411’s WWE Extreme Rules 2016 Preview

The Staff

Kevin Pantoja, WWE NXT Reporter, Wrestling Zone Reviewer

Dylan Diot, Wrestling Zone Reviewer

Mitch Nickelson, Wrestling Zone Article Writer

Michael Weyer, Shining a Spotlight

Mike Hammerlock, Wrestling Zone 8-Ball

Rob Stewart, Wrestling Zone Article Writer

Sean Garmer, Wrestling 2 the MAX Podcast Co-Host, WWE Roundtable Organizer, Games Top 5 Organizer, Video Games 2 the MAX Podcast Host,

Dolph Ziggler vs. Baron Corbin
Pre-Show Kickoff: No Disqualification Match

Kevin Pantoja: Ugh. Baron Corbin should have just beaten Dolph Ziggler at Extreme Rules. WWE’s penchant for 50/50 booking is horrible and it has already reared its ugly head when it comes to Corbin. I’m surprised to see a stipulation match on the Kickoff Show. Anyway, if the WWE wanted to book this properly, Corbin would absolutely run though Ziggler. Knowing them, Ziggler wins this with another rollup. Still, I say this falls in the middle where Corbin wins a hard fought bout.

Winner: Baron Corbin

Dylan Diot: The pre show matches as of late have been really good so hopefully this match will continue the trend. With the No DQ stip, this could be really fun. I expect some clever spots and some stupid bumps from Ziggler, but the end game of this should be to make Corbin look like a killer and to blow off their feud.

Winner: Baron Corbin

Mitch Nickelson: I’m glad Corbin hasn’t been pushed to the side and forgotten already like poor Apollo Crews, but I don’t have much investment in this one. Sure, they’ll probably deliver a decent enough contest but they’ve fought each other so much recently. Didn’t Ziggler win that last time they wrestled on a pre-show? That means it’s Big Baron’s turn now.

Winner: Baron Corbin

Michael Weyer: It’s the kickoff match so not meaning too much. It promises some fun battles, of course with them going at it but nothing too special overall. I’ll go with Corbin to give him more of a push but a shame to see Ziggler stuck in the low runs like this.

Winner: Baron Corbin

Mike Hammerlock: Poor Dolph. The WWE never has a plan for him, so sometimes he’s working as enhancement talent. If he hadn’t re-upped with the company and instead gone to New Japan or Lucha Underground, he’d be having so much more fun. Corbin’s going to hoss up at some point and get the win. Nothing wrong with that. The WWE needs some big guys who look like actual threats. Dolph will make him look as good as he can, but there’s only so much we should expect from a pre-show match.

Winner: Baron Corbin

Rob Stewart: Was it really only a year-and-a-half ago that Dolph was maybe the hottest man in the company? It feels like it could well have been a decade ago. It’s so weird to me that WWE can hear crowds booing the life out of Roman Reigns and justify it as “Well, he’s getting a reaction, so we need more of the same!”, but when Dolph was getting Everest-sized pops, it was “Eh, this too shall pass”. It seems weird to keep throwing Baron Corbin on the pre-show if WWE is serious about pushing him anywhere, but maybe they just aren’t. Maybe he’s just supposed to be Another Guy #17. Pre-show is better than Apollo Crews is getting, at least. Anyhoos, Dolph won last show, so Baron wins here, right?

Winner: Baron Corbin, End of Days onto a chair

Sean Garmer: Well, let’s see, Dolph has won once, Baron won on RAW, Baron should win the feud, so it is Baron to drop Dolph with another End of Days.

Winner: Baron Corbin

(Champion) Kalisto w/ Sin Cara vs. Rusev w/ Lana
United States Championship Match

Kevin Pantoja: TONG PO! Rusev is the only example I can recall of a guy getting absolutely obliterated by John Cena, only to have his career be better within the year. Sure he’s no longer the unstoppable monster heel, but he’s been allowed to showcase a much different side. Rusev has allowed his personality to shine through and is consistently one of the most interesting people to watch on the roster. Kalisto is also a lot of fun, but his reign has been handled poorly. They haven’t treated him like he’s important. Instead, he wrestles and loses in tag matches or wins on Main Event and Superstars. It’s time for a new champion. Let the era of the real Rusev begin.

Winner: Rusev

Dylan Diot Kalisto’s underdog role has lead to some great matches over the best few months and Rusev is one of the most monster style workers the WWE has, so this has the potential to be really terrific. Rusev seems to be getting this push so that he takes the fall to John Cena when he returns, so expect Rusev to take this in strong fashion to get himself ready for the Cena feud over the next few months.

Winner and NEW WWE United States Champion: Rusev

Mitch Nickelson: Remember when Michael Cole was interviewing Rusev and Lana in a WWE.com interview and he asked them how comfortable they’d be with cameras in their houses for the filming of Total Divas? Rusev responded by saying “I could care less. I have cameras in my house anyways. Filming some stuff, you know what I mean?” He should get at least another year, maybe two, with the U.S. Championship for those comments alone.

Winner: Rusev

Michael Weyer: I do like Kalisto as champ, he’s a fun worker and such but we know where this is going. Rusev is the big guy, getting a push and we all know the sucker Vince is for “evil Russian as US Champion” so Rusev gets the belt and we can only hope it’s at least some decent challengers to make it interesting.

Winner and NEW US Champion: Rusev

Mike Hammerlock: I can’t bring myself to care. They aren’t doing much with Kalisto, so maybe he loses for that reason. And he might be needed for the upcoming Cruiserweight Classic. John Cena’s also coming back in another week and he needs someone to squish. So if Rusev’s holding the U.S. Title …

Winner: Rusev

Rob Stewart:Hey! Here’s a match that didn’t happen at Payback! Unless you just look at it as “Kalisto vs [big mean guy]”, and then… well, look, just don’t think about it that way! Think positive! Exciting, new match combination! Hurray! Okay, it’s not working. I’m trying to psych myself up for this one, and while I am not dreading it, I am just not stoked either. WWE is re-entering the phase they go through every few months where one of the secondary belts just feels extraneous, and I wish they’d just go about unifying them already. I’m still on board with Kalisto’s push, and I like the idea of keeping him going with another win here, but Rusev just doesn’t move the needle for me. It’s been ages since he has felt fresh.

Winner: Kalisto, Salida Del Sol

Sean Garmer: This one could go either way, especially since you have Money in the Bank coming up. Could they keep it on Kalisto and give him another win against a big guy, then Rusev wins it on RAW or they wait until Money in the Bank to do the rematch and Rusev wins there. They could also have Rusev win in a total squash or just beat Kalisto here to get the belt. This leaves Kalisto open to be in the MITB Ladder Match or to go back to tagging with Sin Cara or whatever it is they want him to do. WWE seems to be on the re-establishment front with Rusev. WWE also may be tempted to at least tease John Cena getting back his US Title the

Winner AND NEW CHAMPION: Rusev

The Usos vs. Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson
Texas Tornado Tag Team Match

Kevin Pantoja: Oh fuck this. I was looking forward to the arrival of Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows in the WWE. Hell, even the AJ Styles angle was very interesting for a while. Now, it’s just non-stop tag match after six man tag match after tag match. I’ve seen this far too many times for me to care. Yea the tornado rules will allow it to be worked differently but at this point, why should I give a shit? I’ll go with the Good Brothers to take this one.

Winner: Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson

Dylan Diot With the tornado tag stip, I expect this to be their most action packed and exciting match together to date. The Usos will probably do some cool dives and this should be very near fall heavy but in the end, Gallows and Anderson need the win and will probably get it here.

Winners: Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson

Mitch Nickelson: I’m hoping that for the sake of better branding, the main roster debut of Finn Balor happens sooner than later so they can add his last name to their “The Club” group name. These four have good chemistry even if the relatively clean wins by Jimmy & Jey recently haven’t made as much sense. The Texas Tornado stipulation, a video game favorite, should help this feel like a wild affair.

Winner: Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson

Michael Weyer: These types of matches are always fun and the Usos know how to hold a good brawl as much as a wild high-flying event. Expect plenty of both with a lot of cool bits but it seems WWE is intent on pushing Gallows and Anderson more so I expect them to have the win here and the Usos should be a good way to push them over.

Winners: Gallows & Anderson

Mike Hammerlock: This should be fun. All four guys know how to work and the teams provide a nice contrast with each other. So far this feud has gone really well, making Gallows and Anderson look like legit tough guys and injecting some life back into the Usos. Don’t know that we should expect a definitive end to their hostilities. Seems like this could stretch into the summer. Yet Gallows and Anderson are the new guys, so they probably need the win here.

Winner: Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson

Rob Stewart: It’s amazing that WWE can have already managed to make Gallows and Anderson feel stale. I like WWE–I really, honestly, and truly do–but there are times when I feel like their Creative Department lost a bet or something. To be fair, I can’t recall the last time I saw a good ol’ Tornado Tag Team match, and those are quite fun every now-and-again. I think this match could be entertaining and move at a fun pace, it’s just that, like so much else on this card, I don’t care about it. The Usos have been picking up the W’s recently, so The Club takes home this one so they have momentum to go after The New Day…

Winner: Gallows and Anderson

Sean Garmer: These two have had some good matches, I really haven’t liked the way that Gallows and Anderson have been booked. Anderson is clearly finding his way right now, especially since half his move set was taken away when he couldn’t do the Gun Stun because it is the same as Randy Orton’s RKO. That being said, Gallows and Anderson need a big win on PPV to look like a credible threat to anyone else in the tag division. Usos have done their fair share of owning in this feud and they are pretty fairly established in WWE at the moment. A loss for them, wouldn’t hurt them at all here. This should be an all out brawl and I enjoy those in my wrestling.

Winners: Gallows and Anderson

Chris Jericho vs. Dean Ambrose
Asylum Match

Kevin Pantoja: This is a tough one to call. One the one hand, Chris Jericho has been rumored to leave back to Fozzy for a while now and that would signal a loss for him here. On the other hand, Dean Ambrose never seems to win on Pay-Per-View. Considering he got a rare one at Payback, the numbers would point to him losing again. It’s kind of a toss up. If Jericho sticks around, he wins here and I suspect Dean gets the rubber match. If Jericho leaves, Dean wins and picks up some momentum. I think the latter happens.

Winner: Dean Ambrose

Dylan Diot For me, this is the match that I’m uncertain of what’s going to happen in terms of match quality and booking. Considering the build up to this has been about a potted plant and a light up jacket, this could end up being a wacky weapons match that can fall flat or be a complete disaster. On the other hand, this could be surprisingly brutal and intense and match the quality of their Payback match. I hope for the latter and as for the result, logical booking calls for Ambrose to win in a match is designed to be his specialty, but it’s WWE so Jericho will probably get the win and we’ll have a blow off on Raw.

Winner: Chris Jericho

Mitch Nickelson: I’m glad that Dean Ambrose is in this feud because he’s been at one of those points for the past couple of months where I haven’t been super into him. I blame the Brock match at Mania. Thankfully, Chris Jericho has been one of the best things about WWE for the same amount of time, so the pairing works to his advantage. This new stipulation intrigues me. I think they’ll find some creative ways to make the Ambrose Asylum a success. Even though Dean won their last encounter, I think he just might go over once more. I wouldn’t complain if I’m wrong, though.

Winner: Dean Ambrose

Michael Weyer: This has been a damn fun feud with both guys giving it their all and Jericho nicely giving more of a rub to Ambrose. Throwing them into a cage just promises to add to it, expect some slams around, maybe even some blood too and it should elevate them up big time. I’ll give it to Ambrose, quite likely with this setting and hopefully boosts him up a bit more.

Winner: Dean Ambrose

Mike Hammerlock: I insisted when Jericho made his most recent return it was primarily to face Ambrose. Circumstances prevented it from happening at WrestleMania, but here we are. The stip is a bit goofy and I worry the WWE will once again make Ambrose’s “psycho” nature more of a gimmick than a personality (we all remember the dummy promo), but the match should be fun. Dean with the Lite Brite jacket? You can’t tease that and not deliver.

Winner: Dean Ambrose

Rob Stewart: Well, okay. So this is a new match type, and it’s got that going for it, which is nice. Does anybody else get the feeling that Dean Ambrose is going the way of Dolph Ziggler? That WWE is doing everything in their power to get us to stop caring about a guy who the fans have been absolutely boiling hot for? Maybe that’s just me because I do not care an iota about this feud. I do not care about a cage match with toys. I really enjoy both Dean and Jericho, but this feud, like a lot of others in WWE right now honestly, just feels tedious. Dean won at Payback, and WWE loves their eye-for-an-eye booking, so Jericho feels like the sensible choice here. But boy, that just seems too pointless.

Winner: Dean Ambrose, Dirty Deeds to a straight-jacketed Jericho

Sean Garmer: I’m all for Lethal Lockdown in WWE, hopefully this is fun and that they can use some of the weapons that are on the cage. Jericho and Ambrose have really made chicken salad out of the material they’ve been given and this should put an end to this. Ambrose seems like a lock for the Money in the Bank match, while I wonder if it is time for Jericho to leave again.

Winner: Dean Ambrose

(Champions) New Day vs. Vaudevillains
WWE Tag Team Championship Match

Kevin Pantoja: Even before the unfortunate injury to Enzo Amore, I had the Vaudevillains picked as the winners of the Tag Team Tournament. Save the Enzo and Cass/New Day feud for down the line, which should be golden. The Vaudevillains were getting next to no heat until the Enzo injury, so it happened to help them out. Still, I don’t think they have enough traction to be champions quite yet. The New Day still rank among the most entertaining acts in all of wrestling and I could see them reaching the one year mark as champions.

Winner: The New Day

Dylan Diot Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows are probably going to end up with the Tag Team Championships in the immediate future, so the New Day would be the right team to put them over. New Day will hold on to the championships here in a solid match and I think Big Cass and potentially a returning Enzo get involved to get some revenge on the Vaudevillians, setting up their feud as well.

Winners and Still WWE Tag Team Champions: The New Day

Mitch Nickelson: New Day has held on to the WWE Tag Titles for quite a while and I wouldn’t have a problem with them holding those for even longer. They’ve been consistently one of the best (and funniest) parts of WWE, so reward them with the titles for a lengthy reign. The counterpoint to this was well-written by Greg DeMarco when he said in the recent 411 Fact of Fiction that the belts are “merely a prop” and “could do wonders for The Vaudevillains.” I see that argument and would like to see Simon Gotch & Aiden English solidified on the main roster, but my gut tells me that New Day will retain.

Winners: The New Day

Michael Weyer: Amore’s injury has shaken things up although the Vaudevillains are still a top contender. The match should be terrific but still not seeing New Day dropping the belts just yet. WWE seems to want to wait for Amore to come back and still plenty of life in New Day to push more so they’ll retain for a rematch down the road and should be a good match to watch.

Winners and still WWE Tag Team Champions: The New Day

Mike Hammerlock: The New Daylorean was the best bit the WWE has done in forever. Give those guys their own network. However, like with Cesaro, Big E and Kofi might be in the MITB mix. If so, moving the tag belts off of them, perhaps to be reclaimed at SummerSlam, could be the play here. English and Gotch would benefit mightily from a win. I’ve been impressed with them so far. They could have flopped like the Ascension, but they seem to be getting over as a legit team.

Winner: The Vaudevillains

Rob Stewart: I’ve heard rumblings about the interwebs that Vince is already tired of The Vaudevillains and “doesn’t get them”, and while that is disheartening, this match could still be fun. I really dig the way these two teams’ personalities foil each other, with the Vaudevillains being this straight-faced, serious act, and The New Day being… well, The New Day. There’s a lot of fun to be had with that dynamic. I think this match will be enjoyable, but ultimately unimportant. I don’t see The New Day really being in any danger of dropping their titles until they run afoul of The Club. And hey, I just realized something… at a show called “Extreme Rules”, did WWE just run out of match stipulations for this and the US Title bouts, or am I missing them?

Winner: The New Day, Big Ending to Gotch

Sean Garmer: Even with the unfortunate injury to Enzo, the tag team scene in WWE remains wide open. New Day could transition into something with Gallows and Anderson, they could have a face vs. face big match at Summerslam against Enzo & Cass, or you could have Vaudevillains win the titles here and help their push a little more. New Day are a comedy team, although they do like to remind you that they are the tag team champions all the time, much like The Outlaws did, they don’t need to belts to be successful. That being said, I just don’t see Vince pulling the trigger here and New Day retain.

Winners AND STILL CHAMPIONS: New Day

Charlotte vs. Natalya
WWE Women’s Championship Submission Match

Kevin Pantoja: Man, I hate this feud. Both girls are solid in the ring (though Charlotte is horeshit at selling since the main roster call up), but why should I give a shit? Their characters are still just “my family wrestled”. Not having Ric at ringside should allow for the match to be better than the Payback one and hopefully it doesn’t have a screwy finish. Give Charlotte the win and move the title to Sasha Banks already dammit. This waiting is just stupid.

Winner: Charlotte

Dylan Diot This match should be a step up from Payback with Ric Flair likely not being involved in the match until the finish. With this stipulation, we know Flair will find his way to ringside so the intrigue is how we get to this point. So long as Charlotte definitively beats Natalya without an over the top screw job like last month, the Flair stuff won’t take too much away from what can be a great match. Charlotte retains and hopefully finally moves on to the Sasha Banks feud we’ve been waiting for.

Winner and Still WWE Women’s Champion: Charlotte

Mitch Nickelson: Since this is Extreme Rules, is it more ‘extreme’ that this is a Submission Match or that Ric Flair is banned from ringside? Neither seem all that extreme but that should help differentiate this bout from everything else on the card. Sure, there’s the story of Ric and his possible involvement despite the rules, but while much of the other matches are going to be about finding unique ways to use a variety of weapons, these ladies will instead be focusing on who can bring the better mat game. I think Charlotte’s holding her title until she faces Sasha at SummerSlam, so no win for Natalya here.

Winner: Charlotte

Michael Weyer: The stip is good to end some distractions for Charlotte and let this be a great match in its own right. They have done great together and if they get enough time, a possible match of the night contender in store with this. It’ll be back and forth but in the end, Charlotte gets the win and push more and nice to see the belt get some serious respect at last.

Winner and still Women’s Champion: Charlotte

Mike Hammerlock: Banning Ric Flair from ringside only guarantees Ric Flair will find his way down to ringside. He’s incorrigible. Credit to Nattie for carrying her end in this feud. She’s there to give Charlotte a rub until they decide to go with the inevitable Sasha-Charlotte feud. Should probably mention here that it is high time we got a women’s MITB match (which Sasha should win). As with much of the rest of this card, the action here should be entertaining. The finish probably will be annoying, but “Nattie would have won, except for …” seems like the direction this one is headed.

Winner: Charlotte

Rob Stewart: I really talked myself into thinking Natalya would win the belt at the last show just for Charlotte to regain it here (and win the rubber match at Money In The Bank). I’m not going to do that again, but there is at least enough doubt for me on this one that I don’t see the winner as preordained as so much else on this card. This stipulation confuses me, because it seems like they’d go for a contest where Natalya couldn’t get screwed over again, but this match could conceivably climax in the exact same fashion as their match at Payback. I’m sure there’ll be a monkey wrench to thwart that, but storytelling-wise, making this a submission match doesn’t exactly make enough sense for a dollar. I’ll go Charlotte here and probably be wrong again.

Winner: Charlotte, via Figure 8

Sean Garmer: The stipulation should allow for there to finally be that singles match that makes you stand up and say “ok, this is what the women can do.” Somehow though, I feel like this is made for Ric Flair to make his way down to the ring another way or perhaps send someone else in his stead. We know what’s happening here, Charlotte will win, but I hope we get something more similar to their NXT match, especially since that one was very mat based as well. This should set up the return of Sasha and lead into the big women’s program at Summerslam.

Winner AND STILL CHAMPION: Charlotte

(Champion) The Miz w/ Maryse vs. Cesaro vs. Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn
WWE Intercontinental Championship Fatal 4 Way Match

Kevin Pantoja: At Payback, I picked Miz to retain against Cesaro with a rollup or something like that. I was right. Here it’s tougher. Again, it would be tough to see the WWE pass up another chance to put the strap on Cesaro. He returned to great pops and has put on some really strong matches already. I feel that Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn are going to cancel each other out. They’ll brawl and continue their rivalry, leaving the outcome to be between Cesaro and Miz again. With Money in the Bank coming up next, I could see Miz sneaking out another win and allowing Cesaro to enter that match as a possible winner. Hell, I’m gonna predict that.

Winner: The Miz

Dylan Diot This is the only match on the show that I think is a lock to be great and could easily be the match of the night. The build-up has been solid, Miz has more than held his own with the other three, so I expected a really exciting match with clever multi-man spots and many close calls to get the fans unglued. The real meat of this is Owens/Zayn, so Owens should sneak out of this with the championship again so we can keep their story going now with the championship in play.

Winner and NEW WWE Intercontinental Champion: Kevin Owens

Mitch Nickelson: There are plenty of matches that have the potential to steal the show and this one just might have the most potential on this card. The blending of Cesaro and The Miz into the pre-existing Zayn vs. Owens feud has worked to everybody’s advantage. The IC Title feels pretty relevant with this group of talents all vying for the strap. Hopefully WWE remembers to insert new talents into this mix when some of these guys move on. Zayn and Owens have a feud that’s entertaining enough on its own, so I think that’ll keep them from victory. That leaves Cesaro and The Miz as the more likely winners, so my guess is Cesaro captures it. That’ll set up a few months of matches for Miz to try win his belt back.

Winner: Cesaro

Michael Weyer: I can see some folks upset over Ryder not even close to this match but that’s how it bounces. It should be a good battle with the four gelling well for some hard shots and plenty of brawling. Normally, this sort of match favors the champion but with word that WWE wants to give Owens more of a push, it makes sense that he gets the belt back and hopefully more of a good run to boost him up for the future.

Winner and NEW IC Champion: Kevin Owens

Mike Hammerlock: As long as Miz doesn’t win there’s no wrong choices. I’m thinking Cesaro doesn’t win the IC title so that he’s free to chase Money in the Bank. That leaves us with the Zayn-Owens war that surely stretches out to SummerSlam. Since Kevin’s had the IC belt twice, maybe Sami can win it here, giving Owens reason to declare that they are far from done with each other.

Winner: Sami Zayn

Rob Stewart: Okay, now we’re cooking with oil. Not only is this a match I am actually looking forward to (looking forward to it a lot, too), but it’s one where the winner doesn’t seem set-in-stone. There’s virtually no way this match doesn’t steal the show (though on this card, that’s hardly an achievement worth unlocking), and I could easily see any of these four guys walking away with the belt. They’ve all been established well enough recently that I’d buy a title win (or successful defense) for any of them. The Miz has just been so much fun lately in his smarmy role with Maryse by his side; Cesaro just has the feel about him like WWE wants to do something with him; Owens has been and continues to be the best heel in WWE and is doing great work at getting himself over as an absolute jerk; Zayn is still putting on great matches and making things feel fun. I’m leaning, ever so slightly, to The Miz retaining here. For some reason, it just seems like he should drop this belt at SummerSlam to either Cesaro or Zayn.

Winner: The Miz steals a pin on Zayn after a Pop-Up Bomb from Owens

Sean Garmer: This match is interesting because there’s a lot of possibilities here. You could keep the IC Belt on Miz to continue to establish this character with Maryse and have him face a combination of these guys for a bit. You can have Cesaro win it, he can be a fighting champion of sorts, similar to how Cena was with the US Title. You could also have either Owens or Zayn win it, so they can continue their battle with a title involved. I feel like you give the title to Owens. Let Zayn keep this thing going with him, let him chase the belt, and you have a feud that can last as long as they want. It is possible all four of these guys wind up in Money in the Bank, but I think you can keep Owens and Zayn away from it, put Miz and Cesaro in MITB and perhaps this will be Cesaro’s moment to shine. I just hope this holds up as the possible show stealer that we know this can be and all four men go out there and tear it down like we know they can.

Winner AND NEW CHAMPION: Kevin Owens

(Champion) Roman Reigns vs. AJ Styles
WWE World Heavyweight Championship Extreme Rules Match

Kevin Pantoja: Talk about potential that has kind of gone down the drain. This feud was all sorts of intriguing heading into Payback and the match itself mostly delivered outside of the shenanigans. Since then though, this feud has mostly disappointed with only a few moments to really interest me. I expect this will be another good match between two guys that know what they’re doing. Unfortunately, with the new of the returns of John Cena, Randy Orton, Bray Wyatt and a few others, I could see AJ Styles being taken out of the main event spotlight. Regins retains and moves onto another small feud before we get Reigns/Cena or something at SummerSlam.

Winner: John Cena

Dylan Diot The feud and story line for this match has been very good and I expect this match to top last month. Both men will probably have a ton of tricks up their selves and this should end up being a very creative and simultaneously brutal match. I actually believe the match will have a clean finish, with Styles not allowing Gallows and Anderson to interfere, which leads to a clean Reigns win and The Club turning on Styles after the match, setting the stage for the reveal of the man who brought them in the next night on Raw.

Winner and Still WWE World Heavyweight Champion: Roman Reigns

Mitch Nickelson: I never would’ve guessed that AJ Styles would main event a couple of Pay-Per-Views so soon in his WWE tenure but here we are. WWE has been digging their heels in for a Roman reign (get it?) for the better part of two years, so I do not see Styles upending him in this match. Still, they gel great together and should deliver a solid performance. I’m hoping that AJ’s loss is due to Gallows & Anderson turning on them, but a clean loss wouldn’t bother me too much either.

Winner: Roman Reigns

Michael Weyer: With word of Vince seemingly down on Roman now, some might speculate a surprise title change. But I don’t see it as Roman still the guy for now, at least until Cena gets back. The battle will be a decent brawl with Styles showing his stuff but expect a screwy finish of some sort to throw things off and let Roman retain although a Styles win would be fantastic for the company.

Winner and still WWE World Champion: Roman Reigns

Mike Hammerlock: Credit to all involved, this feud has worked out pretty well. I don’t think they can keep Reigns in this gray area for long, because fans are still against him and because he’s the natural choice to become the big bad on this roster. A turn here with Gallows and Anderson suddenly joining forces with Reigns would be just about note perfect. Then you can get mileage out of Reigns-Ambrose, Reigns-Cena (hello SummerSlam), Reigns-Cesaro and Reigns-Rollins. It all folds up quite neatly if they go that route. Close but no cigar also makes AJ a more interesting character. It lights a fire under him for MITB and gets casual fans more invested for when he finally does reach the top of the mountain. AJ’s buds could turn on him without Reign’s involvement too, though that would be less of a holy shit moment. As an aside, no way this match is going to be nearly as extreme as Sexy Star vs. Mariposa.

Winner: Roman Reigns

Rob Stewart: If you listen carefully… if you turn off your volume and shush your children and sit very, very still… you may still hear the sigh I just let out being carried on the breeze. I don’t want to be Generic IWC Guy, but I just do not enjoy Roman Reigns at all. The rate at which my opinions from Roman have changed from “Oh, he’s not that bad” to “Oh, he’s a bit played out, but I’d really dig a heel turn for him” to “I would be as happy as a puppy with a twig if he just never showed up on wrestling again” is astonishing. And this feud is making me mad at AJ Styles by association; not “oh, you naughty heel!” mad, but just “why aren’t you making this more fun?” mad. It’s the easiest call of the night: Roman retains with a Spear after taking everything AJ Styles could even contemplate dishing out. The only question that remains is if AJ goes full-heel here. I’m going to say no, this ends in a respectful, but intense, handshake.

Winner: Roman Reigns, Spear.

Sean Garmer: This feud has been so well done. It has helped both guys tremendously. I would have preferred WWE stop being so up their own asses with Roman Reigns and actually keep the shades of gray that both characters had. It was much more interesting when AJ was fighting against his own brothers that he wanted to do this solo. It also has made him look like a guy that flip flops on what he says, because he keeps wanting to win the title by himself, but every week it’s something a bit different. Either way, I enjoyed their match at Payback, Styles got to do The Clash on the chair to Roman on RAW, this has been refreshing from a World Title feud. We know Roman is winning, but don’t be surprised if Gallows and Anderson cost him the title opportunity and this goes on for another month.

Winner AND STILL CHAMPION: Roman Reigns

Overall Thoughts & PPV Interest Level (from 1 being the worst to 5 being the best)

Kevin Pantoja: My interest level for this PPV is a 2: I was more excited for Payback. This time around, the card is significantly weaker and part of that is because the build for some matches have gotten weaker. The main event will be good, the Intercontinental Title match should be fun as should the Asylum match and there’s potential for a Rusev title win. Other than that, I’m not interested at all.

Dylan Diot: My interest level for this PPV is a 4: They kept the build to this show simple and I’m genuinely intrigued by the outcome of several of the matches and where the results will take us as we move into the road to SummerSlam. This card looks great on paper and I’m confident in the Intercontinental and WWE Championship matches delivering big time. I’m expecting a very entertaining show and hopefully WWE can keep the positive momentum coming out of Payback going here.

Mitch Nickelson: My interest level for this PPV is an 4: Having so many top stars on the cusp of returning, it’s amazing to see the quality of matchups on this lineup. Over the next few months I worry for many of the wrestlers on the lower tiers of the card because they might not still have a spot. Granted, who can complain about the impending returns of guys like Cena, Orton, and Rollins? Anyways, Extreme Rules should be a solid night of wrestling that I very much look forward to viewing. Now put together the first letter of every sentence in this paragraph, eat your vitamins, say your prayers, and enjoy this show on the WWE Network on Sunday night, brother.

Michael Weyer: My interest level for this PPV is a 2: Some good stuff like Ambrose/Jericho and the Women’s match but it feels like filler until the various injured guys come back. SummerSlam is coming to build up to more but this is more a “Placeholder” show without major stuff so probably skippable in the end.

Mike Hammerlock: My interest level for this PPV is a 3: The card should be perfectly watchable, but I’m not sure anything important is going down here. Seems like a showcase event where we get to appreciate the talent on display more than a show which is going to get everyone buzzing. I’d love to be wrong about that, but the WWE doesn’t aim to shock and awe all that often. A lot of what happens at this show will be done to set the wheels for MITB in motion.

Rob Stewart: My interest level for this PPV is a 1.5: And that breaks down like this: 1 point for the IC title match + 0.5 for the Tag Team Title Match + 0 combined for everything else. Extreme Rules 2016 is the classic case of the old “Fool me once…” adage, and in the words of our former President, “I can’t get fooled again”. I was stoked for Payback and had high hopes for it, and it ended up stinking on ice. Maybe if I go into this one expecting to have as much fun as I would if I spent 3 hours cleaning up my cat’s hairballs, it will be better. Cross your fingers.

Sean Garmer: My interest level for this PPV is a 4: There’s some matches I don’t care about, but for the most part, the matches presented here are interesting and could move WWE in many directions with some of these feuds. I am certainly interested in what happens on this PPV.

Well, that is all for this Roundtable everyone. Don’t forget to leave us your thoughts and predictions below in the comments and we will see you again later this month for WWE Extreme Rules 2016.

Remember to join 411 for our LIVE PPV coverage, starting at 7:00pm ET Sunday night.

If you’d like to listen to Sean Garmer and his co-hosts do a WWE Extreme Rules 2016 Preview, they also give predictions of both blocks of the NJPW Best of the Super Juniors XXIII Tournament, discuss the latest wrestling news, Lucha Underground, and much more. You can click the youtube play button or listen to the show in I-Tunes, Stitcher, or wherever else you listen to podcasts. Just search Wrestling 2 the MAX and you should find it pretty easily.