WWE Extreme Rules 2019: Honest Thoughts

Last night the WWE hosted the two thousand and nineteen editions of their Extreme Rules PPV. While many believe this a pay per view event that no longer truly has a place the night provided fans with entertaining content including title bouts, a strong stipulation main event the occasional surprises that have stunned! In today’s blog post we are going to be looking back at last nights action discussing some of the best and worse moments so grab a drink and a snack and let's jump right into things!

Shinsuke Nakamura Wins the IC Championship

While I hate the fact, this match took place on the kick-off show, Shinsuke Nakamura’s win during last nights Extreme Rules PPV went down as one of the more surprising well-received moments of the night. Taking on Finn Balor in an Intercontinental championship match, the two stars collided on the kick-off show in a match that had great potential. Now, I was massively surprised to see the title change hands mainly because we haven’t had much depth in terms of a storyline between the two and the fact this title bout didn’t take place on the main card. However, this win was hugely important for Shinsuke and with any luck, this can be the first step in turning things around for him. Moving forward it's important we see a full program between these two stars that benefits them both greatly in the long run.

The Best Possible Start to the night

While I admit that I wasn’t the biggest fan of the idea involving Roman Reigns and the Undertaking on Shane McMahon and Drew McIntyre there is no denying that the WWE made the perfect decision in making this their opening match of the night. The buzz surrounding Takers involvement in this match meant the night kick-started strong with the crowd fully invested and full of energy. This was one of the most exciting matches to open a WWE PPV in a while and it worked in the favour of the show overall. Now, I may not be a huge fan of McIntyre being apart of another loss but this was a fun opening contest that highlighted the greatest of all time, one of the best heels on the scene today and the future of the company. McIntyre and McMahon need a strong week ahead but we had some truly great moments from everyone involved here.

The Performances They Needed

If you have been reading my blog for a while or follow me on twitter you most certainly would have seen me comment on the fact that I believe the WWE tag team division is more stacked than it has been years however, I have also highlighted the fact the WWE haven’t been using its tag division half as well as they should and could. Last night, however, the company booked two of its best tag teams on the scene today in a title bout no wrestling fan would want to miss out on! A collision between the Usos and the Revival was always sure to be a good one and while I believe we could still see a far stronger match between the two teams this match highlighted just how damn good both these two teams are and they sure as hell did not disappoint. There were close calls throughout the encounter and the action seen was some of the best tag team action we have witnessed on WWE PPV for a while. Keeping the titles on the shoulders of the Revival was one of the best booking decisions of the night considering the Usos have spent so long in the spotlight. Hopefully, we can begin to see even more form Dash and Dawson main roster fans can witness what the NXT Universe was lucky enough to witness before years before.

Welcome to the Main Roster Aleister Black

After months of anticipation, fans were finally able to bear witness to the former NXT Champion, Aleister Black when he took part in his first singles match on WWE PPV last night at Extreme Rules. Taking on Cesaro in a true dream match, Black made one heck of an impact kick-starting his run on the main roster very strong! The match would have benefited from being at least an extra ten minutes long but for the time they had, Cesaro and Black did a brilliant job and put on a fantastic match up. Both men bring something very different to the table and highlight something new and unique to the roster and I’m glad Cesaro had this moment to work such a strong match and Black was booked in a genuinely brilliant debut match.

A Missed Opportunity

I will admit that the Smackdown LIVE Women’s championship contest was in fact much better than I was expecting it to be! The decision to book a two on one handicap match made sense considering the storyline and relationship between Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross. While we didn’t see a title change the chemistry and teamwork between Cross and Bliss proved there is plenty more the WWE can do with the pair as a duo and the match itself was pretty solid! I was, however, left pretty disappointed with the general outcome of the action from the women’s division at the Extreme Rules PPV. Last night would have been a brilliant night to book the return of Sasha Banks and I personally was very confident we would, in fact, see that take place during this PPV match up. The action was strong here or at least stronger than expected but it's clear there were missed opportunities when it came to this part of the night. 

Last Man Standing

To my surprise, one of my personal favourite matches of the night came from Bobby Lashley and Braun Strowman’s last man standing contest. For weeks the two men have been going head to in a battle of the biggest and best monster and last night was Strowman who came out on top. As two of the biggest powerhouses in the WWE today this was sure to be an epic collision and one heck of a conclusion to what has been an intense and action-packed rivalry. The pair scattered across the arena taking each other out and pushing boundaries from the get. There was a clear demonstration of both stars’ strength and power and it is safe to say there was not a single dull moment throughout this entire match up. I was left completely entertained from the get-go and it's clear this was the big performance both men were massively in need of! A memorable and important showing from both superstars.

It Didn’t Need to Be There

A common problem the WWE continue to stumble across is how big they make their PPV cards and this was something I once again picked up on last night. The PPV had so many strong matches I genuinely enjoyed however, it’s clear that there were a few matches that didn’t need to be on the card. Dolph Ziggler vs Kevin Owens as well as the Smackdown LIVE Tag Team championship bout both could have been left for an episode of SDLive. Taking these two bouts off the card would have freed up some space for a few other bouts to have longer ring time while also securing a couple of strong matches for Smackdown LIVE this week. The tag team bout was very good but again, I felt as though this didn’t truly need to be on the card. 

An Excellent Main Event

I can honestly say that I really enjoyed the Extreme Rules main event. The WWE booked something completely different to close the show this year and I was a big fan! The idea of an extreme rules mixed tag team match was something very different to what we are used to seeing and the concept worked amazingly well. The chemistry between both teams was strong and the action genuinely left me entertained from start to finish. The end result was predictable and didn’t leave me completely shocked but this was a very strong main event that worked in the favour of everyone involved and while Evans and Corbin didn’t score the win they had such a strong showing that it will impact their careers for the better moving forward, especially Lacey.

A Step Backwards?

While the main event match up went down a treat I was left pretty upset with how the show came to an end. Lesnar cashing in on Rollins and walking out of the Extreme Rules PPV didn’t leave me in total shock but the booking decision did feel like a step backwards. It was clear as to where the WWE was going storyline-wise here and this was evidently a very emotional night for Rollins however, after waiting so long to see Lesnar dethroned you can't help but feel as though last nights conclusion to what was a great show was a step backwards. I am hoping Lesnar’s new reign as champion is kept short but what we see in the weeks and months that follow will determine whether or not the WWE just took a huge step backwards.

To conclude, I personally really enjoyed the Extreme Rules PPV and to be honest I was surprised at just how much. There were genuinely so many brilliant matches on the card with plenty to enjoy. There were hardly any bouts I didn’t like and the booking decisions were smart and effective.One of my personal favourite matches of the night was of course Ricochet vs AJ Styles but thats a bout I'll be talking about in more detail in a future post.  I did feel as though there were a few missed opportunities but overall this for me was one of the generally stronger WWE PPV’s of the year so far.

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