wrestling / Video Reviews
From The Network – WWE Extreme Rules 2015
Loading...WWE Extreme Rules 2015
4-26-15
Chicago, IL
Your hosts are Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler, and JBL.
Pre-Show
Bad News Barrett vs. Neville
Barrett was supposed to challenge Daniel Bryan for the Intercontinental Championship but he is still recovering from injury so the match is off. Barrett cuts a pre-match promo mocking Bryan and calling himself the England’s Michael Jordan without the gambling problems. Barrett overpowers Neville to start and Neville comes back with a springboard crossbody for 1. Tilt-a-whirl head scissors by Neville and he dropkicks Barrett off the apron. Barrett sweeps the legs of Neville on the apron and he tosses Neville into the barricade as we go to break.
Back and Barrett has a rear chin lock on Neville. Neville fights out and goes for a head scissors but Barrett blocks with a punt to the midsection. Barrett works over Neville in the corner and throws another punt to the midsection for 2. Barrett goes back to the rear chinlock but again, Neville fights out. Big boot by Barrett gets 2. Slingshot back breaker by Barrett gets 2. Barrett goes back to the chin lock but Neville fights out. Neville throws some kicks and dropkicks the leg of Barrett. Basement dropkick by Neville and Barrett bails. Corkscrew plancha to the floor by Neville!!! German suplex by Neville gets 2. Winds of Change by Barrett gets 2. Neville slingshots but Barrett catches him and hits Wasteland for 2!!! Barrett misses the Bull Hammer and Neville hits the enzuigiri. Neville goes up but Barrett crotches him. Neville catches Barrett with a high kick and he goes up. Red Arrow by Neville gets 3.
Winner- Neville ***1/4 (Very good match for the pre-show as it told a solid big man/little man story and it showcased the amazing high flying ability of Neville. The chin locks were a little tedious but the final stretch was hot stuff.)
Main Show
Chicago Street Fight- Dean Ambrose vs. Luke Harper
They brawl on the floor to start and back in; Ambrose catches Harper with a clothesline, forcing him to bail. Suicide dive by Ambrose and he tosses Harper into the steps. Back in, Ambrose nails Harper a few times with a kendo stick and he sets up a chair. He goes for a suplex but Harper blocks and reverses into a suplex of his own onto the chair. Harper nails Ambrose a few times with the kendo stick and he drives the kendo stick into the head of Ambrose. Harper blocks a Tornado DDT attempt and he pole vaults Ambrose into a chair in the corner for 2. Ambrose comes back by slamming Harper onto the chair. Ambrose dumps Harper to the floor and back in, Ambrose catches him with a Tornado DDT. Ambrose fires away and catches Harper with a shotgun dropkick. Ambrose goes up and hits the standing flying elbow drop for 2. Ambrose goes for the Jawbreaker Lariat but Harper blocks with a big boot. Ambrose low bridges Harper and he goes for another suicide dive but Harper blocks. Rebound lariat by Ambrose and he beats Harper with a kendo stick all the way to the back. They brawl backstage and Harper gets into a car. Ambrose jumps in the car window and the car drives away!!!!! The match isn’t officially over yet but we don’t know where the hell these two went.
HHH calls Kane into his office and he orders Kane to go find Harper and Ambrose. Seth Rollins comes in and HHH tells the two of them to get on the same page. Rollins couldn’t agree more but he says Kane didn’t protect him on Smackdown by tossing him into a Reigns spear. Kane and Rollins argue and Kane says tonight, he will do what is best for business.
Kiss Me Arse Match- Dolph Ziggler vs. Sheamus
Ziggler attacks to start and he catches Sheamus with a dropkick. Ziggler tackles Sheamus to the floor and Sheamus tosses Ziggler into the steps. Ziggler uses the steps to hit a Tornado DDT onto the floor. Back in, Sheamus comes back with a bicycle knee and he throws a knee lift on Ziggler. Sheamus clobbers Ziggler on the apron and back in; he grabs a rear chin lock. Ziggler fights out so Sheamus catches him with a sit-out power bomb for 2. Short arm clothesline by Sheamus and he goes back to the rear chin lock. Ziggler fights out and he fires away on Sheamus. Avalanche in the corner by Ziggler but Sheamus comes back with the sledgehammer. Irish Cloverleaf by Sheamus but Ziggler counters into a cradle for 2. Super kick by Ziggler gets 2. Sheamus hot shots Ziggler and hits the tilt-a-whirl back breaker for 2. Release suplex by Sheamus and he goes for the Brogue Kick but Ziggler catches him with a roll-up for 2. Tilt-a-whirl slam by Sheamus gets 2. Ziggler counters a suplex into a small package for 3!!!
Winner- Dolph Ziggler *** (Good albeit short match. Sheamus got a chance to show off his aggressive new attitude and Ziggler was game to take a beating for him. With more time, this could have been really good.)
Sheamus freaks out after the match and he tries to find a way out of getting out of the stipulation. Sheamus finally gets on his knees and he goes low on Ziggler!!! Brogue Kick to Ziggler and Sheamus says he promised the world Ziggler would kiss his arse. He shoves Ziggler’s face into his ass and stands tall.
WWE Tag Team Championships- Cesaro and Tyson Kidd w/Natalya © vs. The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Big E.) w/Xavier Woods
Kingston and Kidd start. Feeling out process and we reach a stalemate. Backslide by Kidd gets 2 and Big E tags in along with Cesaro. Big E overpowers Cesaro but Cesaro comes back with a slam. Double stomp by Cesaro gets 1. Tag to Kidd and the champs stomp away on Big E in the corner. Kingston tags in and he grabs the chin lock. He dumps Kidd to the floor and back in, Kidd catches Kingston with a clothesline. He lowbridges Big E and hits the Tope Con Hilo on Kingston. Big E clotheslines Kidd and back in, Big E stomps away on Kidd in the corner. The challengers take turns stomping away on Kidd in the corner and Kingston hits a corner basement dropkick for 2. Half nelson by Kingston but Kidd escapes. Dropkick by Kingston gets 2 and Big E tags in. Big splash misses and Kidd low bridges Big E, sending him crashing to the floor again. Back in, Cesaro and Kingston tag in. Cesaro presses Kingston into the corner and he hits some running uppercuts in the corner. Short arm clothesline by Cesaro gets 2. Kingston goes for the springboard crossbody but Cesaro catches him and hits a tilt-a-whirl back breaker for 2. Kingston goes up but Cesaro uppercuts him and Kidd tags in. Deadlift suplex by Cesaro and Kidd follows up with the springboard elbow drop for 2. Kingston blocks the Sharpshooter and Big E tags in. Big E spears Kidd off the apron and to the floor!!! Big E backdrops Cesaro on the floor and back in, New Day hits the double Big Ending for 2 as Cesaro saves!!! Cesaro tackles Big E to the floor and Kidd counters Trouble in Paradise into the Sharpshooter!!! Big E breaks it up with an overhead belly to belly suplex. Standing double stomp by Kidd to Kingston and Cesaro delivers the CESARO SWING~!!!! Dropkick by Kidd and Cesaro covers but Woods distracts the ref. Natalya slaps Woods and Kidd delivers the PK kick to Woods from the apron. Kingston rolls up Cesaro with the tights for 3!!!
Winners and NEW WWE Tag Team Champions- The New Day ***1/2 (This is the best showing I have seen from the New Day, as the heel turn seems to have breathed new life into the act. With the time constraints, they didn’t to not even have a heat segment so we had a hot and wild tag match that the crowd was really into. Another match on the show that could have used more time, but they did great with the limited time they had to work with.)
The New Day celebrates winning the tag titles backstage and suddenly, a car crashes into the building. Harper comes out of the vehicle and AMBROSE DIVES OFF THE CAR ONTO HARPER AND NEW DAY!!! They brawl backstage and they head back into the arena, where Ambrose catches Harper with a clothesline off the LED rig. Back in, Harper super kicks Ambrose but he comes back with the Jawbreaker Lariat. Ambrose and Harper toss some chairs into the ring and Ambrose fires away on Harper. Harper catches Ambrose with a sit-out power bomb onto the chair for 2. Harper piles the chairs on top of Ambrose and he goes up. Ambrose tosses Harper off the top onto the pile of chairs!!! Dirty Deeds by Ambrose gets 3.
Winner- Dean Ambrose *** (I’ll give some props for creativity, but I’m just annoyed that every Ambrose match has to revolve around him being a cartoonish lunatic instead of being a psychotic badass that got him over in the first place. I was digging the match before they left for an hour but I really just wanted this to be a stiff, hardcore brawl. This was a major disappointment and the match was sacrificed for the sake of doing something cute for the show.)
Video package for Cena/Rusev airs.
Russian Chain Match for the WWE US Championship- John Cena © vs. Rusev w/Lana
It’s the four corner rules here. Tug of war to start and Rusev catches Cena with an Avalanche in the corner. Rusev touches two corners but Cena slams Rusev to end his run. Cena touches three corners but Rusev ends that. Rusev works over Cena and he touches two corners before Cena stops him. Rusev dumps Cena to the floor and he works over Cena with kicks on the floor. Rusev throws some head butts and he suplexes Cena back into the ring. Rusev touches two corner but Cena nails Rusev in the midsection with the chain to end that. Rusev nails Cena in the back with the chain and Cena bails to the floor. Cena pulls the chain sending Rusev into the post and back in, Cena touches two corners. Rusev stops that and he hits a spinning heel kick. Rusev works over Cena with the chain and he touches three corners. Cena bails to prevent Rusev from touching the fourth corner and Rusev throws a kick to the ribs of Cena. Head butts by Rusev and he goes up. Cena pulls Rusev off the top using the chain and he nails Rusev with the chain. Cena touches two corners but Rusev stops him and he turns a crossbody attempt into the fall-a-way slam. Basement super kick by Rusev and the crowd chants for Lana. Lana is warm to the reception which pisses Rusev off, so he sends her to the back. Blue Thunder Bomb by Cena and he hits the Five Knuckle Shuffle. Rusev blocks the AA and he hits the Alabama Slam. Cena counters the Accolade into the STF!!! Cena touches three corners but Rusev bails to prevent Cena from touching the fourth. Back in, Rusev hits the super kick on Cena. Accolade by Rusev but Cena powers up and rams Rusev into two of the corners to break!!! Rusev realizes what happened so he touches the third corner. Cena hits the AA on Rusev to block him from touching the fourth corner. Both men touch three corners and Cena catches Rusev with the AA. He touches the fourth corner for the win!!!
Winner and Still WWE US Champion- John Cena *** (This was the weakest match of their series so far, as the four corner rule killed the stipulation for me. They worked around the limitations of the rules and worked some cute spots in but this lacked the intensity of their first two contests.)
Roman Reigns says that no matter what happens, he will get back up and be the last man standing.
WWE Diva’s Championship- Nikki Bella w/Brie Bella © vs. Naomi
Nikki attacks to start and she begins to work the arm of Naomi. Cross arm breaker by Nikki but Naomi makes the ropes to break. Naomi takes Nikki down by the hair and she hits a suplex for 1. Chin lock by Naomi but Nikki fights out so Naomi hits a back elbow for 2. She works a reverse cravat on Nikki and slams Nikki when she tries to fight out again. Elbow drop by Naomi gets 1 and she works a front face lock. Nikki escapes and rolls Naomi up for 2. Naomi bulldogs Nikki into the turnbuckle for 2. Enzuigiri by Naomi gets 2. Naomi dumps Nikki and she nails Brie when she went to check on Nikki. Back in, Nikki cleans house and hits the Alabama Slam for 2. Reverse DDT by Naomi gets 2. Split legged moonsault misses and Nikki hits a face buster for 2. Bubba Bomb by Naomi gets 2. Springboard enzuigiri by Nikki gets 2. Brie throws a kick at Naomi, allowing Nikki to catch her with the Rack Attack for 3.
Winner and Still WWE Diva’s Champion- Nikki Bella **1/2 (You know what, this was a solid effort from the Diva’s, as they actually got the dead crowd to get into the near falls turn the finish. I was a big fan of Naomi’s work here and her new aggressive; heel edge is going to do wonders for her.)
Rusev yells at Lana backstage and she enters the Authority’s locker room.
Video package for Reigns/Show airs.
Last Man Standing Match- Big Show vs. Roman Reigns
Show attacks to start and he overpowers Reigns. Reigns fights back but again, Show overpowers him. Rights by Reigns and he clotheslines Show to the floor. Show goes to battery ram Reigns but he escapes and shoves Show into the post. Flying dropkick by Reigns and he sets a table up on the floor. Show tosses Reigns into the barricade and Show breaks the table himself so Reigns can’t do anything with it. Reigns nails Show a few times with a kendo stick but Show tosses him into the post to end that. Show breaks the kendo stick and Reigns hits some rights. Reigns leaps off the second rope but Show chops him on the way down. Reigns snaps Show’s neck off the apron and he nails Show multiple times with a chair. DDT on the chair by Reigns and he brings some tables into the ring. Back in, Show catches Reigns with the KO punch!!! Reigns is up at 8. Reigns escapes a Chokeslam attempt and he Samoan Drops Show through a table!!! Show is up at 8 as he bails to the floor to recover. Reigns sets up a table in the corner and Show catches him with a Spear. Reigns is up at 8 so Show knocks him down with a head butt. Vader Bomb by Show and Reigns is up at 8. Show goes up but Reigns crotches him and sets up some tables on the floor. Reigns goes up for a superplex but Show shoves him off the top to block. Reigns tosses Show off the top!!! SUPERMAN PUNCH~!!!! He hits a second one and goes for the third but Show blocks. SHOW CHOKESLAMS REIGNS TO THE FLOOR THROUGH TWO TABLES!!!!! Reigns is up at 9!!! Show stacks the steel stairs near the announce table and he tears the table apart. Back in, Show charges at Reigns but misses and crashes through a table in the corner!!! Show is up at 8 so Reigns catches Show with a Spear. Show bails to recover so Reigns SPEARS SHOW THROUGH THE BARRICADE!!!! Show is up again and he goes for a Chokeslam but Reigns blocks. Reigns LEAP OFF THE STEPS AND SPEARS SHOW THROUGH THE ANNOUNCE TABLE!!!! Show is up at 8!!! Reigns DUMPS THE OTHER ANNOUNC ETABLE ONTO SHOW!!! Show can’t get up in time!!!
Winner- Roman Reigns ***3/4 (Some contrived spots and some plotting moments aside, these two guys took some spectacular bumps, particularly Reigns, and had a pretty awesome brawl. Reigns showed awesome fire and resilience here and is working his ass off, so performances like these will help him in his rebuilding process. Reigns is quietly having an excellent in ring year, stealing the show on three straight PPVs. )
Randy Orton talks to Kane backstage about how the Authority will throw Kane out like garbage after he serves his purpose of helping Rollins keep the WWE Championship. Orton says he knows who Kane is, even if Kane himself doesn’t.
Bo Dallas comes out and calls Chicago the #1 city in not taking showers before coming to the arena. He tells the crowd all they have to do is BO-leave and Ryback comes out. Dallas attacks Ryback but walks into a spine buster. Meathook by Ryback and he hits the Shell Shock.
Rusev says America went from a country of fighters to a country of quitters and at Payback, John Cena will quit. Rusev will face Cena in an I Quit match at Payback.
Video package for Rollins/Orton airs.
Steel Cage Match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship- Seth Rollins © vs. Randy Orton
The RKO is banned and Kane is the doorkeeper. Rollins climbs but Orton stops him so Rollins stomps away in the corner. Clothesline by Orton and he steps Rollins from climbing again. Orton pulls Rollins down to the mat and he begins to work over Rollins. Rollins climbs again but once again, Orton stops him. Punches in the corner by Orton but Rollins takes him out with the Buckle Bomb for 2. Rollins goes for the door but Orton stops him. Rollins sends Orton into the cage for 2. Rollins works over Orton in the corner and he sends Orton into the cage a few times. Punches on the mat from Rollins and he climbs. Orton stops him and Rollins catches Orton with the Sling Blade for 2. Corner forearm by Rollins and he charges but Orton sends him into the cage. They trade blows and Orton begins to clean house. Rollins climbs but Orton follows up. Rollins fights Orton off and he comes off the top with a flying knee strike for 2. Rollins climb but Orton stops him and follows up. They slug it out on top of the cage and Rollins knocks Orton down to the mat. Rollins leaps off the top but Orton catches him with a powerslam for 2!!! Rollins counters the hanging DDT with a roll-up for 2. Basement super kick by Rollins gets 2. Rollins climbs but Orton stops him and tries to brag him back in. J&J Security come out but Orton fights them off and takes Rollins off the top of the cage with a superplex for 2!!! J&J Security try to climb into the cage but Orton sends Rollins into the cage to knock them off. Exploder suplex by Orton and he goes for the hanging DDT but Rollins counters with a Northern lights suplex into the cage!!! Rollins climbs but Orton crotches him and hits the hanging DDT. PEDIGREE BY ORTON gets 2!!! Orton misses the Punt and Rollins hits the enzuigiri. Rollins goes for the door but Orton stops him. Orton back breaker and he goes for the door but Kane refuses to let him out. Rollins misses a dropkick and he sends the door crashing into Kane. Rollins tries to go out the door but Orton stops him. Kane slams the door into both of their heads and Kane enters the cage. J&J Security try to get him to stop so Kane hits a double Chokeslam!!! Rollins begs Kane off so he grabs Orton. Chokeslam to Orton and Rollins goes for the door. Kane pulls him into the ring and hits the Chokeslam on him!!! Kane puts Rollins on top of Orton for 2!!! Kane goes for the Tombstone but Orton escapes and hits the RKO!!! Rollins hits the RKO on Orton and he escapes the cage!!!
Winner and Still WWE Champion- Seth Rollins ***1/4 (I thought this was a decent cage match. It went at a really slow pace early but it picked up prior to all the overbooking and I love Rollins acting like a weasel and trying to escape at every turn while Orton found unique ways to punish Rollins without going to the RKO. It’s frustrated that the focus of this match was primarily on Kane and the stuff involving him at the end was just too much.)
