411’s WWE Extreme Rules Preview

Hello 411 guys, gals, enbies, and everyone else! Welcome to 411’s WWE Extreme Rules preview! I’m Jeremy Thomas, and WWE has…almost put together a full show for this? That’s right: we have all of six matches for this Extreme Rules PPV, only one of which has a stipulation. (No, I am not counting “triple threat” as a stip.) Listen, I know we all hated The Horror Show at Extreme Rules, but at least it fit the Extreme theme. This is just…a show. That said, what matches we do have all have good chances to be enjoyable, so while this won’t be WWE’s most consequential PPV it may at least be fun. There’s — well, not a lot to get into, but a little. So let’s jump right in.

Liv Morgan vs. Carmella

First up we have a Smackdown feud that has been bubbling under for a bit in Liv Morgan vs. Carmella. I will fully admit to not being much into this feud, despite the fact that I like both stars. It simply hasn’t yet been treated like anything even approaching a focal storyline and the writing hasn’t given us much of a reason to care. That said, there are good things that can come out of this match. Morgan is still a bit underrated as a performer and Carmella is a great heel, so if they get more than a couple of minutes they should be able to make this entertaining. More importantly, with the Draft coming up in the next few days a win here can catapult one of these two into a higher level. Morgan is the one of the two who seems primed to move to the next level; she just needs Creative’s confidence to give her a shot. I feel like she wins here to set up a potential push — or at least the promise of a push, whatever comes of it.

WINNER: Liv Morgan

Smackdown Tag Team Championship Match
The Usos vs. Street Profits

There are really only a couple of legitimate chances for a title switch at Extreme Rules, which is a show that feels like it needs one to be anything other than utterly forgettable. This is one of those two. The Usos have only been tag champions for a couple of months, but it feels like they’ve been at the top of the division for a while. Meanwhile, the Profits have been working their way to this match for a while, and the result should be a pretty enjoyable affair. While there is definitely a greater than zero chance that WWE pulls the trigger on a title switch here to go back to the notion that Reigns is not seeing eye-to-eye with the Usos, it seems more likely to me that The Bloodline is kept strong until at least Survivor Series. So while I expect a good match from these two teams, I don’t think that this is going to result in a title switch.

WINNER: The Usos (STILL Smackdown Tag Team Champions)

WWE United States Championship Match
Damian Priest vs. Sheamus vs. Jeff Hardy

Damian Priest won the WWE US Title just over a month ago when he beat Sheamus at SummerSlam. WWE clearly has a lot invested in Priest and having him lose the title here would make no sense, especially against Sheamus (who just had a lengthy run) and Hardy (who has no momentum to suggest a title switch). That’s not to say that this won’t be a really good match; Priest and Sheamus can deliver some hard-hitting action against each other and even if Jeff isn’t the high spot machine he used to be, he can stil go to a pretty high degree. The addition of Hardy into this match almost telegraphs the idea that he’s in here to take the pin, and while I don’t think we need more Sheamus vs. Priest I would imagine WWE wants to keep the Celtic Warrior strong for a very possible brand switch to Smackdown. Either way, the outcome of this bout really isn’t in doubt.

WINNER: Damien Priest (STILL WWE United States Champion)

Raw Women’s Championship Match
Charlotte Flair vs. Alexa Bliss

Yeah, this one’s going to be controversial. I don’t know if we even need to go over how strong the disdain for Bliss’ storyline is from some fans. If you’re a wrestling fan, you know. And Charlotte Flair has a — let’s call it a polarizing reaction. Putting them together seems like an odd choice, because while Bliss keeps getting booked against heels she comes off as heelish herself. I’ve been open with the fact that I enjoy the goofiness of Bliss’ character, even if it hasn’t always worked out well for her feuds (hello Eva Marie & Shayna Baszler). One would think that you would want to keep Flair as a strong champion — and yet, as I said before, this card feels like it needs a title switch considering how little else it has going for it in terms of memorability. If it’s not going to be the Street Profits, it has to be Bliss. And while even I am hesitant about that idea, it’s the switch that makes the most sense for me.

WINNER: Alexa Bliss (NEW Raw Women’s Champion)

Smackdown Women’s Championship Match
Becky Lynch vs. Bianca Belair

The main events may be highly anticipated, but they aren’t suspenseful. First among those is Becky Lynch’s first defense in her new Smackdown Women’s Championship reign, facing the woman she beat at SummerSlam in Bianca Belair. We of course didn’t get an actual match last month, so that’s the appeal here. Lynch’s turn to the dark side has been questionable to many, but we have to give credit to The Man herself for putting her considerable character talent into it. Belair’s booking against Lynch the last month has been a little headscratching, but considering how unlikely she is to derail Lynch’s return here it’s really about the match itself. And that’s a place where we’re on much more solid ground. These two should be able to deliver if the booking lets them and I’m certainly hopeful that we’ll have a memorable in-ring encounter.

WINNER: Becky Lynch (STILL Smackdown Women’s Champion)

WWE Universal Championship Extreme Rules Match
Roman Reigns vs. Finn Balor

Listen, if we didn’t already know that Finn Balor wasn’t going to be the guy to unseat Roman Reigns, it became pretty clear when Reigns vs. Lesnar was announced for WWE Crown Jewel. While you could easily sell a show that match without a title, that doesn’t make sense for Brock’s character. So we know the base result — the key for success here is how we get to it. Balor busting out The Demon for the first time in forever makes me hope that they’re not just going to have Reigns beat Balor cleanly — something he 100% does not need to do to look strong. That doesn’t guarantee that we won’t get that finish anyway, but the stipulation certainly makes it likely. Balor and Reigns are both great characters who can do what they need in the ring, so much like Lynch vs. Belair even if we know the result, this should be a good match.

WINNER: Roman Reigns (STILL WWE Universal Champion)

And that’s all we have for WWE Extreme Rules! Again, this is a very slight card all things considered, but WWE has made a habit of over-delivering on their 2020 and 2021 PPVs so that could well happen here (we can hope anyway). Thanks once again for reading, and remember that we will have live coverage of the show courtesy of the one and only Kevin Pantoja right here on 411mania.com. Now I’d better run — Brock Lesnar is waiting in the wings, and I hear he saw how I made fun of his new hairstyle…