Wrestling is much like the Barclays Premier League (The highest tier of football in England for those who aren’t familiar with it – the team in which Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea and whole load more teams play). It’s a results based business. Each result takes you through to the next week, the next big rivalry and you just never know if your team is going to exceed expectations or drop so far they’re in a battle to keep their status with those around them.
Extreme Rules 2012 was very much like the 2011 / 2012 Barclays Premier League Season. For my team, Manchester United, they were expected to win the league, at time of writing though, they are second behind local rivals Manchester City. It’s not lost, it’s just not won yet. And that was Extreme Rules 2012. It didn’t win when it should have, yet it didn’t lose on where it should have either, if that makes sense to you.
Yet the one thing WWE did was surprise in some sectors. Others were a total washout, predictable in the Extreme (pardon the pun). WWE didn’t do anything to dispel rumours that they were willing to take a risk to benefit the long term future, to that end, the show was a lot more entertaining than Wrestlemania 28 which took place just shy of four weeks before.
Extreme Rules Match
John Cena Defeated Brock Lesnar
I told you so. WWE are not willing to make John Cena look weak. Which is wrong! Because now, whoever is next for Cena isn’t going to stand a chance in the eyes of the viewing public.!If a monster like Brock Lesnar couldn’t defeat Cena (who did his very best Superman impression on the night – you know the one where he takes a pasting and then ta da, jumps back up like he’s never been hurt at all?) then what hope does someone like Tensai have? None at all.
The match was decent. John Cena allowed himself to take a beating at the hands of the superior Lesnar but he also reverted to his old, no sell, strategy. Which in truth looked absolutely awful! You just can’t take a beating like that and not sell it. No wonder Brock Lesnar was furious afterwards, I would have been as well.
But this night wasn’t about John Cena, it was about Brock Lesnar proving he still had what it took. Did he? To my mind, no! He punched and kicked like he was still in the Octagon. The man couldn’t even be bothered to wear proper wrestling attire, instead preferring to come decked out looking like and Ultimate Fighter. If this is WWE’s plan then please someone, scrap it now. WWE needs a wrestling monster, not an ultimate fighter. That is not going to work at all. The only thing it can do is promote UFC and drive even more fans away from the squared circle.
This match should have been great. It wasn’t. Just being decent in the main event is death for a wrestler and for a pay per view. Yes, John Cena bled (at last WWE have relaxed that ridiculous no blood rule – after all it was their brutal attitude towards the business, letting people bleed, say what they like and do what they like that won them the Monday night wars) and yes Brock Lesnar looked like a monster, and to their and WWE’s credit the match was brutal. It lacked that certain sting that it needed. Lesnar looked knackered by the end, Cena looked like he’d had enough of the business all together and the fans left the arena in the knowledge that the main event wasn’t anything they hadn’t seen before.
Brock Lesnar will now feud with Triple H after his attack on ‘The Game’ on the Raw show the night after Extreme Rules. It does beg the question why WWE even bothered to book Cena vs Lesnar feud, which of course they did so just for the revenue. It won’t continue and WWE have sold us down the river yet again, because now we won’t get to see Lesnar extract revenge. Should we have expected anything else? Not really. The angle was poorly booked. You can’t have Lesnar be the monster that loses first time around, what moron books that? Now Triple H will have to rectify this mistake in his feud with Lesnar (presuming there’s going to be one) and lose, otherwise that will be the end of the monster Lesnar and there will have been no point in rehiring him in the first place.
With John Cena, it’s a different kettle of fish. I’ve seen this before and I hope WWE are not going where I think they are. Namely, replacing C.M. Punk with Jon Cena in the feud with John Laurientis! Seeing as Punk will enter into a feud with Daniel Bryan now, and John Cena suffered a three on one attack at the hands of Laurientis, then I fear this is where WWE are going. Which is ridiculous! Does anyone believe that WWE will book Cena to lose a huge feud like this? Of course not! Punk could have carried off the underdog champion, Cena lacks the wrestling and acting skills. If this feud is carrying on with Cena in the title role, then that’s yet another perfectly great feud down the drain because WWE can’t let go of their Cena complex and the urge to push the talentless cash machine down everyone’s throats. I foresee a feud with Cena and Lord Tensai next, will it be thrilling? No! Will it be worth our money? No! Will WWE book it anyway? Yes! Because they really do believe they know best.
Chicago Street Fight
WWE Championship
C.M. Punk (Champion) Defeated Chris Jericho
This was meant to be a feud that would stretch. So what do WWE decide to go and do? Cut it short after only two matches. I won’t bang on about the match itself because you probably watched it, I just want to know why this feud has ended so suddenly. And the answer? John Cena. See above for details.
Punk has every right to be pissed off with WWE. Seemingly being cut out of the hottest storyline of the year and then having a perfectly good feud thrown away, what’s left for the biggest star of the year? The answer is Daniel Bryan. Now you might look at that feud as a waste of time, you will be wrong. Anyone who has seen Daniel Bryan (Bryan Danielson) vs C.M. Punk matches from their Ring of Honor Days, will be able to attest that they can rock the house, much more than Punk can with Jericho. I don’t see WWE having the patience with the Bryan / Punk feud for long, especially when they see the matches are much better than anything Cena will be booked in.
I seriously doubt WWE will take the belt from Punk and give it to Bryan and now since both men have moved on drastically since ROH, Bryan will have to bring a whole new super hell to the table to deal with Punks, currently on fire, face champion. He has the tools to do it though and since both are great friends, Punk will have no hang-ups in giving Bryan all the momentum he many need.
What next for Jericho? I hear you cry. I hate to inform you people, but unless Jericho is scheduled to have a series with Cena (yes, again) then you can expect to see him fade into the under card spot and possibly take the United States Championship. I’m sure being on Laurientis’ side, WWE are planning for the feud to take the turn where the faction wins all the gold in WWE (which is why you can expect Jericho to take a title of some kind) before finally losing it to the good guys.
2 Out of 3 Falls Match
World Heavyweight Championship
Sheamus (Champion) Defeated Daniel Bryan
This match headlined a string of pointless matches. It was good, don’t get me wrong. There was just no call for it, apart from for Bryan to exact revenge for his humiliating Wrestlemania defeat. That didn’t happen though, so the whole thing was rendered pointless! The result was always going to be a win for Sheamus. WWE refuse to build up Triple H’s favourite wrestler at the moment just to cut him down a month later. So what is the best WWE hoped to achieve here?
The answer anyone? Yes! To kill air time! That is the soul reason this match and some others existed. What a waste of time! They might have well as booked Sheamus and C.M Punk vs Daniel Bryan and Chris Jericho for the good that both matches did in the end.
I’ve already stated that Bryan will now head into a feud with Punk which will be great. Maybe WWE will take a risk and allow Bryan to take the title away from Punk before joining Laurientis. Maybe WWE will spunk this feud up the wall as well like it has done with many others. Just take a chance and see the results for yourself. Both Punk and Bryan can pull out great matches and this may be one feud that fans won’t get bored of seeing.
Sheamus is going from strength to strength. Apart from being labelled with the new nickname ‘The Great White’ (I didn’t realize whales were part of this business) I’m still sure that he’ll turn heel at some point in the summer, against who though is another matter. I look down the roster and I see no one ready to step into the shoes of challenger and serious challenge the Irishman for the gold. Maybe WWE will book a Triple Threat Match for the World Title at Over the Limit, which pitches Sheamus vs Randy Orton vs Kane. Giving the fact that Kane is dull and Randy Orton has already beaten Sheamus a ton of time, would that be a wise idea? Then again you have Rey Mysterio and Wade Barrett returning soon, Barrett needs more building so he’s out of the question and I’ve seen Mysterio in so many title bouts I tend to switch over when he comes on. So who does that leave that we haven’t seen before? If Christian were to recover in time then WWE could do worse than book Captain Charisma in a feud with Sheamus, that would be worth our time. They won’t though. I have a feeling it’s going to be Mark Henry or David Otunga, just before you hit the snooze button though, bare in mind that between now and SummerSlam Sheamus will do battle with Randy Orton after the Viper has despatched the big red bore.
Tables Match
WWE Intercontinental Championship
Cody Rhodes Defeated Big Show (Champion)
At last, this match was the first light at the end of the tunnel which said WWE were willing to think about their younger talent and their long term future. If Cody Rhodes had have lost this match then that would have been the end of his magical push. The fact they put Rhodes over on the night is encouraging and the rest of the young talent in the locker room can breathe a sigh of relief.
What wasn’t so encouraging though was the stipulation. It wasn’t added until the last minute. WWE had announced the match a week or so in advance of the pay per view but couldn’t for some reason be bothered to announce the stipulation. Fans who could have ordered this PPV just for this match wouldn’t have bothered because as far as they knew, they were just getting a rematch which Rhodes would probably lose. You see where WWE’s business sense falls down? If you don’t tell people it’s there they’re not going to come.
However the result on the night was right even though they made Rhodes look weak with hardly any offence. Rhodes needed this going into the rest of the year. The momentum is high and now he’s finally done away with Big Show, Rhodes can concentrate on the future which includes a run as WWE or World Heavyweight Champion. Maybe Rhodes is the ideal foil for Sheamus in a Champion vs Champion feud.
For the Big Show, I predict yet more dull, pointless matches before he realizes that he’s done in this business. Let’s face it, he’s overweight, he can hardly walk, he has no talent, what more can a man like this possibly offer to the business? Maybe Vince will hire him to write the storylines.
Falls Count Anywhere Match
Randy Orton Defeated Kane
Ok, so it didn’t end with an RKO from the top of a truck or outside the arena. What this match did though was tie the feud and make us sit through one last encounter at Over the Limit. Please make it something special WWE, a steel cage match would be ideal, anything to mask Kane’s inability to wrestle. On the WWE website the company seem convinced that this feud has now come full circle, how can it when it is tied at one victory each?
I have to question Randy Orton, wrestling injured all this time, maybe he’s looking for something to hold against WWE in later years, most wrestlers have something. With the talent that Orton has, then WWE need to take the albatross of Kane from around his neck and book him in a truly dazzling storyline. Turn the guy heel again please, I’m begging you, he’s just pants as a face and a heel Orton is much more appealing. If WWE are going to book another Orton vs Sheamus feud then this needs to be done as quickly as possible. If the triple Threat Match was to take place at Over the Limit then Orton would need to be pinned by Sheamus and then again at the following pay view. Losing two matches on the bounce would not hurt Orton but could sew the seeds of jealously and bring out the Viper side again. Part from Sheamus, I don’t see anywhere for Orton to go. Who is left to feud with? Christian? Been done! Undertaker? Not around! Brock Lesnar? No appeal! WWE have booked Orton into a corner and now they need to get him out of it as soon as possible.
For the life of me I can’t think what WWE can do with Kane. He serves no purpose. He’s been around forever, he’s dome everything he can, he’ll be remembered as the most successful big man in the industry, doesn’t someone think it’s time for him to depart for shores anew? No one in the locker room wants to wrestle him because he’s clumsy, the guy could kill a career by just stepping in the ring. He’s out of shape and out of his time. Kane in 1997 – 1999 was fine, Kane in 2000 – 2004 started to wear and Kane now, is burning up his life. There has to be something better he put his mind to than this.
United States Championship Match
Santino Marella (Champion) Defeated The Miz
And so beings our short countdown of pointless tat on the card! This could be seen as no more than a comedy match. The Miz should have gone over, yet seeing as he’s taking Randy Orton’s place in ‘The Marine 3: Home front’, WWE decided to keep the class clown as Champion at great expense to the Miz.
Here, was another show of the stop start pushes that WWE have made us watch. You push the Miz as the winner of the twelve man tag match at Wrestlemania and then you bring him down here. If Miz had lost to someone like Dolph Ziggler or Randy Orton then it would have been fine, his image wouldn’t have been tarnished at all. To make him lose to Santino, I wonder if WWE are even bothering to plan for the Miz’s future.
And someone please tell me what appeal Miz will have as a movie star, when WWE seem intent on burying him in the ring? Sheer stupidity!
WWE Divas Championship Match
Layla Defeated Nikki Bella (Champion)
I’ll keep this short. WWE booked this match because the Bella Twins are now out of contract. They needed them to drop the gold so this was the result. It wasn’t worth watching, it wasn’t worth booking (WWE could have swapped matches and put R – Truth and Kofi Kingston’s tag team title match on the PPV and put this match on Raw).
At least one good thing came of it. The Bella Twins are now gone from WWE, some small mercies we can be thankful for. Maybe now they can actually eat something.
Brodus Clay Defeated Dolph Ziggler
Why oh why oh why, does WWE do this to itself. The match made a mockery of Ziggler after pushing him so hard as a main event player. This put him back to square one. Losing to a blubber beast like Clay has harmed the breakout star of the year immensely. We can’t take Ziggler seriously as a main event player now he’s lost to Clay. The other mess up that WWE has made is sidelining Jack Swagger with Dolph Ziggler, they’re two massive egos that can’t possibly get each other through to the promise land.
What makes me even more mad yet at the same time curious, is that WWE can’t actually see what they’re doing to their company. In their tiny mind s they think they’re doing the right thing by pushing Clay! In reality they’re damaging another wrestler who needed the exposure badly. They’re replacing one push with another, that’s not going to do any good at all, we’re just going around in circles. This match should never have been booked Ziggler didn’t need the damage this has now done. If WWE wanted to push Clay then why not make him run a gauntlet of WWE’s cannon fodder instead of feeding him a career that was starting to sparkle!
Ryback Defeated Local Athletes
This was an abomination! Period! Instead of making Ryback look strong it made him look like a cock. It was like WWE were trying to say ‘This guy isn’t good enough to fight proper wrestlers so here are some whimps instead!’
WWE could have booked Ryback vs Brodus Clay, even started a little feud that could have been something, even if it wasn’t much. Why do that when you can demolish careers instead?
If Extreme Rules was meant to end a feuds before they got started, end pushes that could have been special, bury careers that needed help to get going then Extreme Rules 2012 achieved everything it set out. If was meant for anything else then WWE failed on a grand scale. Apart from Cody Rhodes’ victory WWE showed no willingness to experiment or take a chance for their own benefit, they did what they’re used to doing, playing it safe at the expense of others. Only this time playing it safe may just cost them dearly.
The signs heading out of Extreme Rules aren’t wholly promising. The Miz will take a break to film Marine 3 (it won’t do business, WWE Films never do – they lose millions a year); Kofi Kingston and R- Truth have been sidelined with the tag team titles (a good idea, if there had been truly great tag teams to challenge them, and if R – Truth hadn’t have been sidelined on Superstars since Wrestlemania) which is meant to enhance them despite the fact WWE should have booked the title win at Extreme Rules and not on Raw – which just shouts out that WWE don’t think they’re important enough to put on PPV anymore (this match could have replaced, Ziggler vs Clay, the abomination of the Ryback match and the pointless Divas Title Match) the spotlight would have shined on Truth and Kingston, instead they were passed over for absolute shit; The future of WWE were embarrassed and shown up in a series of matches that should have been scrapped when they were pitched and the heavily built up main event and the hottest feud of the year both took significant damage because of WWE’s infatuation with making John Cena the star. In summation, Extreme Rules 2012 just papered over the cracks.
In other words, it was business as usual.
Onwards and Upwards.
