The show began with a 6-man Donnybrook - Sheamus, Butch, and Ridge Holland squaring off against Imperium (Gunther, Kaiser, and Vinci). Sheamus and Gunther stole the show at Clash at the Castle with a classic, vicious, highly physical match. This one was not going to be nearly as "straight up" but it still had a ton of promise and, for the most part, lived up to it and delivered as the show's hot opener. The crowd was very much into it and fully behind Sheamus, who might be more over now as a babyface than he ever was during his previous babyface runs. You knew that Sheamus and Gunther would shine and they did, but I liked Kaiser and Vince quite a bit here too as they did an excellent job of cutting off the babyfaces every time they looked like they might have the advantage. There were some good nearfalls and they did enough with the weapons without overdoing it - something that would've hurt the rest of the show - but I wouldn't necessarily call this an all-time great match and it may have even run a touch long as it got pretty close to 20 minutes of time. A strong opener to the show. (3/5)
After a backstage segment involving Miz and Philadelphia Flyer mascot Gritty, it was time for our SmackDown Women's Championship match - Liv Morgan defending the title against Ronda Rousey. This match had some awkward moments in it as Rousey, despite looking and being presenting as a major star, is still not super smooth in the ring and works much better against opponents who can really lead her from point A to point B. Unfortunately, Liv Morgan is not that level of worker and it showed here when things didn't go right and they seemed a touch lost. This match also suffered from maybe being a touch under-produced. In their first bout, Morgan came out on top when the referee missed her tapping and, instead, counted Rousey's shoulders to the mat. The story has never been that Morgan is actually as tough or talented as Rousey, but, here, she withstood arguably too much punishment and seemed to have no sort of real plan. This should've been a more character-driven match, but it was just your typical back-and-forth brawl with Rousey going from a dominating performance to selling damage in a way that felt very disjointed and unearned. Then, during the finish, Morgan couldn't help but smile as she "passed out," which was jarring and made no sense and cheapened Rousey's victory. I really wanted to like this match, but it was a disappointment. I will give an extra half-point for some of Rousey's attacks with the baseball bat, which did look devastating at first before she opted to then use it just to basically "spank" her opponent. (1.5/5)
Karrion Kross vs. Drew McIntyre followed in a Strap match. Karrion Kross has a cool entrance, but he is not a very captivating wrestler. Drew McIntyre is over enough that this wasn't a total dud and the crowd stayed with them, but this was definitely less heated than the previous two bouts. I'm not surprised that Kross got the W here as he needs some big wins to establish himself as a real contender and upper midcard guy, but I don't see him getting too far with so many other heels - Rollins, Gunther, Reigns obviously - doing really good work and getting much bigger reactions than him right now. McIntyre, meanwhile, feels like a guy who might benefit from some time off-screen as I'm not sure where he goes after losing here and suffering a much bigger loss at Clash at the Castle not too long ago. My last thought is that this match might've been funner had they actually wrestled it under the "traditional" Strap Match rules rather than making the match end with a pinfall. By having the match revolve around someone tagging all four posts, it would've added some variety to the card and they easily could've worked in the same finish (Scarlett blinding McIntyre with some sort of spray). Not a terrible match, but not great either. (2.5/5)
Bianca Belair defended her RAW Women's Championship in a ladder match against Bayley next. I'm a big fan of both competitors so I was excited to see what they would do with ladders. This was a physical match, but I kinda wish we'd have seen a touch more creativity and innovation as Belair is a tremendous athlete and Bayley has proven to be a great heel. Some highlights included Bayley hitting Belair with a sunset flip powerbomb into a ladder in the corner, an absolutely awesome running elbow from Bayley onto Belair on a ladder, and Belair hitting her finish on both of Bayley's lackeys - Io Shirai and Dakota Kai - at the same time. At one point, Bayley removed part of her knee brace but it didn't really seem to lead to anything. Belair eventually got the relatively clean win and I'm just left wondering where Bayley and the Damage Control stable go now that they've been thoroughly vanquished by Belair. It also seems like the audience wanted to see Sasha or Naomi return to either screw over Belair or help her beat Bayley...or maybe that was just me thinking it? This wasn't bad, but it wasn't a match I'd strongly recommend. (3/5)
Edge vs. Finn Balor in an "I Quit" Match was next. As expected, this one went looong and didn't really start cooking until well past the 10-minute mark. I get that Edge likes to build his matches this way, but no, I don't think it makes him "great" or "different." I think he just knows that lengthy matches will naturally take on an "epic" quality. The match became much, much more interesting and wild once Judgment Day showed up and then Rey Mysterio came down for the save and then Beth Phoenix got involved. I really liked how strong they made Judgment Day out to be by the end, but there's no way they're going to let them actually win this feud - which is a shame because Finn Balor and Damian Priest have a ton more upside in 2022 than Edge, who simply doesn't need any more accolades at this point in his career (while, one could argue, Balor and Priest deserved to be seen as higher level guys). I liked the finish too as it did protect Edge and make it clear that he is no longer the Ultimate Opportunist but now a family man. At damn near 30 minutes, this is the type of match that you can fast-forward till about halfway through and not feel like you missed much because, truthfully, nothing that happened in the first half really played into the ending at all aside from filling time and proving these two guys were tough and wouldn't say quit. A really great angle tacked onto a pretty unremarkable I Quit match. (2.5/5)
Main event time - Seth Rollins vs. Matt Riddle in a Fight Pit match. This is a somewhat new gimmick for the WWE as I'm not sure they've ever done a match like this on the main roster. The special guest referee was Daniel Cormier, a former UFC star who looked a bit like he might've taken up competitive eating after his shoot fight days ended. Just not at all intimidating if you, like me, are unfamiliar with his history. Seth Rollins came out sporting RVD-inspired gear, a nod both to the Philadelphia crowd and to Riddle's penchant for marijuana. Speaking of the Philadelphia crowd, they let Rollins and Riddle know that they really just wanted Bray Wyatt by this point of the night by chanting his name for awhile in the early going. There was lots of Rollins character work and while the crowd played along, I've kinda grown a little tired of it. I mean, we get it, you watched Asuka and stole some of her mannerisms and it got you more over...but are you gonna add anything to it? It just seems like something he does because it gets a reaction, not something he does because it fits with his character (at one point it did, but its been awhile now since he's been "One Screw Loose" Seth Rollins, right?). Riddle, meanwhile, came into this match all business, which I appreciated. I don't think it made for the most exciting match, but hey, that's what happens when you put two guys who rely on at least some high-flying offense into a match where there are no ropes or turnbuckles. Credit to Riddle and Rollins for the tremendous finish, which saw Riddle deliver an absolutely devastating senton off of the Fight Pit scaffolding. It looked absolutely nasty and like Rollins might've even had one of his ribs broken. Not a great match, but not terrible. I'm not sure it was the best match to close out the show, but without Reigns on the card, I do see how Rollins would be next in line to headline. Could've used some color. (2.5/5)
The biggest happening on the show came as the whole thing winded down as Bray Wyatt made his much-hyped and much-predicted return. This was a cool segment and while I'm not a huge Wyatt fan, I won't deny that at least a few hairs on my arm got raised by the presentation and the huge crowd response. One of the cooler moments of the year in wrestling, for sure. (+1)
With a respectable Kwang Score of 2.67-out-of-5, the 2022 edition of Extreme Rules wasn't an all-timer, but it was a fine show that featured some strong performances out of the Brawling Brutes, Imperium, and Bianca Belair among others. The main event was a bit of a letdown due mostly to the clumsy, awkward gimmick and Daniel Cormier's understandable confusion as to what exactly he was meant to be doing while Rollins and Riddle worked through a match that may have been better off just happening in a regular ol' cage. The return of Bray Wyatt was the biggest story of the night, though putting it at the tail end of the show also meant that the crowd was noticeably less engaged as the show wore on and Wyatt's appearance became the only thing they really wanted to see. With no single match that I'd consider exceptional, this show is really only for the current WWE fan.
FINAL RATING - High Risk Maneuver
No comments:
Post a Comment