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junker-town · 7 years

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What we learned from Extreme Rules 2017

RAW has a new number one contender, new tag champs, a new Intercontinental champ, and yet, something was missing from Extreme Rules.

Extreme Rules did not get all that extreme. And that’s even just considering within the realm of what WWE’s PG-era programming allows in terms of being extreme. A match about trying not to get disqualified, a mixed tag match, really dumb cage match rules, and a submissions match that was basically a regular match except you couldn’t pin your opponent don’t really merit the “extreme” tag.

And the one match that should have been extreme given its emphasis on weapons — well, weapon — was a rush job that made sure RAW’s women got as little screen time as possible.

It wasn’t all bad or middling, at least, even if the show was poorly titled. There were some real high points to Extreme Rules, which we’ll get to... now.

The Miz def. Dean Ambrose to become the Intercontinental Champion

Your mileage may vary, but this match worked for me even if the stipulation for it was not used in the way it was expected to be. The assumption was that Miz would constantly attempt to get Ambrose disqualified since a DQ would force Dean to drop the Intercontinental belt, which is not the usual setup in a championship match. Instead, Miz wrestled a hard-fought and mostly even match with Ambrose until he decided that doing it on his own wasn’t going to cut it: that’s when the shenanigans began.

This is actually highly consistent with Miz’s character. He says things that are often true and correct, or at least said in a way where you can see where he’s coming from. He’s often distorting the truth, though, by telling his version of events that paint him in a heroic light in his own mind, and rubbing as many people the wrong way in the process as possible. So, Miz not immediately trying to get Ambrose to DQ himself works here — holding it in reserve until he absolutely has to, then trying to use the stipulation to his advantage in a way where he can brag about it later while fudging his retelling of events, is far more Miz than presenting Ambrose with a chair or having Maryse immediately attack her own husband to earn a DQ would have been.

Plus, the ref didn’t buy Maryse slapping Miz toward the back-end of the match — he wasn’t going to fall for that at the time the bell rang, either. Miz used to tag with R-Truth, he knows what’s up.

What we learned: Miz is still a clever opponent who you’ll get in trouble against if you underestimate that brain of his. Ambrose let Miz take control of the match, getting thrown into the referee then spending his time begging to not get disqualified, which allowed Miz to sneak up behind him and hit the Skull-Crushing Finale. Miz gets to take credit for actually pinning Ambrose, and even though he leaned into the match’s stipulation to defeat Dean, he’s going to talk it up (and already has, on the post-show RAW Talk) as if he did this entirely on his own without any foul play to help him through it.

WWE.com

Sasha Banks and Rich Swann def. Alicia Fox and Noam Dar

This was fun for what it was, which sounds even more backhanded compliment-y when it gets the add-on of “and that’s more than you can say for most of this show.” Mixed tag matches are tough to pull off effectively, though, and they managed this feat. Alicia Fox and Noam Dar tagging each other with desperate hugs was wonderful each time it happened, as was Sasha dropping knees on Dar from the turnbuckle to the outside.

What we learned: It doesn’t look like WWE is going to pull Sasha Banks off 205 Live duty just yet, as she and Swann showed some real chemistry in the ring and on RAW Talk, to the point that Banks had to remind any writers watching that she’s married so that they don’t start shipping the pair. And as always, seeing Alicia Fox on screen reminded us that we never get to see Alicia Fox often enough. Give her some wins and a story on RAW, y’all.

Alexa Bliss defends the RAW Women’s Championship against Bayley

WWE has no idea what they’re doing with Bayley. Letting Alexa retain is just fine, but it’s not like Bayley looked good in defeat. Of course, Bliss didn’t get to look very good in victory, either, since this was a rush job that saw the kendo stick on a pole secured the first time either competitor went for it. No buildup, no drama, no oh-so-close attempts that would help to a payoff later. Nope, they just reached for it, dropped it into the ring, tried to be the first to pick it up, and then the match was over nearly as soon as it had begun.

Bayley looks like a hapless chump, but at least Alexa can get away from what has been a pretty toxic program for a couple of weeks now.

What we learned: See above with regard to WWE not having any idea what they’re doing with Bayley. Maybe RAW will remember they have Nia Jax around now, at least, since they’re only capable of showcasing a couple of women at a time.

Would it kill you to actually feature your women on television and on pay-per-view, RAW? Kate Foray’s RAW Breakdown is great for seeing this sort of thing, and since it’s Patreon-funded I won’t share exact figures with you, but just know that the RAW Women’s Championship got a single-digit percentage of a three-hour show’s in-ring time, and it was the only women’s match on the card.

Cesaro and Sheamus def. the Hardys to become RAW Tag Team Champions

Maybe we were all misunderstanding what “Extreme Rules” meant. We assumed that the rules would allow for extreme stipulations, but no, what the title refers to is how extremely strict the rules for these matches would be. Take this championship tag match between Sheamus and Cesaro and the Hardy Boyz: there are no pinfalls or submissions in this cage match for some reason, so it turns into a game of who can escape the cage first. And that is further complicated by WWE’s insistence on having a door to the cage, one that either pair could have easily just walked out of a number of times.

Wrestling is all about suspension of disbelief, but it’s the job of the writers to make sure fans can maintain said suspension. These kinds of cage matches make it nearly impossible, especially when rules change to fit a story instead of a story fitting within rules everyone already knows exist and can react to without mid-match explanations detailing why actually your assumptions are wrong.

This was some WCW-level problem creation, and the live audience must have been confused as hell once it turned out Jeff Hardy’s initial escape didn’t count since he came back in.

#RAW #TagTeamChampion @JEFFHARDYBRAND will go GREAT heights to save his brother! @MATTHARDYBRAND #ExtremeRules http://pic.twitter.com/tYoRpStoVa

— WWE (@WWE) June 5, 2017

What we learned: And that’s all a shame because this foursome actually put on a physical and mostly entertaining match — it was just dragged down by the minds that devised it all in the writers’ room. Maybe we’ll end up getting a split of the Hardys out of it, though, and the pair will get some characters attached to them outside of pure nostalgia.

Neville defends WWE Cruiserweight Championship against Austin Aries

Speaking of rules not being made clear from the start and changing to fit the story being told, Austin Aries caused Neville to submit on the outside of the ring, but it didn’t count because it didn’t happen inside the ring. So... it’s not an extreme match at all, really. It’s a match where there are no pinfalls and you can hit a guy with a chair if you want to since the only way to end the match is with a submission. Assuming the submission happens in the right place, anyway. There’s nothing more extreme than fine print, kids.

The match was actually pretty good in spite of this easily avoidable issue, with the only real complaint being that Neville targeted Aries’ knee throughout, but then ignored it entirely for the finish. The finish was pretty cool anyway, though, with Neville landing his Red Arrow finisher — one he’s only used when he absolutely has to as a heel as it’s a fan favorite move — on Aries’ back instead of his front, in order to help him lock in the most painful Rings of Saturn submission possible.

WWE.com

What we learned: This is likely the end of this feud, as Neville has won all three encounters and didn’t have to cheat his way to victory in this one like he did the last two times they matched up. Granted, that’s because there was no cheating in this submission match, but still.

Now we’ll have to wait and see who will rise up against Neville next, as Aries vs. Neville has propped up the cruiserweight division for months now. Will the next challenger be able to do the same?

Samoa Joe defeats Finn Balor, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and Bray Wyatt to become No. 1 contender to the WWE Universal Championship

Don’t worry, this is a match where I have no complaints. Everyone was on top of their game here, with Bray Wyatt joining forces with Samoa Joe for a time to wreck the babyfaces, only for it to end up costing Bray in the end when he finally turned on Joe and paid for it. Everyone had their chance to star, with Finn Balor coming out looking the best as the guy who was capable of going toe-to-toe with Reigns, but also as the one looking good fighting off both Wyatt and Joe.

Samoa Joe would end up winning due to effective timing, which is how these kinds of matches work — Balor had this thing most likely won, but Joe was recovered at just the right moment to slap on his submission and cause Finn to pass out.

What we learned: Yoooooooo Samoa Joe vs. Brock Lesnar is some dream match action that we are going to get to see next month. Joe is one of the few people you could believe WWE would allow to actually look game against Brock, and seeing Brock and Paul Heyman act bemused about Joe the Destroyer’s chances against the Beast Incarnate are going to be even funnier when Joe manages to get offense in against Lesnar.

It’s unclear what other feuds are spawning out of this match, if any, but it’s perfectly fine that the primary focus was on crowning a number one contender and dealing with next steps for everyone else until Monday’s show.

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