the pay-per-view right?
Sasha Banks returned after a month-long absence to prevent a clean finish to the title match at WWE Extreme Rules. While we are sure a lot of WWE fans are happy to see The Boss again, it prevented a true finish to a great match. Columbus fans were naturally upset by the non-finish.
It does lead to some interesting storyline possibilities for the Smackdown’ Women's Division going forward. Will we get a rematch between Belair and Lynch? Will we finally get a promised rematch between Banks and Belair that we missed at Summerslam? Could we get a triple threat title match in the near future? While many fans may have hated the non-finish at Extreme Rules, we could be getting a handful of great match-ups instead going forward in the fall months.
#1 The Top Rope Break at WWE Extreme Rules 2021
As the wonderful Universal Championship Match came to an end at WWE Extreme Rules, Roman Reigns seemed on the verge of finally losing the title. The Demon Finn Balor was making a comeback that was complete with red lights, smoke and The Demon’s entrance music.
Was the 390 day reign of Roman Reigns about to come to a shocking and abrupt end as Balor climbed the top rope for his finisher? Nope. The top rope just broke instead.
As Demon Balor sold his leg after getting hurt from the top rope break, Roman Reigns hit a single spear to pick up the victory. It was a strange way to end a strong twenty minute main event. It did protect the Demon persona going forward but it did so in the strangest way possible.
Are we going to learn who rigged the top rope to break at WWE Extreme Rules in the weeks to come? Are we simply going to ignore it as they move onto a feud at Crown Jewel between Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar? With WWE, we simply do not know what direction they will go.
Regardless of future storylines, this was the Demon’s first loss in seven years in WWE. The crowd in Columbus was clearly behind Balor on Sunday night. Here is hoping he gets another opportunity at a world title in the future. You cannot blame any fan of the Demon for being concerned after the events of WWE Extreme Rules.
