Extreme Rules came live to us from the Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore, Maryland. With the overdose of content that we as wrestling fans are subjected to, considering we get a pay-per-view almost every two weeks, it is not surprising that we hope and pray for every pay-per-view to deliver and eventually leave us satisfied.
This pay-per-view, while not awful, was lukewarm at times. Of course, as always, we bring you the ‘Best and Worst’ from the pay-per-view, with our views on this Raw-exclusive event. Let’s begin with our biggest concern from the event.
#1 Worst: Where is the demon?
The fact remains that a lot more people watch the main roster than they watch NXT weekly. It is fine for Balor to reserve his body paint and demon persona for special occasions, but considering that the main roster has not seen him transform into the demon king since Summerslam last year, we felt that Balor needed to tap into his dark side.
The two things that made Balor a sensation outside WWE are his outlandish bodypaint gimmicks and his affiliation with the Bullet Club, and in our opinion, with neither gimmick by his side in WWE, Balor may soon slide down the ranks and become a mid-carder.
#1 Best: A dream match becomes reality
During a recent episode of ‘Table for 3’, wrestling promoter Jim Cornette was asked to book a Wrestlemania match with superstars from the current roster. He picked Brock Lesnar vs. Samoa Joe. This fantasy match is now a reality.
With legitimate combat backgrounds as well as similar believable builds, this promises to be a highly physical match and a perfect way to hype up a new PPV like Great Balls of Fire. This is the real reason that Samoa Joe won the big match. Finn Balor’s simply too small to be a believable opponent and we think WWE is saving Rollins and Reigns for bigger pay-per-views, to take on The Beast.
Lesnar needs a credible opponent before he faces Braun Strowman at SummerSlam.
We do hope that even in this PG era, that this match is an absolute bloodbath with legitimate stiff shots. We hope Joe is booked strongly and believably leading up to the big match at the next Raw exclusive pay-per-view event.
#2 Worst: Stupid rules at Extreme Rules
Considering that The Miz is a cowardly heel who does underhanded things to win, his match with Dean Ambrose went on far longer than it should have, really. We do not understand why The Miz waited so long, before asking Maryse to slap him, considering it’d be one of the first things that a heel like him would try and attempt.
To their credit, The Miz and Dean Ambrose had a pretty decent match and even the finish was pretty creative. However, this was the most non-extreme match for a pay-per-view called Extreme Rules.
Another rule that made no sense is why Jeff Hardy became part of the match again when he re-entered the steel cage. He had left the cage much earlier, and that should have counted as his official exit. WWE changes rules of every event to suit their needs at any given point in time.
#2 Best: Two title changes
The Miz is your new Intercontinental Champion, a title that he has made his own and elevated to the moon. Sheamus and Cesaro have regained the Raw Tag Team Championships, and this allows the Hardyz to presumably focus on singles runs. Because of these title changes, Extreme Rules did not really feel like a B-Show.
Storylines on Raw will be affected by these major developments and will hopefully move in a direction that helps the show garner major ratings. We thought that keeping the titles on Alexa Bliss and Neville was a good call for the long run. However, this brings us to our major grouse...
#3 Worst: Did WWE bury two talents?
So let’s get this straight: this was Austin Aries’ third shot at the Cruiserweight Championship and he failed in his attempt again? How does one believe in him as a competitor after this loss? Does the Cruiserweight Division have other stars that can believably challenge Neville now?
Moreover, Bayley’s loss against Alexa Bliss in the ‘kendo stick on a pole match' was almost a squash contest. Bayley defeated three other women at Wrestlemania and loses in this manner to Alexa Bliss? That’s really not cool.
At a time when fans are disinterested in the wrestling product, it's hard to get them invested in certain characters if they are not booked strongly. Let’s hope both these characters regain their momentum soon.
#3 Best: Pushing ‘The Drifter’
Elias Samson did not wrestle at Extreme Rules but he gained a lot of heat by just being himself. This is character development and we are glad WWE is invested in Samson’s gimmick.
#4 Worst: Just did not feel ‘extreme’ at all
Bayley referenced The Sandman and Tommy Dreamer during her promo on this very show, and we expected her to go out there and have a slugfest. Much like the rest of the show, while the stipulations did exist, there was an intensity lacking that 'Extreme Rules’ should have had, through its entire course.
We can't help but feel disappointed that this wasn't the case.
Let's end on a positive note, with a picture of the goddess of WWE – Alexa Bliss.
