WWE Extreme Rules 2012 (4/29/2012)- Chicago, IL

MIZ PROMO- okay

WWE UNITED STATES TITLE MATCH: Santino Marella(c) vs. The Miz- 3/10
It’s a Santino match. He gets beat up for a bit, then hits his three Moves of Doom.

FALLS COUNT ANYWHERE MATCH: Kane vs. Randy Orton- 7.5/10
A great opener that really reminded you that this is no normal show. This is Extreme Rules.

JOHN LAURINAITUS, EVE TORRES, & TEDDY LONG BACKSTAGE- not bad. It got the Triple H call on TV and got the heat on Teddy Long in the same segment (so we aren’t wasting a segment to get heat on Teddy).

BRODUS CLAY (w/Hornswoggle, Naomi, & Cameron) vs. DOLPH ZIGGLER (w/Jack Swagger & Vickie Guerrero)- 4.25/10


TABLES MATCH FOR THE WWE INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE: The Big Show(c) vs. Cody Rhodes- 4.5/10
Stupid finish

DANIEL BRYAN PROMO- good

2 OUT OF 3 FALLS MATCH FOR THE WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE: Sheamus(c) vs. Daniel Bryan- 9/10
Amazing storytelling.

HANDICAP MATCH: Jay Hatton & Aaron Relic vs. Ryback- squash.
This had no place on PPV. Props to the crowd, though. I never thought I’d hear another “GOLD-BERG” chant.

MATT STRIKER INTERVIEWS CM PUNK- I popped for Striker using the word “besmirched.” Punk’s promo was decent.

CHICAGO STREET FIGHT FOR THE WWE TITLE: CM Punk(c) vs. Chris Jericho- 7.75/10
I was expecting a lot more from these two. A lot of the offense just didn’t seem violent enough for such a hate-filled feud.

SEGMENT TO SET UP THE DIVAS TITLE MATCH- okay

WWE DIVAS TITLE MATCH: Nikki Bella(c) (w/Brie Bella) vs. Layla- 2.5/10
I think the crowd summed this match up best by chanting “WE WANT KHARMA!” I would normally be unhappy with the finish coming just one move after a twin-switch, but that neckbreaker looked pretty vicious.

EXTREME RULES MATCH: Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena- 7.75/10
These two did a heck of a lot by doing very little. Great storytelling here, but I wish Brock had taken more offense before finally going down.

Overall, a very up and down show from WWE. The good was great and the bad was horrible. Punk vs. Jericho was disappointing, Cody vs. Big Show had a moronic finish, and knowing what we now know just a few hours later, the booking of the last two matches of the show was confounding.

Big Red Machine wrote: TABLES MATCH FOR THE WWE INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE: The Big Show(c) vs. Cody Rhodes- 4.5/10
Stupid finish

this reminded me of Sheamus' first wwe title win, it's like wwe doesn't feel comfortable giving a clean win to heels and the tables match is a good way to work around that

You didn't like the Table finish? I thought it was ingenious. I loved it. I can't really explain why though.

Serujuunin wrote:You didn't like the Table finish? I thought it was ingenious. I loved it. I can't really explain why though.

It makes Cody look like an entirely non-credible champion. He won because he got lucky. Not because he was better than Show. Not because he out-wrestled him or out-thought him. Not because he cheated like a dirty, dirty cheater. But because he got lucky because Big Show was too fat.

Big Red Machine wrote:

Serujuunin wrote:You didn't like the Table finish? I thought it was ingenious. I loved it. I can't really explain why though.

It makes Cody look like an entirely non-credible champion. He won because he got lucky. Not because he was better than Show. Not because he out-wrestled him or out-thought him. Not because he cheated like a dirty, dirty cheater. But because he got lucky because Big Show was too fat.

Either that or it makes him look smart. He knew the table was there when Show was clambering over the ropes and kicked his leg out with the intention of off-balancing him and making him go through the table when there was really no way he could slam or throw Show through a table. Really, when a guy like Cody faces a guy like Show, the only real advantage he has is intelligence. Besides, with Show being the face in this, it gets Cody heat because EVERYONE is going to feel like Show got cheated. Cody has what, two weeks between Extreme Rules and Over the Limit to look like a credible champion. Hell, they did that with him last time by beating Justin three or four times consecutively, when he should be a serious contender. And at Over the Limit, Show will probably ask for a match where that can't happen, like a No DQ, and win it back (as much as I don't want to see that, I feel like it will happen).

I think it's safer to say that I conditionally like the finish. We'll see where it goes and what they make of it. It could be ingenious, it could be a flop. It all depends on the follow up, in my opinion.