|
Welcome to Mr. Tito's PHAT review of WWE's Extreme Rules Pay Per View exclusively here at LordsofPain.net / WrestlingHeadlines.com. You won't find instant analysis of a Pay Per View anywhere else like this and by yours truly, the former member of the Jackson 5 turned wrestling columnist. Well, not really on that latter point. I couldn't play a guitar if you paid me. Heading into WWE Extreme Rules 2017, my expectations were very low. The last RAW exclusive Pay Per View was possibly the WORST Pay Per in my 2 year subscription to the WWE Network. Furthermore, since that Pay Per View, RAW has been close to unwatchable. Even this past week where WWE attempted to STACK their card with Finn Balor vs. Bray Wyatt vs. Samoa Joe along with Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins in the Main Event, RAW has been extremely underwhelming. We're in WCW Nitro during the year 2000 territory for viewership and AOL/Time Warner folks felt that number was enough to merit the cancellation of all WCW programming (among other factors). What I HATE about "Extreme Rules" is the fact that the Pay Per View dictates that wrestlers SUDDENLY have the desire to wrestle a bunch of "extreme" type matches. Same idiot psychology applies for the "Hell in a Cell" and "Tables, Ladders, & Chairs (TLC)" Pay Per Views. These special type gimmick matches should randomly appear on any Pay Per View for wrestlers who need a different type of match to settle the score that a regular match can't. It's one thing if it's an annual gimmick match that determines the #1 contendership (Royal Rumble, Money in the Bank which I'm OK with), but it's another when the utter laziness of the Creative Team relies on a Pay Per View gimmick. And it's not like these gimmick Pay Per Views are drawing jack or squat for the WWE. It's just another Pay Per View. My biggest beef with the RAW roster is how inconsistent their #1 contenderships are always determined and how Brock Lesnar doesn't have to defend his World Title. Let's just slap 5 wrestlers together into a match and that determines who gets a shot. Huh? And furthermore, why is the 30 Day non-defense rule applied here but not there? Sure, Lesnar is a badass and nobody is going to tell him that "hey, you gotta defend that title timely"... But it makes the rest of your promotion look amateur when rules are not applied consistently across the board. What the WWE needs badly ORGANIZATION and ATTENTION TO DETAILS. At the very least, if the WWE had an employee on the Creative Team that specifically looked at CONTINUITY, it could go a long way. Enough rambling. I'm sure some of y'all will complain that I'm repeating myself... When WWE won't fix their problems, should I just ignore them? I'll keep stating my opinion until someone within the WWE listens. I won't give up. Onto the review. Mr. Tito's PHAT WWE Extreme Rules Pay Per View Review Remember, I'm writing this column as the show happens... Actually, the 1st hour is a bit looser on my review because I'm walking around the house with a Smartphone while I'm getting my kiddies ready for bed. I did not not watch the Pre-Game hour, so thus no coverage of matches there. Let's just say Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild on the Nintendo Switch is very addicting and I was dealing it to Thunderblight Ganon with the Master Sword. It's getting harder for me to deny "Breath of the Wild" as being the best video game ever produced. Seriously. OPENING MATCH was strong as usual between Miz vs. Dean Ambrose for the Intercontinental Title in which if Dean Ambrose got himself disqualified, he'd lose the Intercontinental Title. It needs to repeatedly said about how much if an IDIOTIC idea it was to move Miz and Dean Ambrose to RAW. They, along with AJ Styles and John Cena, were the cornerstones of Smackdown since the Brand Split. So what do you have them doing on RAW? Oh yeah, wrestling for a midcard title for RAW and recycling their feud from Smackdown. I can understand the Dean Ambrose move, but Miz has returned to his midcard role on RAW. Can someone explain to me what benefit John Cena/Nikki winning at Wrestlemania 33 gave the WWE long-term? Their engagement does NOTHING for the Miz who is STILL HERE. Then, Miz is moved to RAW and treated like second rate. Like I said, solid match between the two... Both have wrestled so much that they are like routine but I really liked the ending. Maryse tried to slap Miz to get Ambrose disqualified... However, that caused Maryse to get ejected and as the referee had his back turned to yell at her, Miz shoved Dean Ambrose into the referee. I thought that was the finish, as my kiddies were trolling each other as that finish went down. The referee arguing with Ambrose after this bump eventually led to Miz winning with the Skull Crusher. Oops, as I reported that on LoP's Twitter as a result. Tight, crisp match but this will likely continue their feud. [ *** 1/2 ] Second match was Rich Swann/Sasha Banks vs. Noam Dar/Alicia Fox. I have zero idea how this match was set-up as Hulu has been editing out their segments or this was set-up on 205 Live (which I don't have time to watch). Match was OK... It was kind of nice to see Alicia Fox getting some Pay Per View time. For as long as she's been on the WWE roster, they've certainly misused what could have been a decent talent. Felt like a television match, although I'd like to see Fox and Banks have a little feud after this. Why not? It's not like WWE is serious about using Sasha Banks. Swann and Banks won this one, as predicted. [ **1/4 ] If you're going to have a Pay Per View match, find a way to reach out to fans watching all of your versions of programming. Women's Title match between Alexa Bliss (c) vs. Bayley was up next, Kendo Stick on a pole. By the way, the gimmick of this match quickly destroyed its anticipation by having the Kendo Stick ripped down very early in the match. Oops. I do like how Alexa was brutalizing Bayley for this feud with that stick during their RAW feud. You don't see that kind of violence on WWE television any longer. By the way, those Kendo Sticks HURT like hell... The stick's make has a give so that it doesn't break bones when it hits, but your skin has nerve endings last time I checked. As the fans were beginning to get into the match, the match was over! Bayley got in a few slams but seemed to hesitate in getting violent with Alexa. Alexa, however, doesn't hesitate with the Kendo Stick and beats Bayley to a pulp. And guess what Alexa wins with? DDT... Right... I guess that move hurts women? [ ** ] Too short. Fans were getting into it and then both wrestlers "went home". Hardys vs. Sheamus/Cesaro was a solid "Escape the Cage" tag match. Wasn't anything brand new or unique, but a solid worked match by 2 good tag teams. I wonder how Jeff Hardy's spine is still together... Just the way he lands makes me cringe. Match ended with Sheamus/Cesaro escaping over the cage faster than the Hardys pulling themselves through the door. [ *** 1/4 ] Next, we had Austin Aries vs. Neville Cruiserweight Title match as we get purple for the evening. I'm wondering why the WWE goes through lengths to prepare the ring with different ropes, turnbuckles, and even the canvas for this division and not other parts of the WWE. Very strange to me as if the purple stuff actually helps this division. This match was funny to me because Aries and Neville are promoted as high flyers yet the are attempting mat wrestling because of the match's gimmick. Doesn't quite work when both guys go for mostly spots and then try to do psychology because of a match type. What made Dean Malenko GREAT is that he was all psychology and he provided a wrestling balance against the many spot machines he wrestled in WCW. It's called consistency... Actual good match between the two, their best in my opinion. They actually took the time to do wrestling holds and setting them up instead of spot after spot after spot. You know, actual wrestling. [ *** 1/2 ] Interesting to me how the WWE is keeping the Cruiserweight Title away from Aries. The MAIN EVENT is up next between Samoa Joe vs. Seth Rollins vs. Bray Wyatt vs. Finn Balor vs. Roman Reigns with lots of time remaining in this Pay Per View to let them work. Nothing wrong with that... Fans were booing heavily as they knew which wrestler was coming out last... By the way, I laughed at Michael PS Hayes shilling for Roman on the "Table for 3" show on WWE Network with Cornette and Bischoff. Cole, Graves, and Booker are all slurping on Reigns, too, as he comes out. I wonder how much Michael Cole, especially, hates himself when he goes home for the way he parrots Vince's desires. I guess those fat paychecks ease that pain. Samoa Joe and Bray Wyatt soon team up for some strategy and they are beating on Finn Balor. Funny to see 2 guys who are at least 250 pounds each manhandling a guy under 200 pounds. Anybody find it funny how Finn eats the majority of their combined offense while Roman and Rollins are "selling" on the outside? And we're talking for minutes here, too. Of course, Roman Reigns destroys that Joe/Wyatt alliance. Roman gets slammed on the announcer's table by Bray and many trolling fans yell "one more time". How about 10 more times? Rollins also fends them off... But then both are "selling" again while Bray/Joe work on Finn some more on the outside. Then Roman spears both Joe/Finn and Seth splashes Bray Wyatt through the announcer's table. Do you see how this match is configured, folks? Everything is designed to make Rollins and Reigns look strong while the rest are just chumps. The Reigns Spear and Rollins table splash causes fans in attendance to chant "This is Awesome". Do you see why we can't have nice things as wrestling fans when you mark for those obvious spots? And for the second time in the match, Roman and Rollins stare each other down in the ring as a big deal while the rest of the chumps are ringside. Why not make it Rollins vs. Reigns instead? Oh wait, they might be afraid that under 2.5 million would want to see that... The other 3 wrestlers, after selling the devastation on the outside, try to get involved and Rollins/Reigns hit their trademark moves on them easily. Finn Balor makes a nice comeback on Roman but as he tries to pin Roman, Joe slaps on his submission hold on Balor to get the win! [ *** ] Too much Roman/Rollins love in this match and thankfully, the RIGHT guy won the match to set up a badass Joe vs. Lesnar match. LAST WORD: Much better Pay Per View versus last month. 3 solid midcard outings and an OK but hardly great main event. Little too reliant on the gimmicks but the wrestlers did well within the parameters. RAW brand just lacks interesting characters and their main event scene is extremely tired. Think of how many times that the WWE has tried to push Roman, Bray, and Rollins in the last 3 years. If they aren't over by now, try to push someone else hard. [ B- ] Not going to complain further as Joe vs. Lesnar is a unique match. I'm OK with that. Goodness, gracious, GREAT BALLS OF FIRE! SO JUST CHILL... 'TIL THE NEXT EPISODE! Comments and feedback are welcome. Follow and Tweet me @titowrestling or login in below to post comments. © Mr. Tito and LordsofPain.net/WrestlingHeadlines.com - 1998-2017
|
