WWE Extreme Rules (July 2019)

 

Original Airdate: July 14, 2019

From Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Your Hosts are Michael Cole and Renee Young (RAW), Tom Phillips and Byron Saxton (Smackdown), with Corey Graves sitting in with both teams

Opening No Holds Barred Match: Shane McMahon and Drew McIntyre v Roman Reigns and Undertaker: Between the video packages and individual entrances this takes FOREVER to get going, the show hitting the SEVENTEEN MINUTE mark as the bell finally sounds. Drew and Roman start, and Reigns tries for a Samoan drop right away, but gets overhead suplexed across the ring, and it's over to Shane for some jabs in the corner. Reigns fights him off and uses a turnbuckle smash to lead into a ten-punch count, and it's over to Undertaker. The pop for him is getting smaller and smaller each time they go back to that well. He goes for the ropewalk forearm, but McMahon manages to block, and he starts unloading his dancing punches. Undertaker does not appreciate that shit, and turns the tables (minus the dancing), then adds a clothesline. That's enough to allow him the ropewalk forearm for real, but it knocks Shane right into a tag. It's one thing watching Undertaker beat up Shane McMahon, but making us pretend he'd have a shot against a young buck like Drew is almost laughable. Drew manages to clothesline him over the top, but Undertaker sweeps him to the outside, and hits the guillotine legdrop. Back in, that shit gets two, and he passes back to Roman to pound in Drew in the corner. Superman Punch, but Shane takes the bullet for him, and Reigns ends up taking a spill to the outside. That draws Undertaker over to chase Shane around with a chair, but that just gives Drew plenty of room to whip Roman into the steps. Inside, Drew uses a suplex for two, and a neckbreaker allows Shane to come in and cover for two. Shane adds mounted punches for two before passing back to Drew, who uses a release overhead suplex for two. They continue to cut the ring in half on Reigns, but he manages to catch Drew with a suplex coming out of the corner, and Undertaker gets the hot tag! Shane pinballs around for him, and eats the snake-eyes/big boot combo. Clothesline sends McMahon over the top, and Undertaker starts suggestively looking at the announce tables. Hey, at his age, whatever still floats your boat. Undertaker takes Shane over for a powerbomb through an announce table, but Elias shows up to smash a guitar over Undertaker's head before he can do it. That earns Elias a beating from Roman, but Drew saves with a Claymore Kick, and then gives out to a recovering Undertaker as well. The referee is just being totally useless here. It's, like, okay you've already tried frantically waiving your arms a bunch. It doesn't seem to be working. At all. Maybe time to try another strategy? And, yes, I get that it's no holds barred. Does he? I mean, why even bother with the arm waiving then? His uselessness allows the heels to triple team Undertaker, and Shane hits a flying elbowdrop through an announce table during the abuse. They cart Undertaker's limp body in to set up a Coast to Coast next, but Roman shows up before they can score the pin off of it. He takes out Drew and Elias, just as Undertaker does a dramatic sit up, and gives Shane a chokeslam. One for Elias, too. Tombstone time for Shane, but Drew sneaks up with a Claymore... only to get cut off with a spear by Roman! Great timing there, but the camera was out of position. And, with that, it's Tombstone time for Shane at 16:51. I love how Shane gets to act like 1995 Hulk Hogan with half the roster (including main eventers), but he'll go out there and die for a part-timer who doesn't need to look strong anymore. Not a bad match by any means, but it didn't feel particularly exciting or notable, even with all the overbooking. Also, what a weird choice for an opener. **

RAW Tag Team Title Match: The Revival v The Usos: Scott Dawson starts with... one of the Usos... and loses a reversal sequence. Dawson ends up in the corner for the double team, but manages to get a tag off to Dash Wilder. Unfortunately, their efforts at a double team fall flat, and the Usos clean house, and hit the champs with stereo planchas! They try to take Dash back in, but he manages to lure Jey Uso back to the outside, and right into a cheap shot from Dawson. Jey eats barricade out there, but manages to beat the count in. He's met with a blitz from Dawson, however, and the champs go to work cutting the ring in half. Dawson takes Jey up for a superplex, but both guys end up taking a spill to the outside, and Jimmy Uso gets a hot tag as they recover. He dives in at Dash, and it's Samoan drops for both champions. That sets up some hip attack action in the corner, but Dash manages to put a stop to it with a sitout powerbomb for two. Looks like Jimmy missed his cue on the kickout there, forcing the referee to noticeably slow his count down. The Usos go for the kill with a sloppy tandem move on Dawson, but it only gets two, and Scott feeds one of them a brainbuster for two. Superplex/flying splash combo with Dash looks to finish, but the other Uso dives off the top to break up the count at two. That leads to all four guys engaging in a slugfest, and the Usos clean house again. They try the stereo dives, but this time get tripped up, and the champs hit the Shatter Machine at 12:33. Boring match most of the way, but it picked up for the finish. * ¼

Cesaro v Aleister Black: Black tries to come at him bro with kicks, but Cesaro fights him off with uppercuts, and then mocks Black's taunt. That earns him a series of strikes that puts Cesaro on the outside, and Black dives after him with a moonsault press off the middle rope. Back in, Black lands a 2^nd rope kneesmash for two, and uses a series of strikes into a legsweep. Black Mass, but Cesaro counters with rights, so Black tries a springboard, but gets pushed over the top for his trouble. Back in, Cesaro uses a springboard of his own in the form of an uppercut for two, and he grounds Black in a clutch. Black fights free, so Cesaro throws a clothesline for two, then dead lifts him with a gutwrench suplex for two. Cesaro with an elbowdrop and a double stomp for two, and he grounds Black in an armbar. Black escapes and manages a springboard moonsault press to trigger a comeback, but another try at a 2^nd rope kneesmash goes badly when Cesaro catches him in a pop-up uppercut for two. Diving uppercut is worth two, so Cesaro tries a series of standard ones, but Black counters with a backslide for two. Cesaro responds by trying another springboard, but Black throws a knee to block, and Cesaro goes down like a ton of bricks for two. Cesaro tries dumping him to the outside to buy time, but another attempt at a pop-up uppercut goes badly, and Black cradles for two. Grapevine, but Cesaro counters to a sharpshooter. Black inches toward the ropes, so Cesaro shifts to a crippler crossface instead, but Black counters to a cradle for two. Cesaro pops right back in, but Black is ready with a kick, and both guys are left looking up at the lights. They slug it out, with Cesaro getting the better of it to set up a piledriver, but Black fights him off, and lands a quick Black Mass at 9:43. Fun match, which felt more like an undercard match on a TakeOver special than a WWE one. ***

WWE Smackdown Women's Title Handicap Match: Bayley v Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross: Nikki starts, and immediately goes full gremlin on the champ. That goes nowhere though, so it's over to Alexa. Bayley with a quick takedown, and she works the arm, but Alexa throws a cheap shot to the kidney, and ropes her into the heel corner. Unfortunately for them, Bayley is too quick, and slips out of the double team. She drops Nikki into the turnbuckle and hits a seated clothesline for two, but an attempt at a slingshot ends badly when Alexa shoves her off the apron, and into the steps. Inside, that gets Alexa two, and she works with Nikki to destroy poor Bayley with quick tags, in and out. They can't put her away though, and Bayley catches a second wind, knocking both women around with ease. She bodyslams Alexa onto Nikki, and then goes for the kill with an inverted figure four on Cross. Bliss runs in to save, but ends up trapped in a crippler crossface while Bayley still holds Nikki in the inverted figure four, and things are not looking good. Alexa manages to escape and held Nikki do the same, and Cross capitalizes with a tornado DDT for two. Over to Alexa for Twisted Bliss, but she lands on the knees. She has the presence of mind to immediately tag out, but Nikki's own dive ends badly as well, and Bayley hustles to the top with a flying elbowdrop at 10:21. This was mostly fine, if about three minutes longer than it needed to be. * ¼

Last Man Standing Match: Braun Strowman v Bobby Lashley: Bobby tries to charge him during the entrances, but that goes very badly for him, and he gets flung around into the barricades. Inside to officially start the match, and Braun keeps control of things with a pair of corner clotheslines. Bobby bails to the outside as the referee counts him, but Strowman chases, and barrels into him with a running shoulderblock on the floor. Bobby beats the count, so Braun tries another one, but this time Lashley spears him to block. Braun beats the count, so Lashley starts taking shots at the kidney, and smashes Braun's face into the steps. Bobby grabs the steps to blast Strowman with again, and after watching so much 1986 JCP lately, it's hard for me to believe Braun isn't a bloody mess when he comes back up. They spill into the crowd, where Bobby beats on him with a chair, and they fight up the stairs, through the stands. They make it out to the concourse, where Braun collapses, but ultimately beats the count. I always find it hilarious when they do this gimmick, and there are tons of fans (like, hundreds and hundreds) all hanging out on the concourse, mid-show. I get that people get up to get a snack or use the bathroom, but how much more obviously staged can you be? Especially when security has already cordoned off the area well before the guys ever arrive. They also wreck a merchandise stand as they brawl, which probably explains why the stock price went down the next day. Come on you jerks, think of the investors! They brawl back down to the floor level, where Braun blasts him with another shoulderblock, but Lashley beats the count. Strowman decides to give him a running powerslam on the concrete, but Bobby manages to counter by spearing him through the barricade instead, and Braun nearly gets counted down. This thing already feels like it's been going on forever, and it's only been ten minutes. Lashley rams him into the apron a few times, and uses his own version of the running shoulderblock to knock Strowman into an announce table. Renee Young's facial expressions when it comes to Braun Strowman continue to be the absolute best. Bobby buries him underneath the table to try for the win, but Braun beats the count, and wanders into the crowd again. Lashley chases, but ends up getting hurled into the row of international announce team tables, nearly getting counted down. Bobby comes back with a recycling bin to take Strowman down, which honestly makes him look weaker than any poor booking ever could. It's one thing to go down for a trash can. It's quite another to get taken out by a blue bin. Could you picture Andre or Big John Studd selling that shit? They brawl up the stands again (giving everyone there a chance to ignore the actual performances so they can take selfies), and Braun ends up front-powerslamming Lashley off of the platform, and through a stage area. There's an obvious crash pad there, but it worked as a spot. And then Strowman pulls himself out of the wreckage first for the win at 17:28. Not really my cup of tea, but it is what it is. *

WWE Smackdown Tag Team Title Triple Threat Match: Daniel Bryan and Rowan v The New Day v Heavy Machinery: First fall wins. Bryan starts with Xavier Woods, as Otis nearly cracks everyone up with his little dance on the apron. He nearly got the referee to crack there, so close. Big criss cross goes Woods' way, so Bryan tags out to Tucker. Tucker takes Woods down and grabs a headlock, but Xavier powers to a vertical base, and trigger another criss cross. That one does not go as well for him, though. Another criss cross goes Woods' way with a headscissors takedown, and Rowan tags himself in via Tucker. He hits Woods with a splash for two, and dumps him into the home corner for a double team with Daniel. Bryan works a surfboard, and it's back to Rowan for a pumphandle-backbreaker. The champs get distracted with Big E, allowing Woods to hit Rowan with a 2^nd rope dropkick, and he manages a tag to Otis. This dude looks like he'd have made a killing doing jobs in mid-90s WCW. Bryan pinballs off of Otis for a while, and an avalanche sets up the goofy caterpillar elbowdrop. Tag to Tucker for a catapult/belly-to-belly suplex combo for two, but Bryan blocks the follow-up, and tags Big E. Big E hits Tucker with his own belly-to-belly, but a splash hits the knees, and Otis tags in for a vertical suplex/flying bodypress combo. Rowan breaks up the cover at two, and cleans house on Heavy Machinery, but gets jumped by Woods. That leads to Rowan wrecking poor Xavier on the outside, but Big E shows up to make the save, and gives Bryan a spear off of the apron for good measure. That leaves everyone down on the outside, and Otis decides to try a suicide dive for a dog pile sequence... but thinks better of it, and just does a regular dive off of the apron instead. Well, know your limits, I guess. And then Tucker does a big dive off the top rope to take everyone out again, just in case. Machinery take Big E to finish, but the Compactor only gets two when Woods makes the save. Machinery wreck him with a pop-up powerslam, but Rowan shows up before they can finish Woods off, so Machinery start avalanching him over and over again until his ass gets the point. They then take Rowan upstairs for a tandem superplex, but Big E shows up while they're going for it, and we get the cliché tower of doom spot. Big E tries to superplex Rowan himself, but Bryan dives off the top with a flying headbutt the moment Big E executes the move, and Daniel traps him in a crippler crossface. Hey, wasn't there another guy who used to use that sequence of moves who also didn't know when to quit while he was ahead? Yeah, wonder what ever happened to him. Big E makes the ropes, so Bryan starts drilling him with Yes Kicks, but Big E starts no-selling! He fires up on Bryan with a short-clothesline, so Daniel tries a flying moonsault press, but lands in the Midnight Hour at 13:57! Big pop for that, and a fun match too. ** ¾

WWE United States Title Match: Ricochet v AJ Styles: Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson attack Ricochet before the bell, rattling him as things get officially underway. Styles capitalizes by stomping a mud hole in the corner, but Ricochet starts flipping around, and confuses AJ into eating a dropkick. Ricochet with a pair of armdrags and a corner clothesline, followed by another dropkick, this one sending AJ to the outside. Ricochet dives after him with a shooting star press off of the apron, but a distraction by Gallows allows AJ to sneak attack, and Ricochet eats post. Inside, Ricochet does a great oversell on a cross corner whip where he ends up folded up like an old accordion, and AJ adds a backbreaker for two. Snapmare sets up a chinlock, but Ricochet fights free, so AJ throws a backelbow, and it's back to the hold. Ricochet uses a chincrusher to escape this time, and manages to throw an enzuigiri before AJ can strike him down again. Ricochet makes a comeback, but stops off to do a dive at Gallows and Anderson, and by the time he gets back to AJ, his springboard moonsault only gets two. AJ tries his own springboard, but Ricochet counters into a suplex, then floats over into a brainbuster for two. Didn't look as cool as it sounded. Another springboard, but AJ catches him in the fireman's neckbreaker this time. Style Clash, but Ricochet railroads him into the corner to block, so AJ instead suplexes him into the buckles for two. He tries a rackbomb, but Ricochet counters with a rollup for two. Reversal sequence ends in AJ hitting an inverted DDT for two, but Ricochet blocks a powerbomb, and drops the challenger into the corner. He's too slow to follow-up, however, allowing AJ to try the Phenomenal Forearm - only for Ricochet to dodge. AJ recovers with a wheelbarrow facebuster for two instead, but another powerbomb attempt is countered with a rana into a cradle for two. They stagger up for a slugfest, won by Ricochet with an enzuigiri, but then AJ fires back with a pele kick. He adds a brainbuster for two, and takes Ricochet upstairs for a superplex, but gets dropped across the top rope before he can execute it. Ricochet dives after him with a shooting star press, but Styles is in the ropes at two - Anderson making sure the referee doesn't miss it. I like how babyface Ricochet is angry about it, despite the fact that absolutely no cheating went on. Ricochet goes up to try and polish him off, but this time some bonafide cheating occurs when Gallows crotches him on the top turnbuckle. Well, now he can feel free to get angry, at least. AJ follows him up, and hits a Style Clash off the middle to crown a new champion at 16:30. What the French call 'très décevant.' ** ½

Kevin Owens v Dolph Ziggler: Not really much of a match, as Ziggler gets in his face, and eats a quick stunner at 0:18. And I guess that's the end of the Dolph Ziggler main event level push for a while, then. DUD

WWE Title Match: Kofi Kingston v Samoa Joe: Kofi blitzes him with a running dropkick, but the follow-up goes badly when Joe regroups with a clothesline. Joe pounds him into the corner with jabs, so Kofi tries to slug back, but Joe absorbs the blows, and takes him down with a swift legsweep. Joe ropechokes the champion, so Kingston tries to turn it into a slugfest again, but again that goes badly for him. Joe cranks on a headvice, and then whips Kofi into the corner for an avalanche, immediately followed by an enzuigiri for two. Into the corner, but Kingston turns the tables, and charges Joe with a running dropkick. That sends the challenger to the outside, but Kingston's attempt at a dive ends badly when Joe throws a right hand for two. Joe then starts going after the fingers, and after some standard twisting and cranking, he takes Kofi to the outside so he can wedge the fingers between the ring steps, and jump on that shit. Okay, ouch. Inside, Joe puts the boots to him, but Kofi uses speed to get away, and throws chops. Dropkick and a jumping clothesline put Joe down, so he tries dumping Kingston to the outside, but Kofi rebounds with a flying bodypress for two. Headbutt looks to rattle the challenger, but Joe is still ready with a powerslam as Kingston looks for the follow-up, and a powerbomb gets two. STF looks to finish, but Kofi reaches for the ropes, so Joe shifts to a crippler crossface instead. Kingston still makes the ropes, and manages the SOS for two. Trouble in Paradise, but Joe catches him in the Coquina Clutch! Kofi tries running the ropes to escape, but Joe expects it, and lets him free fall, then drops a senton splash on him for two. Clutch, but Kofi uses a kick to block, so Joe tries a charge, but runs into Trouble at 9:47. Nothing special, but solid, and didn't overstay its welcome. **

Main Event: WWE Universal and WWE RAW Women's Title Extreme Rules Mixed Tag Team Match: Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch v Baron Corbin and Lacey Evans: Lacey has 'Seth' printed across her ass cheeks here, like a really weak Rick Rude cosplay. Still better than that time Dusty had 'TULLY' shaved onto the side of his head, though. Becky kicks her ass over it to start, and then it's over to the men, with Seth sending Baron to the outside with a 2^nd rope somersault neckbreaker. Corbin returns with a kendo stick, but Seth knocks it away from him, and uses an enzuigiri to set up a sling blade. That brings Lacey in with a stick, but Lynch attacks her with another one, and just starts teeing off like a wild woman. Rollins does the same to Corbin, and the champs hit then with stereo dives after the challengers both bail. Inside, Seth tries a suplex, but Baron reverses. Rollins manages to block, and Baron ends up on the outside again, but this time grabs a chair to block Seth's attempt at a dive. That gets Baron two, so he starts unloading on Seth with the chair, and that gets him another two count. Lacey throws in a few extra chairs for good measure, so Baron sets a pair of them up to slam Rollins through, but Seth blocks with a cradle for two. Corbin responds with a DDT onto a chair for two, but an attempt to whip Seth into a corner mounted one backfires, and Becky gets the tag. She goes after Lacey with a chair of her own, and once again poor Evans is just getting the tar beat out of her. Becky with a bulldog onto a chair, and an exploder suplex onto a pair of chairs. Lynch then covers Lacey's body over with a chair ahead of a 2^nd rope elbowdrop, and it's back up for another dive, but Corbin shows up. He eats it instead, but the distraction allows Lacey to recover, and she hits Becky with a slingshot elbowdrop. Evans then adds a springboard flying moonsault for two, and in addition to getting all marked up all over her back from the stick and chair, poor Lacey is bleeding from the mouth as well. Reversal sequence ends in Becky hitting an inverted DDT, allowing the tag to Rollins, but he can't capitalize since there's no mixing between the sexes. That's what drives me nuts about mixed tags in general, because the formula goes out the window, and you can't really build any proper heat. Seth and Becky decide to stack up some tables on the outside with their time instead, and as someone who has seen countless couples crumple after going furniture shopping together, that seems like the most dangerous part of the match thus far. They try to set their challengers up on the tables, but it goes badly, and Baron and Lacey take Seth in to unload on with kendo sticks as payback for earlier. This match is getting really kinky. They hit Seth and Becky with stereo chokeslams for two, and then take them to the outside to try for the tables. They try tandem suplexing Seth through one, but Lynch rushes over, reversing them onto the ramp instead. That allows them to place the heels on two parallel tables, and a pair of dives puts them through. Cool spot. Rollins rolls Corbin inside to finish, but the curb stomp gets caught in a powerbomb, and Baron adds a quick Deep Six. Cover, count, but Lynch makes the save at two! That earns Becky an End of Days from Corbin, and Seth is not happy. He nearly kills Corbin with both a kendo stick and a chair, before finishing him off with a trio of curb stomps at 19:57. This was actually quite fun, with lots of action, and no one shying away from taking abuse to get it over. Except Becky, kinda. ** ¾

WWE Universal Title Match: Seth Rollins v Brock Lesnar: And then Brock shows up, and it's cash in time! He hits Seth with a few release German suplexes before the official bell sounds, and then an F5 the moment it does to steal the title at 0:17. And here you thought Owens/Ziggler was going to be the shortest match of the night. Fool. DUD

BUExperience: I wouldn’t call this a great show by any means (or even a particularly good one), but it was a surprisingly watchable one! Probably the WWE’s best since back at Survivor Series last year, in fact.

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