Hello there wrestling fans! This post is one day late, I have been a little busy, but I am here to touch on the results of Extreme Rules and Raw.
Before I do that, I was informed yesterday by a family member that I should watch WWE Legend’s House. I’m not a big fan of reality shows in wrestling, I ripped them apart in a previous blog as the kind of program that achieves nothing in the long run. I was told that Legends House was different, it was funny, entertaining, and should be seen. I took his advice, and we watched the first three episodes of Legend’s House.
I won’t spoil it for you, but if you ain’t seen this yet, I highly recommend you do so. You might be asking, what sets Legends House apart from other reality shows?
- The legends are naturally charismatic.
- The legends have a lot of history in wrestling, and some of them have past rivalries, while others didn’t get the chance to get to know one another.
- They don’t care about their language, they do swear a lot, they say what they feel.
- Ashley, the girl who assigns them tasks and splits them up into groups, is pretty damn hot!
- There is no winner or loser at the end, no contracts on the line, just the entertainment of seeing the mass of ego’s trying to get along in the same house.
After watching the first three episodes, I can see it getting better and better as the season continues. My personal favourites are Roddy Piper, Mean Gene Okerlund, and Tony Atlas, just for his laugh.
Moving on, let’s go through the results of Extreme Rules. I had predictions for the event, so I want to go through that and see how many I got right. (Going to skip the WeeLC match, as I didn’t watch it live.)
– Cesaro (with Paul Heyman) defeated Jack Swagger (with Zeb Colter) and Rob Van Dam.
– Alexander Rusev (with Lana) defeated R-Truth and Xavier Woods.
– Bad News Barrett defeated Big E (c) to become WWE Intercontinental Champion.
– The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns) defeated Evolution.
– Bray Wyatt (with Luke Harper and Erick Rowan) defeated John Cena by escaping the cage.
– Paige (c) defeated Tamina Snuka by submission.
– Daniel Bryan (c) defeated Kane.
I will be honest, I predicted every match correctly. They were the most logical outcomes, and the best for the WWE going forward. Cesaro continued to look strong, and Rusev continued his dominance.
The Intercontinental title match was one of the best matches for the title in a long time. It was obvious that Barrett was going to win, and I am really happy that he did. As a Brit, I am proud of Bad News Barrett. Although he is in his fourth reign, the victory at Extreme Rules was possibly his biggest victory to date. He is majorly over, and I hope he continues to deliver bad news.
With his victory, I could be wrong, but it is the first time two British wrestlers have held two separate titles at the same time in the WWE. Also I believe it to be the first time the WWE has had two British champions since The British Bulldogs. I would appreciate it if someone could find out if the statistic is true.
Going forward, I knew The Shield would defeat Evolution, but what I didn’t know was the spectacle it would turn out to be. I would dare to say it was the match of the night, and Evolution played a huge part in that. They made The Shield look like a treasure chest of the purest gold, and although Batista was on the receiving end again, I think WWE did the right thing.
Here is where my disappointment comes in. Bray Wyatt vs Super Cena was one of the silliest cage matches I have ever witnessed. How many times did Luke and Rowan have to interfere? How many times did Cena have the opportunity to fall from the cage and win the match? How many times did Cena no-sell everything the Wyatts threw at him? Far too many times!
Am I allowed to get angry here? Seriously, if you’re going to put Wyatt over, do it properly. This match did nothing to make Bray Wyatt look strong individually. You have The Shield, who have a hard time stopping the Wyatt Family as a unit, but yeah .. put the Wyatts against John Cena, and they suddenly become as weak as 3MB. Maybe an overexaggeration, but you get the point.
The only way Cena lost was to have a little kid singing that song in a creepy slow motion voice. I get it, Cena loves children, his fan base is made up of children, so using them against him is the right way to defeat him right? Ugh, I suppose so. I guess children are his kryptonite. It doesn’t make me hate Bray Wyatt, it doesn’t make me feel for Cena, all it does is make me laugh, followed by a disappointing shake of the head.
Paige vs Tamina was refreshing. I loved it. I hope the WWE continues to put on matches like these in the divas division, because it is long overdue. They need more time for character development, but aside from that, Tamnia did the job of making Paige a legitimate champion. I am so proud of Paige, she makes me feel a little old just looking at her, but it’s clear she has put in the work and deserves to be where she is.
Daniel Bryan vs Kane was a surprise. It’s been a long time since Kane has been .. well, Kane. It’s been a long time since Kane was hardcore, and it’s rare to see Bryan get hardcore, however, these two pulled off a main event despite the short buildup. This match had some classic, memorable moments for Bryan, especially when he brought Kane from the back on the forklift, then proceeded to do a diving headbutt off of it. The flaming table, is that legal in PG? I guess it is now. I was into this match, and I felt it would have been the best way to make Bryan look strong, and put this feud to rest, but then Monday Night Raw happened.
You saw what happened on Raw. Do I have to explain it? Why make Bryan so afraid of Kane, and why have Brie Bella screaming when she can’t do it convincingly? It was hard to watch, and even harder to listen to.
I enjoyed the Battle Royal. To see the US title in such a match was absolutely the right thing to do. Ambrose had held the title for almost a year and barely defended it. That wasn’t Ambrose’s fault, he was always too involved with The Shield to defend it individually. With Sheamus as champion, I hope they put a little more time into making it credible again. Whether Sheamus was the right choice or not remains to be seen, he hasn’t been relevant for a while.
The Cody Rhodes losing streak continued, hopefully leading to a feud between Goldust and Cody for the next PPV. Rusev had a real opponent in Kofi Kingston, it’s just a matter of time before a main event guy goes into a program with him. Lana is over already, which may help Rusev in the long run, big guys like Rusev need someone like Lana to connect them with the audience.
Daniel Bryan vs Del Rio was another solid match. Del Rio is in a state of limbo, it feels like the WWE wants to use him, but are having trouble finding a meaningful purpose for his character.
Bad News Barrett defended his title against Big E, confirming the fact that WWE are high on Barrett. JBL made a comment last week on Big E, saying he is “stale”, which I found to be a hint that Big E would be making his way down the pecking order really soon.
Adam Rose debut. The crowd liked the entrance, however, I felt the interactions between Colter and Rose to be awkward. Colter sold most of the segment, Adam Rose didn’t say a lot, and it’s difficult for me to formulate an opinion on his potential.
The Wyatts and Evolution working together to take out The Shield? I’m all for it. I think the only reason why it happened was due to Cena’s absence. There are so many three man teams in the WWE right now, and it results in six man tags, which I’m all for, as these matches showcase more talent in a shorter amount of time, leaving you wanting more.
I read Matt Boone’s horror movie article, and I have to agree. You can have too much of a good thing, and you can also fail to deliver the horror. The WWE has delivered a lot of segments that have fallen short in horror, and end up looking and sounding like a B movie. It’s hard to make convincing horror in a PG environment, so it should be done as a shocking device, not something we have to endure every week.
Besides that, I am really enjoying the WWE right now. There are a lot of players in the right positions to do big things, expect some shocking moments in the next year from them.
I would like to see comments on how you feel the WWE will be in the future. Who are the next World Champions? Who can you see as a future legend? Thanks for reading. have a nice evening.
