WWE Extreme Rules 2019 final rating: New Day rocks and the beast rolls
WWE Extreme Rules 2019 has come and gone, as have several different major title reigns in the WWE after a wild and crazy night that saw a little bit of everything.
In what has to be considered one of the best pay-per-views of the year so far, WWE Extreme Rules 2019 had many noteworthy moments along the way, including an ever-controversial finish at the hands of Mr. Beast in the Bank.
The main card kicked off with a marquee tag team match pitting the unlikely team of The Undertaker and Roman Reigns against Shane McMahon and Drew McIntyre.
This match turned out much better than the common fan would have expected and by most accounts, Taker looked better than he has in a long time. This proved to be the catalyst for Taker and Reigns in what would become a big win capped off with a Tombstone Piledriver to the “best in the world.”
The Raw Tag Team Championship was at stake next when The Revival defended their titles against The Usos in what would turn out to be a very solid tag team match.
The crowd wasn’t necessarily into this match, but this was about as well-executed as it could have been under the circumstances before Dawson and Wilder picked up a big win over Jimmy and Jey in what could be argued as the best The Revival has looked in months.
Aleister Black finally found competition in the form of Cesaro last week on SmackDown, and these two went toe to toe next in a technical masterpiece of a match.
These two crammed way more into the time they were given than what should have been, and that was a great thing. Black ended up getting the win after an impressive match that fans would love to see again very soon.
Bayley had not one, but two superstars to deal with up next when she defended the SmackDown Women’s Championship against Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross in a handicap match.
This wasn’t anywhere close to the best match of the night, but this was still a pretty good match all things considered. Bayley did a great job of overcoming the odds on her way to eventually retaining her title, leaving Bliss and Cross stunned in the process.
The Last Man Standing match between Braun Strowman and Bobby Lashley followed, and these two behemoths battled all across the arena.
This was one of the more physical battles the WWE has had in a while, and it was capped off with a memorable finish in which Strowman slammed Lashley off of a small balcony in the stands through a wooden box. Lashley couldn’t get back up, but The Monster Among Men did, and he got a huge win to likely cap off this feud.
The SmackDown Tag Team Championship was on the line next when Daniel Bryan and Rowan defended their titles against Heavy Machinery and The New Day.
This would end up being arguably the match of the night with so much great action along the way. But in the end, Big E and Xavier Woods made the final blow to pin Bryan and crown The New Day as six-time tag team champions.
Ricochet defended the United States Championship against AJ Styles up next and as expected, these two in-ring marvels put on a show.
This was a great match that had impressive moments from start to finish by both men, but Styles’ insurance policy of Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson proved to be the difference maker and after Gallows’ interference, Styles hit Ricochet with a Styles Clash from the top rope to become a three-time U.S. Champion.
Kevin Owens vs. Dolph Ziggler followed, and it probably took you longer to read this sentence than the match took. Owens hit Ziggler with a stunner and got the win that quickly. After the match, he cut a promo ripping Shane O’Mac as he did on SmackDown this past week.
This match was totally unnecessary, but it did make KO look good and that bodes well for the next few weeks heading into SummerSlam.
Kofi Kingston’s toughest WWE Championship defense was up next when he defended his title against Samoa Joe.
This match had a good amount of anticipation heading in, and while it certainly wasn’t bad, it did feel a bit flat in the end. Joe had Kofi on the ropes for a while, but after a Trouble in Paradise, Kofi got the abrupt win to retain his title and complete arguably The New Day’s best night in the trio’s existence.
The main event of the night followed when Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch defended the Universal and Raw Women’s Championships respectively against Baron Corbin and Lacey Evans in an Extreme Rules Mixed Tag Team match.
This wound up being a good match, but not necessarily main event worthy despite a few big moments, including Corbin hitting Lynch with an End of Days in the latter stages of the match.
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This enraged Rollins, who took out his frustrations on Corbin with a kendo stick and three stomps to get the win for his team.
However, Rollins’ night was far from over when Brock Lesnar came out and cashed in his Money in the Bank contract. The Beast Incarnate didn’t let it go to waste, and after an F5, Lesnar became the Universal Champion for the third time in his career to cap off the show.
Overall, this was a very good show, there’s no other way around it. There were four or five high-quality matches that could be argued as some of the best the WWE has produced in 2019.
The final two matches were a bit underwhelming in some regards, but the only match that really didn’t offer anything was Owens vs. Ziggler. Lesnar becoming the Universal Champion was disappointing, even if it was expected.
It could certainly be leading to Lesnar vs. Rollins at SummerSlam in a WrestleMania 35 rematch.
There are plenty of other big feuds and storylines that could shake up the biggest party of the summer, and several new champions will begin their reigns under the creative direction of Paul Heyman and Eric Bischoff as well.
This show proved to be one of the best shows the WWE has produced this year and is likely the best pay-per-view in several months.
Next. WWE Extreme Rules 2019 Results. dark