The unique clash between Drew McIntyre and Dolph Ziggler is in the books.
McIntyre was able to successfully retain the WWE Championship in his latest title defense at the WWE Extreme Rules pay-per-view event on Sunday night in Orlando, Florida.
After weeks of build-up to what the exact stipulation would be, it turns out that it was an Extreme Rules Match only for Ziggler. Thus, it saw Ziggler use any weapon he wanted while McIntyre tried to fight him in an actual wrestling match.
One of the highlights of the match saw Ziggler hit an elbow drop off the top rope onto McIntyre through a table on the floor.
Ziggler brought the fight to the champion but in the end, it was McIntyre standing tall by hitting the Claymore Kick for the win.
This championship match was booked back on the June 22nd episode of RAW when Ziggler made a surprise appearance on the show where he revealed that due to the trade involving AJ Styles being moved to Friday Night SmackDown, RAW was able to select two SmackDown stars. It ended up being Ziggler and Robert Roode being moved as a result.
Ziggler had been hyping the stipulation as a first-ever type of match.
The Eye for an Eye Match had fans talking heading into Extreme Rules and will likely have them talking coming out of the WWE pay-per-view event.
Seth Rollins battled Rey Mysterio in such a match after a heated storyline that has played out over the course of several weeks on television.
Just like WWE had confirmed when listing the match on their website, there a winner could only be determined by extracting the opponent’s eye. So how was the contest? It was a slow spectacle that had a mixture of them doing wrestling moves while also using various weapons as weapons.
That included kendo sticks, pipes, screwdrivers, steel steps, and more. The finish came when Mysterio’s right eye was pushed first into the corner of the steel step and then all of a sudden we saw a fake eye briefly. Rollins began puking after the match.
Just before WWE had announced the match, it was reported by Dave Meltzer of F4Wonline.com that WWE originally did an angle where Rollins sent Mysterio eye first into the corner of a steel step for a reason.
That was to write Mysterio off television in case he didn’t sign a new deal. Mysterio had been wearing an eye patch as part of his mask since the angle.
As of this writing, there’s still no word yet on whether Mysterio has signed a new deal with WWE or plans to hit the free agent market when he’s able to do so.
WWE kicked off its Extreme Rules event with a title change as Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura are on top of the tag team division on SmackDown.
Nakamura and Cesaro beat Big E and Kofi Kingston in a Tables Match at Sunday’s Extreme Rules pay-per-view event in Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center.
The finish of the match saw Cesaro powerbomb Kofi off the middle rope through two tables for the win. Unlike other tables matches with tag teams, Big E didn’t need to be put through a table.
Back on the April 17th episode of SmackDown, The New Day dethroned The Miz and John Morrison as the SmackDown Tag Team Champions. This reign marked the eighth time that The New Day had won WWE Tag Team gold.
These two teams have been feuding for quite some time on WWE television. Two weeks ago on an episode of SmackDown, Nakamura and Cesaro introduced the tables by putting Big E and Kingston through them. This set up the gimmick match for this gimmick heavy themed pay-per-view event.
What are your thoughts on Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro winning the SmackDown Tag Team Titles? Was this the right idea by WWE officials? Sound off in the comment section.
Chris Jericho went into detail as to what AEW originally had planned for this past Wednesday’s episode of Dynamite for himself and Orange Cassidy.
Of course, the show that aired on TNT saw Cassidy get some revenge on Jericho and other members of the Inner Circle by dumping gallons of orange juice on them in the ring from Daily’s Place.
The former AEW World Heavyweight Champion recalled what they wanted to do for the angle during his weekly Saturday Night Special YouTube show.
The Inner Circle doused in orange juice by Orange Cassidy (Photo: AEW)
He first started talking about coming up with the idea for what they actually did by remembering the bloodbaths that the Brood used to do. They would have their rival stand in the ring and get blood dumped on them.
“I originally wanted Orange to come into the venue in an orange juice truck, kind of like [Kurt Angle] did with the milk truck or whatever it may be. But if you see at Daily’s Place whenever they have cars come in – Cody tried to drive it in that one time, and now they have FTR driving.
And you can only get to a certain area and then you have to stop, so you couldn’t get a whole orange juice truck, even if there’s such a thing. But I’m sure we could have made one, and he would have sprayed orange juice on [us].”
Jericho noted that the orange juice bath from the heavens was more manageable than the truck and so they went with it although there was a bit of uncertainty about it because they had to be in the right spot or it wouldn’t have worked.
The card for Sunday’s (July 19, 2020) WWE Extreme Rules pay-per-view event has been finalized.
The company hasn’t officially announced the main event of this event that takes place in Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center and will air on the WWE Network, but it will most likely be WWE Champion Drew McIntyre vs. Dolph Ziggler.
Also on tap for the show are two cinematic matches – Seth Rollins vs. Rey Mysterio in an Eye for an Eye Match and Bray Wyatt vs. Braun Strowman in a Swamp Fight. The Bar Fight between Jeff Hardy and Sheamus was moved from Extreme Rules to next week’s SmackDown.
As a reminder, we will be providing coverage of this special on Sunday evening starting at 6 PM EST. Here is the final card for the show:
Final WWE Extreme Rules Card
WWE Champion Drew McIntyre vs. Dolph Ziggler
WWE RAW Women’s Champion Asuka vs. WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion Sasha Banks
WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley vs. Nikki Cross
Bray Wyatt vs. Braun Strowman – Swamp Fight
Eye For An Eye Match: Seth Rollins vs. Rey Mysterio
WWE United States Champion Apollo Crews vs. MVP
WWE SmackDown Tag Team Champions The New Day vs. Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura – Tables Match
EC3, Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson, and Eric Young have all joined Impact Wrestling.
Eddie Edwards vs. Trey Miguel vs. Ace Austin vs. Rich Swann vs. Eric Young in an Elimination Match for the vacant Impact World Championship was booked as the main event of Saturday’s Slammiversary pay-per-view event from Skyway Studios in Nashville, Tennessee.
Edwards defeated Ace Austin to win the title. Post-match, Madman Fulton began to beat down Edwards and Austin joined in. The Good Brothers walked down and made the save. They all stood tall together.
All of these stars were released from WWE in April when the company decided to make mass firing of staff and talent. The wrestlers who were released were under a 90-day non-compete clause until July 15th, which at the time had prevented them from officially signing a deal with any promotion.
Over the last few weeks, it was reported that Anderson and Gallows had agreed to signing with Impact. The promotion made it official earlier on Saturday. They also agreed to a separate deal with another promotion, which will allow them to work for New Japan Pro Wrestling.
Before this event, the promotion had been teasing the return of EC3 to Impact as his entrance music was played on an episode of Impact.
The Motor City Machine Guns made their Impact Wrestling return at Slammiversary.
The Rascalz, Wentz and Dez, issued an Open Challenge during Saturday’s Slammiversary pay-per-view event. This is when the music of Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin hit. The Guns won the match after Sabin pinned Dez.
Sabin had previously been teasing an appearance at Slammiversary while Shelley had recently tweeted, “The past year of my career has been one of my absolute favorite, and it’s been because of my autonomy, my freedom, and the respect I get and give to and from my peers and fans.”
Sabin and Shelly began teaming together back in 2006 where they found success in every promotion they worked for by winning titles.
The Motor City Machine Guns broke up in 2018 months after Shelley suffered an injury and Sabin went off to retire from the pro wrestling business.
Their tenure in Impact goes back to when the promotion was named TNA from 2007 until 2012. Sabin returned to the promotion to work as a producer for last year.
On the flip side, Shelley last wrestled this past February for ROH. This came after he had worked a tag team match where he teamed Kushida in a losing effort to the Grizzled Young Veterans as part of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic in January under the WWE NXT banner.
Joey Ryan has released a new video addressing allegations made against him as part of the #SpeakingOut movement. Ryan begins the video by saying he has been silent this long on advice from both his therapist and his attorney. He then noted that since no legal action is being taken against him, he can now address the accusations against him.
“Since no legal action is being taken, I’m going to address them in this video,” Ryan said. He continued to deny individual allegations made against him.
“I have never had sex with a woman without her consent, I have never acted criminally towards a woman and I have never acted criminally with sex and unlike these allegations, I have actual evidence that can show you that,” Ryan continued.
Ryan continued to say he has text messages and other evidence that can refute all the allegations being made against him.
He then spends a good deal of time dealing with individual allegations and issuing evidence to refute claims. Most of the evidence Ryan shows to refute the claims are DMs or text messages from his accusers.
Possible Legal Response From Joey Ryan
Ryan ended the video talking about having lost friends to the allegations and people not even reaching out to him. He said many people said they couldn’t believe the allegations against him and Ryan said that’s because the allegations are not true.
Ryan also noted that he lost a job with Impact Wrestling because of the allegations. He also said that Impact said they would investigate the claims but never did and his contract stated he could not be fired for things that took place before he signed there.
“These are all things that I still have to consider and I’m still thinking about and considering all the legal recourse I have to take with any of these accusations but for right now I want to continue to work on myself and focus on myself because I believe we can all be better people.”
“I’ve also taken this opportunity to reconnect with God. I’ve always been a believer but a very, very dear friend of mine in the industry has reached out to me to remind me that being a believer is much different than being a follower. I can’t help but think that God has put this on my journey because I was going down a bad path and I had fallen away too far away from him.”
After WWE filmed the Swamp Fight this past Thursday night, some additional details about the taping have surfaced.
Braun Strowman will not defend the Universal Championship against Bray Wyatt at this show. The location was roughly two hours outside of Orlando.
According to a report by Wrestling Inc, filming lasted between 6 – 7 hours and they had to do multiple takes in order to get the various angles for editing purposes. There were various spots that were done multiple times like in a movie to get all the angles.
Regarding the match length, the belief is that it will be edited down to approximately a 20 – 30 minute match. WWE had several reptiles such as an alligator and a snake that were used for filming the segment.
The finish of the match was described as something straight out of Friday The 13th and a horror movie as someone is taken away or disappears only for that person to return to continue this feud.
It was added that Vince McMahon was not involved with the match in addition to there being a difference that is notable in the final cut from other recent cinematic matches. Wyatt had various ideas for the match but had to adjust things in order for them to work.
Impact Wrestling is back with another show, so let’s take a look at the card for the Slammiversary pay-per-view event.
Slammiversary takes place on Saturday, July 18, 2020 from Skyway Studios in Nashville, Tennessee. Eddie Edwards vs. Trey vs. Ace Austin vs. mystery opponent to crown a new Impact World Heavyweight Champion is expected to serve as the headliner.
The show kicks off at 8:00 p.m. ET and will be distributed on cable, satellite and digital pay-per-view, including DISH, DirecTV, iN Demand, Vubiquity, Rogers, Bell, Shaw and Sasktel across North America, and streaming live globally exclusively on the FITE.tv app
This will be the second PPV event of the year for Impact. The card that features several big matches appears to be finalized. Impact has teased that a former World Heavyweight Champion would be among the surprises in store for this show.
Drew McIntyre recently appeared on Booker T’s Reality of Wrestling and spoke about being the first British-born WWE Champion.
“Yeah, it felt incredible,” McIntyre said. “It was a dream of mine when I first came to America. I was just surprised that no Brit had ever won the title before especially the Bulldog. Regal was on a bit of a run and never quite pulled it off. Wade Barrett was on a run with the Nexus, I thought he’d do it and I’d have been happy for him but never pulled it off.”
“To be the first Brit just blew my mind,” he continued. “I really did take a moment sitting in the office here when I had the title, which I keep by my side at all times. Looking at it like ‘wow, that’s my life’s work.'”
“To see the world’s response was insane but to see the UK in particular, the way they reacted, mainstream media. I remember the BBC, the biggest media outlet in the UK, the special report that day, the two top headlines were Queen gives a speech and Drew McIntyre becomes first British Champion.”
Impact Wrestling has been heavily teasing that EC3 could be returning to the promotion tonight at Slammiversary. EC3 has been teasing his return to pro-wrestling following his release from WWE in April on social media through a series of videos. He just released a new video in the series last night.
During the rather intense video, he walks past people dressed in “Free EC3” shirts. There are also images from his WWE career burning in the video. The line “You have been warned” is also featured throughout. He then seems to walk into an underground wrestling event and beats up an unnamed opponent. EC3 finished him off with a reverse DDT followed by a modified crossface submission hold.
The full video can be viewed in the player below:
EC3 In Impact Wrestling
Known as Ethan Carter III, EC3 is a 2x former TNA World Heavyweight Champion. There’s a chance he could end up in the Impact World Title fatal 4-way match tonight at Slammiversary. One spot is open in the match that will determine a new title-holder for the vacant belt.
EC3 never won a title in WWE other than the 24/7 championship, which he held on 4 occasions.
Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows recently announced that they have signed with Impact Wrestling. They also put out a podcast last night that detailed their departure from WWE and problems they experienced with Paul Heyman while on RAW.
During the conversation, they detailed re-signing with WWE last year after not being happy with their run with the company since 2016.
“We knew AEW would be successful, we knew they would pop off,” Anderson said. “We just succumbed to the amount of money and promises, kept or unkept, whatever that doesn’t matter, from WWE.”
They continued to say they were offered a lot of money to stay and that ultimately was the biggest factor in their decision.
“We signed because of the thought that this was going to be our last contract and we were ready to ride it out and wave the WWE flag as f***ing high as we could.”
Anderson & Gallows Re-Signing With WWE
Anderson and Gallows continued to say they don’t believe Triple H was aware of what they had done in NJPW. They said they felt as though he wanted AJ but wasn’t that interested in them.
Anderson and Gallows noted that Impact made them a good contract offer in 2019 as well. They also said they told the Bucks for about 6-months that they were coming into AEW before they eventually re-signed with WWE. Anderson and Gallows mentioned there may have been some hard feelings between the two sides as a result of how it all turned out.
“You can’t expect a global pandemic to hit but I didn’t think we would be on the first list for f***s sake,” Anderson said regarding their release during a pandemic.
Anderson & Gallows on Paul Heyman
During the podcast, the Good Brothers also detailed problems they encountered with Paul Heyman.
“To the end, (Heyman) is putting us over and telling us how good we are,” Gallows said.
“This is a quote (from Heyman), ‘If I ever lie to you, go on social media and f***ing bury me! F***king put me under the dirt because I deserve it and I want those guys in the locker room to know that I can’t fuckin’ be trusted!’ Guys in the locker room, he can’t be trusted and we’re online and I just buried him.”
During the conversation, it was also noted that there was some confusion over who made the decision to release them. AJ Styles is said to have confronted Heyman who denied being the one to make the decision but then Vince McMahon told Styles their release was a “Heyman decision.” This led to Styles requesting a move to Smackdown.
Heath Slater spent 14 years signed to WWE. He was released this past April in the middle of a global pandemic. Slater released a video on Instagram recently where he teases entering the next stage in his pro-wrestling career.
The video features Slater waking up from a nightmare that featured images of his WWE career.
“Leaving WWE may have not been on my terms, but moving forward the choices I make regarding my career and my life will be ONLY on my terms. Over the last 14 years, I lost the man I thought I was… but Thank God I’m finding him again,” Slater said in the posts’ comments.
“I’m ready to reignite my fire. I’m ready to be the wrestler I was meant to be, while being the father and the husband that my family deserves. Now it’s my turn and I’m going to rise. So y’all better watch the hell out.”
At the end of the video, Heath receives a “wake-up call” in his hotel room.
Impact Wrestling has been teasing that the next stage of Heath’s career could begin at Slammiversary tonight. The promotion has already confirmed that Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows will be on the show.
Ahead of tonight’s Slammiversary PPV, Impact Wrestling has announced that Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows have officially signed with the promotion. They will both appear on tonight’s show.
“It’s been 3 long months and everybody’s wondering what the good brothers are doing. Everybody’s wondering what countdown to **** town is,” Anderson said in a video Tweeted by Impact. “Everybody wants to know where the Machine Gun and the Big LG are going to land.”
“I think the most important thing right now is that we are live and the countdown has expired,” Gallows said before the camera revealed they were in an Impact ring. “The rumours are true. The internet buzz was correct. We have officially signed with Impact Wrestling. It’s midnight, we’re live, and we’re going to be live on PPV tonight for Slammiversary.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfxFMw349mk
Impact Wrestling Slammiversary
Tonight’s Impact PPV is being built on the idea that any of the recently released WWE Superstars could appear. Heath Slater, EC3, Eric Young, and several others have been teased for the show. Additionally, a new Impact World Champion will be crowned in a fatal 4-way match. Former champion Tessa Blanchard was recently stripped of the title.
WWE SmackDown aired from the Performance Center in Orlando. It was the final episode of SmackDown before WWE Extreme Rules: Horror Show this Sunday. AJ Styles defended the Intercontinental Championship against Matt Riddle tonight. Sheamus attacked Jeff Hardy during a backstage interview and claimed that he was going to “cleanse Hardy of his demons next week on SmackDown”.
AJ Styles def. Matt Riddle to retain the Intercontinental Championship
Here are 4 takeaways from this week’s show:
New Day Will Defend SmackDown Tag Titles In A Tables Match At Extreme Rules
Big E battled Cesaro in the first match of the night as Shinsuke Nakamura and Kofi Kingston were ringside. The winner of the match will get to pick the stipulation for the Tag Team Championship match at Extreme Rules.
Match Recap: Cesaro controlled the action early and leveled Big E with a Clothesline for a two count. Cesaro applied a Headlock in the middle of the ring but Big E battled to his feet after Kofi fired him up. Big E got in a couple punches but Cesaro sent him back to the canvas with a Body Slam.
Cesaro made his way to the top rope and leaped but Big E caught him. Big E hit three Belly to Belly Suplexes in a row and followed it up with a Splash. Big E brought Cesaro to the ring apron and hit another Splash as SmackDown went to a commercial break. When SmackDown returned, Cesaro trapped Big E in the Swing before locking in a Sharpshooter in the middle of the ring. Big E broke free but Shinsuke Nakamura hit him with a cheap shot while the referee was distracted. Cesaro capitalized and hit the Neutralizer for the pinfall victory.
After the match, Cesaro and Nakamura grabbed a table from under the ring. Kofi flipped onto them and set the table up. Kofi put Cesaro on top of the table and made his way to the top rope but Nakamura got Cesaro out of the way. Nakamura and Cesaro then announced it will be a Tables Match at Extreme Rules.
Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross came to the ring for an episode of A Moment of Bliss. They noted that it was the fifth year anniversary of the women’s evolution in WWE. Alexa predicted the LA Lakers will win the NBA Championship, Matt Riddle will win tonight, and that Braun Strowman will walk out of Extreme Rules still the Universal Champion. Nikki Cross went on a rant about how she is going to embarrass Bayley at Extreme Rules before the Women’s Tag Team Champions interrupted.
Bayley and Sasha scolded Bliss and Cross for not mentioning how they are the foundation of the women’s evolution and boasted about being the first ever Women’s Tag Team Champions. Bayley vowed to defeat Nikki Cross at Extreme Rules and said Sasha Banks will defeat Asuka to become the new RAW Women’s Champion at the PPV as well.
Alexa Bliss revealed that Asuka was the mystery guest on the show and a brawl broke out during her entrance. This led to a tag match between Asuka & Nikki Cross vs. Bayley & Banks.
Match Recap: Nikki and Bayley started off the match and Cross sent the SmackDown Women’s Champion to the corner. Bayley battled back and bounced Nikki’s face off the top turnbuckle. Sasha tagged in and planted Cross with a Suplex for a two count. Banks and Bayley spent the following several minutes taking turns beating Cross down as Asuka pleaded for a tag.
Asuka finally got the tag and connected with a Clothesline that knocked both Sasha and Bayley to the canvas. Asuka sent Bayley flying out of the ring with a Hip Attack and then trapped Sasha in the ring apron. Nikki tagged in and trapped Bayley in the ring apron as well and beat her down. Asuka hit a sliding knee to Bayley’s face and Nikki followed it up with a Crossbody. Asuka and Nikki then danced on the announce table as SmackDown went to a break.
Sasha drove Asuka to the corner and slammed her into the turnbuckle when SmackDown returned. Nikk tagged in and hit Sasha with a Bulldog for a two count. Cross climbed to the top rope and went for a Crossbody but Banks got out of the way. Sasha hit Nikki with a Dropkick and went for the cover but Cross kicked out at the last moment.
Bayley tagged in and made her way to the top rope but Nikki caught her with a right hand. Bayley hopped down and launched Nikki out of the ring. Nikki hit an awesome Tornado DDT outside the ring and rolled Bayley back inside. Nikki went for the cover but Sasha broke it up at two. Asuka went for a Hip Attack but Banks got out of the way and knocked her out of the ring. Bayley was about to reach for a tag but Banks got distracted by Asuka. Nikki went for another Tornado DDT but Bayley countered into a roll-up. Bayley used her feet on the ropes but the referee didn’t catch it and Nikki couldn’t kick out.
Braun Strowman Vowed To End Bray Wyatt At Extreme Rules
Bray Wyatt cut a promo from the swamp to hype the Universal Championship match at the PPV. Wyatt claimed that Strowman didn’t embrace the monster that he was destined to be so now he must destroy the monster that Braun has become.
"Once you enter, you can never truly leave. Part of you will live here forever." – @WWEBrayWyatt
Strowman then came down to the entrance ramp and said he has to go home to the swamp to face his fears against Bray Wyatt. Braun stated that he doesn’t want Wyatt to turn into The Fiend and he needs to go to the swamp and end Bray before he ends him. Strowman then marched to the ring for a match against John Morrison.
Match Recap: Strowman launched Morrison to the corner and followed it up with a massive Clothesline. Strowman stomped on Morrison’s ribs several times as the audience cheered. Strowman then planted Morrison with the Running Powerslam for the pinfall victory. After the match, Strowman’s voice got real deep and he said that he hoped Bray was watching because he is coming home.
Opinion: I enjoyed Wyatt’s vignette and Strowman’s promo that followed. I think this match has the potential to be fun this Sunday at Extreme Rules. I’m just hoping it doesn’t turn out as terrible as the House of Horrors match between Wyatt and Orton a few years back.
"I am ready and willing to walk through the gates of Hell and slap The Devil himself in the face… I have to go home before HE ends ME!"
AJ Styles Retained The Intercontinental Championship
AJ Styles & Matt Riddle
AJ Styles defended the Intercontinental Championship against Matt Riddle in the main event of this week’s SmackDown.
Match Recap: Styles thought he had the match won early and threw a tantrum by slamming on the announce table outside the ring. Riddle followed him out there and mocked AJ. Styles got pissed off and wound up running into a boot to the face from Riddle as SmackDown went to a commercial break.
When SmackDown returned, Riddle was in control and hit AJ with a knee to the ribs. Matt continued to beat Styles down but AJ was able to reach for the ropes and the referee separated them. Styles sent Riddle to the corner and stomped him to the mat. Styles connected with a Dragon Screw and went to work on Riddle’s left knee.
Matt battled back with a forearm to the face and followed it up with the Broton. Riddle lifted up AJ in the Fireman’s Carry and hit him with the Bro to Sleep. Riddle followed it up with a running knee and went for the cover but AJ kicked out at the last moment as SmackDown went to a commercial break.
AJ was back in control when SmackDown returned and was still targeting Riddle’s left knee. Riddle hit a German Suplex out of nowhere and then delivered some body jabs to AJ in the corner. Styles decked Matt with a Superkick to the face and set up for the Styles Clash but Matt blocked it.
Riddle hit the Ripcord Knee (Final Flash) and made his way to the top rope. Matt went for the Floating Bro but Styles got out of the way and Riddle crashed to the canvas. Styles planted Matt with a Brainbuster and went for the cover but Matt kicked out at the last second. AJ connected with a Michinoku Driver for another near fall.
Styles locked in the Calf Crusher in the middle of the ring but Riddle countered into a submission of his own. AJ escaped into a roll-up for the pinfall victory. AJ Styles is still the Intercontinental Champion. After the match, Styles shook Riddle’s hand but King Corbin attacked Matt from behind. AJ exited the ring and Corbin planted Riddle with the End of Days to close the show.
Opinion: Riddle and Styles put on a very good match tonight and Matt looked like he belonged. A feud against Baron Corbin does nothing for me and hopefully Riddle just walks through him. Overall, this week’s episode of SmackDown was a decent show that did very little to create excitement for Extreme Rules: The Horror Show this Sunday night.
The betting odds for all of the matches that will take place at the WWE Extreme Rules pay-per-view event have been released.
The card for the show that takes place this Sunday from Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center is likely or closed to be finalized. The company has yet to announce the pre-show match.
Make sure to join us for match recaps and our takeaways from this latest pay-per-view event held by WWE. Odds call for there to not be any titles changes. Instead, all champions are favored to retain their titles including Asuka edging out former champion Sasha Banks to retain the WWE RAW Women’s Title.
WWE Extreme Rules Betting Odds
The favorites to win are listed as – while the underdogs are listed with +. Here are the final betting odds courtesy of BetOnline:
WWE Champion Drew McIntyre (-2000) vs. Dolph Ziggler (+700)
WWE RAW Women’s Champion Asuka (-300) vs. WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion Sasha Banks (+200)
WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley (-600) vs. Nikki Cross (+350)
Bray Wyatt (-150) vs. Braun Strowman (+110) – Swamp Fight
Eye For An Eye Match: Seth Rollins (-150) vs. Rey Mysterio (+110)
WWE United States Champion Apollo Crews (-450) vs. MVP (+275)
WWE decided to book a big match between Matt Riddle and AJ Styles on SmackDown instead of saving it for its Extreme Rules pay-per-view event.
Styles successfully retained the Intercontinental Title during Friday’s episode of SmackDown from Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center. The finish of the match that aired on FOX saw Riddle get rolled up for the quick loss. After the match, Baron Corbin came out and attacked Riddle to further their feud.
The former NXT star made his SmackDown debut on the June 19th episode of the show when he interrupted Styles’ Intercontinental Title celebration in the opening segment.
They were then booked in a non-title match that saw Riddle go over Styles, which kicked off the feud.
The former UFC star wrapped up his successful run under the NXT banner when he competed in a Fight Pit match against Timothy Thatcher with special guest referee Kurt Angle during the May 27th episode of NXT.
WWE booking this championship match on the go-home episode of SmackDown for this Sunday’s Extreme Rules pay-per-view event caught some fans off guard as they believed it could’ve been saved for the PPV. However, based on the feedback on social media, it was a well-received match.
Dolph Ziggler has a chance to become WWE Champion and if it was a decision left up to Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, it would happen.
Of course, Ziggler will challenge WWE Champion Drew McIntyre for the strap this Sunday at the Extreme Rules pay-per-view event in Orlando, Florida.
WWE has yet to confirm the stipulation for the contest as Ziggler is supposed to pick it. However, he has gone on record by stating that he doesn’t plan on revealing it until the PPV.
WWE’s Instagram account shared a photo of Ziggler holding the WWE Title. Once the photo was posted, The Rock commented on the post where he gave his thoughts on the possibility of Ziggler becoming WWE Champion.
“I’d co-sign this decision [one-hundred percent],” Rock wrote. “Talented dude and always has a spark in his presentations.”
This led to McIntyre seeing the comments made by the former WWE Champion and responded by using one of Rock’s signature lines, “It doesn’t matter what you think.”
It should be noted that the future WWE Hall of Famer has given high praise to McIntyre as well. In fact, he stated last July that he thinks McIntyre could be the next big WWE Superstar. Fast forward to 2020, McIntyre is the top champion on the RAW brand.
Brian Cage is reevaluating his alliance with Taz after suffering a tough loss to Jon Moxley this week at Fight for the Fallen.
Cage looked impressive during his first opportunity challenging for the AEW World Championship. He showcased his signature style of power moves mixed with remarkable agility for a man of his stature. Moxley strategically worked on Cage’s surgically-repaired arm. Moxley put Cage in a crossface armbar submission but The Machine refused to quit. The finish came when Taz threw in the towel to save his client from another potential injury.
Taz tweeted the following on social media the following morning:
some of you DO understand why I did what I did during the #AEW World Title match between @JonMoxley v @MrGMSI_BCage…but for those who are mad about it, understand this I would do the exact same thing in that same situation again. #AEWDynamite#FightForTheFallen
Brian Cage has had a few days to think about the situation. He released a following statement on Friday about whether or not continuing with Taz is the best thing for his career. He is adamant that he was not going to to submit to Jon Moxley before Taz ended the match on his beehalf. Cage wrote:
“It’s been a rough couple of days, and Taz and I have gone back and forth,” Cage began. “I’ve considered relieving him of his duties, and wanted to immediately after the match. I’ll wait and see how I feel after the weekend.
Regardless, I never tapped. I wasn’t gonna tap. I only need one arm to drop mox on his head. I technically may no longer be undefeated, but I’m still unbeaten. And more importantly, the answer to the question “Who betta than Cage?”, is still NOBODY!”
AEW announcer Jim Ross had some interesting things to say about Brian Cage working with Taz. JR was critical of the FTW Championship storyline. He also feels Cage needs to show more personality on television. You can check out those comments below:
Today is the 9-year anniversary of Money in the Bank 2011. The main event of the show and the crowd response to it are arguably one of the most iconic moments in wrestling’s recent history. CM Punk defeated John Cena to win the WWE Championship on that night in front of a loud and raucous Chicago crowd.
Punk took to Twitter recently to note the 9-year anniversary of the event:
“I did a thing nine years ago. Couldn’t have done it without John Cena, Scott Armstrongand most importantly the fans. That crowd, that atmosphere is something I’ll never forget. Thank you all,” Punk Tweeted.
I did a thing nine years ago. Couldn’t have done it without @JohnCena, @WWEArmstrong and most importantly the fans. That crowd, that atmosphere is something I’ll never forget. Thank you all. #MITB
The Money in the Bank PPV from 2011 resulted in 195,000 pay-per-view purchases. Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter awarded the match between Punk and Cena 5-stars, which at the time, was the highest rating a match could receive.
In storyline, Punk was leaving the promotion but in reality, he had signed a new deal to stay. The next night on RAW a tournament took place to determine a new WWE Champion. Rey Mysterio won the tournament and the belt but would later drop it to Cena. Punk would then win it back from Cena at SummerSlam before Alberto Del Rios cashed in his MITB briefcase to close the show.
Apollo Crews was first called up to the main roster in 2016. In the 4 years since, he’s done less than many fans would have expected him to. He recently became the WWE United States Champion, the first title he has won since signing with the promotion.
Paul Heyman’s year running WWE creative provided Crews with more opportunities than he had in his previous 3 on the main roster. Crews spoke with Newsweek recently about what it was like working with Heyman and what it’s like now that he has been removed from the creative team.
“Working with Heyman was fantastic. He was so hands-on with me and he helped me a lot. He was one of the main reasons for me getting this opportunity and I’m very thankful for everything he’s done for me and helped me with,” Crews said to Newsweek. Crews would continue to say he doesn’t feel Heyman being gone will work against him.
“All I could do is look toward the future and I’m looking forward to working with Bruce [Prichard] as well. We’re going to make magic together and I’m excited for what’s to come and where I’m at right now. The company is seeing what I’m capable of after these past few months taking this opportunity and running with it.”
Crews has a big PPV match this Sunday at Extreme Rules. He’ll take on MVP with the newly-designed United States title belt on the line.
The wrestling world lost the greatest ring announcer in its history on April 16th, 2020. Howard Finkel was 69-years-old when he passed this spring. Finkel’s voice did the ring introductions for the Greatest Wrestling Match Ever between Randy Orton and Edge at Backlash last month. Edge recently spoke to WWE.com correspondents about the decision to have Finkel’s voice serve as ring announcer for the match.
“We’re going to have the old MSG microphone come down and we’re going to have Howard Finkel audio introducing Randy and I because how do you even contemplate calling this the greatest wrestling match ever unless you have Howard Finkel introducing it. That was my mindset,” Edge said.
Edge is currently on the shelf with a torn triceps suffered during the match. There is currently not timetable for his return. He spoke about when he suffered the injury recently on Booker T’s radio show.
“I did a springboard into the 2nd RKO and I went ‘ew, okay I got the cold sweats and I feel like I’m going to throw up’ that’s usually a sign. That’s where it popped.”
Many AEW fans have been speculating about a possible 4 Horsemen type group coming to the promotion. A few potential members of such a group have been dropping hints on social media and Tully Blanchard has been scouting matches of certain wrestlers as of late on Dynamite.
Jim Ross recently spent some time on his Grillin JR podcast and talking a bit about some incarnations of the faction that were not overly well-received. Conrad Thompson asked JR about a version of the group from 1990 which included Sid Vicious as a member.
“You’ve whittled away and whittled away and you make changes and you allow politics and personalities and egos to adversely affect an institution,” JR said. “Shame on us, shame on everybody involved.”
This version of the Horsemen did not include Tully Blanchard, who had left WWE in 1989. Arn Anderson has previously expressed some skepticism regarding the drug test that led to Blanchard’s release from WWE.
“The actual drug test that they claim Tully failed was like two drug tests ago, it wasn’t the last one that he had taken, does that make sense?” Arn asked on his podcast last December. “So if you go back and say ‘ok, well if he failed that one why did they let him work up until the point where he took another supposed drug test that he failed?”
JR and Conrad suggested that Tully’s failed drug test in WWE led to him not coming into WCW during that period either. JR suggested that this played a role in the 1990 version of the Horsemen not measuring up to previous incarnations.
“We needed Tully and we didn’t have him,” JR continued.
“I think there is just so much to be made about failing a drug test. It should have been kept confidential. There’s no reason for it to become public information. It was handled wrong. I don’t know that Tully even had a chance to come in and talk about it.”
Henry Cejudo appeared on a recent episode of AEW Dynamite as part of Mike Tyson’s entourage. The former Olympic gold-medalist and 2-division UFC champion recently retired from MMA, although some feel this is just a negotiation tactic for a new contract. In a recent interview with former TMZ reporter Adam Glyn, Cejudo confirmed he has had talks with AEW about coming in for future dates.
“I meant it when I said I’m retired,” Cejudo said. “There’s a boatload of money that could bring me back, but I think more importantly more than money for me is just legacy.”
Cejudo then continued to say his team has been in contact with AEW about a possible PPV event.
“We’ve been in contact with AEW,” Cejudo continued. “There’s a potential big pay-per-view event that they may want to hold but, there’s a lot, even amateur wrestling. There’s so many options that I don’t really know which one to pick because they all seem a little appetizing to me.”
Last January, Cejudo made headlines in wrestling circles for publicly asking Nikki Bella on a date.
