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Published On: Sun, Jul 15th, 2018

Bowen’s Botches and Bodyslams: WWE Extreme Rules Results and Review July 15 2018


WWE’s Extreme Rules Pay-Per-View is coming from the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and features AJ Styles (c) vs. Rusev for the WWE Championship and Dolph Ziggler (c) vs. Seth Rollins in an Iron Man Match for the Intercontinental Championship. Both the RAW and Smackdown Women’s Championships will be defended, as well as both shows’ Tag Team Championships.

 

 

Pre-Show Matches

Andrade “Cien” Almas vs. Sin Cara

Andrade “Cien” Almas pins Sin Cara after the Hammerlock DDT.

BodyslamThis was slightly longer than their match earlier this week on Smackdown, and was another lucha libre showcase. Both men are very familiar with each other and are able to shine together. If WWE doesn’t have a plan for Almas right now, continuing this feud would be fine with me.

Tables Match
The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods) vs. Sanity (Eric Young, Killian Dane, Alexander Wolfe)

Sanity wins after Eric Young puts Kofi Kingston through a table at ringside with the help of Alexander Wolfe.

BodyslamThis was a bit chaotic, as it should be, to start off with. But once everything settled in these six men put on a great show. Killian Dane does incredible things, and the New Day’s team up offense never gets stale. Sanity stepped up here and established themselves as a danger to the Smackdown locker room.

Extreme Rules Matches

Raw Tag Team Championship Match
Deleters of Worlds (c) (Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt) vs. The B Team (Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel)

Bo Dallas pins Matt Hardy after a Rolling Neckbreaker to make The B Team the new RAW Tag Team Champions.

BodyslamI’m glad The B Team were given the nod and the opportunity to carry the titles. The match was perfectly executed, and the story was fantastic. The ending was in line with everything leading up to this, and seems to make more fans than just myself happy. But where does this go from here? I guess we’ll have to tune in to RAW to find out.

Kurt Angle Backstage Interview with Renee Young

BodyslamKurt is seizing control of his show and its top title, forcing Brock to come to terms with a match to defend the Universal Championship or be stripped of it. This is exactly what needs to happen, and everyone was happy to hear this.

Finn Balor vs. Baron Corbin

Finn Balor reverses Baron Corbin’s End of Days to roll Corbin up into a pin giving Balor a huge victory.

BodyslamCorbin looked incredible and Balor was as impressive as always. Balor’s victory gives him more credibility against the big men in WWE, and keeps him in the conversation for Universal Championship contenders. This was a satisfying match.

Bludgeon Brothers and Team Hell No Backstage

BodyslamThe Bludgeon Brothers ambush Team Hell No backstage, with Rowan smashing Kane’s leg in a door with his mallet. Great backstage action with the Bludgeons being brutal barbarians. This is exactly what needs to happen to make their gimmick work.

Smackdown Women’s Championship Match
Carmella (c) vs. Asuka – James Ellsworth will be suspended of the ring in a Shark Cage.

Carmella Pins Asuka after pushing her face first into the lowered Shark Cage to retain her championship. Asuka assaults James Ellsworth after the match.

BodyslamAsuka kicking James Ellsworth like a heavy bag while he was hanging from the cage, along with her post-match assault on him makes this match a winner. Carmella barely had to wrestle, which is plays to her strengths. She’s a great heel champion because of her personality, not her in-ring abilities.

United States Championship Match
Jeff Hardy (c) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

New Champion – Shinsuke Nakamura pins Jeff Hardy after a Kinshasa immediately after the bell. Nakamura hits Jeff Hardy with a low blow the referee did not see before the bell. Randy Orton returned after the match, intimidating Nakamura and hitting Jeff Hardy with another low blow.

BotchThis was a matchup that had fans excited for this PPV, and was though by many to have the potential for best match of the night. For the fans to really get no match at all was disappointing for me, and I’m betting I’m not the only fan who felt robbed. Shinsuke is turning into a Rip-Off Artist.

Cage Match
Braun Strowman vs. Kevin Owens

Kevin Owens wins after being thrown from the top of the Steel Cage through the announce table.

BodyslamWhen Braun Strowman and Kevin Owens were standing atop the cage, everyone in the arena rose to their feet. We all knew that we were about to see an epic moment. Braun throwing Kevin from the top of the cage is going to appear on highlight reals for years to come. And there were plenty of other awesome moments in the match, including Braun closing the door on Kevin’s head and when Braun broke out of the handcuffs Kevin locked him in. This still didn’t make me forget about the non-match we got before this.

Smackdown Tag Team Championship Match

The Bludgeon Brothers (c) (Harper and Rowan) vs. Team Hell No (Daniel Bryan and Kane)

Harper pins Daniel Bryan after a Clothesline Double Team to retain the tag team championships.

BodyslamOf course the fans want their favorite to win or at least not to look weak, so this worked. Starting the match with Bryan in a handicap situation because of the ambush earlier in the night made this work well. Bryan faced the wrath of the Bludgeons on his own for too long, so when Kane came out it was too late. The Bludgeons win and keep their titles without making Bryan look too bad. This may not have been what the fans wanted, but it was what we needed.

Roman Reigns and The B Team Backstage

BodyslamThe B Team trying to recruit Roman into the fold was beautiful. They have championships and Roman doesn’t, so maybe he should consider it.

Roman Reigns vs. Bobby Lashley

Bobby Lashley pins Roman Reigns after a powerful Spear.

BodyslamThis match was much better than I expected it to be. Roman’s offense is still predictable, and Lashley is still a power wrestler reminiscent of the 80’s. But they put on a great show, the story of the match was entertaining, and Lashley got a big win to cement himself in the Universal Championship conversation.

RAW Women’s Championship Match
Alexa Bliss (c) vs. Nia Jax – Extreme Rules

Alexa Bliss pins Nia Jax to retain her title after a DDT on a steel chair.

BotchThis is how a hardcore style match looks when you have competitors who aren’t committed to going hardcore. Most of the shots with foreign objects were not done believably, and were obviously done to minimize damage. You either commit to doing this match or it looks bad. They would have been better off in a standard match. The story that was told around the match was good, but the half-hearted shots make it hard to care.

WWE Championship Match
AJ Styles (c) vs. Rusev

AJ Styles pins Rusev after a Phenomenal Forearm to retain the WWE Championship.

BodyslamThese are two of the most popular and talented men on the roster, and they delivered a fantastic match. Rusev is incredibly expressive so you never need to hear the commentary to know exactly what is going on with him. AJ Styles remains the best performer in professional wrestling. This is the kind of match that makes people pro wrestling fans. It doesn’t take falls from great heights or other ultra-dangerous moves, it takes performers at the top of their game who believe what they’re doing and are good enough to make the spectators believe as well.

Iron Man Match for the Intercontinental Championship
Dolph Ziggler (c) with Drew McIntyre vs. Seth Rollins

Dolph Ziggler wins in Sudden Death Overtime after the 30 minutes expires with Rollins and Ziggler tied at 4-4. Drew McIntyre had been ejected from ringside for his interference, but returned during the overtime called by Kurt Angle to distract Rollins and create an opportunity for Ziggler.

BotchThe Pittsburgh crowd was obnoxious, counting down to zero at every minute as if this were the Royal Rumble. This was distracting to both the other spectators and the performers. Ziggler’s weaknesses in the ring were glaring in this match, with him failing to follow through on kick-outs and visibly talking with Rollins while calling the match in the ring. Your hair is grown out long to help you hide your mouth as you do that. At least put some effort into hiding the conversation. Rollins was incredible, as was McIntyre. But WWE should have pulled the clock off the screen in the arena until the last five minutes to stop the crowd from trying to make themselves the center of the show and pulling the performer’s attention from their work. They could have taken control here and didn’t.

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About the Author

- Greg Bowen is a writer, musician, DJ, political activist, and wrestling mark who still has Macho Madness to this day.

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