Review of Extreme Rules

Last night wrestling fans got treated to an entertaining show with WWE putting on their yearly show, "Extreme Rules." My expectations for this pay-per-view were high; the feuds were booked well, the matches were all exciting, and a lot of great action overall. Now let's settle in and get into it and discuss the wild night that was Extreme Rules.

To start the night, we got a six-man tag team match The Brawling Brutes consisting of Ridge Holland, Butch, and Sheamus faced Imperium consisting of GUNTHER, Ludwig Kaiser, and Giovanni Vinci, in a Good Old Fashion Donnybrook Match! This match was pretty much an anything-goes match, but the ring was decorated with objects and weapons to make it look like an Irish Pub giving Sheamus and company the home-field advantage. GUNTHER and Sheamus have had two matches before this one, and they were FANTASTIC. The pair had brutal wars, ending with GUNTHER pinning Sheamus, so heading into this one, Sheamus needed this one. The second this started, we saw the six men tear into each other as expected; GUNTHER and Sheamus once again stole the spotlight as the two titans started beating on each other relentlessly, all while Kaiser, Vinci, Holland, and Butch brawled around the ring. Holland and Butch quickly showed off their impressive tag team chemistry using various moves combining Holland's power and Butch's impressive strike cutting down Imperium with each strike. Unfortunately for the Brutes, GUNTHER turned the tides, and we saw the heels start punishing their opponents. This time fans watched as Kaiser and Vinci got their tag team offense going, and we quickly saw why they had been a successful tag team over the years! The pair have been a team for YEARS, and we saw that unbelievable chemistry you develop when you work with someone for a very long period. After tossing Butch and Holland to the side, Imperium focused on Sheamus; the men brutalized Sheamus throwing him around the ring and smashing him into barrels against the barricade, but the highlight was when Kaiser and Vinci pinned Shemus against the bar. GUNTHER unloaded his world-famous chops across the unprotected chest of Sheamus!!! Fans watched in horror as Sheamus's milk-white complexion on his chest turned tomato red and started bleeding from the wicked chops from GUNTHER. With their leader out of commission, the Brawling Brutes got demolished by Imperium; Holland's impressive power was no match for the numbers advantage of Imperium. With him out of play, Butch suffered a three-on-one beatdown and some dangerous team-up moves, with all three members of Imperium crushing him at once. When things looked their bleakest, Sheamus rose back to his feet, changing the tides, and suddenly the momentum was on the Brawling Brutes' side. Sheamus destroyed the chest of GUNTHER with his brutal punches to the chest, finally getting even with The Ring General. We watched back-and-forth action culminating in Sheamus putting GUNTHER through a table and pinning Vinci for the pinfall victory. What else can be said about this match? It lived up to expectations and then some! the two teams had an unbelievable battle with stiff shots that made fans wince in pain. The right team won here, and GUNTHER wasn't pinned, which is fantastic news! Up to this point, GUNTHER has only been pinned twice on the main roster and feels unstoppable, so keeping him strong is VERY important to his character.

The next was Liv Morgan defending her women's Championship against Ronda Rousey in an Extreme Rules match. I was worried about this matchup because Liv has never been in an extreme type of match, but she did very well, and I think the next time, she will do even better. I thought she did an excellent job for a woman in a match setting she's NEVER been in. The match itself played out as expected; the most dangerous woman on the planet, Ronda Rousey, was fearless and brutal in her attacks on the champion. Still, as usual, Liv showed off her never say die attitude and kept fighting back as much as possible. Eventually, we got to see some excellent offense from Liv, with her finally getting to show off her extreme side with stiff shots with her bat, some quick chair shots, and she even put Ronda THROUGH A TABLE with a beautiful senton off the top turnbuckle. After a heartbreaking near fall, Liv could not pin Rousey, and before she knew it, Ronda had a nasty submission locked in, and slowly Liv passed out smiling (more on that in a minute.) Just like that, we crowned a new women's champion, and Ronda took back her women's title.

I enjoyed the match a lot, did I think the wrong person won? Yes, I wanted Liv to win because her reign was finally good! She was authentic and fun to watch and was building the conference needed, plus the fans are still into her. I had a strong feeling Ronda was going to win. There was no way they'd have Liv pin her for the THIRD time, so I wasn't too devastated over the result. Still, I feel like Liv deserved a longer reign, she worked so hard to improve in the ring and got fan support despite WWE never putting much effort into building her up, and her reign ended in short fashion, but at least she looked great in defeat. Let's talk about the ending; Liv passed out, SMILING in the face of defeat and losing her precious title; the loveable underdog smiled! I loved that so much. They can take this in many different directions, one option being Liv joins forces with the newly returned Bray Wyatt. Having them together would be perfect, giving Liv the character she needs to elevate her to another level, plus having Bray as a mouthpiece can only help her (bet your ASS more on Bray soon.) The second idea I have in mind is to have Liv get a bit darker, make her love pain both giving it and receiving it. Extreme Rules could be her breaking point, and how she seeks the thrill of pain night in and night out. I'm not saying have her go full Jox Moxley and butcher people but give her the ability just to cause pain and let her quiet psychotic episodes do the talking until she harnesses the new character. Overall I'm unsure how I feel about Liv losing, but WWE has a golden opportunity to evolve her and her character.

The night's third match gave us Karrion Kross facing Drew McIntyre in a strap match. Both men made their way to the ring, but Kross shined due to his entrance and Scarlett setting the tone early on. Kross started the match by refusing to put the strap on, and when Scarlett distracted Drew, that's when Kross struck!! Fans were forced to watch as Kross brutalized the fan favorite in McIntyre with brutal attacks focusing on the shoulder, slams into the barricade, and nasty shots with that leather strap. Hearing the snap of the leather strap against skin makes my skin crawl, and you can see the audience was uncomfortable with the slow-paced beating Kross delivered; he had shocked the WWE Universe into silence. Fortunately for Drew and his fans, he managed to turn the tides in his favor. That's when Drew viciously beat Kross with the strap this time, and quickly the welts started to show up on the body of Karrion Kross, and both men were wearing scars from their battle. Drew nailed a Future Shock DDT, but Kross managed to kick out! Things looked bleak for Kross when he rolled out of the ring, but luckily for him, Scarlett came into play and distracted Drew again, and this time Kross took advantage by smashing Drew's injured shoulder into the steel ring post! Once again, Kross was on the hunt picking apart Drew McIntyre. The ending was quickly approaching, and when it seemed like Drew would overcome Kross to win, Scarlett got in the ring and sprayed McIntyre with pepper spray blinding him! Kross would take advantage and knock him out and get the win. That was a fun matchup. Overall, I loved it, and it was uncomfortable to watch because both men wanted to hurt each other. Scarlett was the MVP of the match; she brings a unique presence to the ring and does so much for Karrion Kross. They stand out together, and Scarlett is one of the biggest reasons.

Following up, Kross vs. McIntyre was a highly anticipated ladder match, with Bianca Belair defending her title against Bayley in a Ladder match. These ladies went to war, and the fans appreciated every second of it; Bianca and Bayley threw everything at each other, all for the Raw women's Championship. Anytime Bianca is in a match, it's a treat. She has such a rare combination of power and speed; she's like the 10th wonder of the world. Bayley needed to contain that power, and we saw her do just that for a decent portion of that match, and it worked! The champion was in danger often, and it looked bleak for Bianca, especially when she was pinned down by a ladder and forced to watch Bayley almost win. Still, Bianca once again showed us why she is the top champion in the women's division and escaped the situation, and kept on fighting. Finally, after an uphill battle, Bianca was seconds away from winning the title, but IO and Dakota showed up! The two quickly came into play, stopping Bianca from winning, and attacked her! Once again, Bianca had to display her extraordinary power and take Io and Dakota out of action. The finish arrived when Bianca took Bayley off the ladder and took her Championship to win it all. Many people wanted to see Bayley win that match so her faction could have all the gold, but I'm afraid I have to disagree. I'm happy Bianca won! She's had a phenomenal run so far, and I think you can take a title off a champion when they are performing this well! It would be like taking Lebron out of an NBA finals game just because he has won too much.

The Finn Balor vs. Edge matchup was a dream matchup for me; an I quit match was a unique way to give it to us, but I appreciated it a lot; overall, I enjoyed the game, but I LOVED the ending. I was very interested in the creative way WWE would get either of these two stro0ng willed men to say I quit. First, fans watched a very intense rivalry unfold in this battle. Finn and Edge treated fans to a mixed bag of technical ability and brutal action. Both men started the match by flexing their chain wrestling abilities and grappling for top control. Soon enough, Edge had an advantage, but Finn would snuff it out and turn the tides; that's when we began to watch as Finn used submissions to wear Edge down. Edge used his veteran mindset to break out of the submissions and made Finn pay by targetting Finn's legs and body with body scissors and figure four-leg locks. They weren't going to get the job done; Finn escaped and left the ring, and just like that, the battle was taken to the outside. Where Finn would take advantage of a distracted Edge and blind him and viciously beat him, trying to make The Rated R superstar say I quit! The mental battle between the two makes it seem impossible for either one of these men would ever quit; nonstop action around the ring saw both men get advantages, only for the other to cut their opponent's momentum short! Chaos ran supreme when Edge and Finn took their war into the crowd, and Edge was the first to get a weapon when he found a hockey stick, beat Finn with it, and used it to apply a crossface and drag it across Finn's face for extra pain. In the end, even that wasn't enough to make Finn utter those dreaded words "I Quit," and the match continued; after beating each other all over the arena. Finn and Edge brought the fight back to the ring, where the Rated R superstar got the upper hand, and when it seemed Edge had won, The Judgment day came into play, causing destruction and attacking Edge.

Edge was all on his own, but Rey Mysterio went to the rescue, fighting off Judgment day members until Rey's son attacked him and sent him into the steel steps. That's when it all went downhill for Edge the numbers game was too much; Finn, Rhea, Priest, and Dominick all jumped Edge, and even Edge's Hall of Fame wife, Beth Phoenix, wasn't enough to save Edge. Phoenix came in with a chair and demolished the judgment day until she met with Rhea Ripley. After an exciting fight, the numbers came back into play and the Judgement day swarmed Beth Phoenix. Down and out, Beth lay on the mat unconscious as Dominick and Priest held Edge down, and Finn Balor kept hitting his brutal finisher, Coup De Grace jack-knifing his feet into Edge's ribs over and over again. Even that couldn't get Edge to say I quit, but Finn had a devious plan; he had Rhea get two chairs, placed one under Beth's face, and commanded Rhea to give Beth the con-chair-to, fearing for his wife's safety. Edge finally said those ugly words, "I Quit!" but Finn wasn't satisfied as he commanded Rhea to nail Beth with the chair!! The crowd looked on disgusted and uncomfortable as medics rushed to help Beth.

I can't express how much I loved this ending; it was emotional, brutal to watch, and gut-wrenching EVERYTHING you want in a tragic end, and it has me fiending to see Beth and Edge give The Judgment day what they deserve. It was a depressing ending to a match where everyone wanted to see Edge finally get payback for what Judgment day had done to him. I'll be honest heading into this match, and I was done with this feud. I lost interest and found it mind-numbingly dull, BUT after Extreme Rules, I'm dying for more, and now I hope to see this feud end at Survivor Series inside a particular cage... WARGAMES!!!! That is the perfect way to end this feud! Rhea, Finn, Priest, Domnick vs. Edge, Beth, Rey, and Aj Styles! It would be an epic battle with some of the world's most talented men AND women.

Finally, the main event had arrived Seth Freaking Rollins vs. Matt Riddle in the main roster's first Fight Pit match! This one had a twist, as UFC legend Daniel Cormier was the special guest ref for this match. Fight pit matches had a huge success on NXT, but this was the first time on the Main Roster, so how would that audience react to this match? The match was much slower than I expected, but it was still very entertaining, with Riddle and Rollins exchanging strikes and grappling exchanges to start! Both men jockeyed for position to see who could claim the first advantage of the night, and that man was Riddle when he stuffed a Rollins takedown attempt and began to show why Riddle was, at one point, a successful UFC fighter. Eventually, Seth could use his speed and take Riddle down with a stiff shot, and that's when Seth Rollins went to work! Seth wore down Riddle with stiff kicks to the face. Seth even pulled a special move out of his hat and applied a Peruvian necktie submission hoping to make Riddle tap out, but the pro fighter managed to escape the dangerous hold. Riddle went for an electric chair, but Seth escaped and climbed to the top of the cage, and Riddle chased after him! The pair fought at the top of the fight pit smashing each other into the unforgiving steel fence; Seth delivered a powerbomb sending Riddle spine first into the cold steel fence! That's when Seth went for his KO shot his Curbstomp, but Riddle moved out of the way and delivered a heart-stopping RKO!! Seth flopped off the cell onto the mat laying prone as Riddle leaped off the cage, hitting Seth with a senton!! That wasn't enough to get Seth down, so when both men got to their feet exhausted, Riddle applied a Triangle Choke, eventually forcing Seth to tap out. Overall great match. I found the ending oddly quick and out of the blue, but a part of that I attribute to Riddle seemingly injuring himself on the senton; his tailbone took a hard fall, and he seemed to have a hard time moving around. Seth is red hot right now, and losses don't hurt him too much, but I still don't like how often they have Seth lose on pay-per-view, but that may just be something I'm bothered by, so I won't complain too much, it was an entertaining match, and both men looked fantastic in the process. I'm hoping the feud can end so both men can get into something new.

That was the show, folks thanks for coming... JUST KIDDING!! Did you think I'd just gloss over one of the biggest returns of 2022?! Last night fans got to witness the return of Bray Wyatt! WWE had been teasing for weeks of a superstar referring to it as The White Rabbit, and it was HEAVILY implied it was Bray Wyatt. Everyone had their eyes out for him, and when the WWE watermark came on and the show ended, you could feel fans all over the world tense up. Suddenly the lights went dark, and we heard Bray Wyatt's voice "He's got the whole world in his hands; he's got the whole wide world in his hands." Slowly, single spotlights randomly shined all over the arena showing former Firefly Funhouse members such as Mercy The Buzzard, Abby the Witch, Rambling Rabbit, Huskus The Pig, and The Fiend himself, along with the "burned" fiend mask! Then the camera cut to the titantron, and we saw a strange man in a mask. He uttered something I couldn't catch and cut to black once again. Finally, the camera settled on a door in the front of the ramp, and it slowly opened and out walked Bray Wyatt himself; Bray blew out his lantern, and the camera cut to black, ending the show. I was speechless, and honestly, I still am! I was so excited to see Bray back in WWE, and I'm very confident Triple H will not drop the ball on him as Vince did. The creativity of Bray Wyatt is unmatched by anyone else in wrestling. When given a free chance to do what he wants, he ALWAYS delivers, and returning to his original gimmick was fantastic! I loved his cult leader gimmick; it was unique and allowed him to cut the most chilling promos. Allowing Bray Wyatt creative freedom will benefit WWE and help them draw that edgier offense they have desperately wanted these last few years. The creative ideas for Bray Wyatt are never-ending; there is so much WWE can do with him, and with nobody holding him back, the future is bright! Overall I give the show a 7.5/10 it was entertaining, with great action but some awkward spots, and I thought a few people won that shouldn't have, but the losses will do a lot for character development.