Extreme Rules 2014

Extreme Rules 2014 Review


Pre-Show


El Torito vs Hornswoggle : WeeLC
And cue just about every small joke you can think of, including mini-commentators, a mini ring announcer, mini weapons and a mini referee. This is so bad that it's good in a weird way and the crowd was really into it too. I'm starting to think that someone put acid in my pepsi. It even got a 'this is awesome chant'. A Match of the Year candidate! In all seriousness this was a lot of fun. There better be a rematch on Raw. ***



Extreme Rules 2014



Rob Van Dam vs Cesaro vs Jack Swagger
"Thou shalt not boo Paul Heyman". Amen brother. Elimination rules apply in this one. I thought that would just be Cesaro against Swagger, but RVD got added to it for some reason. I guess he needed something to do. There was quite a bit of innovative offense in this one. The crowd was a bit quiet until Cesaro broke out the swing and then they were hot for it. Swagger was the first eliminated to leave the fan favourites in the ring. Overall this was a great way to open the show as it was a ton of fun and gave Cesaro a big win. Great stuff. ***1/2



Alexander Rusev vs R-Truth & Xavier Woods
This reminds me of two years ago when Ryback would take out a couple of jobbers on PPV. Lana (so hot) mentioned that Vladimir Putin was their hero and that got her a bit of heat from the crowd. This was just a glorified squash for Rusev. 3/4*



Big E vs Bad News Barrett
IC Title is on the line. I've been looking forward to this one as it was built up well with the long tournament on Raw. Barrett has been looking incredible since his in-ring return and the Bad News segments have made him popular even though he's a heel. You would think that Big E was the heel here as he was jeered and Barrett got the support of the audience. The match was pretty good and there was some cool offense like Barrett's tornado suplex and Big E's spear through the ropes. Barrett picks up the Title. ***



The Shield vs Evolution
I'm surprised that this one went on as early as it did and I thought that it would be the main event. I suppose this is a bit of a dream match with two of the biggest teams of the last ten years going at it. Every member of the Shield shined here and each of them had a memorable moment. Reign's took out all three members of Evolution, Ambrose ran across two tables to take out HHH and Orton, and Rollins had an awesome dive in the crowd area. An excellent six man tag that turned into absolute chaos by the end and it was amazing. Incredible stuff as the Shield gets the big victory. ****1/4



John Cena vs Bray Wyatt : Steel Cage
Hey that means that Daniel Bryan is the main event! Yes! The choir of children on Raw was an awesome segment and incredibly creepy. Wyatt was at his creepy best here as he did things like orchestrate the crowd, spider-walked to the door and danced with a groggy Cena. The match had a slower pace to it, but it was still entertaining. Wyatt did look a little weak as he needed the family multiple times to save the match for him. But at least he has a win over Cena now. I loved the finish with the creepy kid singing to distract Cena and gave Wyatt the win. Good match. ***1/4



Paige vs Tamina Snuka
Divas Title is on the line. I was hoping that Paige would get a chance to show off her skills, and she did as she got an entertaining match out of Tamina. The crowd was completely dead but screw them I enjoyed it a bit. It wasn't great but it wasn't bad either. Paige looked impressive as she hooked her submission finisher onto Tamina to retain the Title. **



Daniel Bryan vs Kane : Extreme Rules
The WWE World Title is on the line. I've enjoyed this feud a lot more than I thought I would and it has been great to see Kane as a proper monster again. This reminded me of the Hardcore matches from the Attitude Era as they went to the backstage area and used weapons like snow shovels, tire irons and even a forklift that Bryan used for a brilliant flying headbutt. A flaming table was even brought out! I never thought I'd see that in the WWE again. This match was a ton of fin and I enjoyed the hell out of it. Kane's nest match in what feels like forever and a great end to the show. ****



8/10. Let's look at all the winners tonight: Cesaro, Rusev, Barrett, Shield, Wyatt, Paige and Bryan. Every winner was a rising star and future superstars of the company. That's pretty damn awesome. The show was a lot of fun and featured a few matches that were worth a watch like the opening triple threat, the six man tag, the cage match, the main event and even the IC Title match. The stuff that wasn't too good was kept short. Great show to follow Wrestlemania up with.