WWE Extreme Rules (May 2016)

Original Airdate: May 22, 2016

From Newark, New Jersey; Your Hosts are Michael Cole, Byron Saxton, and John Bradshaw Layfield

Opening Tornado Tag Team Match: The Usos v The Club: They don't even wait to get into the ring, brawling on the outside right away. The Usos control in the early going, but Jey Uso runs into a modified version of the Boot of Doom off the apron to give Karl Anderson two. They take Jey in to abuse, but Jimmy Uso manages to save with a 2^nd rope dropkick on Luke Gallows for two. They can't sustain it long enough to turn the tide, however, and the Jey eats a big boot for two. Boot of Doom, but Jimmy saves, and the Usos try stereo flying splashes, but go splat. They're all working hard, but the crowd is just not giving them anything here. Everyone starts throwing spinebusters, and Gallows tries to finish Jimmy off with the ring bell, but eats a superkick to stop that effort. Jimmy tries to capitalizes with a flying splash, but misses again, and the Club finish him off with the Magic Killer at 8:35. Didn't really do it for me, but it was watchable. * ½

WWE United States Title Match: Kalisto v Rusev: Kalisto swipes at him with some fast kicks at the bell, but an attempt at a springboard gets him swatted out of the air by the challenger. Rusev whips him into the corner to take the pep out of his step, then blasts him with a roundhouse kick for two. Clothesline gets two, and Rusev grabs a bearhug. Kalisto won't submit, so Rusev puts him in a torture rack instead, but that goes nowhere either. Kalisto eventually counters into a sleeper, but Rusev falls back to break, so Kalisto finds a 2^nd rope flying tornado DDT. Bodypress, but Rusev catches him in a fallaway slam - only for Kalisto to land on his feet, and come at his challenger with a springboard corkscrew for two. Rana gets two, so Rusev charges, but ends up flying over the top - Kalisto after him with a headscissors into the steps. Kalisto with a springboard frogsplash on the way back in for two, but Rusev blocks the Salida del Sol, and bails. Kalisto goes after him with a flying moonsault on the outside, but he ends up getting slammed off the top rope on the way back in, and (in a classy touch after what happened to Enzo Amore at Payback) they have the EMTs run out like he's legit hurt. They play that game for a while, until Rusev runs up and slaps on the Accolade to win the title at 9:34. A lot of awkward spots in this one, and the match was really poorly structured to boot. *

WWE Tag Team Title Match: The New Day v The Vaudevillains: Xavier Woods starts with Aiden English, and takes his head off with a lariat right away, then wins a criss cross with a headscissors takedown. Charge into the corner doesn't work out as well, however, and Woods ends up eating the post. Back in, Simon Gotch drops a series of knees for two, and they get right into the heat segment in record time as they start cutting the ring in half on Woods. I mean, wow! Like, that was less than a minute into the match! Big E eventually gets the tag, and he's a discothèque of fire! Suplexes all around, but English blocks the spear, and DDTs him for two. The challengers dump Big E to the floor for a trip into the steps to try and finish Woods off with Whiling Dervish, but he kicks out at two. Yeah, the writings on the wall for the Vaudevillains... looks like it's back to NXT for them. When they're killing your finisher in your second pay per view appearance, there's not a whole lot of hope, you know? New Day retain at 6:10. Hardest work of the match has to go to the announcers, who were working overtime trying to convince anyone listening that the Vaudevillains actually had a shot here. *

WWE Intercontinental Title Fatal Four-Way Match: The Miz v Cesaro v Kevin Owens v Sami Zayn: Business is about to pick up! Great start, as Zayn blitzes Owens with a well executed Helluva Kick to send him to the outside (the timing on that one was incredible), and then just stands there, soaking up some love from the fans and the other two. Cesaro breaks it up with a cross corner clothesline to get rid of Miz, and he wins a reversal sequence to send Sami to the apron, but runs into a headscissors and a leg lariat for two as Zayn comes back in. Criss cross goes Cesaro's way with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two, but he gets dumped to the outside, and Zayn dives out onto him (and Miz too, for good measure) with a somersault plancha. He rolls Miz back in to get two out of it, but Owens rushes back in and beats everyone down in a fit of rage before Sami can make anything more out of it. Zayn takes the brunt of the frustrations with a senton splash for two, but he manages to block the spin-out fireman's carry facebuster - only to have a springboard DDT end in him getting crotched on the top rope! Owens goes up to put an exclamation point on it, but Miz interrupts, and the sequence ends in Miz and Zayn tandem superplexing Owens - as Cesaro rushes in and powerbombs them all down at the same time! I don't like those tower of doom sequences, since what is Cesaro's powerbomb even achieving anyway? Like, in the kayfabe sense? The guys delivering the superplex are already committed to taking a bump onto their backs from that height regardless, what does Cesaro sticking his head between their legs first add? He gets two on Zayn out of it, either way. Cesaro with a hanging vertical suplex on Sami, but Zayn counters with a sit-out powerbomb - only for Miz to run in with a shining wizard for two. Miz tries a capture suplex on Zayn, but Cesaro grabs Miz from behind and German suplexes him AS Miz suplexes Zayn! See, now that actually works in a kayfabe sense, and looks awesome, to boot. Cesaro starts passing out multiple uppercuts to everyone, but Owens stops him from giving Miz the giant swing by German suplexing him. Now it's Owens' turn to pass out multiple signature moves - in this case, hitting everyone with the somersault bodyblocks in the corners. Pop-Up Powerbomb for Sami, but he counters into a tiger suplex, and everyone exchanges finishers - ending in Miz dropping Cesaro with the Skull Crushing Finale for two. Cesaro bounces back with a springboard corkscrew forearm on Miz, and he finally gets him in the giant swing - and it's a doozy! Like, wow! Cesaro shifts that into a well executed sharpshooter, and Miz is openly tapping, but the referee is caught up with Maryse, and misses it. Cesaro stupidly releases prematurely (did you hear a bell?!?) and gets schoolboyed for two. Skull Crushing Finale, but Cesaro counters to another giant swing, so Miz desperately holds onto the ropes - only for Owens to come flying off the top with a splash onto him! Great sequence! Cesaro ends that alliance with a Neutralizer on Owens for two, but runs into a crazy sunsetbomb from Zayn for two! The timing there was just impeccable. He drops Cesaro with an exploder suplex into the corner to setup the Helluva Kick, but Owens superkicks him, then drops Cesaro with the Pop-Up Powerbomb for two. Miz breaks that up and puts Owens down with a Finale on the floor, and the crowd breaks out into a 'YES!' chant for this shit! That leaves everyone down for a while, until Sami blasts Cesaro with another Helluva Kick, but Owens breaks up the count at two. Sami sees red and assaults him on the outside, but that allows Miz to cover the unconscious Cesaro to retain at 18:14! Helluva match! It was a little too Cirque du Soleil for my tastes, but it worked. *** ¾

Asylum Match: Chris Jericho v Dean Ambrose: The idea is that they're inside a cage, but with weapons attached to the top that can be used once retrieved. Jericho gets blitzed and raked across the cage to start, and he retrieves the first weapon in the form of a mop to beat Chris with. Jericho's jeans tucked into his kneepads/boots outfit is not a good look, to say the least. It makes him look like he's wearing jean shorts coupled with leg warmers. Chris manages to fight Dean off with a 2^nd rope dropkick, but gets side superplexed as he goes for another weapon. Both guys end up getting weapons anyway (Jericho with a barbwire 2x4 to Ambrose's nunchaku), and Chris feels he got the better pick there, but quickly runs into Ambrose's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle impression. Chris turns the tide via a kendo stick, then goes to work with the nunchaku for a bit. Vertical suplex (the second wrestling move thus far, for those keeping track) gets two, so Chris retrieves a strap, and goes to work with that. This match is really poorly laid out, as it's basically punch, kick, retrieve weapon, use weapon, repeat. And that's fine if it's used to enhance other aspects of the match, but thus far that's ALL this has been. Ambrose uses the strap and wins a slugfest on the top rope before retrieving a fire extinguisher, but Jericho throws a straightjacket at him before he can use it, and then pops him with an enzuigiri for two. Springboard dropkick softens Dean up for Chris to tie into the straightjacket, but Ambrose quickly escapes, and hits the rebound clothesline for two. Chris with a butterfly backbreaker for two, so Dean fights him off with a bulldog, and the crowd is getting restless with this. Dean gives them something to sink their teeth into with a flying elbowsmash off the top of the cage for two, then retrieves a plastic bucket filled with thumbtacks. He dumps the tacks out on the mat and tries an electric chair onto them, but Chris counters with a victory roll for two. Walls applied, but Dean uses the kendo stick to escape, so Chris blasts him with the contests of the fire extinguisher to setup the Codebreaker for two. He grabs the barbwire 2x4 for a few tame shots (I don't want to see guys tear themselves apart for my entertainment, but if you're not going to use a weapon properly, then just don't use it at all! Love tapping each other with these supposedly uber dangerous weapons is just counterproductive). As if they can hear me, Jericho then goes for another Codebreaker, but Ambrose counters with a spinebuster into the pile of thumbtacks - Chris taking a nasty bump out of the deal. Dean follows up with a double-arm DDT, and we're done at 26:22. That was really, really long for what it was. This could have easily trimmed ten minutes off without losing anything in translation. Not poorly worked, just really dull, and overlong. * ¼

WWE Women's Title Submission Match: Charlotte v Natalya: Ric Flair is barred from ringside, and if he shows up, Charlotte loses the match and title. Natalya dominates her on the mat in the early going (which makes sense, given her outfit), but gets reversed into an STF by the champ. Natalya escapes with a snapmare, and a seated dropkick softens Charlotte up for a surfboard. She won't quit, so Natalya whips her into the corner, then knocks her to the outside with a discus clothesline. Charlotte fights back with some chops out there, then plants a big boot on Natalya on the way back in. The crowd is napping here, and thus far I can't blame them. Figure Eight, so Natalya counters to a cross armbreaker, but Charlotte sit-out powerbombs her way free. Charlotte goes to work on the knee, and even the flying moonsault barely elicits a cheer from the dead crowd. Half-crab applied, but Natalya powers out, and drops the champ with a release German suplex. Sharpshooter applied, but Dana Brooke comes out to Ric Flair's music to distract the challenger, and Charlotte finishes her off with the Figure Eight at 9:27. Man, they somehow managed to 'top' the finish from last month there. The match at Payback was solid if disappointing, but this one was downright junk. ¾*

Main Event: WWE World Heavyweight Title Extreme Rules Match: Roman Reigns v AJ Styles: Reigns is looking more and more like Diesel everyday here. Styles gets no traction in coming at Reigns to start, so he goes to the floor for a chair, but ends up losing it. Roman misses several swings with the chair, however, and Styles throws him over the guardrail. They brawl through the crowd to the Kickoff show set, and AJ gets slammed hard onto the glass table. Ouch! He kicks Reigns away before the champion can follow-up, however, and he dives off the table at him with the Phenomenal Forearm. As they brawl back to ringside, they pass Mick Foley's daughter (along with her weird, literal clown boyfriend), and AJ pulls up the mats for a Clash on the concrete, but Roman blocks. He tries to powerbomb Styles through an announce table, but that ends in a block as well, and AJ tries piledriving him through it - only to end up shoved back over the rail into the crowd. He pops back up and uses the rail as a springboard, but Roman catches him in a backdrop through another announce table! Wild! Inside, that gets two. Reigns with a well executed sit-out crucifix powerbomb for two, but AJ blocks the Superman Punch by clipping the knee, and he drops Reigns with a nasty vertical suplex into the turnbuckles. Roman rolls to the floor for a breather, so AJ dives off the apron with a rana - only to get caught, and swung into the electronic ring apron, then the rail, AND THEN powerbombed through another announce table! That was all in succession, with no release in between -  crazy display of power from Reigns there! He may not be connecting with the crowd the way a main eventer should, but he's definitely maturing as a top level worker in this series. Spear, but Styles sidesteps, and Reigns ends up Spearing the rail! AJ rolls him in for the Phenomenal Forearm, but Reigns knocks him off the top rope and back to the floor with the Superman to block, then follows with the Spear out there! In, but here come the Club to knock Reigns out with the Boot of Doom! One, two, HE GOT 'IM... no... no, he didn't. The Club decide to finish this shit with a chair, but here come the Usos to save! Reigns takes out the Club with Superman's, but AJ blocks the Spear, and the Clash gets two! Clash onto a chair, but Reigns counters with a backdrop. Superman, but Styles counters with an enzuigiri, and he gets the Clash onto a chair - but only for two! Man, they're leaving it all out there tonight! Styles takes a page out of Steve Austin's book and starts going ballistic with the chair to try and finish this guy, but Roman counters the Phenomenal with a Spear to retain at 22:13! And then afterwards, Seth Rollins makes his big return to beat up an exhausted Reigns. Glad to have Seth back. He may not have drawn flies as champion last year, but I love his work. I wasn't a fan of this style of match even when it was en vogue during the Attitude Era, but it fit perfectly into the angle, and once they got back from touring the crowd in the early going, this was fantastic! *** ½

BUExperience: The main event and the Intercontinental Title matches are both strong enough showings to save this from the ‘DUD pile,’ but the overall show is still a pass, with lots of below average work, and one real stinker in the Asylum match

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