BRM Reviews WWE Extreme Rules 2014

[Big Red Machine]

WWE Extreme Rules 2014 (5/4/2014)- East Rutherford, NJ

PRE-SHOW:

WeeLC MATCH: El Torito (w/Los Matadores) vs. Hornswoggle (w/3MB)- 6.25/10
WWE went out of their way to make this special. They got a midget referee, a midget ring announcer, and midget commentators (named J-B-Elf, Micro Cole, and Jerry Smaller). Their names were the only good things about them, though, because they all stunk at their jobs aside from the referee. They did have one good line, though. One of them said that Torito was “the biggest bull ever since Michael Shorten.”
Announcer problems aside, I really, really enjoyed this. Everyone involved, both regular-sized and not, took some crazy bumps, and it was a great moment for Hornswoggle and Torito.

ZEB COULTER PROMO- awesome!

MAIN SHOW:
PAUL HEYMAN PROMO- he referred to the IZOD Center as the “Synagogue of Hardcore.” I chuckled. He also made reference to the “Eleventh Commandment of Extreme.” I want to know what the first ten are.

TRIPLE THREAT ELIMINATION MATCH: Rob Van Dam vs. Jack Swagger (w/Zeb Coulter) vs. Cesaro (w/Paul Heyman)- 7/10
The babyface grabbing a weapon in the middle of a non-weapons match really annoyed me. I absolutely HATE this idea that there are no DQs in a three way. The match was still great, though.

DRAGON & STEPH BACKSTAGE- very good.
Steph, using the pretense of false concern, tried to get Dragon to just forfeit tonight’s WWE World Heavyweight Title match. Dragon says he won’t do it. Steph says she thinks that Dragon will wind up being “Kane’s bitch.”

LANA PROMO- she dedicates tonight’s match to Vladimir Putin. This had the desired effect on the crowd (prompting loud “USA!” chants). Rusev is now apparently living in Russia.

HANDICAP MATCH: R-Truth & Xavier Woods vs. Alexander Rusev (w/Lana)- 3.75/10
They had Rusev take Woods out right away before the bell, which annoyed me. If you are going to build this up as a handicap match and you want Rusev to look impressive by beating two guys, let him beat two guys. Don’t have him jump someone before the bell and then win a one-on-one match that we’ve already seen a bunch of times on TV.

WWE INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE MATCH: Big E. Langston(c) vs. Bad News Barrett- 6/10
Big E. worked over Barrett’s mid-section, but Wade still managed to pick up the win. They took one really sick bump here, too, which I don’t want to spoil.

THE SHIELD vs. EVOLUTION- 9.25/10
Why the hell is this not the main event?
A fantastic match, with tons of crazy sh*t going on, while still having every individual thing feel important. A fantastic performance by all six men.

STEEL CAGE MATCH: John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt (w/the Wyatt Family)- DUD!
If, for whatever unexplained reason, Cena believes that keeping Bray in the cage will prevent Bray’s message from spreading, why would Cena try to win by escaping the cage? How does that help him? And what is the purpose of this cage? The interference of the Wyatt Family didn’t help Bray beat Cena last month, and even if it had, this cage did absolutely nothing to prevent Harper and Rowan from affecting the outcome of this match!
Anyway, Cena then beat up all three Wyatts all by himself and he was about to win… but then the Wyatts used their unexplained magical powers to make the lights go out and transport a small child to ringside right by the entrance to the cage. They then had the kid sing “He’s Got the Whole World in his Hand” in a creepy voice, which scared Cena enough to make Cena not want to win the match. Even the strongly pro-Wyatt crowd booed this. Bray then hit Sister Abigail and won.
In a different situation with different build this match would have worked very well (aside from the idiotic finish, obviously), but it made no sense here, and it really just killed the feud for me. If Bray wasn’t so charismatic, getting their asses kicked like this would probably kill wind up killing all interest in the Wyatt Family, too.

WWE DIVAS TITLE MATCH: Paige(c) vs. Tamina- 4/10

WYATT FAMILY PROMO- dull. This child still sounds possessed. I now officially cannot stand this angle.

EXTREME RULES MATCH FOR THE WWE TITLE: Daniel Bryan(c) vs. Kane- 8.25/10
I can see some people hating this match, but I am not one of them. A lot of crazy stuff I never thought I would see in WWE again.

A very up and down show from WWE, though if you ignore the huge DUD that was the Cena-Wyatt match, it gets a lot better. Shield vs. Evolution is now my WWE MOTY, and second place overall for this year, and getting to see my two all-time favorites duke it out in a crazy main event made this show special for me.

[cero2k]

TRIPLE THREAT ELIMINATION MATCH: Rob Van Dam vs. Jack Swagger (w/Zeb Coulter) vs. Cesaro (w/Paul Heyman)- 7/10
The babyface grabbing a weapon in the middle of a non-weapons match really annoyed me. I absolutely HATE this idea that there are no DQs in a three way. The match was still great, though.

but it's RVD, he has always been about hardcore to some extent, some of his signature moves include weapons

[Big Red Machine]

TRIPLE THREAT ELIMINATION MATCH: Rob Van Dam vs. Jack Swagger (w/Zeb Coulter) vs. Cesaro (w/Paul Heyman)- 7/10
The babyface grabbing a weapon in the middle of a non-weapons match really annoyed me. I absolutely HATE this idea that there are no DQs in a three way. The match was still great, though.

but it's RVD, he has always been about hardcore to some extent, some of his signature moves include weapons

Irrelevant. The idea is dumb.

[badnewzxl]

ITS EXTREME RULEZ! Everyone should be able to use the Damn chairs!

I'm liking the way Bray Wyatt is going at Cena. He tried beating it out of him physically at wrestlemania and it didn't work;but these mind games HAVE so he brings a kid out there to spook Cena out. In your raw review you pointed out how Cena seemed fake in that promo after the kids choir segment; the ending of this match proved your statement. Cena was obviously bother by Bray' s power over children.

As far as the lights go, are we really gonna start questioning the plausibility of wrestlers having powers? Taker was controlling the lights long before there was any explanation. Kane was able to control fire and the only explanation was that he himself was set on fire. Is that really a good explanation? Bray is obviously a character in the same vein as these guys so why can't he get the same benefit of the doubt?

[badnewzxl]

ITS EXTREME RULEZ! Everyone should be able to use the Damn chairs!

I'm liking the way Bray Wyatt is going at Cena. He tried beating it out of him physically at wrestlemania and it didn't work;but these mind games HAVE so he brings a kid out there to spook Cena out. In your raw review you pointed out how Cena seemed fake in that promo after the kids choir segment; the ending of this match proved your statement. Cena was obviously bother by Bray' s power over children.

As far as the lights go, are we really gonna start questioning the plausibility of wrestlers having powers? Taker was controlling the lights long before there was any explanation. Kane was able to control fire and the only explanation was that he himself was set on fire. Is that really a good explanation? Bray is obviously a character in the same vein as these guys so why can't he get the same benefit of the doubt?

[Chris Everlast]

As far as the lights go, are we really gonna start questioning the plausibility of wrestlers having powers? Taker was controlling the lights long before there was any explanation. Kane was able to control fire and the only explanation was that he himself was set on fire. Is that really a good explanation? Bray is obviously a character in the same vein as these guys so why can't he get the same benefit of the doubt?

Preach!

[Big Red Machine]

ITS EXTREME RULEZ! Everyone should be able to use the Damn chairs!

So do what TNA does with Lockdown and just say "every match is an Extreme Rules match (unless stated otherwise).

I'm liking the way Bray Wyatt is going at Cena. He tried beating it out of him physically at wrestlemania and it didn't work;but these mind games HAVE so he brings a kid out there to spook Cena out. In your raw review you pointed out how Cena seemed fake in that promo after the kids choir segment; the ending of this match proved your statement. Cena was obviously bother by Bray' s power over children.

It's not just the finish. It's the way the whole match worked with the story. If Cena's goal is to "stop Bray's message" and to do that he needs to beat Bray up a lot, why would Cena try to escape the cage? Nothing about the whole concept made any sense! And if the Wyatt's endgame was the kid, why the hell were Harper and Rowan trying to stop Cena all of those times he tried to exit the cage? Why not just teleport the kid right into the middle of the cage in the beginning of the match?!

As far as the lights go, are we really gonna start questioning the plausibility of wrestlers having powers? Taker was controlling the lights long before there was any explanation. Kane was able to control fire and the only explanation was that he himself was set on fire. Is that really a good explanation? Bray is obviously a character in the same vein as these guys so why can't he get the same benefit of the doubt?

YES! Yes we should, in this day and age. Taker is a relic from a different time, so I give him a pass. Kane gets a pass via his association with Taker. I grudgingly give Sting and Sabu passes because they started doing it before people thought it was totally ridiculous. They get grandfathered in. IN this day and age, though, if you are going to have magical powers, you need to have the right setting for it (i.e. something like CHIKARA... though I'm not saying that WWE can't be that setting, if it is done right), and you need to use them in a consistent way, rather than, as the Wyatts do, only when the plot demands it, or when the bookers want to do something "surprising".

[NWK2000]

As far as Cena/Bray, it may have been a slow match, yes, but it advanced the feud, and I can't wait to watch Raw tonight to see what happens.

As far as No DQ's in a Triple Threat, let's say Person A uses a weapon, what happens then? Does Person A get sent to the back, and the match continues, or does the entire match get thrown out?

[badnewzxl]

ITS EXTREME RULEZ! Everyone should be able to use the Damn chairs!

So do what TNA does with Lockdown and just say "every match is an Extreme Rules match (unless stated otherwise).

I'm liking the way Bray Wyatt is going at Cena. He tried beating it out of him physically at wrestlemania and it didn't work;but these mind games HAVE so he brings a kid out there to spook Cena out. In your raw review you pointed out how Cena seemed fake in that promo after the kids choir segment; the ending of this match proved your statement. Cena was obviously bother by Bray' s power over children.

It's not just the finish. It's the way the whole match worked with the story. If Cena's goal is to "stop Bray's message" and to do that he needs to beat Bray up a lot, why would Cena try to escape the cage? Nothing about the whole concept made any sense! And if the Wyatt's endgame was the kid, why the hell were Harper and Rowan trying to stop Cena all of those times he tried to exit the cage? Why not just teleport the kid right into the middle of the cage in the beginning of the match?!

As far as the lights go, are we really gonna start questioning the plausibility of wrestlers having powers? Taker was controlling the lights long before there was any explanation. Kane was able to control fire and the only explanation was that he himself was set on fire. Is that really a good explanation? Bray is obviously a character in the same vein as these guys so why can't he get the same benefit of the doubt?

YES! Yes we should, in this day and age. Taker is a relic from a different time, so I give him a pass. Kane gets a pass via his association with Taker. I grudgingly give Sting and Sabu passes because they started doing it before people thought it was totally ridiculous. They get grandfathered in. IN this day and age, though, if you are going to have magical powers, you need to have the right setting for it (i.e. something like CHIKARA... though I'm not saying that WWE can't be that setting, if it is done right), and you need to use them in a consistent way, rather than, as the Wyatts do, only when the plot demands it, or when the bookers want to do something "surprising".

1. Exactly. Just like it was in the land of extreme.
2. We're thinking of different sides of this. I agree about Cena trying to escape instead of get the pin or submission. But I think this match was more about Bray getting to Cena than Cena stopping Bray. At mania it was about Cena conquering his fear of Wyatt; this one was about Bray finding his way to get to Cena.
3. I totally disagree. The unknown is far more intriguing than some potentially lame explanation for the lights going out. People like the mystique so why ruin it with an explanation that only raises more questions. To me, the fact that the lights are at his whim suggests he has some sort of powers. I don't need it spelled out for me and explained in depth bc that's the only thing I need to know to watch the match and follow the storyline

[badnewzxl]

ITS EXTREME RULEZ! Everyone should be able to use the Damn chairs!

So do what TNA does with Lockdown and just say "every match is an Extreme Rules match (unless stated otherwise).

I'm liking the way Bray Wyatt is going at Cena. He tried beating it out of him physically at wrestlemania and it didn't work;but these mind games HAVE so he brings a kid out there to spook Cena out. In your raw review you pointed out how Cena seemed fake in that promo after the kids choir segment; the ending of this match proved your statement. Cena was obviously bother by Bray' s power over children.

It's not just the finish. It's the way the whole match worked with the story. If Cena's goal is to "stop Bray's message" and to do that he needs to beat Bray up a lot, why would Cena try to escape the cage? Nothing about the whole concept made any sense! And if the Wyatt's endgame was the kid, why the hell were Harper and Rowan trying to stop Cena all of those times he tried to exit the cage? Why not just teleport the kid right into the middle of the cage in the beginning of the match?!

As far as the lights go, are we really gonna start questioning the plausibility of wrestlers having powers? Taker was controlling the lights long before there was any explanation. Kane was able to control fire and the only explanation was that he himself was set on fire. Is that really a good explanation? Bray is obviously a character in the same vein as these guys so why can't he get the same benefit of the doubt?

YES! Yes we should, in this day and age. Taker is a relic from a different time, so I give him a pass. Kane gets a pass via his association with Taker. I grudgingly give Sting and Sabu passes because they started doing it before people thought it was totally ridiculous. They get grandfathered in. IN this day and age, though, if you are going to have magical powers, you need to have the right setting for it (i.e. something like CHIKARA... though I'm not saying that WWE can't be that setting, if it is done right), and you need to use them in a consistent way, rather than, as the Wyatts do, only when the plot demands it, or when the bookers want to do something "surprising".

1. Exactly. Just like it was in the land of extreme.
2. We're thinking of different sides of this. I agree about Cena trying to escape instead of get the pin or submission. But I think this match was more about Bray getting to Cena than Cena stopping Bray. At mania it was about Cena conquering his fear of Wyatt; this one was about Bray finding his way to get to Cena.
3. I totally disagree. The unknown is far more intriguing than some potentially lame explanation for the lights going out. People like the mystique so why ruin it with an explanation that only raises more questions. To me, the fact that the lights are at his whim suggests he has some sort of powers. I don't need it spelled out for me and explained in depth bc that's the only thing I need to know to watch the match and follow the storyline

[Big Red Machine]

As far as Cena/Bray, it may have been a slow match, yes, but it advanced the feud, and I can't wait to watch Raw tonight to see what happens.

Yes, the finish of the match kind of moved the feud forward, but the match itself didn't work with the build to it and the feud.

As far as No DQ's in a Triple Threat, let's say Person A uses a weapon, what happens then? Does Person A get sent to the back, and the match continues, or does the entire match get thrown out?

Yes. Person A should be thrown out of the match and the match should be restarted between Person B and Person C.

[badnewzxl]

As far as Cena/Bray, it may have been a slow match, yes, but it advanced the feud, and I can't wait to watch Raw tonight to see what happens.

Yes, the finish of the match kind of moved the feud forward, but the match itself didn't work with the build to it and the feud.

As far as No DQ's in a Triple Threat, let's say Person A uses a weapon, what happens then? Does Person A get sent to the back, and the match continues, or does the entire match get thrown out?

Yes. Person A should be thrown out of the match and the match should be restarted between Person B and Person C.

I see your point. They should have just called it a three way dance, thus implying the ecw rules of no square and elimination (which the announce team forgot until swagger was eliminated, lol.

[Big Red Machine]

As far as Cena/Bray, it may have been a slow match, yes, but it advanced the feud, and I can't wait to watch Raw tonight to see what happens.

Yes, the finish of the match kind of moved the feud forward, but the match itself didn't work with the build to it and the feud.

As far as No DQ's in a Triple Threat, let's say Person A uses a weapon, what happens then? Does Person A get sent to the back, and the match continues, or does the entire match get thrown out?

Yes. Person A should be thrown out of the match and the match should be restarted between Person B and Person C.

I see your point. They should have just called it a three way dance, thus implying the ecw rules of no square and elimination (which the announce team forgot until swagger was eliminated, lol.

To me, a three way dance means an elimination match. It doesn't necessarily even mean No DQ's. The No DQ's just happened as a result of the concept being in ECW.

[cero2k]

It's not just the finish. It's the way the whole match worked with the story. If Cena's goal is to "stop Bray's message" and to do that he needs to beat Bray up a lot, why would Cena try to escape the cage? Nothing about the whole concept made any sense! And if the Wyatt's endgame was the kid, why the hell were Harper and Rowan trying to stop Cena all of those times he tried to exit the cage? Why not just teleport the kid right into the middle of the cage in the beginning of the match?!

As far as the lights go, are we really gonna start questioning the plausibility of wrestlers having powers? Taker was controlling the lights long before there was any explanation. Kane was able to control fire and the only explanation was that he himself was set on fire. Is that really a good explanation? Bray is obviously a character in the same vein as these guys so why can't he get the same benefit of the doubt?

YES! Yes we should, in this day and age. Taker is a relic from a different time, so I give him a pass. Kane gets a pass via his association with Taker. I grudgingly give Sting and Sabu passes because they started doing it before people thought it was totally ridiculous. They get grandfathered in. IN this day and age, though, if you are going to have magical powers, you need to have the right setting for it (i.e. something like CHIKARA... though I'm not saying that WWE can't be that setting, if it is done right), and you need to use them in a consistent way, rather than, as the Wyatts do, only when the plot demands it, or when the bookers want to do something "surprising".

1. because that doesn't stop cena. Cena lost the match not because the kid killed Cena's powers, but because he was distracted and Bray hit Sister Abigail. Cena needed to be weakened beforehand. One does not pull out a secret weapon as the first offense.

2. why are you assuming they're magic powers? if Wyatt can control a little kid to sing, why can't he just control or tell someone to shut the lights at a point or to a signal ? and Wyatts don't just use it when it works, that's the whole base of their entrance.

plus we just a little bull fight a midget rockstar in a weelc match, how more CHIKARAish can you get before becoming chikara itself?

[Big Red Machine]

It's not just the finish. It's the way the whole match worked with the story. If Cena's goal is to "stop Bray's message" and to do that he needs to beat Bray up a lot, why would Cena try to escape the cage? Nothing about the whole concept made any sense! And if the Wyatt's endgame was the kid, why the hell were Harper and Rowan trying to stop Cena all of those times he tried to exit the cage? Why not just teleport the kid right into the middle of the cage in the beginning of the match?!

As far as the lights go, are we really gonna start questioning the plausibility of wrestlers having powers? Taker was controlling the lights long before there was any explanation. Kane was able to control fire and the only explanation was that he himself was set on fire. Is that really a good explanation? Bray is obviously a character in the same vein as these guys so why can't he get the same benefit of the doubt?

YES! Yes we should, in this day and age. Taker is a relic from a different time, so I give him a pass. Kane gets a pass via his association with Taker. I grudgingly give Sting and Sabu passes because they started doing it before people thought it was totally ridiculous. They get grandfathered in. IN this day and age, though, if you are going to have magical powers, you need to have the right setting for it (i.e. something like CHIKARA... though I'm not saying that WWE can't be that setting, if it is done right), and you need to use them in a consistent way, rather than, as the Wyatts do, only when the plot demands it, or when the bookers want to do something "surprising".

1. because that doesn't stop cena. Cena lost the match not because the kid killed Cena's powers, but because he was distracted and Bray hit Sister Abigail. Cena needed to be weakened beforehand. One does not pull out a secret weapon as the first offense.

2. why are you assuming they're magic powers? if Wyatt can control a little kid to sing, why can't he just control or tell someone to shut the lights at a point or to a signal ? and Wyatts don't just use it when it works, that's the whole base of their entrance.

plus we just a little bull fight a midget rockstar in a weelc match, how more CHIKARAish can you get before becoming chikara itself?

1. How does beating Cena up help them make people believe that Cena is a phony?

2. Because of the teleporting. They have teleported into and out of the ring before. Sure, they could actually just be quickly running under the ring or out through the crowd to hide... but why would they do that? It has been portrayed as supernatural powers, therefore that is how I am interpreting it.

By CHIKARA-ish, I mean a world in which magic exists and is at least semi-regularly seen.

[cero2k]

1. How does beating Cena up help them make people believe that Cena is a phony?

2. Because of the teleporting. They have teleported into and out of the ring before. Sure, they could actually just be quickly running under the ring or out through the crowd to hide... but why would they do that? It has been portrayed as supernatural powers, therefore that is how I am interpreting it.

By CHIKARA-ish, I mean a world in which magic exists and is at least semi-regularly seen.

1. You beat Cena to weaken him and push him to do things that he wouldn't usually do.

2. Aside from Taker and maybe some Sting, i've never seen this as teleporting powers. I'm usually not one to question that type of stuff, but teleporting is just something i'm willing to believe

[Big Red Machine]

1. How does beating Cena up help them make people believe that Cena is a phony?

2. Because of the teleporting. They have teleported into and out of the ring before. Sure, they could actually just be quickly running under the ring or out through the crowd to hide... but why would they do that? It has been portrayed as supernatural powers, therefore that is how I am interpreting it.

By CHIKARA-ish, I mean a world in which magic exists and is at least semi-regularly seen.

1. You beat Cena to weaken him and push him to do things that he wouldn't usually do.

Except that in order to prove that point, Cena eventually actually has to do something that he wouldn't normally do. You need to have a rematch where Cena actually does run over the child to get out of the cage or some thing like that. And they won't do that. We all know it. I've seen this so many times that I just don't believe that the story will play out in any way other than Cena remaining pure and virtuous, and thus they have lost the benefit of the doubt.
But even so, why not fill the cage with brainwashed children or something like that, so that Cena has to push them over. Why not use children as human shields? Why randomly teleport a possessed child to ringside to screw Cena out of a win at that exact point in the match, instead of all of the earlier times that Cena tried to climb out the door?

[Bob-O]

After watching the match, I thought about how great it would be if Cena didn't give a sh*t when the lights came back on...

"He's got the whooole world in his..."
*shove* "GET THE F*CK OUT OF MY WAY, KID!!!"
Cena wins!!!

Like this...

"If it'll make you feel better, I'll swing by the hospital after this and see how he's doin'..."

[Big Red Machine]

ROTFLMAO