A – Excellent
B – Good
C – Mediocre
D – Avoid
Release Date: July 29th 2013
Available From: www.wwedvd.co.uk
Price:
DVD £ 12.99
Blu-ray £ 13.99
Format Reviewed: DVD
(Also Available on Blu-ray)
What It’s About:
WWE’s Extreme Rules 2013 pay-per view event, held at the Scottrade Centre in St. Louis, Missouri on May 19th 2013. In previous years, Extreme Rules has surpassed WrestleMania as a show and this years effort features the Last Man Standing Match for the WWE Championship between John Cena and Ryback, an ‘I Quit’ Match between Alberto Del Rio and Jack Swagger and Steel Cage Match to settle the score between Triple H and Brock Lesnar, plus much more.
Strengths:
Once again, we begin with the best match of the night and this time the honour falls to Triple H vs Brock Lesnar in a stunningly brilliant Steel Cage Match. Just a small point though, before we take a look at why the match was so good. Before the match begins, WWE show us a video package of Brock Lesnar’s rampage on Triple H’s office in WWE’s Titan Towers headquarters. Whilst the angle was meant to provide heat for this match, it was an illogical story for anyone to pen. Lesnar simply wanders into the company’s offices and trashes Hunter’s office, threatening staff as he goes. Do WWE really expect us to believe that a Billion Dollar company doesn’t have one security guard on the door, or that those who were verbally and physically threatened by Lesnar wouldn’t press charges against Heyman’s main man for his conduct? What’s more, do WWE believe we’re that stupid that we wouldn’t realise that had Lesnar done this for real, WWE would have had no choice but to suspend and fine him, possibly taking legal action? Now that’s said, let’s move onto the matter in the hand. The match gets off to flying start as Triple H attacks Lesnar on the aisle, pounding him against the outside of the brand new steel cage design which fits the modern day WWE perfectly. The beginning of the match is speedy adding the sense of urgency perfectly. WWE wanted us to believe this was life or death for both men and thanks to the action and more importantly selling of both men, there’s not one moment you don’t buy into the story they’re telling. On the whole, this is much better than their WrestleMania 29 clash and tops even their SummerSlam 2012 brawl. Triple H sells like a trooper for Lesnar who looks like the hurting machine that he should always portray and even Triple H’s comebacks, even though spirited, have a sense of doom about them. From the outset here you get the feeling that Triple H is always fighting a loosing battle. The feeling makes this match more exciting than one could ever have imagined. The real star of the match though is Brock Lesnar. The selling of the injured knee is as flawless a performance as you will ever see in WWE. Lesnar sells his injured limb like it’s the end of his career and even more refreshing, Triple H actually works the injury. I know it’s not a huge turn around, but in a company where its stars don’t sell injuries like they should and their opponents don’t exploit those injures, it does fell like a whole new concept when we get to this. The first F5 results in a brilliant near fall as does a thunderous pedigree which has the attending audience standing. Triple H’s sharpshooter on Lesnar will probably get Bret Hart’s ire up and Paul Heyman at ringside, slowly interjecting himself into the match is once again, nothing short of a marvel. The end sequence involving all three men is executed well and Paul Heyman’s role as the dastardly manager takes him up another level as he first takes a pedigree as well as any WWE Superstar and then delivers the final, crushing low blow allowing Brock Lesnar to take control for the last time. As Lesnar stands over Triple H’s fallen body, everything seems to slow to a near crawl which is just perfect for this match. The finale is hauntingly slow, wonderfully deliberate and cringingly hard hitting as Lesnar drops Triple H with the deciding F5. That Triple H is willing to Brock Lesnar over here and then Curtis Axel the follow night on Raw proves that the once ‘Cerebral Assassin’ has the company’s best interests at heart. When Triple H leaves the ring at the end, he looks a beaten man. Though the commentators try to pin the victory on Heyman’s interjection anyone with eyes can see that Brock Lesnar deserved this victory and much more for his part in the match. He was truly excellent.
Chris Jericho vs Fandango is a world apart from their dull WrestleMania 29 clash and both men up their game immensely. Whilst Fandango’s tights are a sight to behold in themselves, his in ring work in coming on slowly but surely and at Extreme Rules, the pair keep the action simple to aid Fandango. It works. Whilst the pair blow a planned spot, neither allows it to put them off their game as they competently move into the next sequence. Something which younger talent are usually fazed by. Fandango deserves praise for this. The man who seemingly wants to be Patrick Swayze hits a stylish head over heels kick from the outside floor to a waiting Jericho between the ropes, though WWE should have taken away those boring rest holds which are out frequently here. The ending is perfectly timed and even though he comes out on the short end, Fandango doesn’t lose face by doing the job for Jericho. At ringside, Summer Rae is really coming into her own as a valet and has promise. The match has its dodgy moments though, when Chris Jericho illogically traipses half way around the ringside just to pose on the announcers table when he could have done so on the steps or ring apron and there are moments when Fandango looks lost and one at the conclusion where he looks awfully wobbly on the top rope, but on the whole, it’s fast, gels much better and whilst its not match of the year, it is worth a look.
Kofi Kingston vs Dean Ambrose for the WWE United States Championship is a very good encounter which does wonders for the failing division. Thankfully, The Shield doesn’t come to the ring with Ambrose and it favours the match greatly, not to mention the image of Ambrose as a wrestler who can get the job done alone. Beginning a little dodgy the match does pick up pace and doesn’t slow until the finish. Whilst Kingston isn’t as impressive as he usually is and comes across as a little sloppy, with careless chops and punches, including a dive from the top rope which was meant to clear a ducked Ambrose but which catches The Shield member with a stray foot, Dean Ambrose shines. Ambrose’s knowledge of wrestling seems to be way beyond his young years, a fact backed up by an impressive Crossface Chicken Wing worthy of Bob Backlund himself. The United States Champion elect nails Kingston with a beautiful double under hook suplex from the middle and top turnbuckle and the missed ‘Trouble in Paradise’ into the falling front headlock to finish couldn’t look better. WWE booked this match correctly by having Ambrose going over Kingston clean in the middle of the ring with a wrestling move instead of outside interference. This is a very good match which leaves you wondering why WWE can’t do this all the time.
Sheamus vs Mark Henry is an entertaining strap match which, whilst it doesn’t boast any actually wrestling is kept watchable by both Sheamus and Mark Henry. The lights attached to the turnbuckles look like that have come straight from the 80’s and one would have thought that by now WWE could have updated the technology. Sadly, Jerry Lawler telegraphs the outcome of the match for us by stating that he doesn’t think Sheamus can defeat Mark Henry, thus telling us Sheamus will come out victorious, but it never detracts from the match itself. In the build up to the match, I was impressed with Mark Henry who showed a willingness not to take himself seriously all the time and also Sheamus in the weeks leading to the match displayed some top heel qualities which I have a feeling he will need in the months to come. As for the match itself, there really isn’t much to discuss thanks to the lack of wrestling. There is no real innovation as far as the strap goes, the usual whipping and dragging ensues, to be honest WWE really need to give this match a make over. The World’s Strongest Slam into the Brogue Kick finish is the most inventive thing on display, but somehow both keep it going to their credit.
Jack Swagger vs Alberto Del Rio in the ‘I Quit’ match for the number one contendership to the World Heavyweight Championship is more than fair. WWE begin this by showing us the replay of Dolph Ziggler’s concussion on Smackdown which is horrible on first sight, but when they slow it down it looks truly sickening. Jack Swagger was reckless here and should have been reprimanded for his actions. Accident or not, it could have been a lot worse for Ziggler. Once again we get the usual rubbish coming from Zeb Coulter’s mouth as he takes a good three minutes to waffle on about immigrants, this time choosing the local baseball team as his target. However, this is where Coulter and his logic fall down. During his rant, Zeb says the team is full of foreigners who come for the pay cheque and then run home, just like Alberto Del Rio. Yet, Del Rio is still here, pay cheque or not. Jack Swagger during this tirade looks his usual zombie self and as usual adds his monotone ‘We the people’ line, which makes him sound like a robot. Next time Jack, put some emotion into it. Thankfully after these distractions, we get to business in what turns out to be a by the numbers match but there’s nothing bad about it, even though it should have been exceptional. In truth this should have been a ladder match in order to save Swagger’s image and not have him quit. There is a lot of use of the Singapore cane throughout but both manage to vary their uses so it doesn’t become a monotone copy of their WrestleMania 29 outing. Alberto’s arm breaker over the top rope looks sublime but he does take a nasty and dangerous bump on his head when releasing the move. The backstabber through the middle rope is innovative and like everything else here looks good. Jack Swagger fights back with a fine Gut Wrench Powerbomb which quickly escalates into a flurry of reversals, the finest of these is the Arm Breaker into the Patriot Lock. You can’t see the seam between the two moves. The false ending in which Coulter throws the towel in for Del Rio and the referee believes its Ricardo Rodriguez who has committed the act is a waste of time seeing as the referee has to look back at instant replay. Not only does it waste time which could have been given in the ring, it also highlights WWE’s shoddy booking as no matter what has happened before the referees never look at replays. When the match restarts it’s short and the ending comes out nowhere and with no build up. Had the false ending and Coulter’s rant at the beginning been canned, Del Rio and Swagger could have had seven extra minutes to build a convincing ending with great reversals. Despite the ending, it’s a worthy entry into their feud.
The WWE Tag Team Championship, Tag Team Tornado Match pitting Team Hell No vs Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns, regrettably isn’t anything special. It’s not a bad match, but it doesn’t offer half as much as most other matches here do. Once again the outcome is telegraphed by the announcers when Michael Cole points out that Team Hell No have been Tag Team Champions for over 240 days and its one of the longest reigns in wrestling history. In other words, it’s time for a change. Still, it has its moments which keep it on track, one of which isn’t Kane. ‘The Big Red Machine’ is slower than usual and fails to add anything to the match. Because all four men are in the ring at once, it thankfully saves this from what would have been a stoic and stalled normal tag team match and Daniel Bryan takes advantage of this. As per usual, Bryan cements his place up the card with a lively performance which involves a suicide dive through the middle rope onto The Shield duo and a pitch perfect hurricanrana from the top rope. Bryan and Reigns share some decent exchanges and Seth Rollins makes his presence known with a dazzling flying knee from the top rope. The Shield’s double team finisher looks good when executed and the result is given approval by a good reception by the crowd. The sight of all three members of The Shield in the ring with their respective Championships is a turning point in WWE, whilst it’s easy to see why Daniel Bryan is on a one way ticket back to the top of WWE’s mountain.
Randy Orton vs Big Show in an Extreme Rules Match is a wonderfully pleasing anything goes brawl which makes sure the fans in Orton’s home town go home with a smile on their faces. Randy receives a much deserved ovation on his homecoming and his interaction with the crowd throughout the match is enjoyable to watch. For a long time it seemed as if Randy Orton didn’t enjoy his job but finally he looks to be having a whale of a time. Whilst hopes weren’t high for this match thanks to Big Show’s performances taking a down turn in recent months, everyone was pleasantly surprised as the pair put together a good and logical fight. Big Show bumps brilliantly, as if he was 200lbs lighter and is surprisingly agile for a man of his size. Big Show’s Vader Bomb through a waiting ladder looks like it really hurt and Orton’s draping DDT over the top rope gets the fans on their feet. It’s a move Big Show takes well considering he has further to fall than if the move was executed from the middle rope as it usually is. Orton’s first RKO garners a killer near fall, whilst the punt makes a welcome return to action when Orton gets some impressive shoe leather around Big Show’s cranium in the crowd pleasing finale. Naturally, Randy Orton’s victory gets the biggest reaction of the night.
Kaitlyn and A.J’s face off backstage is better than any angle the pair have had, where they have had to talk. A.J once again plays the mentally unstable character well and for once in these backstage skits, Kaitlyn doesn’t look wholly out of place. In recent months, when she’s been required to act, Kaitlyn has looked phoney and embarrassing. Here though, she baits A.J to perfection and her lines actually mean something. Sadly though, the angle ends in a tussle which other Divas including The Bella Twins just stand and watch whilst screaming like they’ve just been shot.
As for the DVD extras, the Pre-show match between The Miz vs Cody Rhodes is a very good back and forth tussle which hits the ground running. The problem with matches like this is that it highlights how much better Miz and Rhodes are than a pre-show spot like this. Anyone with eyes can see they belong higher up the card. At the beginning of the match, during his entrance, Cody Rhodes looks thoroughly annoyed at his predicament as anyone would. The Miz is slick and looks fresh faced and his performance here is beginning to look like Miz belongs back at the top. Whilst the Figure Four Leg Lock finisher is popular with the crowd, Miz needs to get rid of the move and go back to his Skull Crushing Finale finishing move. Using someone else move is making Miz look like a copycat and unoriginal.
Weaknesses:
From the main show, the only real weakness is the Last Man Standing Match for the WWE Championship pitting John Cena vs Ryback. Truthfully, this is embarrassing to watch and even worse if you’re doing so with others who don’t understand the business. Before the match airs, WWE unhelpfully show a video package of Cena destroying The Shield on Raw, something the company should have cut from the highlight package as Cena treats all three like jobbers, without a thought for their futures. As usual, John Cena totally no sells everything that comes his way, including the Achilles tendon injury which he simply shrugs off by running to the ring, idiot. Laughably, the announcers have to try and sell the injury for him. Sadly though, Ryback follows suit and makes sure this match has no meaning at all. Illogically, Ryback doesn’t bother to work over the ankle that he supposedly injured on Raw at all during the whole fight. It’s simple logic. You work over the limb which is injured otherwise there was no point in booking the injury angle which went before. Ryback’s one decent move of the match consists of a catch into a Powerbomb combo and Cena does hit an able Powerbomb but unfortunately those are the only good things here. For the rest of the duration of this predictably dull match, John Cena and Ryback no sell a host of moves including Cena going through a table which he just springs back to life from, and a three minute segment of the fight where Ryback no sells an Attitude Adjustment through the table, Cena no sells Shell Shocked and Cena spears Ryback through the ringside barricade which the supposed wrecking machine lays there for thirty seconds before giving chase through the crowd. It is one of the worst moments in any match ever. The pair blows an important spot when Ryback fails to catch Cena in the turnbuckle, forcing Cena to pull on Ryback’s head in a horrible looking makeshift sleeper hold. Whilst in the crowd, Cena and Ryback stumble through a procession of foreign object shots which don’t look like they’d hurt someone with brittle bones, before Cena drills Ryback through a table with a botched splash in which Cena for some reason lands on his side. How can he get this wrong after eleven years? The match goes for what seems like an eternity before the pair finds themselves on the Extreme Rules set ready for the big finish. Ryback’s running spear on Cena which send both men crashing through the set and ends the brawl is nothing but predictable as WWE have used it many times and the fact that Cena even no sells this spot by simply getting up from the stretcher and refusing to go to hospital, simply walking away shows how little he cares about the business. This footage can be found on the Post show highlights. Truly horrible.
As usual, the announce team of Jerry Lawler, Michael Cole and JBL provide some head in hand moments. During the Chris Jericho vs Fandango match, Jerry Lawler announces to the world that ‘Fandango is the most underrated wrestler in WWE’. Fandango isn’t and Lawler should have kept this to himself; during the same match, JBL makes himself look like a complete novice by stating that Fandango’s debut at WrestleMania 29 was the most impressive debut in wrestling history; whilst Sheamus and Mark Henry are giving it their all in the ring, Jerry Lawler strikes again by saying that the strap match has gone ‘High Tech’ because of the lights which look like they come from the 80’s and have been used before. I constantly wonder why WWE employ Lawler in 2013.
The DVD extras only provide one low point and that is the Post Show Highlights. Not even in complete form, WWE hack together five of the most uninteresting minutes from the show on WWE.Com. Hosted by the lifeless Renee Young and with guests Wade Barrett – the then Intercontinental Champion who WWE couldn’t find a spot for on the card – Titus O’Neil and Mick Foley, this is a total and utter waste of time. Like the Post Show from WrestleMania 29 it’s full of highlights we’ve just sat and watched and inane comments from the guests. Idiotically, Mick ‘The Cheeseburger’ Foley says that Brock Lesnar proved nothing in his cage match with Triple H, only that he can win with Paul Heyman’s help. Not once does Foley even mention the unmatched performance of Lesnar in the ring. When Foley has finished there, he somehow believes that the pair needs yet another match when they’ve already had three and Lesnar beat Triple H 2-1, but this time with an equaliser in Triple H’s corner to contain Heyman. Can someone please brief Foley on what has been happening in WWE these last few months? Shawn Michaels was that equaliser at WrestleMania 29; even Renee Young looks embarrassed when she is told to call the Last Man Standing Match between John Cena and Ryback, ‘epic’. I have been witness to many epic matches in my time; this certainly was not one of them. Wade Barrett and Titus O’Neil add nothing of worth to the five minute highlight package. WWE couldn’t even be bothered to include the full show. Then again, this should have been omitted from the release anyway.
DVD and Blu-ray Special Features:
Pre-Show Match
The Miz vs Cody Rhodes
Post Show Highlights
Blu-ray Exclusive Extras:
Monday Night Raw – May 13th 2013
Chris Jericho and Fandango dance off
Triple H and Brock Lesnar face off
6 Man Elimination Tag Team Match
John Cena and Team Hell No vs The Shield
Smackdown – May 17th 2013
Miz TV with Randy Orton and Big Show
Conclusion:
There is a lot to love and very little to hate about Extreme Rules 2013. Apart from the Last Man Standing Match everything else here has something to offer everyone. The standout match of the night is the Steel Cage warfare between Triple H and Brock Lesnar and even if you’re not a fan of either or partial to marathon matches, this is a must see for Brock Lesnar’s epic performance. On this evidence, Lesnar would do the company a lot of good if they were to give him the WWE Championship.
Randy Orton and Big Show put on a good show; Mark Henry pulls his weight with Sheamus, The Shield shine brighter than ever before because of a stand out performance from Dean Ambrose and even Fandango and the Pre-Show Match is worth the time it takes to get through it. This should be how every pay-per view is booked and fought, WWE could do a lot worse than following the example they set here.
Like its predecessors over the years, Extreme Rules is the show that WrestleMania should have been. Though it lacks Undertaker and C.M Punk’s presence, the show builds new talent and showcases what is possible without a couple of your big stars around. From the opening bell to the main event, bypassing the WWE Championship Match, Extreme Rules 2013 is better than WrestleMania 29 and should be a must for every wrestling fan.
Rating: A
Next Time in Review Corner: ECW Unreleased Volume 2 DVD and Blu-ray
Onwards and upwards...
