Sunday, 1 June 2014

WWE Extreme Rules 2014

WWE Extreme Rules 2014 took place at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey. How extreme will the event go? Let's take a look.

The Pre-Show match was a WeeLC match between El Torito and Hornswoggle.  For this match, everything was small: the tables, ladders and chairs; the referee; even the commentators. Anyway, after a few funny moments, El Torito sends Hornswoggle through a table with a springboard senton and pins him to win the match. This match wasn't anything special but it was funny at times which was perhaps the best way to get people interested in the event.
Winner: El Torito
Predictions: 1 for 1

The first match of the event is a triple threat elimination match between Rob Van Dam, Jack Swagger and Cesaro. The match goes back and forth between the three of them and there was a nice bit where RVD powerbombs Cesaro to the floor followed by Swagger almost clotheslining RVD's head off. Swagger is the first one to be eliminated after getting hit with an impressive superplex by Cesaro, followed by a 5-star frog splash by RVD. After a few more minutes, RVD takes out a dustbin (I assume it's no disqualification) but Cesaro baseball slides the bin into him. RVD goes for the 5-star frog splash but he misses and hits the bin. Cesaro then hits neutraliser, sending RVD onto the bin, to get the victory. I really enjoyed the match, although the commentators annoyed me by them not realising that it was a triple threat elimination match.
Winner: Cesaro
Predictions: 2 for 2

We now get a handicap match with R-Truth and Xavier Woods taking on Alexander Rusev, in which Lana has dedicated the match to Vladimir Putin. Rusev doesn't fuck around here as he proceeds to completely destroy R-Truth and Woods. Woods is practically killed after Rusev hits him with an overhead bell-to-belly suplex on the floor. R-Truth does get some offence in but it's not enough as Rusev applies the Accolade while looking like he couldn't be more bored to get the win. Xavier Woods gets more punishment after the match when he gets hit with a fallaway slam on the floor. As I expected, this was a glorified squash match; although I was slightly surprised that R-Truth was on the offensive for as long as he was.
Winner: Alexander Rusev
Predictions: 3 for 3

Next is the Intercontinental Championship match as Bad News Barrett challenges Big E. Barrett gets in a lot of offence in with big boots and clotheslines. Big E does make a comeback with a few bell-to-belly suplexes and a spear sending Barrett off the apron to the floor. Barrett hits the Winds of Change then Wasteland to almost get the win a couple of times.  Barrett does eventually hit the Bullhammer to get the win and become the new Intercontinental Champion. I thought this match was a lot of fun. I'm not a fan of the Bullhammer being a finishing move but I like Bad News Barrett at the minute and I hope that WWE stick with the gimmick, as it seems to be over.
Winner: Bad News Barrett
Predictions: 4 for 4

Now, a match that I'm really looking forward to: Evolution taking on The Shield. Evolution get to wear down Rollins for a while before Rollins hits an enziguri on Orton. Ambrose hits the hot tag and beats down on Orton, including applying a figure four briefly. Evolution then start to wear down Ambrose for a little while. Triple H goes for the pedigree but it's countered into a back body drop then a DDT by Ambrose. Reigns gets the tag from Ambrose and hits flying clotheslines on everybody. Batista goes for the Batista bomb but he gets a Superman punch instead then the triple powerbomb. It looks like it's over but Triple H and Orton pull Reigns off Batista. Triple H hits the Pedigree then later on, a RKO by Orton on Reigns. It descends into chaos as the fight goes all over the place, including the timekeeper's position and the crowd. There was an awesome bit where Triple H and Orton are beating on Ambrose and Rollins does a crossbody on them from above an exit door. Back in the ring, Batista hits a spinebuster but Reigns responds with a Superman punch then a spear to get the win. This was a brilliant match to watch and whilst I thought that Evolution would win here, I think that The Shield winning is probably the right decision after all.
Winners: The Shield
Predictions: 4 for 5

Next was the steel cage match between Bray Wyatt and John Cena. Cena finds out early on that escaping the cage to win the match is not an option because of Harper and Rowan. There is a nice bi t where Cena is climbing the cage but he has to stop Wyatt from reverse crab walking his way out of the cage door. Later on, after powerbombing Wyatt, Cena tries to go out of the cage door. However, Harper and Rowan prevent him from doing so and this gives Wyatt the chance to recover and keep Cena in the cage. Cena tries to climb the cage and goes over the top but Rowan and later on, Harper stop him from doing so. Wyatt goes for the Sister Abigail but Cena reverses it into the STF. Wyatt tries to crawl his way out of the cage. Cena has to let go of the STF and drags Wyatt back in. Cena hits an AA from the second rope but Harper, who Cena had dragged in earlier, stops the pin. Cena manages to take out the whole Wyatt Family and looks like he is about to go out the cage door. However, the small kid who was in the choir on the previous RAW, appears and sings “He's Got the Whole World in his Hands” to Cena in a really creepy voice. This obviously distrubs Cena and this gives Wyatt the chance to hit Sister Abigail and climb out of the cage to get the win. This was a good match. I liked the choir spot that they did at the last RAW and I thought it would have better served in the lead up to their match at Wrestlemania. However, it now makes sense as they used it to play it into the ending here. I quite enjoyed this feud so far and I hope it continues for a little bit longer.
Winner: Bray Wyatt
Predictions: 5 for 6

The penultimate match is for the Divas Championship as Paige, in her first ever PPV, is challenged by Tamina Snuka. Snuka uses her superior strength to dominate Paige during the match, including airplane spinning her into the crowd barrier. Paige manages to bet back into it and she avoids a superkick and applies a modified scorpion cross lock to get the win. I thought it was a pretty decent match and we saw a little bit more brutality than what we are used with Divas matches. That was refreshing to see.
Winner: Paige
Predictions: 6 for 7

The main event is an Extreme Rules Match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship as Corporate Demon Kane challenges Daniel Bryan. Kane starts using weapons almost straight away he uses a kendo stick on Bryan. Both guys use everything in their disposal such as kendo sticks, chairs and monitors to beat the crap out of each other. The action goes backstage through the Gorilla position. They end up fighting in the parking lot and Bryan knocks out Kane with a crowbar. Bryan then uses a forklift, that was conveniently nearby, to bring Kane back to the ring. Then Bryan hits a flying headbutt from the forklift for 2. Kane manages to recover and hit a chokeslam for 2. The match continues to go back and forth before Bryan applies the Yes Lock. Kane tries to get out of it using a kendo stick and eventually manages to crawl out of the ring. Bryan tries to do a suicide dive but Kane catches him and chokeslams him through the announce table. Kane then sets up a table then sets it on fire. That turns out to be a bad idea as Bryan sends Kane through the table. Two guys then use fire extinguishers on Kane, disorienting him and giving Bryan the chance to hit the running knee to get the win.  I quite enjoyed this match. However, I think that spots with the forklift and the table on fire might have been better served if they swapped places. I feel that the diving headbutt from the forklift would have been a great ending. Despite it, it was still fun.
Winner: Daniel Bryan
Predictions: 7 for 8

I quite enjoyed Extreme Rules. Some of the matches were good and I thought the Shield/Evolution match is one of the matches of the year. However, I wasn't a fan of the ending of the main event. The next WWE event is Payback and that was a good event last year so hopefully it will be the same.

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