With Extreme Rules 2019 coming up this Sunday night, the go-home shows of Monday Night Raw and SmackDown Live have given us an indication of what talent is booked for the pay-per-view and who is not currently scheduled. Of course, the card is always subject to change and WWE may end up making alterations to this lineup, but at the moment, the men and women in this breakdown are not currently advertised as being part of this event.
In some cases, this may be justified, or even a purposeful plan to set up a surprise. In other cases, it may be ridiculous. That is up to you to decide as we take a look at which superstars aren’t being promoted for this show.
From the Raw Men’s Division
— The Ascension (Konnor & Viktor): Jobbers don’t get pay-per-view spots. Same old story that you’ll see for plenty of other people on this list.
— The Authors of Pain (Akam & Rezar): The last we saw of AOP, they were coming out of Baron Corbin’s office and bumped into The IIconics. They’re ready to go, in terms of Akam being cleared for competition after his injury, since they wrestled in the Super ShowDown battle royal, but as WWE has too many plates spinning around right now and no ability to focus on all of them, AOP has been pushed aside.
— Bray Wyatt: Firefly Fun House has kind of been put on hiatus. Typical TV show schedule. Sheesh. But there’s a good chance Wyatt could be the one to pick a fight with Aleister Black, as they would have promos about all sorts of otherworldly nonsense. At the very least, we could see Rambling Rabbit backstage or something.
— Brock Lesnar: You know the rule. It’s Lesnar. He’s either showing up to cash in his Money in the Bank contract, or he’s not showing up at all. I’d bet more on the latter.
— Cedric Alexander / EC3 / Eric Young / Heath Slater / Mojo Rawley / No Way Jose / Robert Roode: These guys basically only wrestle on Main Event and run for the 24/7 Championship. If we see them, they’ll be chasing R-Truth and Drake Maverick again.
— Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder: Jobber rule. Their tag team title stint is over with and they’re back at the bottom of the barrel, unfortunately.
— The Good Brothers: While not officially advertised for the card, Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows will undoubtedly be ringside for the United States Championship match.
— Lio Rush: It’s been a long while since we’ve seen Rush, with no indication of why that’s the case or where he’ll turn up next. We’re completely in the dark about his future.
— The Miz: So I guess The Miz is just in a feud with Elias now as a means to get him away from the Shane McMahon thing that is much more focused on Roman Reigns? It’s a pretty underwhelming situation for both Miz and Elias (more on him below) and it’s a shame that feud is so low on the priority scale that they don’t have any momentum for a gimmick match at this event.
— The Revival (Dash Wilder & Scott Dawson) / The Usos (Jey Uso & Jimmy Uso): I could have sworn The Usos said they were coming for the tag titles on Sunday, yet WWE hasn’t bothered to make this an official match on the website, Twitter, or elsewhere. Strange.
— Rey Mysterio: Mysterio made his in-ring return this Monday night on Raw, but was quickly dispatched by Bobby Lashley.
— Sami Zayn: Did WWE forget about Sami Zayn with this Super ShowDown stuff? He’s been on the sidelines. Hopefully, he’ll come back with some sort of new program for SummerSlam.
— Titus O’Neil: Jobber rule.
— The Viking Raiders (Erik & Ivar): They’re still just beating up jobbers.
From the Raw Women’s Division
— Alicia Fox: For the most part, we haven’t seen Foxy since her blow-up many months ago. She’s back in the swing of things to a certain extent, but very minimally.
— Dana Brooke / Sarah Logan: These two have a feud going on Main Event, not even on Raw. They both also lost their Beat the Clock Challenge matches to Nikki Cross and Bayley, as they’re supplemental, not the focal feud.
— Naomi / Natalya: There isn’t much to talk about with these two. They just simply aren’t being focused on right now, as WWE is spotlighting other talent.
— Nia Jax: Jax will remain out with her knee injuries for the coming months and isn’t expected to return to action until 2020.
— Ronda Rousey: Rousey is still inactive due to her broken hand and her wishes to start a family. It is unknown when or if she’ll be returning.
— Ruby Riott: Riott’s shoulder injury will keep her on the shelf for the next few months.
— Sasha Banks: Who knows what’s going on with Sasha Banks at this point? It seems like she could come back to help Bayley here, though, since Nikki Cross teased the idea of Bayley needing to find a friend to slap some sense into her.
— Tamina Snuka: It’s Tamina. She’s hardly ever factored into storylines.
From the SmackDown Men’s Division
— Ali: Right now, it seems Ali is on the sidelines while WWE tries to build him up a bit with vignettes. That’s not a bad thing, as he’s at least getting some hype. But it does mean that he has nothing going on for him for Extreme Rules, as he’s not in any sort of feud at the moment. Also, he recently had a root canal surgery, so by all means, taking some time off for that is definitely recommended.
— Andrade / Apollo Crews / Chad Gable: Andrade and Crews have a feud going on right now, with Gable possibly still being in the mix as an overseer who will eventually team with Crews. Maybe WWE dropped that aspect of this, or maybe it’s just on the back burner. In any fashion, this isn’t a feud or storyline that is worth putting on Extreme Rules.
— The B-Team (Bo Dallas & Curtis Axel): Jobber rule.
— Big Show: While technically still listed as a member of the SmackDown roster, Big Show is much more of an ambassador than an active wrestler.
— Buddy Murphy: Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego? Probably hanging out with Buddy Murphy, because he’s been completely MIA since joining the SmackDown roster…
— The Colons (Epico Colon & Primo Colon): Jobber rule, magnified even more than with most.
— Dolph Ziggler / Kevin Owens: These two definitely have issues after the July 2nd episode of SmackDown Live, and if there were more weeks to build to Extreme Rules, I would assume they’d be set up for some kind of gimmick match. Instead, they’re just not on the card. That’s a shame, as they can be great and Owens could use that momentum for his new babyface role. But they had their SmackDown match, at least. Oh wait, that didn’t happen, either, but at least the feud seems to be continuing.
— Elias: Once Drew McIntyre stepped into the picture as Shane McMahon’s heavy, Elias was promptly tossed in the bin as yesterday’s leftovers and his push as a major part of SmackDown has been dwindling as of late. He does have a feud going on with The Miz, but it’s pretty much circumstantial and not worthy of an Extreme Rules match, clearly, so it isn’t a priority. That’s a shame. Here’s hoping things turn around very soon for both of them.
— Finn Balor / Shinsuke Nakamura: These two were VERY quickly teased for a feud, in the simplest, most basic, lackadaisical way, and it wasn’t followed-up on until this past episode of SmackDown, rather than building to an Extreme Rules match. Balor has been pretty much a non-entity since Super ShowDown. Very strange.
— The Hardy Boyz (Jeff Hardy & Matt Hardy): Jeff Hardy is still out on the injured list and Matt Hardy has had nothing to sink his teeth into since then, as they tried to get something going with Lars Sullivan, but that didn’t pan out, and he’s now just wrestling on house shows.
— Jinder Mahal: The Modern Day Maharaja ruptured his patellar tendon and will be out for the next coming months until he recovers.
— Lars Sullivan: Sullivan is out for the foreseeable future due to a knee injury.
— Luke Harper: WWE is apparently letting Harper sit out the remaining time on his contract, for some reason.
— R-Truth: I would be shocked if R-Truth doesn’t have a segment here, given that it’s Extreme Rules and the 24/7 Championship should play into that in some fashion.
— Randy Orton: WWE has done nothing with Orton following his match with Triple H at Super ShowDown. Supposedly, this is because he’s had time off to deal with a neck injury problem. I had thought they would capitalize on that and put him in a title match with Kofi Kingston, but with Samoa Joe in that role, I guess The Viper is just waiting to strike his next opponent closer to SummerSlam, when he’ll be more healed up.
— Rusev: The Bulgarian Brute is one of those superstars who has absolutely nothing going on at the moment. I guess WWE Creative just has no ideas in mind of how to utilize him.
— Sheamus: The Celtic Warrior has been out of action quite some time due to injuries, and WWE has not given a timetable as to when or if he will be returning to the ring.
— Shelton Benjamin: If he does show up, he’ll probably look around, smile, and walk away. I don’t get this new gimmick at all.
— Sin Cara: Sin Cara is enhancement talent used for house shows, not pay-per-views.
From the SmackDown Women’s Division
— Carmella: If R-Truth appears, there’s a 95% chance Carmella will be beside him.
— Charlotte Flair: For the past few weeks, Flair has been MIA. I had thought some of that was Andrade’s unfortunate family passings, and that might have been part of it, but it could also be that WWE just knows she’s been played out for a while and fans could use a break. I expect her back real soon.
— Ember Moon / Fire and Desire (Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville): Moon has been feuding with Rose and Deville for several weeks, partially with Carmella in the mix, but it’s a SmackDown TV feud, rather than something that has built to a pay-per-view level.
— The IIconics (Billie Kay & Peyton Royce) / The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka & Kairi Sane): Remember how this title match was supposed to be on the bubble? WWE doesn’t seem to really want to give it any screen time at all. That’s how you build hype, folks! A total lack of momentum! This week, they ran a quick backstage segment that was completely hollow and acted just as a reminder that the match still hasn’t happened. If it takes you 3 months to do anything with a set of champions, you clearly don’t need that belt.
— Lana: No Rusev or multi-woman match, no Lana. That’s the general rule of thumb.
— Liv Morgan: Morgan hasn’t been reintroduced as a member of the SmackDown roster in any solid fashion since the Superstar Shake-up and the split of The Riott Squad. Curious. I guess she’s just not a priority enough to have her do anything at all beyond the house shows.
— Mickie James: James is still out of action with her torn ACL.
— Zelina Vega: No Andrade or multi-woman match, no Zelina Vega. Pretty much the same as Lana.
From the 205 Live Cruiserweight Division
— Drew Gulak will be defending the Cruiserweight Championship against Tony Nese, which will be the only representation of the 205 Live roster. Left out of the mix for this event, then, will be Akira Tozawa, Ariya Daivari, The Brian Kendrick, Gentleman Jack Gallagher, Humberto Carrillo, The Lucha House Party, Mike Kanellis, Oney Lorcan, and The Singh Brothers
Do you think these men and women or any others not on this list should have been booked on the card in some fashion? How would you have utilized them if given the opportunity? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!
