Oh the Horror! Or is it the Horror Show at Extreme Rules!
We are now just one week away from the next WWE PPV in the COVID-19 pandemic era from the Performance Center. This PPV is usually built around the gimmicks and this year is no different. We’ll get a Swamp Match from Bray Wyatt and Braun Strowman for the Universal Title. We’ll get an Eye for an Eye (or whatever that means) Match between Rey Mysterio and Seth Rollins. It’ll be a Bar Fight between Jeff Hardy and Sheamus and so much more.
Dolph Ziggler is waiting to tell the World what the stipulation will be against Drew McIntyre for his WWE Championship. It’s building to be a pretty decent PPV. I would expect the Swamp Match to be cinematic of course. It’ll be interesting to see how they incorporate the wetlands into their history. My expectations aren’t very high, so here’s hoping!
I expect Asuka vs. Sasha Banks to steal the show too! Could it be time for Sasha and Bayley to wear ALL the women’s gold in the WWE. I think so!
It’s hard to imagine that SummerSlam is one month away and we are still in the crowd-less era. Who would’ve ever thought that would be. It will be interesting to see how New Japan Wrestling handles their first event with fans, roughly 3,500 for this weekend’s event in Japan. But, things are so different here in the United States that I don’t see fans in the stands anytime soon with all the spikes we are getting, especially with the WWE based in Florida these days, the new epicenter of the coronavirus.
But, with that in mind, here’s where we stand:
Extreme Rules – Horror Show – Updated Card
- WWE Championship Match: Drew McIntyre vs. Dolph Ziggler
- RAW Women’s Championship Match: Asuka vs. Sasha Banks
- Universal Championship Swamp Match: Braun Strowman vs. Bray Wyatt
- SmackDown Women’s Championship: Bayley vs. Nikki Cross
- Eye for an Eye Match: Rey Mysterio vs. Seth Rollins
- United States Championship Match: Apollo Crews vs. MVP
- Bar Fight: Sheamus vs. Jeff Hardy
Star of the Week – Ketih Lee – No explanation needed!
RAW
RESULTS
- WWE Championship Non-Title Match: Drew McIntyre defeated Heath Slater
- Kairi Sane vs. Sasha Banks ended in no-contest
- Rey Mysterio & Kevin Owens defeated Seth Rollins & Buddy Murphy – Mysterio picks Eye for an Eye Match for Extreme Rules
- MVP & Bobby Lashley defeated Ricochet & Cedric Alexander
- Billie Kay defeated Ruby Riott
- Champion vs. Champion Match: Asuka defeated Bayley
Overall, a mixed bag of a show this week.
The highlights:
Heath Slater – Talk about delivering the promo of his WWE life! Slater brought the reality to bestie Drew McIntyre before Drew claymored him straight to defeat. Loved the surprise of Slater showing up while in the final days of his no-compete clause of his contract. I just wished they would’ve had Slater beat up Dolph Ziggler to further the storyline. Maybe, like Drew Maverick on NXT, it’s not the last of Heath just yet?
Asuka vs. Bayley – Two of the best in-ring performers right now, men or women, in the WWE. Nikki Cross showed how unpredictable she is too by showing up behind the plexiglass to help Asuka pull off the win. We are all fans in these weekly battles between Asuka, Bayley and Sasha Banks!
Hello, RKO – Found it funny that Randy Orton is again paired with two third-generation wrestlers in Andrade & Angel Garza. Brings back memories of Curtis Axel, Bo Dallas & Cody Rhodes. I love Orton’s slow build too! So good at the storytelling to the eventual “legend Killing” of Big Show to come.
The lowlights:
No-contest – I see no point in having matches end in no-contests these days. Love that Kairi Sane is back to help Asuka and set up next week’s Tag Team Title Match against Banks & Bayley, but we could’ve at least gotten a finish to the match between Sane & Banks.
Ruby Riott, again – I don’t get feeding Ruby Riott to the IIconics each week without the pay-off of Liv Morgan coming to help her former friend. It just makes too much sense not to do it. Having her lose weekly in mere minutes doesn’t do her any favors.
Enough:
MVP – We’ll say it again. The man sure does win alot these days. But, that belt is sweet! So, just how is Apollo Crews out of action again?
Explain please:
Eye for an Eye – Just what is the outcome of the Mysterio vs. Rollins expected to be? Does the winner really get to rip out the loser’s eye? I NEED to know! Clarification please! And yes, I’m sure we will be disappointed.
NXT
RESULTS
- Street Fight: Candice LeRae defeated Mia Yim
- Bronson Reed defeated Tony Nese
- Johnny Gargano defeated Isaiah “Swerve” Scott
- Legado del Fantasma defeated Drake Maverick & Breezango
- Mercedes Martinez defeated Santana Garrett
- Winner Take All Champion vs. Champion Match: Keith Lee defeated Adam Cole to win NXT Championship & North American Championship
Night 2 of the Great American Bash set a new path for NXT. We get a new champion, one helluva of a Street Fight and a foreboding feud for the future.
The highlights:
Bask in his Glory – Give Keith Lee his due. He is now Mr. NXT! He holds all the Gold and can cement his position as to where either the NXT Championship or the North American Championship goes. The loaded main event helped NXT take the total viewership win again against AEW and sets in motion the Lee vs. Karrion Kross feud too, which could be EPIC! Now, what becomes of Adam Cole? Does he move forward to RAW after 403 days atop the Full Sail mast. Either way, he deserves a ton of credit too for elevating the NXT Championship.
Holy crap! – Candice LeRae’s neckbreaker off the table on the top rope onto a pile of chairs is truly an OMG moment! It made scream out loud HOLY CRAP! Well done ladies!
Welcome back – Mercedes Martinez could be the bad ass Shayna Baszler was in NXT and I could surely see a feud with Rhea Ripley down the road.
Funny as hell:
Robert Stone – Keep the comedy coming! Shotzi Blackheart running over Stone with her mini-tank is comedic gold! Another embarrassing moment of reject for the Robert Stone brand.
Solid:
The middle of the show – It wasn’t epic but it was truly very solid and a buidlng moment as we see Bronson Reed continue to gain momentum with a victory. The cruiserweights continue their feud of Legado del Fantasma against the rest of the division.
Gargano vs. Scott – Given a spot on a different night, this one could’ve stolen the show. But after the street fight and Championship vs. Championship match, it takes a back seat. Wouldn’t mind seeing it again though!
SMACKDOWN
RESULTS
- Jeff Hardy defeated The Miz
- WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship Non-Title Match: Sasha Banks & Bayley defeated Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross
- Lacey Evans vs. Naomi went to a no-contest
- SmackDown Tag Team Championship Match: The New Day vs. Cesaro & Shinsuke Nakamura went to a no-contest
Wow! This one felt so mailed in it’s not even funny.
Highlights:
Sasha, Bayley, Alexa and Nikki – Strongest part of the show. Fun tag team that keeps the storyline going with Bayley sneaking the win over Cross. It gives me a reason to care about their upcoming title match.
The lowlights:
The rest of the show! Honestly, from the start of the show with Miz TV (again) setting up Jeff Hardy vs. The Miz with the usual barbs to the end of the show with a tag team title no-contest, there just was not a good vibe to this show.
Don’t get me wrong, Hardy vs. The Miz was serviceable and a nice match between two vets, but nothing spectacular other than to set up what we already knew – a Bar Fight for Hardy vs. Sheamus at Extreme Rules
The Karoake Showdown was a disaster! Having Lacey Evans, Naomi, Dana Brooke and Tamina sink WWE entrance themes is a waste of everyone’s time and if you wanted to sing the “Common Man” theme for Dusty Rhodes, wouldn’t it have been more appropriate at NXT’s Great American Bash? Then, to have a no-contest for Evans and Naomi further wasted our time and was just a time filler.
Finally, don’t get me started with the tag team title match. Why build up a championship match only to see it halted at the first sign of chaos that only seemed to let the World know we have a tables match coming at Extreme Rules. There are 100 different ways to accomplish that goal than to waste a title match on broadcast TV.
And oh yeah, did I mention we got a replay of Money In the Bank’s Braun Strowman vs. Bray Wyatt’s title match? Time filler folks. They could’ve wrapped up that in a 3-minute production piece.
Here’s hoping that next week’s go home show is much better. I’m not holding my breathe. This one was not good people!
Parting shots:
Reigns vs. Lee – Sign me up for one, whenever it’s possible. Roman Reigns tweeted out this week his congratulations to Keith Lee for his NXT Title win and wants a shot down the road. Make this happen WWE! That is, of course, if you ever acknowledge that Reigns is still part of the company still.
Coming up this week:
RAW – Grudge Matches
Seth Rollins vs. Kevin Owens
R-Truth vs. Randy Orton (what’s the grudge exactly?)
Andrade & Austin Theory vs. The Viking Raiders
NXT
NXT Women’s Championship Match: Io Shirai vs. Tegan Nox
Damian Priest vs. Cameron Grimes
SMACKDOWN
Intercontinental Championship Match: AJ Styles vs. Matt Riddle
Thanks for letting us share our thoughts! Shoot me an email at jcrowe567@gmail.com. We’d love to hear your comments and suggestions! You can also check out my blog, The Crowe’s Nest as we delve into more pro wrestling, sports entertainment and the World of Sports. My apologies ahead of time – I AM a Patriots, Red Sox, Celtics and Bruins fan! If you’re not down with that, I’ve got TWO WORDS for you… NEW ENGLAND
