What we learned from WWE Extreme Rules 2015

Sunday night’s Extreme Rules pay-per-view from Chicago was a fun, almost effortless event. I say that in a good way. Nothing was a chore to get through and the three-plus hours (counting the Kickoff Show) really flew by. While none of the results felt particularly world-changing, it was entertaining throughout, which is all you can really ask for.

Let’s recap what happened and find out what this means going forward.

Originally, Barrett was scheduled to wrestle Daniel Bryan for the Intercontinental Championship on the main card, but WWE announced shortly before Extreme Rules that Bryan was not medically cleared to compete (likely due to a concussion). So Barrett called out newcomer Neville on the Kickoff Show ... and lost a lengthy, very good match after Neville hit the Red Arrow.

What we learned: Thankfully, WWE had not yet stripped Bryan of the Intercontinental Championship, meaning they’re likely willing to wait out this unfortunate injury. As for the match, this was a great showcase for Neville and a big win. The live crowds clearly love him, which is a good thing. Barrett continues to be deserving of a larger and more important role, but he’s definitely a team player, which is probably best for his career in the long run.

This match opened the main event proper, but in the middle the match, Harper climbed behind the wheel of an SUV, Ambrose jumped in through the passenger side window and the vehicle left the arena. Almost an hour later, the SUV reappeared in the arena during a backstage interview with the New Day. Ambrose and Harper brawled back into the ring, where Ambrose eventually won after hitting a Dirty Deeds.

What we learned: If this had just been one match straight through, it probably would have been pretty great. It was still a lot of fun and the car gag was actually very funny. Wondering when they would pop back up again was fun. Here’s hoping they get to really blow the doors off the place in a more serious match, because if WWE doesn’t have any other ideas for these two underutilized guys, you can do a lot worse that running them up against each other.

Yep, the Kiss Me Arse Match. To WWE’s immense credit, they made sure to include a shot of ring announcer JoJo introducing the match and barely able to contain her laughter or her disbelief that she was introducing a Kiss Me Arse Match. After a very physical match, Ziggler managed to catch Sheamus with a small package to get the pinfall. After the match was over, Sheamus hemmed and hawed about having to kiss Ziggler’s arse, then knocked him unconscious and rubbed Ziggler’s face all over his own bottom.

What we learned: This actually ended up being a lot more fun and compelling than probably any of us dreamed. Sheamus acted like both a spoiled, entitled baby AND an enormous bully upon losing, trying to weasel out of a stipulation that Ziggler, the ref and the announcers continually pointed out was HIS idea. This was also one of the highlights of JBL on commentary since he returned, gleefully waiting for Ziggler to kiss Sheamus’ arse the entire match, then immediately being loudly opposed to the stipulation once Sheamus lost. This feud will probably continue. Hopefully without any more butt-kissing.

THIS MATCH RULED. As a continuation of the New Day’s slow realization that they can bend (or break) the rules to win and prove the crowd wrong, Xavier Woods caused a distraction, allowing Kofi Kingston to roll up Cesaro (with a handful of tights) to win the tag titles after a really, really fun match.

What we learned: It literally is a new day. Big E, Kofi and Xavier are all slowly sliding toward becoming full-blown bad guys and it’s still a complete blast to watch. New Day can go ahead and feud with Kidd & Cesaro for the next several PPVs and it will probably be great. Probably.

Oh god, this was a “four corners” style chain match.

We didn’t know.

WE DIDN’T KNOW.

*Ahem*

This match would have been a lot better without the “four corners” gimmick, obviously, but as is, it was still perfectly fine. Cena won, as expected.

What we learned: Rusev has a really awesome satin jacket now. That’s fun.

It looks like the John Cena U.S. Open Challenge series will continue each week, which I have no complaints with. This will not be the end of the Rusev vs. Cena feud, as Lana and Rusev announced before the main event that the two men will meet one last time at Payback, in an I Quit Match. Lana herself said it will be the final chapter in the rivalry, so expect Cena to win that one, as well. Hopefully, the result of that match will not adhere to the Bray Wyatt Law, squashing any momentum Rusev still has.

Naomi, although she was armed with AMAZING light-up shoes, came up just short in her attempt to capture the Divas title.

What we learned: WWE women’s wrestling, both in NXT and on the main roster, continues to get better and better. This was a good showcase for both Nikki and Naomi, with both women busted out a lot of new, impressive offense. Naomi lost the match after Brie Bella kicked her in the face, allowing Nikki to hit her finisher for the win. This is a good way of screwing Naomi out of the title and allowing the feud to naturally continue, although it makes Naomi the sympathetic character here just a few weeks after seemingly turning heel. An ex-WWE writer recently indicated the Divas division doesn’t have heels or faces as a general rule, but that approach really muddies the whole “so who do I cheer for” waters. I’ll reserve judgement on the booking decision for now, because I’m excited to see another PPV match between these two.

The match that perhaps the fewest people were looking forward to, ended up being unbelievably fun and easily the match of the night for me. After one of the most entertaining hardcore matches since the Shield was still together, Reigns speared Big Show through the Spanish announce table and buried him with the other announce table, leaving Show unable to answer the 10-count.

What we learned: Reigns is still getting better as a performer and can absolutely bring the goods in a match when he’s given a chance to shine. Meanwhile, Big Show is still one of the most entertaining people on the roster and woefully underrated in the ring. He had a couple running gags in this match, with the “NO TABLES!” and the “I’M A GIANT!” bits, which were amazing, hilarious moments that added to his cocky, bad guy character. I’m still in disbelief of how good this match was.

After this match, Bo Dallas came to the ring to get the Chicago crowd to Bo-lieve, but Ryback came out and beat him up. Okay, then!

The main event was a cage match where the RKO was banned, meaning that if Randy Orton used his finisher, he would lose the match. That’s important to remember for later. The finish of the match saw Seth Rollins retain after escaping the cage. As expected, the cage didn’t keep anyone out, as both Kane and J&J Security got involved. Kane chokeslammed everyone, including J&J and Rollins, but after being conflicted, he tried to help Rollins win. He went for a Tombstone on Orton and was caught with an RKO. When Orton turned around, Rollins hit an RKO on HIM and escaped the cage.

What we learned: The finish of the match seemed simple enough: there was an implicit understanding that Orton could not use HIS finisher, so the poetic justice of Rollins using it on HIM to steal a win is classic pro wrestling. Pretty much everyone watching at home or in the arena picked up on what was happening at the finish of the match. The announce team, however, told us the story device that WWE will actually be using to continue the feud.

Jerry Lawler immediately started griping that the RKO was banned from the match, full stop. JBL countered that Orton used the RKO on Kane first, which Lawler again countered by pointing out Kane wasn’t in the match. JBL argued again that it didn’t matter. If the RKO was indeed banned across the board, Orton used it first, and the party he used it on is irrelevant. They went around and around on this until the show went off the air, so what could have been an effective heat generator for Rollins (he stole the win by being sneaky and cowardly) now becomes a false “controversy,” which will probably be stretched out until the next PPV. We all knew it was going to last another PPV at least, but now we have what seems (for now) to be an unnecessarily confusing wrinkle.

★★★

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