WWE Extreme Rules 2017 Predictions

Hello everyone and welcome back to Talk Wrestling World, I hope you are all well and good! So it is the start of a brand new week and boy do I have a crazy seven days ahead, in fact the next couple of weeks are going to be pretty insane for me! There is also a lot coming up over the next few weeks in the world of professional wrestling and so it appears to be a crazy end to May and tiring start to June for us all. This weekend the WWE will host the two thousand and seventeen addition of the Extreme Rules pay per view only a couple of weeks after the Smackdown LIVE only show, Backlash. In today's blog post I'm going to be running you through some of my predictions for the show itself! Now, I have to admit that I'm not as excited for this show as the WWE would like me to be. I have previously mentioned that I'm not really a fan of gimmick based pay per views anymore for the sheer fact that they have lost their touch due to the introduction of the PG era, more so over the past couple of years. That's not say that Sunday's show won't be strong, we have seen some fantastic matches take place on the pay per view throughout the past five years or so but long time fans will know exactly what I mean. The last time I wrote a prediction post was for the NXT Takeover Chicago show a few weeks back and in that post I did mention that I wanted to write more prediction posts because I really haven't written them in quite some time. I did enjoy writing that prediction article hence the reason I'm bringing you this today. The style of this prediction post will be similar to my previous, highlighting the top five talking points and making my predictions for those standout matches and so on. At the end of the today's post I will list who I think will walk away with the victory for each match. As always, I will be live tweeting throughout the show on Sunday. Any recent posts will be linked bellow and you can let me know what you thought of today's post and what your predictions are for Extreme Rules by leaving a comment bellow or by dropping me a tweet over at @TezangiVictoria.

Who Will Leave as Women's Champion?

I hate that we are kick starting today's blog post off on a low but as far as the WWE Women's division goes, I have not been impressed with the work we have seen over the past month or so. After reading a few articles and speaking to some of my friends both in real life and online I know that I'm not the only one feeling this way. For a while now the work we have been seeing from the Women's division whether it be in NXT, Monday night RAW, or Smackdown LIVE just hasn't been all that good and after two years of fantastic matches, promos, segments, and storyline's from the female talent it's such a shame to see them enter another difficult phase. Lets of course not take away the fact that there is still so much potential and if the WWE invested enough time into their female talent and provided them with storyline's with actual depth and entertainment to it then the general opinion is likely to change massively once again. Now, looking ahead we do have a few things to look forward to in regards to women's wrestling and the WWE; the Mae Young Classic and rumors of the first ever women's money in the bank have all been big talking points over the past week and they have managed to give me a glimmer of hope. Before all that however we have the Extreme Rules pay per view to look forward to and this Sunday Alexa Bliss will defend her RAW women's championship against Bayley in a Kendo Stick on a pole match. Okay, so before I start moaning and complaining let me just say that I am delighted (totally couldn't say that word without thinking of Matt Hardy straight away) that we have a women's championship match being defending with an Extreme Rules stipulation at Extreme Rules. In the past it just hasn't happened and at least this time it's fitted with the pay per view and there is a degree of story to it. However, just like everyone I pretty much sat at home on my sofa with a very confused look on my face when the words "kendo stick on a pole" match were announced. Now, the rules of the match a pretty simple, whoever climbs up and receives the Kendo stick first has legal use of the object throughout the match. Okay, to be fair, its not the worse stipulation ever to exist but apart of me did want to see a little more. Bayley and Bliss put on a fantastic match at the Payback pay per view last month, in fact it was one of my favorite matches of the night. Now, I do believe that they can do that again I just worry that competing in a match with this particular stipulation is going to work against them and prevent them slightly from delivering a match as strong as their previous one on one bout. I would like to believe that they will have another solid match this weekend. If they are given enough time (lets say around fifteen minuets) then they could easily do but I do feel as though it's going to be a pretty difficult task for them this time round. I'm not sure who I think will get the stick if I'm being honest, storyline wise it would make sense to do it either way. However, if we look at the build up I'm going to go with Bayley. Maybe she has Alexa running her down and Bayley takes a big beating from Alexa at the start of the match and she realizes that she needs to get Extreme if she wants to walk away as champion but to be honest I would much rather Bliss had her hands on that Kendo stick first.  As far as who walks away with the win? I'm going to have to go with Alexa. The WWE won't be taking that title off her any time soon and I'm expecting her to have a killer performance this weekend that really establishes her as a huge star. I would like to see Nia Jax used in this match. I've mentioned before I would love it if the WWE aligned Alexa and Nia. They have good chemistry and there's a story to be told there that could expand over to Summer Slam or longer if it felt right. With Bayley having the upper hand this weekend if my predictions are right, Alexa is going to need a plan B and what better back up plan the most dominant women in the WWE today by your side?

And the New Number One Contender is...

Up next we need to talk about the main event of the evening. Bray Wyatt, Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, Samoa Joe, and Finn Balor will all compete in a fatal five way to determine the new number one contender to Brock Lesnar's WWE Universal Championship. It's pretty crazy seeing this line up. Every single one of these men come from NXT and every single one of them could be champion right now (not to mention they all massively deserve it). All former champions in some way or another they have all made an impact during their early WWE careers and seeing all five them clash at the same time on pay per view is a real treat. This is the type of match that attracts both hardcore and casual audiences/ fans and despite the outcome it will for sure have everyone talking. Now, before we get into winner predictions lets talk about how I feel this match will compare to the others on the night.  All five of these superstars are bringing something different to the table. From character to experience to in ring style. They're all so different and it's that that really excites me. The action is bound to be none stop and the diversity we are set to get is insane.I have to admit I wasn't as excited for this match two weeks ago as I am for it now. I think I had to get past the fact that we weren't having a Universal Championship match on the card. I'll go into why this was such a big deal for me later on in the post but I can most certainly get behind this main event now. If they are given a long amount of time (which they most probably will) this could be a potential match of the year candidate for the WWE. As far as winners go I'm honest conflicted. My mind has changed so many times on this topic and with only a few days until the show I still don't know for sure who will walk out the winner and the new number one contender. There's a valid argument for each of these superstars; Bray Wyatt and Seth Rollins have unfinished business with the beast, Samao Joe VS Lesnar is a dream match, Finn Balor has a rightful championship match, and Roman Reigns has history with Brock and previous promo's from Heyman set up something there between them. At first I was going with Bray. He's the only man in this match I can see the WWE letting loose clean to Lesnar. I don't believe Brock is dropping the title any time soon and Bray would be an easy win for Lesnar as much as I hate to say it. However, after last weeks episode of Monday night RAW I could see potential of Finn Balor VS Brock Lesnar with the hopes that Heyman will turn on Brock to create the Balor Club, something I wrote about last week in a post that will be linked bellow. I do also believe that Roman is a popular and likely pick. With Lesnar and Reigns going one on one and Strowman returning and attacking them both still something I could see happening. I do like the fact that there is a touch of unpredictable attached to this match, it means I'm likely to be far more interested in the match itself and I really do love to be surprised by the end result in matches like these. 

Can Sheamus & Cesaro Reclaim Their Titles?

The RAW tag team division at the moment is pretty damn strong. While my heart still aches at the fact that the Revival are still out of action the remaining teams have been doing a good job keeping the attention on the division. The dominant action from the division has come from the current champs, the Hardy Boyz, and the number one contenders Sheamus and Cesaro but the story telling has been pretty decent and the build up to their Extreme Rules championship match has been good enough to have me pretty excited for their collision this weekend. The two teams have a decent amount of chemistry and looking at their history, seeing how they go to this point  does make this one of the best built up and one of the most exciting matches heading into Extreme Rules. I actually do believe this could be the match of the night or at least one of the strongest. I am a fan of tag team wrestling despite the WWE not using the division to the fullest over the years. There is the occasional time they get it perfectly right and the teams are able to steal the show on pay per view and weekly products but as far as the main roster goes it's hard to remain optimistic. In the past we have seen Sheamus and Cesaro and the Hardy Boyz put on fantastic matches both in singles competition and tag team. Their previous pay per view match was a pretty decent one and I didn't really have any problems with it. I liked the direction the WWE took things in during the following weeks and the past month we have seen something new and exciting from Sheamus and Cesaro. The question however, remains; Can they reclaim their titles? I actually have mixed opinions on this. Apart of me would love to see the Hardy's retain because lets face it... they're the freaking Hardys and I have already mentioned that at some point I really do want to see the Revival VS The Hardys for the titles. However, on the flip side, Sheamus and Cesaro have been killing it as heels recently and I would like to see a championship reign from them working as the bad guys. The steel cage stipulation could work in the favor of either of these teams and it's going to be interesting seeing just how extreme both sides take this match. As I said I do believe this could be the match of the night and a potential match of the year candidate if they are given enough time and really push things out. It has the fan attraction, the potential and the two teams have great history and pretty strong chemistry. This is defiantly one of the matches I am most looking forward to this weekend. 

New Champions?

I don't know about you but I'm expecting a couple of titles to change hands this weekend at the Extreme Rules pay per view. We have an interesting card with a couple of matches that really could be phenomenal considering they are done right. We have already discussed the tag team championship match and how I believe that is going to go down but lets take a look at the other matches I believe may see a title change starting off with the Cruiserweight Championship. This is a division I'm slowly giving up on and I hate to say it. The frustrating thing is the potential is there, it's staring us right in the face and we have had some decent work from them. We occasionally are treated to a couple of really strong matches on episodes of RAW, pay per view and while I'm not a loyal 205 Live viewer I have heard that here has been a couple of pretty strong matches here and there. It really isn't difficult. The problem is is the WWE have made the Cruiserweights feel so separated from the rest of the roster and the lack of storyline's and character development has meant that the fans just don't feel anything towards the division. I haven't been given a reason to to be excited or pay attention to the division. The work is repetitive and there's just nothing exciting really going on. The only thing I do have an interest in is the rivalry between Austin Aries and Neville. There's a good story there, nice history and a solid chemistry. Their matches have been very strong in the past and I do believe that the pair will put on another great performance this weekend as Neville defends his Cruiserweight championship against Aries in a submission match. Again, the build up to this match has actually been really good and it has left me even more excited for their match. This is the most excited I have been for one of their matches. Do I think the title will change hands? I believe it's pretty likely. Unlike previous matches between them this one does feel a little more unpredictable which I like. At this point it's hard to see  another superstar in the division who could be champ and take the title from Neville apart from Aries. It would be nice to see something different and for Aries to finally have his hands on the title but in all honesty I still think there is so much more Neville can do as champion and I'm still massively interested in his reign.

I also have to mention that I believe The Miz will walk out of Extreme Rules as the new Intercontinental champion. He remains a current favorite of mine and while there is potential to do so much more with Ambrose as champion I would just much rather see the Miz as champ considering he does bring so much more to the title than anyone else.

Will it Top Backlash?

The Backlash pay per view was an interesting one. A couple of decent matches took place and huge title change had the wrestling community talking. When on the topic of can Extreme Rules top Backlash I'm gonna say that it most certainly can. The card seems stronger, the potential for better matches is higher and the over all quality of the night is likely to be a lot better. I don 't feel as though there will be a big talking point coming out of Sunday's pay per view as their was Backlash following Jinder's WWE championship win but I believe the matches will stronger and therefore give us a reason to talk about the show and compare it to the Smackdown LIVE pay per per view we recently saw. I of course don't like the fact the the Universal Champion isn't on the show defending his title. You guys know how much I hate part timers holding major championships in the WWE. When there are so many superstars worthy of a title shot and actually being champion it really does irritate me that they have a champ we never see. It does nothing for the title or the superstars. Saying that, I'm expecting the main event to be one of the best matches of the night if not the match of the night and could possibly be one of the strongest of year. We have five of the biggest names in the WWE in this match, all very different and it's going to be an interesting one for sure. The match I'm worried about the most has to be the women's match just because I'm  not sure if the stipulation will work. However, this does seem like a good card and after writing this post I'm far more excited for this pay per view than I was when I first started writing. 

I will be live tweeting throughout Extreme Rules this weekend and that does include the pre show. You can let me know down in the comments section bellow what your predictions are by leaving a comment or by dropping me a tweet over at @TezangiVictoria.

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