Another WWE PPV comes and goes and we will no doubt be feeling the repercussions of what happened on tonight’s Monday Night RAW. Was the show worth it, or did it get count out? Let’s find out together, shall we.
Baron Corbin vs Dolph Ziggler (No Disqualification Kickoff Match)
The feud that nobody wanted continues… Look, I’m a huge Dolph Ziggler mark, but I’ll be the first person to say that he needs to take a little time off. Less is more at this point and it would benefit him greatly to recharge those batteries. Baron Corbin continues on his kickoff show obscurity –one of these days he’ll make the main show– and if WWE wants to make him their new bag man they need to better integrate him. Hell, Big Cass is better in the role and he’s only been solo for a month.
The match itself was okay, but a poor showing if you wanted to use it to get people to buy into the full PPV. Corbin wins via low-blow to Zigglers’s Ziggler’s and the world rejoices that this feud is now over.
Winner: Baron Corbin
Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson vs The Usos (Tag Team Tornado Match)
The WWE is know for some strange bookings and many have been surprised with Gallows and Anderson not being pushed as a more powerful force. Coming off their much-loved and respected tag-team title run in Japan, the duo have been treading wins/losses against the Usos. The positive thing is that people get to see The Club while giving the Usos a much-needed push at a time when sop many new tag-teams are in the picture.
The match itself was a lot of fun and a great way to start Extreme Rules. The Tornado style allows all four wrestlers to be in the ring at once and makes for one heck of a show. The dichotomy of style between these teams really worked well together, and while it wasn’t a long match, it was a solid display from both teams. Say what you will about the use of Gallows and Anderson so far, but both teams come out looking good from this feud.
Winners: Anderson and Gallows
Rusev vs Kalisto (c) (United States Championship Match)
Oh, look, you guys! The United States Championship has finally moved onto the main card of a WWE PPV. Kalisto is a mine wrestler, but his run as champion has been one of the most forgettable in the belts history. I still posit that his reign has been the longest transitional championship in the company’s modern history. We gotta have someone hold the belt while John Cena is recovering, I guess…
That being said, the one good thing that came of this match was seeing Rusev becoming the monster character that he was when he debuted. It also seems that the League of Nations is now dead a buried. Rusev controlled the match and was a scary looking man in the ring. Rusev gets a commanding victory, but I still think he is being tapped as a transitional champion. I see Rusev being there only to have John Cena face someone to get the US belt.
It’s a smart storyline that would see a reversal of the events that saw Rusev come in and challenge Cena. I’m okay with it and it only makes sense, but let’s just hope WWE didn’t just make Rusev a monster again only for Cena to bury him.
Winner: Rusev
The New Day (c) vs The Vaudevillains (WWE Tag Team Championship Match)
A match that showed not only that The News Day are the best act going in the WWE, but that this team can wrestle their butts off. It was surprising to see Xavier Woods in the ring with Kofi on the outside, but the match went a long way to show how good that guy really is –silly Haduken move aside. While many WWE fans have yet to warm to The Vaudevillains –I love their perfectly realized gimmick– this performance showed why they are in the running for the titles.
There was a lot of back and forth and everyone got to pull off at least one big spot. Hell, Woods managed to be the first person to kick out of The Vaudevillains finishing move, being the first person to ever do so. If that isn’t a push for that guy I don’t know what is!
Big E was once again the turning point in the match showing his skills by flying his 300 pound self through the ropes to the outside to allow Woods to get the pin. Did I say Woods got a big push here yet, because he totally did. The New Day takes the win because there is no real reason for WWE to strip them of the belts with the pops they still keep getting.
Winners: The New Day
The Miz (c), Cesaro, Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens (Intercontinental Championship Fatal 4-Way Match)
Many figured that this would be the match of the night, but maybe not the match of the year -which it is. These four men put on a master-class of wrestling that had the entire sold out arena on their feet for a good chunk of the match. The “Fight forever” chants were well-deserved and this is one that will be making a number of top 10 lists in the future.
Of all those involved Cesaro looked the best and displayed why he is the strongest man in the WWE. If he doesn’t eventually get a long run with a major belt in the future I am going to be very disappointed as he sure as hell earned it. Kevn Ownes and Sami Zayn were relentless and The Miz always seemed to show up just in time to ruin the party.Also, can I talk about that move Zayn did whhere he flipped like three time before hitting the mat. Insanity!
A fatal 4-way is a tough match as someone (or more) of the players get pushed to the background, but not in this one. Everyone gets a lot of time to show off their major spots. Hell, Cesaro slammed all three wrestler from the top rope. Fuck yeah! Surprisingly enough, WWE pulled the rug from everyone and let The Miz get the win over Cesaro while Owns and Zayn were busy outside.
I know a lot of people were really pissed with Miz retaining, but I was watching with a bunch of non-wrestling fans who said after the match, “They are going to sell a lot of tickets the next time they do this,” and I have to agree. I’d love to see this again at a major WWE PPV because as the chanted we want them to fight forever.
Winner: The Miz
Dean Ambrose def. Chris Jericho (Asylum Match)
It’s not that this match was bad, but that it had the displeasure of following that amazing fatal 4-way match. It’s not often that a steel cage match (Asylum… whatever) that is full of weapons pales to a standard wrestling match, but that is where we are at with the quality wrestlers WWE has on their roster. It really feels like WWE just needs to give Ambrose something to do while the World Championship thing is still in flux.
Jericho put on a great match to the point where it looks like this is the point where he takes his extended vacation for the summer until the next superstar needs a push, or something to do outside of a main storyline. Boring or not, the last 10 or so minutes of this match were really great, especially with the will they, won’t they aspect of the thumb tacks. They totally did by the way.
Winner: Dean Ambrose
Charlotte (c) vs Natalya (WWE Women’s Championship Submission Match)
I still say that the match Charlotte and Natalya had at NXT Takeover was one of the best Women’s Matches in wrestling history. The problem is that WWE knows this because of their fanbase, but for whatever reason they refuse to let these two women just wrestle. Look, I have no problem with the dirty tricks to win, but if you are going to make this a legitimate championship then you need clean wins based on skill, which Charlotte has in spades.
We figured that Ric Flair would play a part in this match, but I would have loved to see Natalya win via his interference. This would set up the falling out of the Flair’s and Charlotte winning the title back in a clean fashion. But instead Dana Brooke (who?) comes out and ruins everything leading to Charlotte getting the cheat win once again.
What’s the point? What does Dana Brooke have to do with anything? One of these days WWE is going to let these two women wrestle their butts of like we know they can.
Winner: Charlotte
Roman Reigns (c) def. AJ Styles (WWE World Heavyweight Championship Extreme Rules Match)
Bear with me here, but I have to say that this was the best match of Roman Reigns career. He finally looked like he could go for an entire match without needed a break, showed his strength, and while his mat skills still pale to just about everyone on the roster, he did look good. This could be because he was finally paired against AJ Styles, but whatever the reason he looked like a champion. Not a great one, but a champion nonetheless.
AJ Styles was fantastic and more than once looked like he was going to take home the belt. Anderson and Gallows came to his aid and the Usus did the same for Reigns. It really made for an active match that was a lot of fun to watch, even knowing AJ Styles would not win. Let’s face it, smart marks know that WWE has an unwritten rule that says only one title changes during a PPV, so that alone meant this would see him take two losses against Reigns. Let’s just hop WWE isn’t sacrificing Styles because of his TNA days.
Roman Reigns wins with a spear, because of course he does. I’ll grant him that it was a good looking spear, so there’s that. The big surprise of the night was the return of Seth Rollins who looks to be back to take back the belt that he never lost. I hope that they integrate Ambrose into the picture now that he has two PPV wins, but I’m sad that AJ Styles will go on the back burner with “The Club” now.
Winner: Roman Reigns
And that’s it for WWE Extreme Rules. It was a good show with only the Women’s Championship Match ending being stupid, and darn close to disrespectful in my opinion. That being said it was worth the $10, so I’m happy to have been able to check it out. Let us know in the comments what you thought of the show.
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