Well, Backlash still holds the title for worst pay-per-view of the year, so there’s that. Extreme Rules was an example of everything wrong with the company. Let’s go with the positives first:
Rusev vs. AJ Styles was my match of the night. I never believed that Styles was going to lose the title; however, this was still a really good match that could’ve been great with more time.
Jeff Hardy vs. Shinsuke Nakamura was my favorite moment of the night. Look, Jeff Hardy is injured thus he wouldn’t be able to perform at his best. Shinsuke pulling a dastardly move (Somebody will wear a cup someday) and then going over clean in seconds was perfect booking in my eyes. Nakamura desperately needed the win and Hardy needs to rest.
The Randy Orton thing was whatever. Randy Orton was just being Randy Orton (I think). I assume he pulled the low blow stunt to tell Nakamura that “anything you can do, I can do better”. Maybe I’m wrong. Perhaps he’s getting revenge on Hardy for defeating him at Backlash? I know, I don’t want to remember that pay-per-view either.
Bobby Lashley vs. Roman Reigns was another good match. I am intrigued if WWE will actually go with Lashley vs. Lesnar at Summerslam. It’s a fresh match up and while Lashley’s character still needs work, it will be better than Reigns vs. Lesnar again.
I’m done with the positives now. Leave now if you hate negative things in life. Or get your gun ready to shoot at the computer screen.
Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt vs. Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas for the Raw Tag Titles, Finn Balor vs. Baron Corbin, and Luke Harper and Erick Rowan vs. Daniel Bryan and Kane for the Smackdown Tag Titles were nothing matches that could have aired on their respective brands. Even if they did, I still wouldn’t put them in the good category.
Happy Axel and Dallas won the tag titles even if it most likely means that they’ll be slaughtered by AOP at Summerslam.
Why didn’t the Miz cost Bryan the tag titles as originally rumored? It would’ve protected Bryan and reheated the Bryan/Miz feud.
Bryan shouldn’t have taken the pin clean. If the goal is to actively derail his momentum then they’re doing a hell of a job. Bryan is trying his hardest, but he hasn’t been booked in anything meaningful since his return.
He’s had fun moments on Smackdown with his matches against Styles and Joe (and admittedly his reunion with Kane has been fun), but he needs a hot feud. Luckily, it seems we’re heading for Miz and Bryan at Summerslam.
I never got into the Owens/Strowman match even with the big spot at the end. I’m sorry, but I don’t value spectacle over storytelling. This is why Michael Bay is on my list of people I will give the middle finger to when I see them.
What does Strowman gain from beating the hell out of Owens? He’s been doing that ever since MITB. I don’t like Strowman’s character right now. If he was clearly the heel then I would definitely think differently. He’s not nor is a Anti-Hero. But hey, we got an awesome spot, right?
Jax/Bliss was a nothing match that was clearly about what Ronda Rousey would do. WWE didn’t even try to hide the fact that Jax was a meaningless pawn here. Rousey was awesome at kicking ass, which is the only highlight from this match.
I’m done with Asuka. Apparently Asuka’s new defining trait is that she’s a dumbass. I also [frick]ing hate the stupid shark cage gimmick. This is the second time that someone escaped the cage. Isn’t the point of the match to keep people from getting involved? And yet, Ellsworth is openly handing Carmella weapons and escaping the cage.
Asuka decides to stop beating up her opponent to go after Ellsworth. Since Asuka cared more about beating the shit out of Ellsworth than winning the title, I didn’t care whatsoever for the finish. I wasn’t angry. I shrugged and said, “well you were the dumbass who stopped caring about your opponent Carmella. Next”.
This isn’t Asuka’s fault. I know how awesome she is. Unfortunately, a bunch of numbskulls backstage don’t and probably think that they protected her.
Also, I hope Carmella drops the title soon. She’s just terrible in the ring. Her matches with Asuka and Charlotte were god awful. Let this woman be a valet as she can talk; however, I no longer want her to be in a wrestling ring.
Last is the disappointment known as Dolph Ziggler vs. Seth Rollins. Look, this was a good match. But the psychology of the match was all out of whack and the ending was pure bullshit. These two went nearly 30 minutes several weeks ago with no resolution, but all of the sudden Dolph’s an incredibly weak champion who lost three times within 10 minutes.
This killed any drama in the match as Seth, your top babyface, wasn’t fighting an uphill battle. He was making Ziggler look like a bitch with ease. This was not the story that the WWE was telling leading up to the match. Yes, Ziggler cheated to win the title, but he wasn’t made out to look pathetic in the ring.
Then McIntyre’s attack should’ve gotten Ziggler disqualified twice. Then the ultimate bs was the finish. Angle comes out, restarts the match, McIntyre immediately distracts Rollins, Zig Zag and win. WTF!
Why didn’t Angle come out and restart the match again? I guess he’s cool with Rollins getting screwed. I also hated how the crowd turned on this match for no reason. This wasn’t even close to being a bad match for the crowd to turn on it.
But hey, if you’re happy with Reigns back in the main event then cool. In Vince’s warped mind, he’ll chalk it up by saying that the people don’t hate Reigns being in the main event after all because they booed Rollins and Ziggler.
This was another bad show with just horrendous booking. There were moments of fun here, unlike Backlash (except Rollins and Miz). But at the end of the day, WWE's horrendous booking continues to plague the entire main roster product.