WWE Extreme Rules (June 2009)

 

Original Airdate: June 7, 2009

From New Orleans, Louisiana; Your Hosts are Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler (RAW); Jim Ross and Todd Grisham (Smackdown); Josh Matthews and Matt Striker (ECW)

Opening WWE United States Title Fatal Four-Way Match: Kofi Kingston v Montel Vontavious Porter v Matt Hardy v William Regal: First falls wins. Regal throws Hardy to the wolves, but it backfires on him when Kingston and Porter come after him once finishing with Matt. Kofi with a flying bodypress on Regal for two, but William takes him upstairs for a butterfly superplex, so MVP heads over to slam both off the top. That allows Matt to sneak in and cover each of them for two counts, and he hits Regal with a Side Effect for two. Matt with a bodyslam on MVP to set up a 2^nd rope legdrop for two, but Kofi cuts him off from delivering the Twist of Fate, and it's Kingston's turn to dominate the field a bit. MVP suplexes him for two, so Matt comes over for a slugfest, won by Porter with a kneeling facebuster. Elbowdrop gets two when Regal breaks it up, and he suplexes MVP, then gives Hardy one as well. He tries dumping Kingston to the outside, but Kofi rebounds with Trouble in Paradise to retain at 6:43. I'm not a fan of Fatal Four-Way matches in general, and this certainly didn't do anything to change that. ¼*

WWE Intercontinental Title No Holds Barred Match: Rey Mysterio v Chris Jericho: Rey tackles him down and knocks him to the outside right away, where Jericho is fed a helping of the announce table. Rey adds a seated dropkick on the floor, but Chris fights him off, and sends him into the barricade. To the steps next, but Rey flips over them to avoid the impact, and dropkicks them back at his challenger. Rey dives off the apron with a headscissors, and a slingshot legdrop gets him two on the way back inside. Chris fights back by dropping the champion front-first across the top rope, and he adds a catapult under the bottom rope for two. Jericho with a bootchoke in the corner, so Rey tries buying time for a dive, but Chris shoves him off the top - Mysterio crashing onto the apron. Jericho is on him with a springboard dropkick, but Rey throws a dropkick of his own to block, and swings around the post with a tiger feint kick to put Jericho on the floor. Rey dives with a flying bodypress out there, and he uses a springboard flying legdrop for two on the way back inside. Headscissors looks to set up the 619, but Chris shoulderblocks him to cut it off, so Rey throws kicks instead. Victory cradle gets two, but Jericho reverses for two, and a reversal sequence ends in Rey countering the Walls with a cradle for two. Roundhouse kick gets two, but Jericho blocks a charge with a clothesline for two. He dumps Mysterio to the outside for a release gourdbuster on the floor, and back in, that gets the challenger two. Chris works a half-nelson, and he goes for the mask, nearly getting it off before Rey fights him off. Jericho tries a big charge, but Mysterio dodges, and the challenger takes a bump to the outside. Rey is on him with a tope, and a springboard seated senton follows on the way back in. Rana gets two, but Jericho counters another 619 attempt with a rack drop for two. Rey tries coming back with a rana, but Jericho counters with a powerbomb. Lionsault, but Rey dodges, and hits an inverted 619. That sets up a springboard off the top, but Jericho catches him in the Codebreaker for two. Frustrated, Jericho brings a chair into the mix, but Rey dropkicks it back in his face for two. Rey adds an Arabian facebuster for two, and a drop-toehold into the seat of the chair follows, but a springboard off of it ends badly when Jericho catches him in the walls. Rey uses the chair to fight free, knocking Chris into position for the 619, but Jericho grabs at the mask he loosened earlier - unmasking Mysterio, and capitalizing with a schoolboy at 14:42. That was a great finish, and this was another good pay per view match between these two. *** ½

Samoan Strap Match: Umaga v CM Punk: Ross going over the rules of what qualifies as a 'legal touching' makes me think he missed his calling as an HR rep. A lot of nothing for the first minute or so, as they just kind of go for the corners without any rhythm. Finally, Umaga hits a Samoan drop to allow him to unload with the strap a bit, and a headbutt sets up a headbutt drop. Superkick knocks Punk to the outside, and this match is just dying, with lots of dead zones, and nothing interesting going on. Umaga goes for the corners, but Punk is still on the outside, so I'm not sure what his strategy is supposed to be there. And, yep, he only makes two before that gets in the way. Punk dives at him, but Umaga counters the GTS with a spinheel kick. Corner splash, but Punk dodges, and he uses the strap to crotch Umaga. That allows Punk a bulldog, but he only makes three corners before Umaga is able to hit him with a swinging scrapbuster. Umaga tries for the corners, and makes three, so Punk wraps himself around the ropes to prevent the fourth. That allows him to dump Umaga over the top, but he only makes three corners, since he makes the same stupid mistake Umaga did earlier. Umaga goes to the top for a dive, but Punk uses the strap to slam him off before he can dive, and the GTS allows him to hit four corners at 8:58. The crowd was surprisingly engaged for what was such a boring match. I think this may be the only strap match I've ever seen where the heel doesn't get hit with the strap even once. And that was it for Umaga, who was released from the promotion the following day, and passed away five months later. ¼*

ECW Title Triple Threat Hardcore Match: Christian v Jack Swagger v Tommy Dreamer: First fall wins. Swagger tries to get them to fight each other at the bell, but that just pisses them off. Unfortunately for them, all that means is that Swagger has to kick both of their asses, and he's well equipped to do so. Jack cleans house, so both guys come back in wielding weapons, and it's payback time in New Orleans. Just to be clear, it's still Extreme Rules, not Payback. Christian gets control of the match, but Dreamer fights him off with a kendo stick, and uses a suplex to knock him to the outside. Tommy dives after both guys from the apron with a somersault senton, and he takes Jack in for a kendo shot from the middle rope. Christian returns to take both guys out, and he sends Tommy into a trashcan for two. Swagger comes back with the kendo on Christian for two, and a belly-to-belly suplex is worth two. Stomachbreaker and a press-slam get two, so Swagger exposes a top turnbuckle, only for Dreamer to hit him with a kendo before he can use it. Dreamer with a bodyslam on Christian, but a 2^nd rope elbowdrop misses, and Christian tries a springboard onto Jack on the outside, but Swagger uses a trashcan to block. Meanwhile, Dreamer is loading the ring up with more weapons, but Jack suplexes him before he can get too far. He takes Tommy up for a superplex onto some trash cans, but Christian brings them both down, covering each for two. Christian comes off the top with a crutch, but Swagger blocks, and drops Christian with an electric facebuster into the exposed buckle. He goes in for the kill, but Tommy cuts it off with a crutch, and hits Jack with the DDT to win the title at 9:37. The usual garbage brawl, but it was nice seeing Dreamer get his moment. While he had won the ECW Title in the original promotion (the only man to win both versions) that reign lasted all of a few minutes. ¾*

Miss WrestleMania Handicap Hog Pen Match: Vickie Guerrero and Chavo Guerrero v Santina Marella: Unlike the 1995 version, this isn't about dumping your opponent into the pen, but rather they start in the pen, and fight to a pinfall. Chavo isn't originally meant to be a part of this, but Vickie (as the General Manager of RAW) makes it a Handicap match on the fly. Chavo is less than enthused, but Santina chucks some mud as him, and that gets Chavo into it. He beats on Santina for a while, until Santina is left face down in the muck, and Vickie finally tags in. Unfortunately for Vickie, Santina was playing possum. She comes at Vickie with a slop bucket, so Chavo comes back in, but misses with the slop, and hits Vickie. That allows Santina to cover, and Santina wins back the title at 2:44. The pigs were super cute, though. DUD

WWE Title Cage Match: Randy Orton v Batista: Orton immediately hustles up the side of the cage to try and escape, but Batista is on him, and he manages to pull him back in. Pair of smashes into the steel knock Orton back to the mat, and Batista takes him into the corner for some abuse. Clothesline and a vertical suplex get two, and he bootchokes the champion against the side of the cage. Backdrop, but Orton blocks, and goes right for the door, but Batista cuts him off. Batista with a corner clothesline, but Orton slips out of the front-powerslam, and he wears the challenger down with a quick sleeper. Randy goes for the door, but Batista drags him back in, and pitches him into the side of the cage. The cage is making it even harder than usual to tell these two apart. Batista with the front-powerslam for two, but Randy uses a drop-toehold into the middle turnbuckle to shake him off, and he hammers his challenger in the corner. Irish whip, but Batista reverses, and drops him with a spinebuster. Batista Bomb, but Orton backdrops him into the cage to block, and adds a standing dropkick. Randy seems to have a path to victory, but decides he wants to put the exclamation point on with the punt, but Batista blocks. Orton tries hightailing it over the top, but it's too late now. RKO, but Batista blocks, and the Bomb wins him the title at 7:03. The Judgment Day match was pretty fun, but this one felt like a paint-by-numbers effort. ¾*

Submission Match: John Cena v Big Show: Show uses his long reach to keep Cena at bay, and he slugs him down, but John reverses an STF attempt, so Show grabs the ropes before the hold can be properly applied. Show wants to box again, but Cena ducks the knockout blow, and works the body. John comes off the ropes, but Show superkicks him down, and knocks the wind out of him with shots to the gut. Show with an avalanche, but a second one misses, allowing Cena to try the one-handed bulldog - Show casually blocking with such force that John ends up on the outside. Show tries tying him in the ropes on the way back in, but John slugs at him to avoid it, only for a jumping shoulderblock attempt to literally bounce him right off of the big guy. Watching Cena pinball around is actually really fun. Show tries a full-nelson, but Cena manages to hold him off long enough for Show to abandon the effort, and John digs in with a sleeper. Show escapes, and uses a reverse electric facebuster, followed by a vertical suplex. Headbutt sets up a 2^nd rope pump-splash, but John rolls out of the way. He tries a bodyslam as he recovers, but Show topples him, and grinds on a facelock after they crash to the mat. Cena fights free, so Show tries the Chokeslam, but John blocks, so Show just dumps him over the top instead. Show follows to the outside to ram Cena abdomen first into the post, and he takes it inside for an abdominal stretch. Cena powers out, so Show tries the Chokeslam again, but this time Cena counters with a DDT. STF, but Show uses his powerful legs to shove John to the outside before he can apply it. John gets to the top on his way back in, but a dive gets caught in a bearhug, and Show puts the squeeze on him. John escapes, and manages to hit the Throwback to set up the Five Knuckle Shuffle, followed by the Attitude Adjustment. That knocks Show silly enough so he can try for the STF again, but the big man blocks. Show with a big punch to knock Cena to the outside, but John reverses him into the post out there, and John dives with the flying rocker dropper on the way back in. Cena uses the ropes to help tie Show up in an STF, which seems like it should be an automatic rope break, but somehow it isn't, and Show taps out at 19:04, despite half his body hanging out of the ring. Much better than the Judgment Day match. * ½

Main Event: World Heavyweight Title Ladder Match: Edge v Jeff Hardy: Jeff dodges him in the corner, and delivers a corner clothesline, followed by a pair of turnbuckle smashes. Bodyslam sets up a legdrop, but Edge reverses him into the corner, and spears him there. Impaler, but Jeff counters with a gourdbuster, and he goes out to get a ladder, but Edge baseball slides it into him. Edge goes for the ladder, but Jeff knocks it away from him as they head back in, then backdrops the champion over the top onto it. Hardy gets the ladder inside, and makes the first climb attempt, but Edge pulls him off, and rams him into the steel. Edge with a flapjack into the ladder that looked terrible, and the champ sets the ladder up in the corner, to whip Jeff into. Spear, but Hardy dodges, and Edge knocks himself silly on the ladder. That allows Jeff a slingshot dropkick with the ladder in the corner, but another dropkick misses, and Hardy hurts his leg on the landing. Edge capitalizes by abusing the leg with the ladder, and he wraps Jeff up in a sharpshooter while the challenger is sandwiched between the ladder. Edge dumps him to the outside to give himself a clear path to the gold, but Hardy dives with a flying dropkick to knock the ladder over while he climbs. Jeff then stands the ladder up on its head, and drops Edge front-first across the braces, in a nasty looking bump. I've seen a million ladder matches, but I think that's the only time I've seen that particular spot. It was cool. Jeff with the Twist of Fate, and he sets up a super tall ladder, but Edge hides in the corner to avoid the dive. The ladder ends up tipping, and Jeff has to grab onto the belt to avoid crashing to the canvas - forcing Edge to scramble to pull him off before he's able to loosen it. Hardy continuing to sell the leg on the landing is great stuff. Jeff climbs again for a Whisper in the Wind off the ladder, and a clothesline sends them both tumbling over the top. Edge gets the better of the landing, and hits his challenger with a big boot on the floor, then sets up a ladder plank between the apron and barricade. He tries to suplex the challenger onto it, but Jeff blocks, and chucks another ladder at him. Jeff puts Edge on the ladder plank, and he climbs another ladder to dive, but Edge follows him up. They slug it out, but the ladder tips, and both guys take a crazy bump through the ladder plank. Both struggle to get back inside, and a slugfest on the way is won by the challenger. Hardy climbs, so Edge climbs up another ladder to dive at him with a spear, but Jeff catches him in the Twist on the way down! Jeff is battered, but starts to slowly climb. Edge is behind, but follows up the other side, and manages to catch up before Hardy can snag the gold. He knocks Jeff off, but Hardy pulls him through the rungs to trap him, and that's enough to grab the title at 20:10! I appreciated the creative spots they were doing here, and there was no shortage of major bumps, but there was also lots of downtime for all the setups, which I hate. Afterwards, CM Punk shows up to cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase, giving us another title match right here right now. ** ½

World Heavyweight Title Match: Jeff Hardy v CM Punk: So Hardy is on fumes, and Punk immediately hits the GTS for what he expects will be an easy win, but Jeff kicks out at two. Hardy grabs the stunned challenger with an inside cradle for two, but that's his last gasp, and another GTS puts him away at 1:02. ¼*

BUExperience: Non.

DUD