With WWE Extreme Rules 2018 officially a thing of the past, the buildup towards SummerSlam will now kick into high gear after a strange night that saw a variety of bad and good.
WWE Extreme Rules 2018 was a show that could probably be considered the strangest or most unorthodox show of the year so far, but despite a few shortcomings, the show did feature some real highlights as well.
The main card kicked off with the Raw Tag Team Championship match with Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt defending their titles against The B-Team. The match itself was OK, but the finish was particularly surprising when Bo Dallas pinned Woken Matt to get the win and the former Miztourage members are now the Raw Tag Team Champions just weeks after creating The B-Team.
Another red brand match took place next when Finn Balor battled Constable Baron Corbin in what would turn out to be a relatively good enough match. There wasn’t a lot special about it, but the finish was solid with Balor rolling up Corbin to get the quick win. There still seems to be life left in this feud, for better or for worse depending on your perspective.
SmackDown’s first match of the night came via the SmackDown Women’s Championship match with Carmella defending against Asuka with James Ellsworth hanging in a shark cage above the ring. And simply put, this was quite possibly the worst match of the year so far in the WWE. It was atrocious and seeing Asuka get out-smarted by Ellsworth in defeat again just makes her look bad.
The United States Championship was on the line next with Jeff Hardy defending against Shinsuke Nakamura in what would turn out to be a squash match. Nakamura low blowed Hardy before the match started and as soon as the bell rang, he hit him with a kinshasa to get the win. Randy Orton then returned and briefly stared off with Nakamura before apparently turning heel on Hardy. This was a strange segment that needs more clarification Tuesday night.
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A steel cage match followed when Braun Strowman battled Kevin Owens in a pretty good match, but the real highlight came at the end. With both men on the top of the cage, Strowman threw KO off the top through the announce table below, technically giving Owens the win.
This should be the final moment in the feud between these two with Strowman moving on to a possible Universal Championship reign in the near future.
The Bludgeon Brothers defended their SmackDown Tag Team Championship next against Team Hell No, but Harper and Rowan’s earlier attack of Daniel Bryan and Kane backstage left Bryan to fend for himself for a while.
But Kane eventually came out to try and help Bryan, only for The Bludgeon Brothers to retain their titles. Given the circumstances, it was a pretty good match.
Roman Reigns vs. Bobby Lashley followed and despite the crowd not being into it early on, the match really picked up and left a lasting impression on the pay-per-view. In a very solid match, Lashley got a marquee win by countering Reigns’ spear attempt with a spear of his own and could be in line for a Universal Championship match.
The Raw Women’s Championship was on the line next when Alexa Bliss defended against Nia Jax in an Extreme Rules match with Ronda Rousey sitting ringside. This match was a little too chaotic, however, with Rousey, Mickie James, and Natalya all getting involved. The action was pretty solid before Bliss retained her title. Expect to see her defend her title against Rousey at SummerSlam with the possibility of Jax getting involved as well.
AJ Styles defended his WWE Championship against Rusev in the next match in what would become the match of the night. It was very good from start to finish and shined a bright light on what Rusev can do in a high-profiled, marquee match. Styles retained his title after getting pushed to his limit, but Rusev came away looking like a million bucks and that was much-needed.
The main event saw Dolph Ziggler defend the Intercontinental Championship against Seth Rollins in a 30-minute Iron Man match. As expected, the two put on a solid match. But it didn’t quite live up to what most thought it could be, probably because of all the outside shenanigans taking place. It went into sudden death overtime, but Drew McIntyre was the determining factor as Ziggler hit Rollins with a zig-zag to retain his title by the skin of his teeth.
Overall, this was just a strange show. It featured a lot of questionable booking decisions and even some downright awful ones. But despite a few poor moments, there were impressive moments and matches as well. Styles vs. Rusev shined, Reigns vs. Lashley was stellar, Ziggler vs. Rollins was solid, and Nakamura finally won a main roster championship.
It was a show that won’t be thought of as a great pay-per-view offering by no means, but it’s just crazy enough to warrant a watch if you haven’t seen it yet. It shouldn’t be long until we find out where the WWE decides to go from here with SummerSlam looming next month.