WWE Extreme Rules (September 2021)

Original Airdate: September 26, 2021

 

From Columbus, Ohio; Your Hosts are Jimmy Smith, Byron Saxton, and Corey Graves (RAW); Michael Cole and Pat McAfee (Smackdown)

 

Opening Six-Man Tag Team Match: The New Day v Bobby Lashley, AJ Styles, and Omos: Xavier Woods and AJ start, and Styles pounds him down to start, but Woods slips out of a suplex, and abuses him in the corner. Russian legsweep, but AJ counters to the Calf Crusher, so Woods hides out in the ropes. Xavier's hairstyle here is certainly... something. Tag to Kofi Kingston, and he tries strikes, but AJ clips the leg to put a stop to it. That leads to WWE Champion Big E tagging in, and he blasts a cocky Styles with a clothesline, then chucks him into the home corner because he wants Bobby. Lashley obliges, and wins a slugfest, before clotheslining Big E down. Corner charge misses, however, and Big E railroads him into the New Day corner for some triple teaming. Bobby bails, so the New Day dive after him with a combo on the floor, as Omos comes over to glare menacingly, and they wisely move back inside. Omos is ridiculously imposing. Inside, Lashley manages to get control on Kofi, and the heels go to work. Sadly, this includes Omos doing stuff other than looking imposing. It's scary when even a six-man can't hide his limitations adequately. The heels take out Big E and Woods to make sure Kofi doesn't have anyone to tag out to during his hope spots, but Xavier manages to get into position just as Kofi slips out of a front-powerslam from Lashley, and we have a tag! Woods comes in hot on Lashley, and a tornado DDT gets him two. You know the finish isn't coming up, because Styles and Omos are hanging out on the apron, just being cool and eating fruit. And, indeed, Lashley fights him off. He tries for a superplex, but Woods shoves him off the ropes to block, and he dives with a missile dropkick. That allows the tag to Big E, and Roseanne Barr the door! No more coolness, no more fruit, Omos! Big E with a frogsplash on AJ, but Styles blocks the Big Ending, and lands the pele kick. He tries a corner clothesline, but Big E catches him in a uranage for two. Superplex, but Styles escapes, and uses a slingshot schoolboy for two. Enzuigiri follows, so Kofi makes a blind tag in, and he dives off the top on AJ, but Lashley saves at two. Bobby drags AJ to the corner so he can tag himself in, and Kingston eats a big slam for two. He manages to sidestep a charge to send Lashley to the outside, and we get a dogpile sequence out there. Back in, Lashley DDTs Big E, but AJ tags himself in before Bobby can polish Big E off. He tries the Phenomenal Forearm, but Big E dodges, and a miscommunication spot ends in Lashley taking Styles out. That allows Big E to capitalize with a Big Ending on Lashley, and we're out at 18:13. This died badly during the heat segment, and it was too long in general, but certainly not unwatchable. * ½

 

WWE Smackdown Tag Team Title Match: The Usos v The Street Profits: The Usos are seven time tag champs?! This era really is crap, isn't it? Jimmy Uso starts with Angelo Dawkins, and Dawkins knocks him around. Over to Jey Uso, so Dawkins knocks him around as well, and tags Montez Ford in to hit a dropkick. Jimmy runs in, but the challengers clean house on them before they can get anything going, and the dust settles on Jey and Ford. Ford controls, so Jimmy takes a cheap shot from the apron to turn the tide, and they cut the ring in half on Montez. Dawkins gets the tag and comes in hot, so the Usos dump him and try dives, but Dawkins manages to block both. Dawkins superplexes Jimmy on the way back in, and a neckbreaker gets him two. Back to Ford for an electric chair/flying somersault neckbreaker combo for two, but Dawkins runs into a double team, and the champs take over again. Their own combo only gets two on him, so Ford blind tags his way in. He dives at Jey with a flying frogsplash, but Uso lifts his knees to block, and gets two. If the Usos are retaining, that should have been the finish. It spills to the outside again, where Dawkins eats barricade, but Ford dives onto both champs with a crazy suicide dive over the post. He dives at Jey with a flying frogsplash on the way back in, landing it this time, but Jimmy saves at two. The Usos try stereo superkicks, but it misses, and Ford schoolboys Jey for two. That's all he has left in the tank, however, and the Usos kill him with stereo flying splashes at 13:43. This like a lukewarm stream of water that very suddenly and very unexpectedly got very hot. **

 

WWE RAW Women's Tag Team Title Match: Charlotte Flair v Alexa Bliss: Why does Charlotte look like Carmella tonight? Halloween thing? Bliss plays mind games with her to start, and Flair ends up on the outside, where Bliss dives from the apron with a somersault senton. Back in, more mind games from the challenger, so Flair slams her, and gives her a few facebusters for good measure. Some halfhearted chops and a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker get two, so Flair stretches her with a bow-and-arrow, but Bliss escapes with a chincrusher. Flair stays on her with a gory special, but Bliss escapes with a headscissors into the buckles. She looks for the follow-up, but Flair bashes her into the buckles to block - only to get dropped while climbing for a moonsault. That allows Bliss to dropkick her to the outside, but Flair blocks a baseball slide by swinging her challenger into the barricade. That gets two on the way back in, so he tries a suplex, but Bliss flashes off a cradle for two. Flair cuts her off with a clothesline, and a standing moonsault is worth two. Natural Selection, but Bliss blocks, and hits a somersault senton splash for two. Flair comes back with a schoolgirl for two, and a chokeslam gets two. Flair hustles to the top for another flying moonsault attempt, but Bliss dodges, and uses a Canadian destroyer to fold her up for two. Alexa goes up with Twisted Bliss, but Flair dodges. Figure four, but Bliss counters with a cradle for two, and a DDT gets her another two. Flair grabs Alexa's dolly to allow her a big boot, and another try at the Natural Selection retains at 11:25. This was very sleepy. Flair seemed like her mind was elsewhere, and Bliss wasn't bringing much to the table here. ¾*

 

WWE United States Title Triple Threat Match: Damian Priest v Jeff Hardy v Sheamus: Sheamus is wearing that mask all wrong. You're making Fauci cry, asshole. Sheamus knocks Hardy to the outside right away, leaving him to slug it out with the champ, which does not end well for him. Priest clotheslines Sheamus over the top, and he follows to send him into the barricade, but here comes Hardy back into the mix. He dives at Sheamus with a clothesline from the apron, but Priest then dives onto both before Jeff can roll his fellow challenger into the ring. Priest takes Hardy in with a falcon arrow, but Sheamus saves at two, and he spills back to the outside with the champion. Priest tries a spinkick out there, but gets caught, and Sheamus posts him. Sheamus goes in for Jeff with a scrap backbreaker, followed by a front-powerslam. Why he's taking fifty seconds to pose between moves when he has a shot at the pin is beyond me. I know kayfabe is long dead, but can we at least pretend? For the children's sake. Hardy wakes up and makes a comeback on him, and boy, Jeff is starting to move like his age these days. We might have to start calling him 'Jeffrey' any day. Russian legsweep and a cradle get two when Priest saves, so Jeff dives with a Whisper in the Wind on both guys. Cover on Sheamus gets two, so Jeff corners him for a slingshot seated dropkick, but Sheamus blocks. That allows Sheamus a whiplash for two, and he puts Hardy in a Texas cloverleaf, but Jeff makes the ropes. Sheamus won't let off, so Priest returns to pull him off, so Sheamus plants him with a Samoan drop for two. Hardy gives Sheamus a Twist of Fate, and then botches one on Priest before getting it right the second time. Oh, Jeffrey. Swanton Bomb, but Sheamus shoves him off the top before he can dive, and then does a dive himself with a flying kneedrop on Priest for two. To the top again, but Priest chokeslams him off - only to have Hardy break up the pin with a Swanton! He tries a Twist on the champion, but Priest blocks - only to eat a Brogue Kick from a recovering Sheamus. Jeff gets a helping as well, but that allows Priest time to recover, and he schoolboys Sheamus at 13:18. A few glaring botches, and it felt like it went on forever, but it wasn't sleepy. * ½

 

WWE Smackdown Women's Title Match: Becky Lynch v Bianca Belair: Belair nearly delivers the KOD right away, but Becky manages to slip to the outside to stall that out. Belair blocks a kick as Becky comes back in, and Belair grabs a headlock, as the crowd vocally chants for the challenger. Criss cross allows Becky to go for the Dis-Arm-Her, but Belair blocks, and corner whips the champion a couple of times ahead of a bodyslam. Frogsplash gets two, and a dropkick puts the champ on the outside, giving Belair some room to taunt. Belair drags her back in, so Becky hides in the ropes, and uses the braid to snap Belair's throat across the top. That allows Lynch a somersault necksnap for two, and a lightning legdrop leads to an elbowdrop, but another legdrop misses. That allows Belair a powerbomb, but Lynch uses the braid to block again, leveraging her into a matslam for two. Becky with a suplex for two, so she tries a reverse chinlock, but Belair powers her into a vertical base to fight free. Belair with a suplex of her own, and she mounts a comeback. Becky tries grabbing the braid to derail her, but Belair fights her off with a spinebuster for two. Becky tries a 2^nd rope bodypress, but Belair rolls through into a fallaway slam for two. Press-slam, but Lynch counters with a crucifix for two, and she grabs the Dis-Arm-Her, but Belair is in the ropes. She bails, but Lynch follows, and reverses Belair into the steps. Flying legdrop gets Lynch two on the way back inside, and a 2^nd rope inverted guillotine legdrop is worth two. Uranage, but Belair blocks, so Lynch goes for a cross-armbreaker instead. Belair shifts into a cradle for two, and a spinebuster is worth two. Belair is spent, but holds her own through a slugfest, and uses a rollup for two - reversed by Becky for two. Belair tries a schoolgirl for two, but Lynch counters to the Dis-Arm-Her. Belair fights to a vertical base and sets up the KOD, but Sasha Banks runs in on her for the DQ at 17:26. Hated the finish, but it was a perfectly watchable bout. ** ¼

 

Main Event: WWE Universal Title Extreme Rules Match: Roman Reigns v Finn Balor: This is literally the only male division singles match of the night. Slugfest won by Reigns, but Balor rakes the eyes when the champ goes for a slam, and the match slows down as they do some posturing. Reigns with a vertical suplex for two, so he goes to the outside to find a weapon, and gets his hand on a kendo stick. Unfortunately for him, Finn gets hold of a bunch of kendo sticks all tied together, and that goes well for the challenger. To the outside, Balor wins a slugfest to leave Reigns tied in the apron, and Finn capitalizes by kicking him in the brain. No, not the brain! He needs that for thinking! Balor digs up a table, but Reigns nails him before he can use it, and beats on him with a chair, before delivering a Drive-By. They spill into the crowd, where Reigns knocks him around, but Balor gets the better of an exchange near a production stage, and Roman goes through a table. Reigns is full on wearing a mask while fighting through the crowd, which is a choice. Not that I blame him in the least, but better to just stay in the ring in that case. And speaking of which, back in they go, where Reigns reverses him through a table with a uranage for two. Superman Punch gets two, but Balor counters the spear with a sling blade. Running dropkick, but Reigns counters with a spear for two. Balor gets him down and lands the Coup de Grace, but the Usos runs in to save at two, and pull Finn to the floor for a beating. He manages to fight them off when they try putting him through a table, however, so Reigns comes out, and spears him through it himself. That sets off some sort of weird red light in the arena, and just as I fear that this means the return of the Fiend is imminent, luckily it just means he's getting the Demon fired up. Balor runs wild with a chair and puts Reigns through a table, but the top rope collapses as he tries the Coup on the way back in. That leaves Finn with a wrecked knee, and Reigns spears him to retain at 19:40. Weird finish, bro. *

 

BUExperience: Not much to work with here, but everything was at least watchable, if not especially interesting.

 

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