The Horror Show at Extreme Rules took place at the Performance Center in Orlando, Florida on Sunday 19th July. Some of the matches look pretty interesting, so let's take a look.
The match on the Kick Off Show was
Kevin Owens taking on
Murphy. The match starts at a breakneck pace before Murphy applies a sleeper to slow things down. Owens hit a DDT followed by a brutal clothesline to start a comeback. In the end, Owens hits a super kick followed by a Stunner to get the win. I thought this was a good match.
Winner: Kevin Owens (N/A)
The first match of the show was a Tables Match for the Smackdown Tag Team Championship with
Shinsuke Nakamuta and Cesaro challenging
The New Day. Both teams come close to putting thier opponents through a table. However, in the end, Cesaro powerbombs Kofi Kingston through 2 tables on the outside to get the win. This match was ok.
Winners: Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro (0 for 1)
The next match is
Nikki Cross challenging
Bayley for the Smackdown Women's Championship. Bayley is cocky to begin with but she takes it more serious after getting with a neck breaker. Bayley sends Cross into the barrcade to get the advantage but Cross catches her in the apron to start a comeback. After a little bit of back and forth, Sasha Banks gives Bayley her Boss ring then distracts the referee. This gives Bayley the chance to hit Cross with the ring then hit her with the Arm Trap Headlock Driver to get the win. I thought this match was pretty good.
Winner: Bayley (0 for 2)
The next match was supposed to be
MVP challenging
Apollo Crews for the United States Championship. Unfortunately, Crews did not pass his pre-match fitness test so MVP and Bobby Lashley come and claim the title by forfeit. So, MVP wins I guess.
Anyway, we got the first ever Eye for an Eye Match between Rey Mysterio and Seth Rollins. Mysterio starts the match by attacking Rollins from behind. However, Rollins gets the advantage very quickly. During the match, they use kendo sticks, a table and a steel chair, to attack each other eyes. In the end, Rollins pushes Mysterio into the steel steps and that is enough to him to lose his eye and give Rollins the win. I didn't like this match as I couldn't take it seriously. I know that wrestling requires a suspension of disbelief. However, I found the whole stipulation stupid, especially when WWE is TV-PG.
Winner: Seth Rollins (1 for 3)
The next match is Sasha Banks challenging Asuka for the RAW Women's Championship. Banks gets the advantage very early on and manages to apply the Banks Statement at one point. Asuka reverses an arm drag into a knee to the face, giving her back the momentum. The match goes back and forth, with both women coming close to getting the win. Bayley starts to interfere like crazy but is kicked in the head by Asuka. Asuka goes for the green mist but she hits the ref instead. Asuka puts on the Asuka Lock but Bayley hits her in the back with the belt. She then takes the referee's shirt and counts the pin when Sasha covers Asuka and this gives Sasha the win? Wait, what?! What the fuck was that?! Up until the last 30 seconds, this was a really good match. Unfortunately, it's ruined by what Bayley did. I didn't think it was needed and it just looks stupid.
Winner: Sasha Banks (apparently) (1 for 4)
The penultimate match is for the WWE Championship as Dolph Ziggler challenges Drew McIntyre/ Ziggler can choose the stipulation and he goes with an Extreme Rules Match. However, this only applies to Ziggler himself. I first thought this was a dumb idea but looking back on it, it was quite clever by Ziggler. McIntyre, at the beginning, prevents Ziggler from taking advantage of the stipulation. However, Ziggler hits a low blow then goes on to use a steel chair on McIntyre. Later on, McIntyre almost gets counted out after getting put through a table by Ziggler. Ziggler goes for a super kick but he gets wiped out by a Claymore Kick by McIntyre to get the win. I thought this was a pretty good match.
Winner: Drew McIntyre (2 for 5)
The main event is a Wyatt Swamp Fight between Bray Wyatt and Braun Strowman. Highlights of the match include: Strowman being attacked by, I assume, his evil twin; a tied-up Strowman having a confrontation with the original Bray Wyatt; and Alexa Bliss tempting Strowman. Waytt and Strowman fight on the jetty and it looks like Strowman has won when Wyatt is booted into the water and doesn't come back up. However, Wyatt appears and pulls him into the water. The Fiend then appears and the show ends. So, I guess that Wyatt wins? and Strowman is dead...? Ok...
I wasn't a fan of this at all. I didn't feel like a match to me, just a bad attempt at a horror movie. i get that WWE are trying to do different things with the current climate. However, I think that they need to focus more on the traditional wrestling and stick with what works.
Winner: Bray Wyatt? (3 for 6)
Like recent WWE events, I thought this was a mixed bag. Some matches were good. However, I wasn't a fan of the main event and a couple of the booking decisions really annoyed me. To be honest, it's been hard to review these shows as I'm struggling to enjoy them. With SummerSlam coming up, I'm worried that we will have more of the same for the foreseeable future.
