Extreme Rules
2012 Extreme Rules comes to you live from Chicago, Illinois.
Dark match–United States Championship: (C) Santino Marella d. The Miz
Opening video package featuring the John Cena/Brock Lesnar storyline. Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler and Booker T are at ringside.
Michael Cole welcomed us to the show. Chicago crowd sounds loud as always. Packed house too. Jerry Lawler and Booker T are at ringside as well.
I won’t be going into full detail about matches for this show.
Falls Count Anywhere: Randy Orton d. Kane (B-)
Both guys began the match scrapping on the outside and into the fan seating and backstage areas before settling into the ring. Backstage, the go into a room with WWE talent watching the show from a TV. Zack Ryder tries to attack Kane, but he no-sold everything and started choking Ryder. Orton made the save. Ha, the cameraman blew a tire chasing them. That sucks. They came back out through the curtain again at the top of the stage. There’s no ramp with this setup. Orton landed a few chairshots, with the fans chanting “YES!” for them. Orton landed a nice DDT off the announce table onto the mat, which got a good pop. Orton tries for an RKO, but gets pushed into the ringpost. Orton his a superplex off the top after blocking Kane’s top rope clothesline. Orton tried for the RKO again, but Kane dodged and hit a Chokeslam for a nearfall. Kane went for a Tombstone on a chair, but Orton escaped, and hit an RKO on a chair for the clean pinfall at 17 minutes. Overall, a very good opener. Nicely done. Lots of good nearfalls too. I’m hoping this ends the feud, and Orton potentially moves on to a feud with either Lesnar or Cody Rhodes.
Backstage, Eve is talking to John Laurinaitis. Teddy Long walks in carrying champagne, and is wearing a nametag that says “Hello my name is Teddy.” She wants a toast to celebrate the new era. Ace’s phone rings, and it’s Triple H. Ace takes it, but leaves to do it in privacy.
Brodus Clay d. Dolph Ziggler (D)
Ziggler tossed Clay to the outside and distracted to ref, allowing Jack Swagger to hit a shoulder tackle on the outside. Ziggler landed a knee and a Fameasser for a neafall. Ziggler applied the Sleeper, but Clay made a comeback. Ziggler charged and got a big headbutt to the chest, one that Ziggler sold like a champion. Clay hit a big splash for the pinfall at 4 minutes. Why is Ziggler wasting away in the midcard?
During the pre-show, Teddy spun a wheel to determine the stipulation for the Big Show/Cody Rhodes match, and it lands on a Tables match.
Intercontinental Championship: Cody Rhodes d. (C) Big Show (D-)
Show is standing on the apron and takes a dropkick. On the fall, Show’s leg breaks the table, and the ref calls for the finish at 4 minutes. Post match, Show hit a Spear, then gave Rhodes a Chokeslam through a table. Show stares down the table that he broke, then gives Rhodes a Gorilla Press through a table on the outside. If it wasn’t obvious, Show’s IC title win at WrestleMania 28 was simply to let WWE say that he’s won every title there is to win.
Plug for You Think You Know Me: The Story of Edge. Got it, but haven’t watched it yet. Expecting big things.
Backstage, Matt Striker talking Daniel Bryan. “YES!” chants. Bryan says he’s got a manlier beard and gets more girls than Sheamus. What did he say about corned beef? Bryan says the crowd is overrated and unoriginal just like Sheamus. After the promo, more “YES!” chants. As he left, AJ is seen watching Bryan leave.
Best 2 of 3 Falls–World Heavyweight Championship: (C) Sheamus d. Daniel Bryan (A-)
Sheamus comes out wearing a shirt that says “18 Seconds.” That’s what she said! Ha. Hopefully this one doesn’t end up being that short. Bryan avoids an early Brogue Kick. Sheamus applied a nice Texas Cloverleaf, but Bryan made the ropes. Bryan hits a clothesline and running dropkick to send Sheamus to the floor. Bryan getting “YES!” chants for every landed move. He tries an attack off the apron, but Sheamus catches him and slams him into the security wall. “Daniel Bryan” chants. Bryan went for a hurricanrana off the top, but Sheamus pushed him off, then hit a big shoulderblock off the top for a nearfall. Sheamus misses an attack and falls to the outside, then counters a suicide dive by landing a forearm to the face. Bryan starts working on his left arm by slamming it into the ringpost. The classic story here is Sheamus’ power versus Bryan’s speed. Bryan threw a series of kicks at Sheamus’ left arm with synchronized ”YES!” chants. Sheamus is holding the ropes, but Bryan doesn’t break and gets DQ’d for the first fall at 15 minutes. Bryan starts smiling as he continues to work on Sheamus’ arm. Bryan applied the YES! Lock on the injured left arm, and eventually got Sheamus to pass out after about 1 minute into the hold. The next fall is two minutes after the first one. Officials go and check on Sheamus for 2 minutes. Bryan has now gotten countering “YES!” and “NO!” chants. Sheamus continues and immediately hits a Brogue Kick, but takes too long to cover. Bryan got a good nearfall after landing a series of kicks and a good shot to the face. Bryan climbs to the top and gets Sheamus off him with a headbutt. Bryan goes for a top rope headbutt but misses. Bryan went for a charge in the corner, but Sheamus evaded, then hit an Irish Curse Backbreaker. Bryan turns around and takes a Brogue Kick for the final fall after 6 minutes. The match lasted 23 minutes. An excellent match between two guys who work so well together. Good job of selling the arm injury by Sheamus. Overall, very well done by both men.
WWE.com and YouTube partnering. Took long enough.
2012 Over the Limit on May 20, which is just 3 weeks away.
Ryback d. Aaron Relic & Jay Hatton (F)
Santino and The Great Khali are watching backstage. Wow, a #PushMcIntyre sign in the crowd. Nice. ”Goldberg” chants for Ryback. Ryback throws one of the guys in from the apron that refused to tag in, and hit a big clothesline. Ryback yells “finish him” as the “Goldberg” chants start again. Ryback hit his finisher and pinned the two one on top of the other at 2 minutes.
Backstage, Striker with CM Punk, who says he’s happy to be home in Chicago. He says he’s done playing games and will make Jericho Go To Sleep.
Chris Jericho entered first to mostly boos. CM Punk entered wearing a shirt that says “Drug Free” on the front and “Poison Free” on the back. He got a monstrous pop. They showed his sister sitting at ringside. Punk was wearing ripped jean shorts while Jericho had tape on his wrists. They changed their gear up because of the Street Fight rules. Loud “CM Punk” chants before the beginning of the match.
Chicago Street Fight–WWE Championship: (C) CM Punk d. Chris Jericho (A)
Punk got on the attack early, and started smashing Jericho with a series of kendo stick shots. Jericho got the upper hand and landed a few kendo shots as well. Jericho hits a springboard dropkick, sending Punk to the outside right in front of his sister at ringside. Punk charged for a running knee but missed and crashed to the outside. Jericho took the padding off the security wall, and slammed Punk’s head into the steel right in front of Punk’s sister. She slaps Jericho and gets a big pop. Punk cleared the announce table and put Jericho through one of the hood covers. Punk went for a springboard clothesline, but slipped and got drilled in the head with a kendo stick. Punk grabs the stick, but Jericho lands an enziguiri for a nearfall. Jericho goes under the ring and grabs a can of beer and pours it on Punk’s head. Jericho grabs another and drinks it a bit, but gets attacked by Punk before he could do anything with it. Punk landed more kendo stick shots and hit a nice side kick to the face with it. Punk hit his running knee and bulldog combo, then hit Jericho in the groin with the stick. Jericho escaped a GTS and Punk escaped a Walls of Jericho, then hit a quick powerslam for a nearfall. Punk tried to climb the top, but Jericho knocked his footing and Punk got crotched. He fought off a superplex, then hit an Elbow Drop for a nearfall. “Randy Savage” chant. Punk caught a Lionsault, but Jericho escaped a GTS and threw Punk face-first into a propped steel chair. Jericho hit a sloppy Codebreaker, then applied the Walls of Jericho. Punk grabs a nearby fire extinguisher and sprays it in Jericho’s eyes. Punk hits him with the extinguisher, then a good kick to the head. With Jericho lying down on the table, Punk climbs the top rope and slips. He laughs it off, then hits an Elbow Drop through the announce table! Holy shit. Jericho kicked out of the cover in the ring. Punk applied the Anaconda Vice, but Jericho breaks it up with a kendo stick to the head. Jericho hit another Codebreaker for a nearfall. Jericho tried for a GTS, but Punk countered with a slingshot into an exposed turnbuckle, then hit a GTS for the pinfall at 26 minutes. Wow. This topped their WrestleMania 28 match as well. Excellent work. The question now is, does the feud end here with Jericho potentially leaving with Fozzy for the summer?
Backstage, Eve sees Beth Phoenix talking to the Bella Twins. Beth says she’ll be Divas Champion again. Probably. Eve tells the Bellas that their opponent is going to be a surprise.
Divas Championship: Layla d. (C) Nikki Bella vs. Layla (D-)
Layla comes out to Michelle McCool’s music. She’s been out the past year after tearing up her knee on a fall to the outside from a top rope move on Raw. “We want Kharma” chant. Layla hit a springboard crossbody for two, then knocked Brie off the apron. Both Layla and Nikki exchanged rollups. After Brie came into the ring, Layla hit the Layout for the pinfall at 2 minutes.
Backstage, Striker asks Ace about Triple H. He says The Game will be at Raw on Monday.
Brock Lesnar entered first. He got a huge pop as soon as his music hit, but once it stopped there were some boos. He was rocking the Jimmy John’s shorts, the MMA gloves on his hands and boots, so at least he’s not going at it barefoot like they do in UFC. Cena got a mixed reaction as he always does. The crowd is really loud for it.
Extreme Rules: John Cena d. Brock Lesnar (A-)
Cena comes out with a chain again. The only way to win is by pinfall or submission. Cena lands an early takedown and scores mounted punches. Lesnar hits some elbows and a big clothesline, and Cena is busted open badly. They air replays that show the elbows are what cut him open. Doctors look at Cena’s cut a few times. Cena comes back with an elbow and tries for an Attitude Adjustment, but Lesnar counters with a pair of German suplexes. Cena hits a shoulderblock, and Charles Robinson takes a spill. Lesnar is dominating on the outside, as he rams Cena’s left arm into the security wall. Lesnar grabs Cena’s chain and hands Cena upside down from the turnbuckle before landing a series of shots like a punching bag. Lesnar whipped him into the steel steps, then tossed Robinson back into the ring by his belt. Ha! Cena tried for another AA, but Lesnar fought out of it and hit an F5, knocking out Robinson in the process. Jon Cone runs in and counts a two on Cena. Lesnar’s not happy, so he clotheslines the ref. WWE officials come down to ringside. Lesnar tossed the steel steps in and gave Cena a kimura armbar mixed with a rear naked choke. Cena picks Lesnar up and drops him back-first onto the steps. Cena went for a legdrop off the top, but Lesnar got out of the way. With Cena on the apron, Lesnar ran, jumped off the steel steps and hit a running knee, but went flying over the top to the outside, landing face-first. He looked like he was hurt, but bounced right back up. He tried the spot again, but Cena drilled him in the head with the steel chain, busting him open. Cena delivers the Attitude Adjustment on the steel steps for the pinfall at 18 minutes. Another very well done match. Or fight, I should say. I question Lesnar losing his first match back, since it’s going to take longer to re-build him as unbeatable again. Post-match, Cena calls Chicago a wrestling town and thanks them for coming. He talked about going out for a bit, which made me think he’s hurt or he’s taking time off or something. Stay tuned for that.
Three Stars of the Show
* CM Punk
** Chris Jericho
*** Sheamus/Daniel Bryan
**** John Cena/Brock Lesnar
Final Grade: A
Excellent show. Why can’t all PPVs be this good? Great matches, with great nearfalls and strong stories. I thought Extreme Rules was far better than WrestleMania 28. I question Lesnar’s loss, but everything else on the show was great when it was supposed to be. Nothing disappointed me, and the three headline matches all delivered. Definitely a must-see if you have the chance to watch it.