WWE Extreme Rules 2018: AJ Styles vs. Rusev Stole The Show

Despite an absolutely awful finish to the SmackDown Women’s Championship match between Asuka and Carmella and a slow start to the Pay Per View overall, WWE Extreme Rules 2018 ended up being a darn good show. Although the WWE Championship didn’t main event, AJ Styles and Rusev made sure they painted a show-stealing performance in Pittsburgh.

AJ Styles has been the WWE Champion since November of last year, and most of his reign as champ has been defined by feuds with Kevin Owens/Sami Zayn and Shinsuke Nakamura. While the matches with Nakamura were entertaining and featured some fantastic segments in the build-up to them, his match on Sunday at WWE Extreme Rules 2018 against Rusev was the best match of his reign as champion.

This was Rusev’s first opportunity at the WWE Championship in his career, in spite of the fact that he’s been a two-time United States Champion and was once undefeated in WWE. Hell, he came into a WrestleMania match against John Cena on a tank! He even demanded a title shot from SmackDown Live commissioner Shane McMahon before Money in the Bank last year!

But even though it took Rusev far too long to receive this first title shot, he more than made the most of it. Rusev has been beyond over ever since starting this awesome “Rusev Day” gimmick with the gifted Aiden English, and it all came together in one brilliant night at the PPG Paints Arena at Extreme Rules.

There were moments of magic where it seemed like Rusev had the match won. Styles was working with a lower back injury, which meant that Rusev had an opportunity to lock in the Accolade for a victory due to Styles’s softened back. But the problem is that Styles is a dominant WWE Champion for a reason; he’s as smart as they come.

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Styles’s submission of choice, the Calf Crusher, targets the knee, so he was softening up Rusev’s knee during the match. That prevented Rusev from actually locking in the Accolade properly, so Styles was able to fight out of it after already kicking out of the Machka Kick.

Rusev had his own big kick-out, turning the crowd noise up another notch by somehow finding a way out of the pin from the 450 Splash. Soon after, Styles hit Rusev with a Phenomenal Forearm for the W, completely a match that was hard-hitting with amazing selling from both competitors.

I was seriously impressed with Rusev’s selling, which shouldn’t be taken lightly in a match against Styles, who is one of the best sellers in wrestling history. Rusev hung in there with Styles as a performer and as an athlete, showing that he more than earns future opportunities at a world title. After the match, Tom Phillips called this match a “once in a lifetime” opportunity for Rusev, but let’s just stay that more should be on their way for The Bulgarian George Clooney.

The WWE Championship was not the main event at Extreme Rules, because Dolph Ziggler’s Intercontinental Championship Ironman Match against Seth Rollins main evented. It was awesome to see the title that The Miz worked so hard to make prestigious, and the match itself was as brilliant as we expected.

But many fans came away from the Pay Per View liking Rusev vs. Styles more, so it seems like these two stole the show from the main event. That speaks volumes to how good Rusev is as a performer, because he brings it in backstage segments, on commentary, in promos, in his facial expressions, and in the ring.

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He has the total package as a WWE Superstar, and his work against Styles, still widely seen as the premier talent in WWE (along with Rollins), reenforced the idea that Rusev is a true star.

It will be interesting to see what Rusev does on SmackDown Live going forward, but for those of you who haven’t watched his Extreme Rules match against Styles, it’s well-worth your time. As for me, I’ll be re-watching it.