Compared to last year I felt this Extreme Rules was really bland and uninteresting. Instead of going through a match by match overview I'm just going to briefly outline the parts I thought were successful and then go into detail about the more unsuccessful aspects of the PPV.
Seeing The Shield come out on top was great; the two matches were entertaining and didn't need to rely on any stipulations to be entertaining. I hope that the Freebird Rule is implemented for defending the tag team championships and that the trio can hopefully bring back some prestige to their belts. As another hidden advantage to The Shield winning the tag titles I'm hopeful that Daniel Bryan can now return to singles matches. Watching Orton punt Big Show was welcomed, that single moment seemed to make a better than average match good. I thought Henry and Sheamus were very innovative when using the strap, as neither seemed to choke, whip or pull each other from the top rope; though I admit I'm not a fan of matches like this, they made it a match worth watching.
Sadly these are the only memorable highlights I can think of, so here comes my list of things I feel didn't go so great. The first offender of the night was when the referee decided to watch a replay during the Jack Swagger and Alberto Del Rio match. Like the strap match, I'm not a massive fan of I Quit matches but the two were pulling off a decent match with plenty of reversals, submissions and using the arena well - especially when Swagger exposed the barricade at ring side. In my opinion the reversal seemed to raise more questions than it answered, because does this mean any time a heel cheats to win it will be appealed? I highly doubt it. I'm more annoyed at the fact that this was just a one off thing that will probably be never spoken of again, but it was still annoying that because if this you knew Alberto Del Rio was going to win. Honestly, I feel that this marked the downfall of this PPV.
The Last Man Standing match between Cena and Ryback was worse than I expected it to be. I know I've written how I don't like Cena's booking but from the off I thought it was obvious it would be a draw; Cena won't wrestle 'the match of his life' against The Rock and lose the belt a month later, and Ryback isn't established enough to hold the company; so the outcome isn't what's important it's how the two conduct themselves. I honestly really feel that Ryback is either still very inexperienced or is simply terrible; he completely lacked any pacing during the match. There were a few moments where he would just about get up from an eight and a half count to then instantly be running round and picking Cena up over his head; with no momentum or cheering from the crowd. Even when Cena hit him in the head with a fire extinguisher he no-sold it and needed to be hit a second time.
I actually felt that Cena was the only saving grace of this match, he pushed the boat and did moves he doesn't usually do; like a powerbomb. He even tried some visually impressive spots, like spearing Ryback through the time keepers area, but Ryback managed to get up before him; which isn't Cena's fault, but it does ruin his spot.The only problem with Cena in this match is everything he does, someone else has always done better. Not too long ago Roman Reigns speared Sheamus through the timekeepers area and it was much more impressive than when Cena did it. Also the finish reminded me of when Kurt Angle belly to bellied Shane McMahon through the King of the Ring stage, only that was more impressive due to the stage being glass and Angle throwing Shane through it more than once. I don't intend to criticize Cena on this, but it's just something I feel has to be said about his performance.
The final match on the card was Brock Lesnar vs Triple H in a cage match. My first gripe with this match was it shouldn't be the main event; in my eyes except for the Royal Rumble and Survivor Series the WWE Championship should always be the last card on the bill, so instantly this annoyed me. Another pre-match complaint was I have no idea why this feud is still carrying on. If it was me, I would have retired Triple H at Wrestlemania and have him focus fully on his backstage duties. There is no reason for either of these men to keep up this feud, there's nothing on the line, neither men are full time workers and it seems to be a waste of two megastars who could get new talent over.
The match itself was riddled with all kinds of awful too, considering the stars who were participating. I thought it was impossible to make Brock Lesnar, WWE World Heavyweight Champion, MMA World Heavyweight champion and self proclaimed Ass-kicker look like such a bitch, but Triple H found a way. There is no reason for Brock Lesnar to be screaming in pain the way he did, especially when he's had his head split open and gushed blood two times previously - this just seemed to sap all the momentum out of him and make him lose all credibility as a monster heel. The entire spot with the 'camouflaged sledgehammer' was utterly daft too, in my opinion. It seems that I wasn't the only person who was unimpressed with this, as the crowd seemed utterly dead when the match took place; the biggest pop from the fight was when Brock Lesnar won, and part of me thinks they cheered because it was over more than anything...
A special mention goes to the WWE commentary team this pay per view. They managed to ruin a lot of the matches, but a few memorable interactions stayed with me. After the Cena match we had the team tell us how sometimes things go too far even though not too long ago, I believe, Edge put Cena through a flood light in a similar finish. Also I thought it was really strange that Mick Foley was present as part of the pre-show and post-show announce teams and The King kept saying about how these were some of the most extreme matches he's seen, despite being there when Mick Foley had his infamous Hell in a Cell, and I'm presuming he was present when Mick Foley took on Orton at Backlash and Edge at Wrestlemania. Even if The King meant the most extreme Extreme Rules, I would humbley submit that last year's PPV was more extreme with the Lesnar and Cena match alone and the standard of the rest of the card was much higher.
All in all it wasn't an utterly terrible PPV, but the negatives seemed to outweigh the positives. I suppose with it being the first PPV after Wrestlemania it's difficult to assemble a card to please everyone as well as forming new rivalries and finishing off old ones. I just hope that there isn't a fourth installment to the Brock Lesnar and Triple H saga, but I think I'm going to be bitterly disappointed...
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