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Csonka’s WWE Extreme Rules Review 5.22.16

May 22, 2016 | Posted by Larry Csonka
Image Credit: WWE
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Csonka’s WWE Extreme Rules Review 5.22.16  

Csonka’s WWE Extreme Rules Review 5.22.16

OFFICIAL RESULTS
No Disqualification Kickoff Match: Baron Corbin defeated Dolph Ziggler @ 7:10 via pin [**]
Texas Tornado Tag Match: : Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson defeated The Usos @ 8:22 via pin [**¾]
WWE United States Title Match: Rusev defeated Champion Kalisto @ 9:19 via submission to win the US Title [***]
WWE Tag Team Title Match: Champions The New Day defeated The Vaudevillains @ 6:20 via pin [**½]
– Champion The Miz defeated Cesaro, Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens @ 18:10 via pin [****½]
Asylum Cage Match: Dean Ambrose defeated Chris Jericho @ 26:24 via pin [½*]
WWE Women’s Title Submission Match: Champion Charlotte defeated Natalya @ 9:30 via submission []
WWE World Heavyweight Title Extreme Rules Match: Champion Roman Reigns defeated AJ Styles @ 22:13 via pin [****½]


– The Dudleyz came out, rambled on about having more extreme matches than the whole locker room combined, and name-dropped ECW. They claimed that ECW went to shit when they left, and the same will happen with the new era guys. After running down New Jersey, Big Cass appeared. Cass made fun of them for eating the table and everything on it, and got the crowd into it. He then said that the new era would do what the Dudleyz used to do in the bingo halls and ballrooms, but show that they can do it better. Cass hit the ring and they brawled, miscommunication by the Dudleyz allowed Cass to stand tall.

– Miz gave a hilariously douchey promo, monologuing with dramatic music in the background as Maryse provided direction. They work so well together, and Miz is a complete asshole (in the best way possible).

– They did the social media lounge, where Rusev was awesome.

No Disqualification Kickoff Match: Baron Corbin vs. Dolph Ziggler: Ziggler attacked and was full of piss and vinegar early, but Corbin took the action to the floor and posted Ziggler to take the heat. Corbin slowly beat down Ziggler. The heat felt as if it lasted too long (it was only like 90-seconds), Ziggler made his comeback and hit his dropkicks and elbow drops for a near fall. Corbin cut him off and hit the deep six, which looks great, for a near fall. Ziggler was able to escape, they did some back and forth counters and Ziggler got a near fall off the fameasser. Corbin avoided the superkick, and low blowed Ziggler. The end of days finished it. This was possibly the least aggressive no DQ match I have seen in a long, long time; maybe ever. It was only there to set up the finish, which it works because Corbin is supposed to be an asshole. But they could have done way more with the stipulation. It was largely average, and fine otherwise.

Texas Tornado Tag Match: Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson vs. The Usos: The Usos attacked during the entrance of Doc and Karl, setting a good tone early and playing off of the previous issues between the teams. The Club eventually took control, isolating Jey for a bit, but Jimmy returned and stopped the doomsday device tease. The Club held control for the most part, with the crowd behind them. This is the most negative the crowd has been for the Usos. Gallows tried to use the ring bell, but Jimmy superkicked it into his face and then missed the top rope splash. The Magic Killer followed, and the good brothers picked up the win. The right team won, and they laid some groundwork for the main event as the Usos were helped to the back and commentary speculated that they might not be much help for Roman. Pretty good opener, but I felt they were holding back/never hit the higher gear I know they are capable of. Really, all things considered with the angle they have been involved in, it came off as a little bland.

WWE United States Title Match: Champion Kalisto vs. Rusev w/Lana: Rusev took control almost immediately, beating down Kalisto as commentary discussed the injury angle from Raw. We’re getting the basic monster vs. little man formula, which works here. Rusev worked the bear hug and human torture rack, again focusing on the back, which was, injured on Raw. It’s a bit slow, but it makes complete sense, which is appreciated. Kalisto did manage to make a comeback, catching Rusev with the tornado DDT and then running through his usual including a spike RANA for a near fall. Kalisto would send Rusev to the steps and then get a near fall off of the springboard frog splash. Rusev bailed to avoid the salida del sol, Kalisto hit he moonsault to the floor and then looked to finish off Rusev but Rusev press slammed him from the top onto the apron, again playing into the back injury. The ref and doctor tried to check on Kalisto, Rusev would have none of this and applied the accolade, bent Kalisto in half and won the title. That was a good and fun match overall, they worked the right match (Rusev the monster, Kalisto the resilient champion) and played off of the Raw angle well. Kalisto’s selling during the comeback was minimal at best, which hurts this a little, but overall this was good stuff.

– New Day cut a promo about the Vaudevillains destroying the time machine on Raw. Woods then said the ladies could slide into his DMs with pics and videos to console him. The crowd loves them; I know you’re surprised.

WWE Tag Team Title Match: Champions The New Day (Woods and Big E) w/Kofi vs. The Vaudevillains: Woods started and ran wild for about 30-seconds, until he got posted and the Vaudevillains took control. Woods fought back after a couple of minutes of basic beat down, hit an enziguri and tagged in Big E. Big E tossed both of the Vaudevillains around with suplexes, danced and hit his running splash. Big E went for his crazy spear to the floor, English countered with a knee and got a near fall. It broke down, with Gotch sending Big E into Woods. They all fought to the floor, Big E sent to the steps and then the Vaudevillains hit the whirling dervish n Woods, but he kicked out. The Vaudevillains were pissed; Woods fought back and Big E hit the spear through the ropes to the floor on English. Kofi then hit a kick to Gotch, shining wizard by Woods and New Day retains. I think the right team won there, New Day is entertaining and over big time; the Vaudevillains are sort of just there with me right now. They did a good job of making you think New Day was losing, as Woods was in instead of Kofi and he also took the dervish. I am sure this feud will continue, due to New Day winning by shenanigans. This was a solid but unspectacular match overall.

– Renee Young interviewed AJ Styles. She asked him about Gallows and Anderson, which annoyed AJ. He said no matter what he’d leave the world champion tonight. He then entered “The Club’s” locker room.

Fatal 4 Way WWE Intercontinental Title Match: Champion The Miz w/Maryse vs. Cesaro vs. Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens: Zayn took out Owens as soon as the bell rang, hitting he helluva kick. Cesaro then took Miz out with the uppercut, so he and Zayn could do good things. After some fun back and forth, Miz returned and got sent to the floor with Cesaro and Zayn hit the big dive. The three worked for a bit, and then at the 4-minute mark, Owens returned, posted Cesaro and they went right after Zayn. They are focusing on the weakness of the multi-man match, which is the crutch of constantly sending people to the floor so that it can stay “one on one.” The crowd is into this, and the work is good, but it just comes across as very predictable. Miz and Cesaro returned for the tower of doom spot, allowing Cesaro to get near falls on Zayn and Miz. They started to incorporate more stuff with Zayn, Miz and Cesaro (including a cool three-man suplex spot), which I liked and felt they did a good job working together. Cesaro ran wild running uppercuts to all three, Owens cut him off and hit cannonballs to all three. They did a great job of turning this around, picking up the action to a wild degree; they did the big move buffet, and Cesaro survived the skull-crushing finale. Miz made the poor choice of slapping Cesaro, and ate a springboard uppercut for his troubles. Cesaro would get the swing on Miz, and lock in the sharp shooter. Miz fought to Maryse, who got pulled in the ring, and Miz tapped on the distraction for the phantom submission. Owens hit Miz with the frog splash, and then ate the neutralizer but Zayn made the save. This was just some great stuff happening here, with good work from all four guys. Zayn got a great near fall off of the code red, and looked destroyed when the ref told him that it only got 2. Cesaro cut off the helluva kick, but Zayn hit the suplex to the corner and Owens came back for the superkick on Zayn, and pop powerbomb on Cesaro, Miz pulled him to the floor, hit the skull-crushing finale and then covered Cesaro in the ring for a near fall. Cesaro would send Miz to the floor, Zayn destroyed him with the helluva kick but Owens pulled Zayn to the floor and they brawled. Miz then picked the bones, pinning Cesaro to retain. The style of win fits the Miz character perfectly, while the obsession that Owens and Zayn have for each other cost them the title in the end. That was an excellent pro wrestling package with great work from all four men who played their roles almost perfectly; top tier stuff for the year so far. Good luck to everyone else following that, not saying it can’t be done, but that was spectacular.

Asylum Cage Match: Dean Ambrose vs. Chris Jericho: Jericho is going NWA Bunkhouse Brawl with the jeans on and his kneepads over them. This is pin or submission, with the door locked. Jericho, ever the chicken shit, tried to get a ref to open the door for him. It failed and Ambrose went on the attack. They both teased going for weapons, Ambrose got the mop and we got Moppy references. Ambrose then pretended to “mop up” Jericho because comedy. It feels like this should be a serious match, but as I mentioned, this is built off of killing a plant and destroying the Lite Brite jacket. It feels lethargic and not all that good so far. Ambrose got Nunchucks, Jericho got the barbed wire 2×4. Ambrose used the chucks and worked over Jericho with them, Jericho then tried to escape and they brawled at the top of the cage. This isn’t doing anything to entertain me right now, Jericho used a kendo stick and took control of things to an indifferent crowd reaction. Jericho then used the leather strap and worked 2016 heel heat, slow offense and a lot of yelling. They are painfully and slowly building to the straightjacket and plant spots. We’re 11-minutes in, and this has been the opposite of good. They’re not even getting the pops for the weapon spots. After crotching Jericho, Ambrose got a fire extinguisher. He took too long to use it, and Jericho threw the straightjacket in his face and then tossed him to the cage. This led to Jericho trying to lock Ambrose into he straightjacket. He failed, just like this match. The crowd was chanting for Rollins at the 17-minute mark as these two continued to work an extremely boring cage match. Ambrose went to the top of the cage and hit his wacky elbow drop to a standing Jericho. Ambrose then got the bucket opened it and pulled out a bag of thumbtacks. He spilled them out for the first real pop of the match. They teased the tacks spot several times, Jericho got the walls but Ambrose got the kendo stick and used it to escape. Jericho then used the fire extinguisher, and hit the code breaker for a near fall. Barbed wire board shots (to the back and gut) from Jericho followed as Jericho yelled a lot. He went for the code breaker, but Ambrose tossed him into the tacks to counter. It took nearly 26-munites but the crowd actually cared. Dirty deeds followed and Ambrose won. This was long, too long, had no heat and was dying a death but they kept going. I have discussed this before, Jericho is at a stage where he gets a match in his mind and no matter what he will work that match instead of working the crowd and changing things. This was another example of that. Just because Jericho took a dump into the tacks (respect for that, he doesn’t have to do it at his age and doesn’t need the money) but that doesn’t change the fact that the previous 26-minutes were bad. It also doesn’t help that no one buys into these big hardcore matches anymore, because WWE doesn’t do blood or headshots. I am not saying that their choice to stop those things is wrong, what I am saying is that you shouldn’t try and produce matches that have a history of blood and brutality if you aren’t going to use those story telling tools. This was very bad, but at least Ambrose won. The worst part is that the show was going well and they had a hot crowd, but a match like this one can not only hurt the show’s momentum but also kill the crowd, I hope it doesn’t.

WWE Women’s Title Submission Match: Champion Charlotte vs. Natalya: Ric Flair is banned from ringside, if he comes to the ring at all, Charlotte forfeits the title. Ok ladies, lets turn this around. Natalya took control early, out wrestling Charlotte and even taunting her and asking where her daddy was. Natalya was targeting the shoulder, Charlotte tried to battle back but Natalya pulled her to the mat and tried for the arm bar. Charlotte countered with the sitout powerbomb, and then started to work the knee and used an Indian death lock variation to ground Natalya. Charlotte connected with the moonsault and then applied the half crab. Natalya escaped, didn’t sell the leg, hit a German and locked in the sharp shooter. Natalya pulled Charlotte back center ring, Ric Flair’s music hit and someone dressed as Flair appeared. It was Dana Brooke. Natalya went after her, allowing Charlotte to attack and get the figure eight and Natalya tapped. Brooke kicked Natalya to the floor as Ric came out and celebrated with Brooke and Charlotte. The good news is that Natalya can work 3-4 times a week on the road with Brooke in order to get her better prepared. The bad was that the match wasn’t that good, odd flow, poor selling overall and the finish just didn’t come off well, especially after the poor match that preceded it. I had high hopes for these two, and they just did not deliver. Finally, Natalya is someone that has enough credibility to get the occasional push, but you can also beat her clean. We didn’t need this ending, we get too much of this ending, but they seem dead set on elevating Brooke, and will do so by association with Charlotte.

– Some will claim that the crowd hasn’t recovered due to the four-way, I’d argue that Jericho vs. Ambrose killed the crowd.

WWE World Heavyweight Title Extreme Rules Match: Champion Roman Reigns vs. AJ Styles: The crowd was clearly pro-Styles, and were enjoying giving reigns as much shit as possible. I don’t care who they cheer for, they were super vocal early and it made for a great environment. Much like last month, they worked the obvious power vs. speed game early on in the match. They did some spots, teasing using the chair, which has been part of the feud and made complete sense. We went to the floor and into the crowd, which I was fine with. The match is “extreme rules” and they don’t do it a lot these days, so it works here. The nature of this match should have chaos, playing off of how the feud has been booked, and this allows for that. Reigns played a great bully, which was amplified by the selling of Styles, which is on another level compared to most. In the interview with Cole this week, Styles claimed he’d do anything to win the title. He took padding off of the barricade and pulled up the padding on the floor, which was proof of that. Styles teased the clash on the exposed floor and announce table but Reigns was able to fight it off both times. This led to Reigns backdropping Styles from one announce table and through another. Reigns then hit the black tiger bomb for a great near fall. Styles turned the tide, clipping the knee of Reigns as he went for the spear. All was going well until Reigns caught Styles on a RANA try to the floor; Reigns slammed him to the barricade and apron, and then powerbombed him through the announce table. Sweet Christ I am amazed Styles is alive, that shit looked brutal. Styles was then able to sidestep Reigns, who crashed through the barricade. This series got the crowd to chant for both guys, and as Styles went for the springboard forearm, Reigns popped up with the Superman punch and Styles crashed to the floor. Reigns hit the spear on the floor, and looked to finish Style sin the ring but The Club arrived. Boot of doom to Reigns connected, and they put Styles on top but Reigns survived. The Usos arrived and laid out Styles and the Club. They hit the splash on Styles, Reigns covered but Styles survived! The others brawled on the floor, Reigns took out the Club but Styles countered the spear and hit the clash, but Reigns kicked out. Styles then set up the chair for the clash, Reigns backdropped out and Styles landed on the chair. PELE counter to the spear, CLASH on the chair! An Uso grabbed Styles, delaying the pin and Reigns kicked out. Styles hen laid into Reigns with chair shots, he took out the Usos as well! SWEET CHRIST STYLES IS CRAZD HERE! He took off the elbow pad, went for the forearm but Reigns caught him with the spear and retained. That was an excellent main event, with a hot crowd, a great use of the stipulation, it played into the established story well and had tremendous performances from Reigns and Styles. I loved it.

– Post match, Seth Rollins returned and laid out Reigns with the pedigree.

– End scene.

– Thanks for reading.

 photo fe36ffd0-0da4-4e3b-a2d3-b026b341dd87_zps41ef5d61.jpg
“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”

8.0
The final score: review Very Good
The 411
It’s a shame that the Asylum and Women’s title match were such busts, because had they been average to good, this could have been a show of year contender. We got two MOTY candidates in the IC & World Title matches, with great performances from all involved in those, and the rest of the show was pretty good. I enjoyed this month’s effort, especially the two stellar matches we got.
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