WWE Extreme Rules 2019

WWE Extreme Rules 2019

Philadelphia, PA - July 2019

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into the show, Seth Rollins is the Universal Champion while Kofi Kingston holds the WWE Championship. The Intercontinental Champion is Finn Balor and the United States Championship is held by Ricochet. The RAW Women's Champion is Becky Lynch, while Bayley holds the SmackDown Women's Championship. The IIconics hold the WWE Women's Tag Team Championships, The Revival are the RAW Tag Team Champions, and Daniel Bryan and Erick Rowan are the SmackDown Tag Team Champions. Drew Gulak holds the Cruiserweight Championship and the 24/7 Champion is Drake Maverick.

COMMENTATORS: M. Cole, C. Graves, R. Young, B. Saxton, and T. Phillips

Extreme Rules 2019 kicked off with The Undertaker and Roman Reigns teaming up against Drew McIntyre and Shane McMahon in an "Extreme Rules" grudge match. When is the last time the Undertaker wrestled in the opening contest of a PPV? I feel like you'd have to go back at least 15+ years. Equally surprising was how little the Philadelphia crowd, usually a rowdy bunch, shit on this match. Taker has so much goodwill that even if the IWC is full of people that despise his never-ending non-retirement tour, they were drowned out by the thousands who still love the guy. This match was nothing special, though it did feature a few cool moments. Taker has undeniable aura and, though the commentators went overboard, did look better in this match than he did against Goldberg a few months ago. He clearly wanted to show he still had "it" and worked hard. Reigns played second fiddle but still hit a nifty spear on McIntyre at one point. McIntyre also had some time to shine, but he was far from dominant at any point. In fact, the "game changer" was Elias, a guy that I don't particularly hate but that sticks out like a sore thumb in this mix-up. If Drew McIntyre is a "Dino Bravo level" heel - which I'd argue he is at this point - Elias is basically Naked Mideon. Eventually, the heroes won again, which I was 90% sure was happening before the match. If this is the way the company wants to heat up McIntyre for a showdown with the Deadman, Vince McMahon and his Yes Men clearly deserve the plummeting TV ratings and criticism they've been getting for the past few months. Nobody's best day, but not terrible. (2.5/5)

The RAW Tag Team Championships were on the line next with The Usos challenging The Revival. When The Revival and #DIY were tearing it up in NXT a few years back, this would've been somewhat of a dream match - but this match had so much working against it that even if it had been a technical masterpiece with perfect execution, I'm not sure it would've ever resonated with the crowd. The first problem is that the rivalry between these two teams has been muddled since the outset with The Usos inexplicable face turn never firming up and The Revivals' title win and subsequent reign not feeling nearly as fresh and invigorating as it should be. Not only was this the second tag bout in a row (questionable sequencing no matter who had been in the opener), they also had to follow a match featuring The Undertaker and Roman Reigns, two of maybe seven guys on the current roster that feel like legit capital-M/capital-E Main Eventers. The crowd seemed generally disinterested and lukewarm to the effort put forth. Maybe in a vacuum this match could be seen as a success, but in this slot, in front of this crowd, with their current gimmicks, The Usos and The Revival could not make magic. (2/5)

Next up, another match that one could argue would be a "dream match" if the WWE had actually made the longterm effort to make it so - Aleister Black vs. Cesaro. Cesaro had been on a roll on RAW coming into this match, but that "roll" was all of what? 3-4 weeks? Cesaro spent the previous few years as a "tag team specialist" and while he has been very good in that role, being labeled as such means that, in singles, his matches don't have that "big fight feel." Black still has the aura that he had in NXT, but I still think he would've benefited more from having his big WWE main roster PPV debut be a total squash, where he absolutely mauled a lower-card guy, rather than having a back-and-forth match with Cesaro. That being said, this match was hard-hitting, featured some great technical wrestling, and Black's Black Mass finish looked powerful enough to vanquish anybody at any time. I still think this match would've been even better if Cesaro was coming off of months of dominant performances and Black was doing the same. Instead, Cesaro was really only mildly warmed-up, which made Black's victory impressive but not "star-making." The best match of the show up to this point, but nothing I'd consider "must see." (3/5)

Bayley defended the SmackDown Women's Championship in a 2-on-1 against Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross next. I really liked 90% of this match, but wasn't super into the finish. If Bliss and, to a lesser degree, Cross, were The IIconics, who have never been presented as talented enough to actually win matches clean, it'd be one thing for them to get beaten by a single wrestler - but Bliss spent most of 2017 outsmarting her opponents and successfully winning and defending championships. With a 2-on-1 advantage and no real dissension story going on, they should've rather handily defeated Bayley. Instead, Bayley continually found ways to fend off both of her challengers, at one point even tying them up simultaneously in submission moves. I'm not even saying I didn't like the spot - if it was a great visual - but at the end of the day, Bayley surviving a handicap match against these two specific competitors felt forced. I'm a big enough Bayley fan to hold onto the incredulous hope that maybe - just maybe - they're booking her strongly to build her up for an eventual feud with Rousey (if you believe the rumors, Fox wants Rousey to be a SmackDown exclusive star), but if I had to gamble, it will be Charlotte who'll be wearing the Blue and Gold next. Meanwhile, Bliss and Cross , by losing a handicap match, can barely even claim the right to challenge the IIconics for their Women's Tag Team Championships - that is, if those even still exist. Aside from the finish, there was enough that I enjoyed here to give it an average rating. (2.5/5)

In a rematch from RAW, Braun Strowman took on Bobby Lashley in a Last Man Standing Match next. Lashley's act was better with Lio Rush, but it seems like he was sent home a couple months ago for all the Twitter nonsense he was involved in. Strowman came out and immediately the two hosses went at it with Strowman pulling Lashley out of the ring and then tossing him every which way. Lashley was able to take back control with a spear and then went after Strowman with the steel steps. From here, they went into the crowd where Lashley wielded a chair as Strowman made his way up the stairs. They found their way into the mezzanine but it was just more of the same as Lashley struck him with a series of forearms and whipped him into the wall. Unfortunately, the commentators missed one of the major stories of the match - that because of the size of these guys, even just getting up took more energy and power than your average wrestler, a key point that might've helped explain the somewhat plodding pace. Lashley went for a suplex, but Strowman reversed it into a release suplex into a wall of tee-shirts that I'm guessing was supposed to fall over, but didn't give - causing Lashley to almost drop on his head in the best spot of the match thus far. Back to the stairwell they went, this time with Strowman in control. Down the stairs they went, with Strowman booting Lashley in the face on the last step. Strowman then took a big running start and struck Lashley with a big shoulder for a 9 count. Strowman attempted a powerslam, but Lashley escaped and tackled him through the barrier wall and back to the ringside area. A "holy shit" chant erupted, but I'm not sure it was earned - we've seen this spot countless times this year (though, Strowman's head did take a nasty bounce off the ground when they made impact). Lesnar then ran around the ring and hit Strowman with a shoulder tackle to send him behind one of the announce tables. Lashley then shoved the table on top of Strowman, but Braun beat the count by crawling out from underneath it. Strowman tried to put some distance between himself and Lashley by going back over the barricade, but Lashley jumped onto the barricade and tried to hit him with a splash - only for Strowman to then grab him and toss him over a foreign announce table! An "ECW" chant erupted as Lashley crawled out of the wreckage. Strowman stayed on the attack but Lashley hit him with a kick to the groin and then bashed him with a neaby recycling bin. Strowman wouldn't stay down, though, the two men brawling on the concrete floor. At one point Lashley was on his knees, practically begging for Strowman to strike him, only for Braun to boot him straight in the chest. They went back up the stairs, Lashley eventually distracting Strowman by tossing a fan directly into him. Strowman grabbed a chair and brought it down on Lashley's back as they made their way into a section of seats. Strowman and Braun traded rights and lefts before Strowman connected with an insane powerslam off of a section of seats through an inexplicably-constructed "box" that was blocking off one a hallway. It didn't make much sense for such a construction to even exist, but the crowd dug it and it felt like the kind of finish that needed to happen as these two had brawled up and down the arena. I wouldn't call this "must see," but it was satisfying enough and both guys came out of it looking like absolute monsters that should and could be legit challengers for Kofi Kingston or Seth Rollins. Why is Baron Corbin involved in the company's biggest title feud again? (3/5)

A Triple Threat Match for the SmackDown Tag Team Championships followed - Daniel Bryan and Erick Rowan defending the straps against The New Day and relative newcomers Heavy Machinery. I wasn't expecting to enjoy this match as much as I did as I find some of Otis' antics to be a bit cloying and The New Day, while probably one of the Top 10 best teams in WWE history, have become a bit stale after 5 YEARS of partnership. Fortunately, Daniel Bryan has the wrestling equivalent of the Midas Touch and the little bits of character work he added to the match - including a wonderful moment where he reminded himself that he didn't need to listen to the ref to break up a hold because the match was being fought under "Extreme Rules" (Was it, though?) - really helped things out. While Otis still busted out the tiresome "caterpillar" spot, he and his partner wrestled the rest of the match relatively "straight" (as did The New Day, no strangers to heavy-handed "cuteness" themselves). The finish was a genuine shocker too, with Daniel Bryan eating a very clean pinfall to the give The New Day their umpteenth championship. While I wouldn't quite call this a Match of the Year, it was definitely above-average. (3/5)

AJ Styles challenged Ricochet for his United States Championship next. Before the match could begin, Styles' right-hand men, Gallows and Anderson, beat up Ricochet, which should've given Styles a key advantage for the remainder of the match - but instead, it was largely forgotten after Styles initial control segment. Based on their matches on RAW from the previous few weeks, there was no reason to doubt they could produce a great match, but this one just didn't quite peak the way I'd hoped. Part of the problem was that Ricochet still has a bit to learn in terms of garnering sympathy from the crowd. His offense is so explosive and dynamic that I'm not sure his long-term selling was registering with the crowd. Meanwhile, AJ Styles, as excellent as he is (and his execution remains near-flawless), has only recently turned heel - meaning 40% of the audience still wants to cheer the guy. While the pre-match beatdown on Ricochet should've helped make Styles the clear villain, the layout of the rest of the match didn't seem to serve that story or cement it. By the 13-minute mark, dueling chants broke out - the antithesis of what this match should've been designed to accomplish. Even with those criticisms, the action itself was riveting and there were some tremendous sequences, including a very strong finish that saw Styles hit his Styles Clash from the second rope. The Black/Cesaro match was many people's choice for Match of the Night, but I liked this one just a touch more. (3.5/5)

Kevin Owens squashed Dolph Ziggler in under a minute in the next segment (I won't call it a match). On one hand, Owens cosplaying as "Stone Cold" in a war against Shane McMahon is a step in the right direction from the stasis that Owens has been in. On the other hand, we've seen the Owens/Shane feud before. Similarly, there are pros and cons to the treatment of Ziggler here. On one hand, Dolph has been on a hamster wheel for years and, at this point, his credibility is so shot that this loss will mean nothing in a week. On the other hand, Ziggler's ability to bounce back - from jobbing in under a minute to challenging for the WWE Championship the next (like he did in June) - is a bit of an overrated quality. Sure, Ziggler has the passion and skill to "reinvent himself" and deliver "This Time Will Be Different" promos, but how many fruitless reinventions will this guy go through before the audience fully tunes out? It feels like we're already there and that's not a good thing for a company in desperate need of star power. (1/5)

Kofi Kingston defended the WWE Championship against Samoa Joe in the next bout. Joe and Kingston had some good sequences, but never really captured the crowd. At certain points, a loud "We Want Lesnar/No We Don't" chant erupted and I felt bad for Kofi. While he still has plenty of support online and with the live crowds, the truth is, the post-Mania booking has been disastrous for him (and Rollins) as the WWE had absolutely nobody warmed up hot enough to serve as foils to Kingston and Rollins. As Kingston is not now and has never been a strong enough character to carry his own feuds, he really needed some strong opponents to make this title reign work and - sadly - Owens, Ziggler, and Joe have been unable to deliver in that department. In the case of Owens, the rushed babyface/heel turn (he's now babyface again, BTW), hurt the story, but for Ziggler and Joe, it has become glaringly obvious that they are "placeholder" challengers because, well, that's all they've been for years. Joe's lack of credibility hurt this match before the bell even rang. I've seen some people call this Joe's best singles match on the main roster, but while I appreciated he and Kofi's effort, it felt a bit ho-hum to me, like a match they could've had in front of any crowd in any city on any night. Instantly forgettable doesn't always mean "bad," but it never means special. (3/5)

Main event time - Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch defending their respective championships against Baron Corbin and Lacey Evans. I was expecting the Philly crowd to shit on this match from the start, but they mostly just seemed resigned with it, generally disinterested, and eager to see Brock Lesnar show up (Paul Heyman had come out earlier in the show and guaranteed Lesnar would appear to capture either the WWE Championship or the Universal Championship). Like in the opener, the execution of the "Extreme Rules" gimmick was specious at best as, despite there being no disqualifications, pin attempts weren't broken up immediately and large sections of the match were fought like any other match. The match went close to 20 full minutes, but really didn't pick up until the final quarter when Evans hit an insane springboard moonsault and Corbin hit Lynch with a devastating End of Days. There were also a pair of solid table spots, but nothing novel or remarkable. When the best two spots of the match are coming from Baron Corbin and Lacey Evans, one has to wonder how the narrative of Seth Rollins being a "super worker" ever took root. I'm still a fan of Becky Lynch, or at least the Becky Lynch of 2018, but the sooner she distances herself from her real-life boyfriend, the sooner she might find herself in a storyline of some quality. After taking out Lynch, Rollins "hulked up" and destroyed Corbin with a series of Curb Stomps. This match, like the whole show, was a bit too long, but not terrible. (2/5)

Buh-buh-buh-BONUS match: Brock Lesnar challenged Seth Rollins by cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase. I loved seeing Lesnar destroy Rollins in a matter of minutes (as did a sizable part of the crowd), but the "moment" was somewhat ruined by the fact that Rollins hadn't really been through much of a "war" in the previous bout. Had the previous match been an epic, weapon-filled brawl that went all over the arena and featured a number of big table spots (like The Shield matches of yesteryear), Lesnar playing the buzzard and taking advantage of a beaten man would've been a good story. But that's not what happened. Rollins may not have been at his freshest, but we've seen this guy wrestle gauntlets on TV, countless cage matches, and all sorts of exhausting, technical epics. This was a "plunderfest" match that I'm not sure Rollins and Lynch were ever really at risk of losing. If Lesnar's cash-in had been in the plans all along, they certainly didn't do a good job of creating a capital-M moment of out of it. No bonus point awarded.


As a whole Extreme Rules 2019 was a so-so show and its Kwang Rating of 2.55-out-of-5 reflects it. While the show was an improvement from the weaker Stomping Grounds show, there was still some absolutely awful matches - specifically the main event, the Owens/Ziggler squash, and the forgettable and underwhelming RAW Tag Team Championship match.On the positive side, Styles/Ricochet showed great chemistry, Daniel Bryan put in an absolutely wonderful performance, and Strowman/Lashley had some very fun moments. 

FINAL RATING - Watch It...With Remote in Hand