Pantoja’s WWE Extreme Rules 2022 Review

WWE Extreme Rules

October 8th, 2022 | Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

I totally forgot this show was happening tonight. Anyway, Michael Cole and Corey Graves are our new PPV announce duo.

Donnybrook Match: The Brawling Brutes vs. Imperium

These guys immediately started brawling which is just what I want from them. Although they used weapons like the shillelagh and the various bar-themed items at ringside, this was always at its most vicious when they just beat the shit out of each other. Imperium held serve for a while, taking out the big men and putting the focus on the smaller Butch. Sheamus led the rally and got his one-on-one encounter with Gunter after coming so close to winning the IC Title last night (****). I loved how the 10 Beats gimmick was finished and then Holland and Butch just added onto it with more strikes and kicks. It fit the theme of this just being dudes wailing on each other. Sheamus came close with the Brogue Kick but Vinci broke it up with a sweet springboard splash. He’s hella underrated. Sheamus also nearly had this in hand with a Cloverleaf but things were broken up with the shillelagh. It led to everyone fighting on the ground only for Sheamus and Gunther to get up nose to nose and square off. We finally got the moment of revenge for Sheamus, who leveled Gunther with the weapon as he was held up by Butch and Holland. That was followed by the Celtic Cross through the table and the crowd ATE THIS UP. The Brutes are wildly over. That led to a Brogue Kick on Vinci to wrap this in a fantastic 17:50. I don’t care about the dumb name for the match, I just wanted them to wage war. They did just that and the crowd was super hot for all of it, making it better. [****¼]

WWE Smackdown Women’s Championship Extreme Rules Match: Liv Morgan [c] vs. Ronda Rousey

Liv went for her bat at the bell but Ronda blocked her and cut her off. Ronda made the mistake of putting her in a submission but taking it easy so Liv was able to get out and get the bat, only for Ronda to take her down and get it anyway. That was kind of the premise of the match. Ronda kicked Liv’s ass and toyed with her while talking shit and being arrogant. Liv was getting wrecked but then started coming back with some chair shots. The problem was that the chair shots were weak as hell and her Code Red move with it came off looking way telegraphed. She did the top rope senton through the table but Ronda was still able to get a shoulder up. Ronda turned that kickout into an armbar that Liv desperately attempted to break with powerbomb attempts. Ronda kept it on and turned it into a bicep crusher submission to win back the title in 12:21. At least Liv didn’t get squashed. Some bits of this were sloppy but they told the right story. Commentary also kept harping on “LIV PINNED RONDA TWICE” so you knew it wouldn’t happen a third time. Liv was smiling as she passed out and again smiled after the match as she awoke to see Ronda celebrating. [**¼]

Strap Match: Drew McIntyre vs. Karrion Kross

How is Tick Tock Boy any different from Marc Mero except that I think Mero was better? Kross declined to put the strap on (giggity) which led to a brawl outside the ring before the bell ever rang. They fought into the crowd and around ringside for a bit. Drew beat him as they got into the ring and applied the strap, giving us the bell to start this officially. A distraction from Scarlett allowed Kross to turn the tide and reel off a bunch of whips with the strap as Scarlett shouted for more. Commentary said the crowd was silent because they were so “sickened” by in actuality, it was because this was dull. Drew had it won as he set up for the Claymore only for Scarlett to get in the way. She sprayed him with peppers pray and then Kross won with his forearm gimmick in 10:21. Drew just stood there in front of the girl who tried to burn him a while back? That sucked. Like, that was the big return PPV match for Kross? It’s just like his NXT run where he was the worst part of the show. [*]

WWE Raw Women’s Championship Ladder Match: Bianca Belair [c] vs. Bayley

Damage CTRL is here to save me after that last match. My feed cut out during the introductions so I missed the first minute or so of this as I rebooted my fire stick. I’ll have to get the time of the match from another review instead of my own stopwatch. I turned it on as Bianca slammed Bayley onto the ladder and then hit a moonsault. Bayley took a while to set up her big comeback which involved a diving elbow off the apron and onto a ladder. I thought Bayley was going to use the metal bars that hold the ladder open (I don’t know the technical name) as a weapon but Bianca stopped her before she could. However, Bayley stayed creative, using the metal hinge from her knee brace though Bianca avoided it and hit the KOD. I just don’t really see the point of using that in a match with a ton of ladders. Damage CTRL saved Bayley from defeat and took out Bianca temporarily. She overcame them as she always does and hoisted both up for a double KOD. She’s booked like prime Superman Cena. That included when Bayley put the ladder on Bianca and climbed it as Bianca just overpowered her and knocked the ladder over. Whenever Bianca seemed finished, she’d fire up and find a way to do something extraordinary. Bianca hoisted Bayley up for one more KOD but Bayley grabbed a ladder for some reason. Bianca hit the move with Bayley landing on the ladder and Bianca retained. What a dumb finish. Why would Bayley set herself up for that? I liked a lot of what they did here but there was a lot of waiting around for the next spot and that finish left a bad taste in my mouth. [***½]

I Quit Match: Edge vs. Finn Bálor

Finn wore a spiked mask to the ring. So, I’m not going too in-depth on this since there was so much to cover. This reminded me of the Edge/Orton match at WrestleMania COVID because it just kept going on and on. Plus, the I Quit stipulation has almost never worked for me because of the constant stops to ask if someone is quitting. It just ruins the pace of a match. Judgment Day showed up down the stretch and Edge was handcuffed at about the 20-minute mark. That left him alone to take a kendo stick beating from Finn and have all of Judgment Day jump him. Rey Mysterio made the save and hit both Finn and Priest only for Dominik to clock him. Beth Phoenix then showed up and wailed on Finn with the kendo stick to save her husband. She hit Priest and Finn with it but ran off Dominik before the face-off with Rhea Ripley. Beth won out in their short fight with a Spear and got the key to rescue Edge, who hit the Spear on Priest, and finally got his hands on Dominik, who tried to back off and make nice. Edge had it won with the crossface using a piece of a steel chair but Rhea got involved and laid out Beth with brass knux. Edge ate a bunch of Coup de Grace stomps but wouldn’t quit so Rhea threatened to deliver the Con-Chair-To to Beth so he said the words, losing in 29:55. Of course, Rhea did it anyway. The first 20 minutes of that were pretty ass and DRAGGED. That said, the last 10 minutes was the best kind of Attitude Era overbooking. [***¼]

Fight Pit: Matt Riddle vs. Seth Rollins

Seth wore goofy-looking RVD cosplay gear. I loved this stipulation when they used it in NXT. This didn’t get off to the violent start I was hoping for. They did have some good back and forth with Seth talking shit and both guys getting into it with special referee Daniel Cormier. Seth busted out a frog splash to pay homage to RVD though it felt odd in this style of match. He talked trash to Riddle as he went for the necktie submission but Riddle got free and hit an RKO. They did a spot where they countered each other and it led to a Curb Stomp which was fine but again, didn’t feel right in this setting. Cormier also took forever to start the 10 count. They fought atop the pit for big spots like a corner powerbomb before Seth took a weak tumble to the mat and Riddle came off the top with a sick senton. That set him up to win with a triangle choke soon after at the 16:36 mark. Something about that just didn’t work for me. It was good but it lacked some of the intensity I wanted. [***]

The big moment came at the end as the lights went out and we heard Bray Wyatt singing “The Whole World in His Hands.” Then, the characters from the Firefly Funhouse and even the Fiend were seen in non-puppet form throughout the arena. We then went to a video of the Funhouse being dilapidated with the puppets dead and the theme song playing chopped and screwed style. A door on the stage opened and out stepped Bray in a Black Phone inspired mask. He blew out the lantern and was officially back.

6.0

The final score: review Average

The 411

The first PPV miss for the company in a while. The opener was fantastic and everything else that I’d consider good had some major flaws to it. Not a bad show by any means and the ending was memorable but it had some major misses like a lackluster Ronda/Liv match and the awful Strap match.