WWE Extreme Rules 2017 Highlights

Hello everyone and welcome back to Talk Wrestling World, I hope you are all well and good! So as you all are aware, last night the WWE hosted it's two thousand and seventeen edition of the Extreme Rules pay per view and what a night it was! Full of surprise victories, title changes, and a sing song there is a lot to get talking about and so in today's post we are going to be taking a look at the highlight moments and whether or not they were the right decisions to be made. I was originally planning on writing a full review but honestly... I woke up super late and all day I have been rushing around running behind and looking like a total stress head! So for this pay per view I'm going to be sticking with a Highlights post and the next full review will hopefully be Great Balls of Fire. Because of how the Money in the Bank pay per view is run a Highlights post again will be a better fit. Now, over the next couple of weeks or so I am looking to upload more creative content, this includes booking posts where I take a look back at past storyline's and tell you how I would have done and I also want to write more How I would Book posts where I create new fresh storyline's for up and coming events and for specific superstars. I have a How I would book the women's money in the bank ladder match planned which hopefully I can upload in time! If you have any request as to what posts you would like to see then do let me know. This month i am also looking launch my new website. This will be a new place where I bring content outside of Wrestling. Articles there will include images of my days out and trips away, posts on other things I'm passionate, and I am also looking to upload some of m poetry and short stories there also! As always, any recent post will be linked bellow including my How I would have Booked the End of the Stardust gimmick. Finally, you can let me know what you thought of last nights show my leaving a comment bellow or by dropping me a tweet over at @TezangiVictoria.

New Champions

Last nights show was of course full of championship matches and during the night we got to see not one but two titles change hands and I have to say that I was happy with both results. The first comes from the opening match which saw Dean Ambrose defend his Intercontinental Championship against long time rival the Miz. The match did see a little change in the rules, if Ambrose was disqualified then he would lose the title. With the Miz's character and the the history between the two men the stipulation was a perfect fit. The match itself was one of the best of the night. Both superstars work so amazingly well together and their chemistry throughout the match was fantastic. What was also great was the storytelling. Miz was brilliant during this match bringing so much character and literally doing everything in his power to try and get Ambrose disqualified. All his attempts did fail right up to the very end of the match where a distraction allowed Miz to hit his finisher and get the one, two, three making him a now seven time Intercontinental champion. Honestly, the best result. I love Dean Ambrose I really do but no one makes that title feel more important than the Miz. He's a fantastic champion and the title seriously needs him.  Over the next couple of weeks it's going to be interesting seeing the feud between these two develop because it sure is safe to assume their rivalry is far from over and to be honest its the one feud from last night I will be perfectly fine with seeing continue for a little longer.

The second title change came from the tag team divison as the Hardy Boyz defended their RAW tag team championships in a steal cage against Cesaro and Sheamus. Now to be fair the rules of this match were a little all over the place but the match itself was actually really good and I enjoyed it a heck of a lot. The action was fast paced, the wrestling was brilliant, and there were a number of risky spots performed that had me on the edge of my seat. Again, these superstars worked really well together and I do believe that the end result was the right one. Sheamus and Cesaro have just had their heel turn and it would have made no sense if they had just had them loose again to the Hardys. I'm not sure how long their title reign will be but they really did prove themselves last night and I'm certainly excited to see where things go with them next.

Elias Samson  Surprise Performance 

Okay, so up next we have something I was not expecting to be talking about in today's but here goes. So Elias Samson is a man I am forever changing my opinion on. If you have been following me on twitter for long enough or have been reading my blog for long enough you will most certainly know that I was not a fan of his work down in NXT. His time ind developmental saw nothing special from him and he wasn't someone I paid serious attention to. I didn't enjoy any of his work when he was apart of the NXT and I didn't really think much of him. However, Elias was recently called up to the main roster joining Monday night RAW and I have to say that I've enjoyed everything we have seen from him and everything the WWE have done with him since his call up have been really really well. So far he's only competed in one match but it was a damn good match and he was booked very well once again. As far as last night goes he randomly appeared in the ring and gave the crowd a little sing song. It was a little bit of a throw away but I honestly think it worked and I liked it. He got some heat, he had the attention of the fans and the spotlight they gave him was deserved and I do think he will benefit from last nights little spot in the show.

A poor Performance from the Women's Division 

There is nothing I hate more than having to sit here and complain about the WWE women's divison but I honestly don't really have anything good to say about the work we saw from the women's divison last night. I thought Sasha Banks was the standout women of the night along with Alexa Bliss but the overall performance from the divison was weak. It felt like I was watching a women's match from five years ago on the main roster. The women's championship bout didn't feel like a match that would be apart of the women's revolution. I didn't enjoy it, the story fell flat, it was a little messy, the crowd weren't as into it as they should have been and Bayley looked awful! Honestly, what are the WWE doing with that woman? During her time in NXT Bayley was the shit! She was going out there week in and week out and killing it. She had brilliant stories that worked with her character perfectly and she was so massively over and she did genuinely feel like a huge deal. Since her call up to the main roster the WWE have done everything wrong with her. The little changes they have made to her character have seen her fan base shrink, her work appear weaker, and her actual character just appear less likable. I don't find myself backing her as much as I was down in NXT and I'm not as interested. The build up to this match was again weak. The segment from last weeks show was one of the worse things I had ever seen and with such a bad build up and go home episode for the women's divison they really needed to deliver in this match last night. I  really wanted to be able  to forget about what we had seen during RAW last week and say that this women's championship match was fantastic but it wasn't. It was far too short and to be honest it kind of felt like squash match. Alexa dominated this one from the moment she got her hands on the kendo stick and the booking as a whole did nothing what so ever for Bayley. I was also disappointed that there was no outside interference. I mentioned in my prediction post that I would have liked to have seen Nia Jax come out and help Alexa retain some how. It would have created a nice new story and something for Alexa to work on. Plus Nia really is in need of something new and fresh and an alliance with Bliss would have been the perfect fit for her and that role is exactly what she so desperately needs. I do feel as though the WWE missed out on a lot during the women's championship match last night but I'm hoping things will improve over the next couple of weeks.

A huge Surprise in the Extreme Rules Main Event

The Extreme Rules main event saw Samoa Joe, Roman Reigns, Finn Balor, Bray Wyatt, and Seth Rollins compete in a huge fatal five way to determine the new Number one contender to Brock Lesnar's WWE Universal Championship. If you have been reading my RAW Highlights posts and last Monday's Extreme Rules prediction post you will know that I changed my mind over and over again in regards to who I believed would be walking out as the number one contender. Over the past two weeks or so building up to the match itself I had read several articles and blog posts where fans had shared their thoughts and mentioned who they would be backing and honestly every single person had a different name and a different opinion. We're so used to seeing rather predicable main events but over the past month the Backlash and Extreme Rules shows have given us a headline match we just can't predict and I love that! I love that I tuned into a show last night and had a real reason to stay awake. No one knew for sure who was going to be taking home the victory and because there were so many superstars involved it made things even more interesting. There really was a story for every single one of these superstars and you could write each and every one of them into a feud with Lesnar that worked which only made it more difficult to single out one winner. Looking at the betting odds, everyone's opinions, and the story they could have done I watched this match backing Seth Rollins, something I never would have said this time three weeks ago. There's a lot of history between him and Lesnar and a full circle story could have been made. Not to mention the fact that Rollins really needs something fresh and exciting considering his baby face run hasn't been half as strong as his previous work. As the match progressed it was clear there really was no particular standout. Every single superstar stood out last night and delivered a fantastic performance. The spots were brilliant, the crowd were completely invested in all of the action, and there were so many close calls that I spent most of the time on the edge of my seat despite being so unbelievably sleepy! I did have my eye on Balor a lot. He for me was one of the all round stronger performers of the night and Rollins and Reigns again had some brilliant sequences. They really do share some fantastic chemistry and they honestly do bring out the best in one another when they step in that ring against one another. With all the close calls, crazy spots and unpredictable action it was impossible to clearly see who would leave with the win. I had gone through every possible story yet there was one man I couldn't see winning. One man I couldn't really see a strong story for heading into a feud with Lesnar. That man? Samoa Joe. Since joining the RAW roster he hasn't been apart of anything half as strong as he should have been and he was the one superstar I honestly couldn't picture taking the win home. However, the WWE had a perfect surprise up their sleeves and  it was the Samoan wrecking ball who in the end forced Balor into a position where he could no longer compete and effectively Joe walked out the brand new number one contender. Again, this was a huge surprise! Joe was the one superstar in this match I couldn't imagine getting the win and wasn't someone I considered to be a potential winner here. The surprise however was a good one. I've mentioned before in previous posts that Samoa Joe VS Brock Lesnar is a dream match for me and I'm so so so excited to see them clash in five weeks time. The build up is also going to be very interesting!

My Overall Thoughts

Okay, so before I finish off here today lets take a look at my overall thoughts of the show.  In my prediction post for the Extreme Rules pay per view I asked whether or not this show could top Backlash and in all honesty I would say they were rather equal with Extreme Rules maybe being just that little bit better. The surprise in the main event and the overall performance from certain  superstars really made this show strong. We had around three to four matches that really stood out for me. This includes the main event fatal five way, the Tag Team Championship match,  Austin Aries vs Neville, and Dean Ambrose vs The Miz. The storytelling was very strong in all these matches and the wrestling of course was fantastic. There definitely were a couple of matches I will be looking over again when talking about some of the best pay per view matches of the year. It was nice seeing certain feuds come to an end during the show last night but there were no hints of any new feuds kick starting. As I mentioned earlier, the women's divison in particular didn't have a great night and I believe the WWE once again really missed out on something last night especially during that RAW women's championship match. It would have been great to see them kick start a new story and allow Nia Jax the spotlight she really does need. I liked that they squeezed in a little performance from

Elias Samson as I also mentioned earlier. I felt as thought most the booking decisions were right including the main event. I most certainly was not expecting to see Joe pick up the win and so the surprise element was fantastic and for once I actually can't moan about the main event. We had some fantastic wrestling and everyone was used really really well. As far as main events go, lasts nights for sure was stronger than the Backlash main event. What I'm hoping to come out of of last nights pay per view is some fresh new feuds and storyline's. We need to see the championship feuds (apart from Ambrose vs the Miz) move on and kick start something fresh for the superstars involved. It's going to be interesting seeing who steps up to challenge the champions. The WWE didn't leave any hints or attempt to start something new during the show last night that could transition over to tonight's episode of RAW which was a shame and probably a pretty big mistake. I'd also like to hear from Samoa Joe maybe at the top of the show. I'm really interested in seeing how they set out the build up to his match against Lesnar. And finally, It's also going to be interesting to see how the rest of the superstars involved in last nights main event are now going to be booked and whats planned for them over the next couple of months leading up to SummerSlam in August. Overall, I did really enjoy the pay per view a lot more than I expected. There's isn't much I would really change but I do think parts of the show could have been stronger. It was an okay, average show with a phenomenal main event that changed the feel completely.

As always you can let me know what you thought of last nights Extreme Rules pay per view by leaving a comment bellow or by dropping me a tweet over at @TezangiVictoria.

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