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WWE Extreme Rules 2012 Results and Review
So we are almost a month removed from Wrestlemania and last night was the WWE's latest Pay Per View effort, Extreme Rules. The theoretical child of the One Night Stand gimmick PPV, Extreme Rules is the one night of the year that the WWE will often let things loose and enjoy a couple harder gimmick matches. Despite being somewhat disappointed by some of their choices lately, the WWE absolutely came through last night with an excellent Pay Per View.
First, let's take a look at what happened on the show:
Pre-Show Match: Santino Marella defeated the Miz by pinfall in 4:40 to retain the WWE United States Championship
Falls Count Anywhere: Randy Orton defeated Kane by pinfall in 16:45
Brodus Clay defeated Dolph Ziggler by pinfall in 4:20
Tables Match: Cody Rhodes defeated Big Show via Table Break in 4:35 to win the WWE Intercontinental Championship
Two Out Of Three Falls: Sheamus defeated Daniel Bryan 2-1 in 22:55 to retain the WWE World Heavyweight Championship
Handicap Match: Ryback defeated Aaron Relic and Jay Hatton by pinfall in 1:50
Chicago Street Fight: CM Punk defeated Chris Jericho by pinfall in 24:50 to retain the WWE Championship
Layla defeated Nikki Bella by pinfall in 2:25 to win the WWE Divas Championship
Extreme Rules: John Cena defeated Brock Lesnar by pinfall in 17:45
Overall, a really great show from WWE. The top 3 matches (Sheamus-Bryan, Punk-Jericho, Cena-Brock) all delivered on what they promised to be, and in ways, exceeded what we could expect from them. The supporting matches delivered in their own ways and the crowd was absolutely eating everything up all night long. This is why the WWE runs Chicago so often for their biggest shows; while East Coast cities like Philadelphia and New York continue to be let downs in terms of sales and live crowd reactions, the Chicago crowd brings the heat to any show they see, be it a PPV, a RAW, or a Smackdown. Knowing this, it's almost a shame that the WWE has gone full on arena mode for Wrestlemania, as running Soldier Field in the beginning of April could be a recipe for disaster. We'll see how that plays out after Wrestlemania in Giants Stadium next year. More on that when the time comes.
As for the show itself, here's how I saw it. Orton versus Kane ran it's course about a month ago heading into Wrestlemania. Look, I get why they put these two together. Individually, they are solid draws and can put on really good matches at times. Other times, these guys can be some of the biggest time and stress drains on the show. Together, the chemistry just hasn't been there, at least for me. Sure, they have had some good WWE-Style brawls but where are these guys going from here? It's been a big string of promos that haven't worked to get it over and throw away segments with "Ace" Bob Orton and Paul Bearer. Orton got the win last night, which is the right move, but where does this leave him long term? Does he move on to challenge Sheamus in a face on face encounter at Over The Limit? Does he have to compete with Cody Rhodes for a Number One Contender's spot? Beating Kane doesn't mean the same thing it used to over the past decade and it has left Orton in a booking limbo. As for Kane, his name value is keeping him up at this point. His first two storylines after returning with the mask, against Cena and Orton, have seen him end up on the losing side, his promo work has been shoddy at best, and his ring ability is seemingly declining. It's nice to see a veteran guy still giving it a go but when the magic is no longer there... Maybe it's best to settle back into the midcard as a gate keeper. Kane showing the younger guys how it's done could be incredibly beneficial. He's a guy who's done it all in terms of titles, big matches, bad AND good gimmicks, and has managed to last over the long haul. With the youth movement on Smackdown, leaving Kane there to steady the locker room and teach the youngins makes way too much sense.
When Brodus Clay debuted I was completely into his act. In ways, I still am, I find him highly entertaining and he's started to get the crowd on his side more and more. The big problem I'm having is the effect it is having on the people around him. It doesn't seem like the writers have a complete handle on how they want this character to perform. Some nights, Brodus dominates, others he's doing a goofy comedy routine that just doesn't sell this side of Santino. It looked for a bit like they might be leaning more towards the dominant, yet charismatic side. His recent pairing with the Leprechaun changed all that though. Nobody will see Brodus as anything more than a midcard sideshow attraction with Hornswoggle by his side. He's unlikely to win titles, unlikely to win over a mass audience, and unlikely to move much. You might remember Mark Henry, of the Hall of Pain fame, being stuck in this same boat a year or two ago. They ditched it, Henry went full evil, and recently found himself as a dominant World Heavyweight Champion. Brodus has the potential to do the same, if they will let him. Meanwhile, Dolph Ziggler continues to be the most wasted talent on either of the brands or the web shows. Dolph can't yet carry a match by himself but he has an ability most of the stars lack, to make his opponent look like complete gold, almost all the time. Ziggler has it all, the stick work, ring work, mannerisms, you name it, he's just lacking that spark to put him over the top. In my opinion, the lack of spark is the beautiful Vickie Guerrero. Vickie can do a lot of things for a midcard act, the greatest of which is being the biggest heel magnet in years. Vickie can work the crowd into a fire that will transfer to whomever she is valeting to the ring. Something like that is great for Ziggler's on/off partner Jack Swagger, who has always had the ring ability but has never had the mic skills. For Ziggler though, it is holding him back. He needs the attention to be on him, he needs to deliver his own promos, he needs to let his ring work speak for him, not a manager. Dolph has the ability to be a top hand but he'll never get there with Vickie in his corner.
There's not a lot that can be said about Big Show versus Cody. Cody went over in the match and won back the Intercontinental Title but what did any of this really accomplish? The Big Show put himself through a table, making himself look bad for being stupid enough to lose in a cheap fashion. Meanwhile, Cody wins back the midcard title that he has outgrown and gains no heat from the victory by winning cheaply and getting destroyed post match. Where do the guys go from here? Who knows. Big Show finally got a legitimate singles Wrestlemania moment out of this and Cody got... Well, what did Coy get? He's the IC Champion, he'll continue to get good time on Smackdown, but he needs to have that one big moment that will make the crowd see him differently. He needs a decisive, status changing moment to get him into the Main Event scene. Will that happen soon, with Sheamus having no big contenders left? We shall see.
Sheamus versus Daniel Bryan absolutely delivered as probably my 2nd favorite match on this card. The crowd was hot for the entirety of the match with plenty of "YES! YES! YES!" and "18 Seconds!" chants throughout. At the outset, it seemed like the crowd was solidly behind Bryan and Sheamus would be panned the entire contest but Sheamus slowly got his fans to speak up and evened it up at points. It was competitive, at times hard hitting, and definitely had some suspense to it in terms of who would ultimately get the 3rd fall. Speaking of which, when was the last time you can remember a 2 out of 3 falls match being over in 2 falls? It's a gimmick match that has really ceased to be a gimmick, as every match goes to the third fall. Once Sheamus won the first pinfall by disqualification, you knew Bryan would win the 2nd fall to even it out for an epic third act. That said, they really worked hard to deliver some believable tension down the stretch and keep you guessing. You always knew in the back of your mind that the Brogue Kick was coming but they sold it that Bryan could figure out a way to prevail. This match succeeded in a way that, even in defeat, Bryan still looks strong for putting up a great performance and not needing AJ to either win or lose the match. Bryan stood on his own, almost prevailed, and had the crowd behind him for long periods of time. He truly looked like a star in Chicago. Sheamus, on the other hand, has now dispatched of his main competition and will move on to something new. What that is, that's anyone's guess. Is it Randy Orton? Cody Rhodes? Maybe The Miz moves to Smackdown? I'm curious to see where WWE takes Sheamus' reign now.
Ryback versus the local jobbers was the squash you'd expect it to be. What actually surprised me was the reaction the live crowd gave him. The "Goldberg" chants throughout definitely sold Ryback's arrival as something major happening on the show, an event the crowd waits for throughout the night. There's a lot of people who would tell you that a Goldberg comparison is a bad thing. I'd argue that it's flattering, in a big way. Goldberg dominated WCW for the better part of 3 years, made his money, won accolades, did a short run in WWE, and then was done. That could be negative or positive. What can't be argued though is that people tuned in just to see what Goldberg would do, who he would dominate, and how high his win streak would go. Goldberg became event television in pro wrestling. If the comparisons can catch on with other live crowds, Ryback is a monster to watch.
CM Punk versus Chris Jericho also delivered in a big way. The hometown crowd gave the appropriate reactions for both men, the subplot of Punk's Family in attendance paid off from time to time, and it was a highly competitive, good WWE-Style brawl. There were a lot of really good false finishes, good high spots (Punk's top rope elbow through the Spanish announce table), and enough tension to believe that Jericho might send Chicago home sad after their favorite son lost his championship. That said, I'm glad this storyline is seemingly over following this event.I was a big fan of the similar storyline Punk was a part of in Ring of Honor but the WWE version didn't do a whole lot for me. It all felt very forced and pandering to what the crowd should believe. I never once believed that Punk would compromise himself or his beliefs, and I'm sure many long term fans may have felt the same way. Jericho did his best to get it over from his end but the way his return has been handled thus far has just made him whiny and forgettable, for the most part. I'd really like to see these two move on to other, stronger storylines now. For Punk, who is left to defeat? He's beaten back every challenger sent to him now, leaving few established options. Maybe that opens a spot for a new face at the top of the show? It certainly couldn't hurt to cash in Punk's star power on a new top guy. Does he get Lord Tensai, who remains a decent worker but gets nothing from the crowd? I'd love to know. For Jericho, it needs to be about re-establishing him as a dangerous threat. He can't continue to hide behind words and rules, he needs to be a legitimate heel threat. Maybe that's naive of me to expect but I really do believe a good midcard feud for him with a rising star would benefit both parties long term. Hopefully the payoff meets my expectations for both men.
It was a nice surprise to see Layla return and win the Pink Butterfly belt from the Bella Twins. Let's not beat around the bush though, I would assume this is only due to two factors. 1) The Bellas are rumored to be leaving the company in a matter of days after their contract wasn't renewed, and 2) Kharma should be returning soon and it makes more sense for her to defeat Layla than the Bella boys. All in all though, it was very personally pleasing to see the Bellas get kicked in their ass on the way out and a nice surprise to see Layla come back. Layla was starting to improve in the ring and in front of the camera before she tore her knee up, let's see if that can continue in her Pink Butterfly reign, even if it ends up being short.
So, the Main Event ended up being John Cena versus Brock Lesnar. I won't even lie, I REALLY enjoyed the match. There was a lot to like in how Brock manhandled Cena and made him look very human in front of the crowd for once. Many fans have been waiting a long time for some sort of evolution to the Cena character and it really looked like it was headed that way. After his loss to The Rock at Wrestlemania and the destruction he was taking from Brock, it really looked like Super Cena was gone and the Doctor of Thuganomics might be coming back. The WWE dashed all those hopes and drenched everything in clouds in the matter of seconds at the end of this match though. I won't pretend to understand every reason for every decision that the writing team makes, it would literally drive a regular brain insane. However, having Brock lose to Cena, then to proceed by having Cena give a promo about how he would be taking a break due to injuries just sucked all of the credibility out of Brock Lesnar. Lesnar came in as a legitimate athlete and threat, and now that he has lost to the face of the WWE, with no way to regain that while Cena is on vacation, Brock is left to try to build that up again in much more difficult fashion. So, despite the great match, it raised a lot of question that are not immediately answerable for the Brock and Cena characters. Tonight's RAW will go a long way towards showing us why we should care about Brock anymore and if the Cena character is making a turn, or if we'll be force fed more of the same old B.S.
So that was Extreme Rules 2012. If you watched the show, leave me any comments, ideas, concerns, shit talk, anything you want. Thanks for reading.
Sooooo Rybeck isn't the confusing combination of Rye Bread and Beck, you know the singer? Plus what the hell are they doing to the Miz? Is Eric Bischoff writing his downward spiral... then again it could be a up ward spiral in the minds of Bischoff
So we are almost a month removed from Wrestlemania and last night was the WWE's latest Pay Per View effort, Extreme Rules. The theoretical child of the One Night Stand gimmick PPV, Extreme Rules is the one night of the year that the WWE will often let things loose and enjoy a couple harder gimmick matches. Despite being somewhat disappointed by some of their choices lately, the WWE absolutely came through last night with an excellent Pay Per View.
