WWE Extreme Rules 2016 PPV

Last night was WWE's Extreme Rules, the 2nd PPV to quickly follow Payback in the month of May. This was a more satisfying PPV than Payback and best of all, no on-screen injuries occurred! The results can be found here.

Rusev won over Kalisto to become a 2-time US Champion. RuRu came out looking like a monster heel again with his newly modified and brutal looking Accolade. I didn't think resetting him (and Lana's) character would do him any good but it turns out did.

The best match of the night was hands down the IC Title Fatal 4 Way match. Zayn and Owens' hatred for each other was the backdrop for this match, which probably wouldn't have been interesting if it only involved Cesaro and Miz. There were so many great spots, so many nearfalls, and Miz didn't look out of place at all amidst these former indy stars. I was really rooting for Cesaro to win, so I was a bit bummed when he didn't. Miz retaining makes sense because this leaves it open for other guys to go after the title and it frees up Owens, Zayn, and Cesaro.

The Asylum Match was the longest match of the night, clocking in at 26 minutes. It turns out that a short segment was cut from the show and added to Ambrose and Jericho's feud, resulting in an unfortunately long and drawn out match. I'll be honest here; I was bored watching this drag on. I didn't like that every "weapon" they grabbed was literally used once. It wasn't until Ambrose spilled thumbtacks unto the ring that it started building up. Ambrose dropped Jericho unto the tacks AND did Dirty Deeds on him to get another win. I have serious respect for Jericho, who went above and beyond to help put Ambrose over when WWE or Lesnar couldn't for WM 32. This one spot saved it from being the worst match of the night.

No, that goes to the Women's Title match with Natalya and Charlotte. Their match was actually quite good but due to the Asylum match running longer than it was suppose to, their match was shortened to under 10 minutes. Natalya looked like she was winning until she was distracted by Flair's entrance theme playing with Dana Brooke (poorly disguised as Flair) entering the ring to distract Natalya. Charlotte does the Figure 8 and forces Natalya to tap. Charlotte, Ric, and Dana all celebrate in the ring. Another title defense for the new Women's title that ended with Flair interfering.

The main event with Styles and Reigns was fantastic. They brawled outside the ring, unto the kickoff show's glass table, destroyed tables and barricades. Gallows and Anderson and the Usos showed up towards the end of the match and everyone was doing everything to make sure they're guy would win. Styles even went berserk and hit The Bloodline in the back with a steel chair. Just as Styles was getting ready to hit the Phenomenal Forearm, Reigns tackles him in mid-air with a spear for a definitive win. It was expected that Reigns would retain and he was getting showered in boos.

AND THEN CROSSFIT JESUS RETURNED

Rollins came back way earlier than anticipated, probably as quick as Cena's return (which is next Monday). He's going to get such a huge pop on Monday Night RAW. We're all cheering for a returning heel and are actively booing the company's top babyface champ. If Reigns is being intentionally built to be this kayfabe powerful, then it would make his defeat even more satisfying. There's no other person than can take him down a notch than the former champ who never lost his title.

"Extreme Payback": Monday Night RAW (5/16/16)

The go-home show for Monday Night RAW was split evenly between actual wrestling matches and promos and segments, which was effective but somehow underselling Extreme Rules this Sunday. The results can be found here.

The major highlights were:

• The Miz and Cesaro vs Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens. This was a seriously fun match that played up both of the respective heels and faces either refusing to cooperate or trying to one-up each other. This is also the first time in a long while since "Steenerico" teamed up years ago. The match ended with Zayn pinning Miz and winning the match, only to end with Owens superkicking Zayn in the face. Owens vowed to take back his title.
  
  
• Dana Brooke vs Becky Lynch. Due to Emma's badly-timed injury, Dana stepped up to carry on the feud with Becky. While I can commend Dana for taking over, it really puts a damper on Emma and Becky's feud, which was building up quite nicely from last month. And Dana, who I thought improved the most on NXT before getting injured, didn't look too confident in the ring either.
  
  
• The New Day had a time machine segment (actually it's just a giant refrigerator box with stuff glued on) to make fun of The Vaudevillains' bygone era. They briefly stopped in 2009, where Kofi emerged to his old theme song and spoke with his Jamaican accent. Kofi cried out "2009 was my best year!" before they dragged him back in and emerged in the past, where everything was black and white, where Booty-Os are named Derriere Squares, and there were no video games. The Vaudevillains ruined the fun segment and stood tall over The New Day.
  
  
• Ambrose (sporting a shiner) called out Jericho and challenged him to having a rematch at Extreme Rules, which Jericho accepted. While Jericho was doing his "Gift of Jericho" pose ("Drink it in, Deeeeeeeeean."), Ambrose said he had a gift for him as well and gazed up as a black steel cage was lowered to the ring, complete with cheesy horror music and strobe lights. Ambrose suddenly went into menacing Moxley-ish mode and introduced the first ever Asylum Match, where there will be no escape and Jericho will never be the same again.
  
  
• The Usos defeated Gallows and Anderson, because of course they would. The Usos have started dressing in darker clothes and darker face paint, which complements Reigns' current tweener persona. The most surprising part was seeing Styles finally giving into temptation and using the steel chair to attack Reigns. AND THEN PERFORMING THE STYLES CLASH ON ROMAN ON SAID CHAIR. It was a amazing spot. Which makes it all the more frustrating knowing that Styles will not be a new champ this Sunday.
  
  
• Kalisto vs Del Rio was looking like one of their usual matches until Sin Cara and Rusev got involved in a backstage segment that spilled into the ring. Del Rio won the match and quickly left as Rusev went into the ring and dominated over Kalisto. Rusev looked like a monster heel again and it was fantastic.
  
  
• The main event ended with Charlotte and Natalya doing a contract signing with Shane and Stephanie in the ring. Charlotte was not happy seeing that the contract officially included banning her father from ringside, so Ric had to sign as well. A furious Ric Flair threatened Shane, who said he respected him too much to try to fight back, but it didn't stop Stephanie from slapping him. Charlotte was ready to lunge at Stephanie but Nattie caught her and did a sharpshooter. Ric and Charlotte slithered away and Raw ended with Nattie holding up the Women's belt up high.
  
  

So that's that. There's still Smack Down and two house shows left before Extreme Rules. Here is the complete card:

• Pre-Show: Dolph Ziggler vs. Baron Corbin in a No DQ match
• WWE World Title match: Roman Reigns vs. A.J. Styles in an Extreme Rules match
• Asylum Cage match: Dean Ambrose vs. Chris Jericho
• Women’s Title match: Charlotte vs. Natalya in a submission match
• U.S. Title match: Kalisto vs. Rusev
• IC Title match: The Miz vs. Cesaro vs. Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn
• Tag Title match: New Day vs. The Vaudevillians

Note: I'm actually more worried for Ambrose's match than I thought. To me, it seems nearly parallel to his feud against Lesnar in WrestleMania, where it had a great buildup and a lackluster match and ending. If they're going through the effort to have Ambrose be the poster boy for Extreme Rules with a match tailored for him, he better win this match. Then again, Ambrose has been known to lose in most gimmick matches...