I’m fairly positive the roof has been blown off the arena in Baltimore, Maryland after that main event. Extreme Rules 2017 is in the books, so let’s get to my match ratings – BOOM. Just like that…
Kickoff Match: Kalito def. Apollo Crews – These are two of the more underrated, electric workers in the WWE. Here, they delivered everything a kickoff match should be – got the crowd hot, fast wrestling, some high spots, and a decent angle. If you aren’t starting to warm up to The Titus Brand bit, you’re just a stick in the mud. Plus, props to Crews for throwing Kalisto around like a rag doll – at times, it looked like he was wrestling a pillow. Rating: 5.5/10.
Intercontinental Championship: The Miz def. Dean Ambrose – The gimmick of this one made it seem like some sort of shenanigans would go down, but it ended up being a fairly straight up contest. I was stunned to see The Miz hit The Skull-crushing Finale and pin Ambrose “clean.” The Intercontinental Title belongs with The Miz. And, I wouldn’t mind seeing Ambrose get back to the main event scene. Feels like I’m the last Ambrose mark standing. Rating: 7/10.
Sasha Banks and Rich Swann def. Noam Dar and Alicia Fox – The match was fun enough, and I could honestly watch the electric chemistry between Banks and Swann all night (if you know what I mean), but all of it feels extremely inconsequential. Rating: 4/10.
Elias Samson sings a song about Baltimore – Yeah. That’s old school real heel heat, baby. Rating: 10/10.
Women’s Championship: Alexa Bliss def. Bayley – The Kendostick on a Pole Match was a shit show from the jump, and it never really got any better. Bliss beat the hell out of Bayley with the kendostick, delivering a blow directly to the back of the head. Eventually, Bliss hooks the DDT and gets the 1-2-3 clean. It was weird, and hopefully, they’re going to stay away from these stipulation matches. Rating: 3/10.
Raw Tag Team Championship: Cesaro and Sheamus def. The Hardy Boyz – Pretty good tag team Steel Cage Match. At first, I liked that they had decided to change the rules up a bit, having both team members hit the floor simultaneously to win. But, the finish was weird. Matt Hardy tried to drag Jeff Hardy out of the cage, but couldn’t do it before Cesaro and Sheamus dropped to the floor on the other side of the ring. Why was this even dramatic? Why would Cesaro and Sheamus wait so long to drop to the floor? All they had to do was let go and they would’ve won. But, I guess that’s WWE trying to make for an exciting finish. This is why people think wrestling is fake…Rating: 6.5/10.
Cruiserweight Championship: Neville defeats Austin Aries – WWE seems to be arbitrarily changing the rules for these stipulation matches. So, what? Now, you can be disqualified in the Submissions Match? Damn – I try to be optimistic, but little things like this make it hard to look past. Still, there’s no doubt that Neville and Aries have special chemistry. Up to this point in the show, this was the best match of the night. This has to be the end of the road for this program, though. Aries can’t lose three straight and keep challenging, right? Rating: 7.5/10.
Number One Contender’s Shot, Extreme Rules Fatal 5-Way Match: Samoa Joe def. Finn Balor, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and Bray Wyatt – Wow. We thought this one had classic potential. It may not have achieved ‘Match of the Year’ status, but it definitely delivered. Rollins and Reigns have looked strong for two years now, but they really put over Balor and Joe strong. Likewise, this match made Wyatt look incredible – something he desperately needed after coming out on the losing end of a horrible feud with Randy Orton. And, to top it all off, we’re going to get a dream match: Samoa Joe vs. Brock Lesnar. Rating: 8/10.
Overall: Not a bad show by any means. They missed on a couple of matches – the Women’s Championship match was bad, and the mixed tag match didn’t pack much of a punch. Still, there was some great wrestling! And, that’s what we want most, right? Extreme Rules was above average – certainly worse ways to spend a Sunday night. Rating: 41.5/70.
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. A strong advocate of GSD (get shit done) and #BeBetter, he’s down to talk Tennessee Titans and Alabama Crimson Tide football over a beer any day. Check him out covering the WWE for WrestlingNews.co. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley, @WrestlingNewsCo
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