The New Day (Kofi Kingston & Big E (c) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura & Cesaro – Tables match for the Smackdown Tag Team Championships

Background: Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura had a shot at the Smackdown Tag Team championships two weeks ago on Smackdown but the match would break down and the challengers would end up putting New Day through a table. Cesaro would then defeat Big E to name the stipulation, a tables match.

Previous PPV matches: This is a first time PPV tag team match between these two teams.

Extreme Rules Record: Kofi Kingston is 4-1, Big E is 3-1, Cesaro is 2-3 and Nakamura is 1-0.

Match: This isn’t a traditional tag team match, all four men go at it at the same time. It’s back and forth until the challengers take the advantage and introduce the first table. Big E hits Cesaro with a big spear off the apron. Big E back body drops Kofi out of the ring but eats table. New Day set up two tables on the outside and Big E looks to superplex Cesaro throug them but Cesaro fights him off. Kofi then looks to hurricanrana Cesaro through the tables but Cesaro counters and powerbombs Kingston through the tables for the victory!

Result: Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura win the Smackdown Tag Team Championships.

Review: This was a fun way to kick off the show. It wasn’t amazing but it was a solid match. Cesaro and Nakamura are a decent team and I look forward to their run as champions.

Rating: 5.75/10

Bayley (c) vs. Nikki Cross – Smackdown Women’s Championship match

Background: On the June 19 episode of SmackDown, Nikki Cross attacked WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Bayley and Sasha Banks, leading to a match between Cross and Banks that Cross lost. The following week, Cross won a fatal four-way match to earn a SmackDown Women’s Championship match against Bayley at Extreme Rules.

Previous PPV matches: This is a first time singles PPV match between these two girls.

Extreme Rules Record: Bayley is 1-1, Nikki Cross is 0-1.

Match: Bayley teases Nikki in the early going. Nikki hits her neckbreaker out of nowherew early for a near fall. It’s a back and forth match and Nikki mocks Bayley, doing her old poses. Nikki also hits her trademark clubbing blows in the ring apron. Bayley hits a Bayley to belly for a near fall. Nikki counters a second Bayley to belly attempt and then fires up. Nikki hits a spinning neckbreaker off the apron to the outside. Back in the ring and Sasha gets up on the apron and hands Bayley the “Boss” knucks. The referee doesn’t see it as Bayley hammers Nikki with them and pins Cross for the three.

Result: Bayley retains the Smackdown Women’s Championship by pinfall.

Review: This match was decent enough. It wasn’t spectacular but it did the job. Bayley beats Nikki Cross tonight and continues her epic reign. I like Bayley as champion so there’s no issues with me. Bayley and Sasha are excellent heels right now.

Rating: 6/10

Rey Mysterio vs. Seth Rollins – Eye for an eye match

Background: On the May 11 episode of Raw, Rey Mysterio and Aleister Black defeated Seth Rollins and Murphy by disqualification. After the match, an enraged Rollins used the corner of the steel steps to pierce Mysterio’s eye, taking Mysterio out of action. During this time, Mysterio’s son, Dominik, attempted to stand up to Rollins against Mysterio’s wishes. On the June 22 episode, Rollins attempted to pierce Dominik’s eye, but was unsuccessful. Mysterio then challenged Rollins to a match at Extreme Rules. On the July 6 episode, Mysterio and Kevin Owens defeated Rollins and Murphy in a tag team match, allowing Mysterio to pick the stipulation for their match at Extreme Rules; Mysterio chose an Eye for an Eye match. WWE later confirmed that in order to win the match, one competitor had to extract an eye of their opponent.

Previous PPV matches: This is a first time singles PPV match between these two men.

Extreme Rules Record: Seth Rollins is 4-2, Rey Mysterio is 1-2.

Match: Seth brings pliers out with him but Rey attacks Rollins from behind. It’s. a back and forth start to the match with Rollins attempting to use weapons but Mysterio making sure that he doesn’t. Rollins hits a falcon arrow on the apron. Seth attempts to take Rey’s eye out using the ring steps and then the leg of a chair. Mysterio drop toe holds Rollins into the corner of the desk. You win this match by extracting an eye from your opponent. Rollins lays into Rey with a kendo stick. It’s back and forth with here with neither man getting a prolonged advantage. Seth tries creative ways to take Reys eye out whilst Mysterio just hits his usual arsenal. Rey forces Seth into the point of the ring steps but Rollins hits him with a low blow. Seth then forces Mysterio’s eye into the ring steps. Blood spews out and Seth backs off and throws up.

Result: Seth Rollins wins by eye extraction.

Review: This was a good match. Despite the daft gimmick, it’s two very talented wrestlers whi put on a good match. Seth Rollins wins tonight and I wonder if this will go anywhere. Will Mysterio wear an eye patch going forward?

Rating: 6.5/10

Asuka (c) vs. Sasha Banks – Raw Women’s Championship match

Background: On the June 22 episode of Raw, after successfully retaining the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship, co-champion Sasha Banks issued a challenge to Asuka for the Raw Women’s Championship, which Asuka accepted for Extreme Rules. Though Banks is a SmackDown wrestler, she and partner Bayley could appear on any show as the Women’s Tag Team Championship is shared between Raw, SmackDown, and NXT.

Previous PPV matches: This is a first time PPV match between these two girls.

Extreme Rules Record: Asuka is 0-1, Sasha Banks wrestles at this event for the first time tonight.

Match: Sasha has Bayley in her corner, Asuka has Kairi Sani in hers. I like this match on paper, it’s two of the best girls in the company. It’s a back and forth start to the match with Sasha even locking on the Banks statement for a few seconds. There’s some nice technical wrestling from both girls who look for submissions. Asuka dominates with strikes for a while but not too long as Sasha soon takes control. Lots of submission attempts from Banks. Asuka hits a brutal codebreaker on Sasha who was sat on the middle turnbuckle. Sasha hits a powerbomb on Asuka into the plexiglass on the outside of the ring and then hits a frogsplash for a near fall. Sasha locks on the Banks statement but Asuka breaks free. Asuka hits German suplexes, kicks and a hip attack for near falls. Asuka looks for a German suplex off the top but Sasha somewhat lands on her knees. Sasha then goes up to the middle rope but slips off. Botch.

Bayley and Kairi Sane go at it on the outside whilst inside the ring Asuka looks for the Asuka lock. Bayley distracts the referee as Sasha taps out but Asuka breaks the hold and kicks Bayley in the head. Asuka spits green mist but Sasha ducks and Asuka gets the referee. Bayley then smashes Asuka with a title belt before putting the referees shirt on. Sasha covers Asuka and Bayley counts the 3. The bell rings and Sasha’s music hits. I have no idea what the official decision is here.

Result: No contest.

Review: Well this was a good match but the ending was terrible. It’s just confusing. But the girls put on a good match and I genuinly didn’t know which way it would go. It’s a no contest I think so it will probably lead to another match between the two down the line.

Rating: 7/10

Drew McIntyre (c) vs. Dolph Ziggler – WWE Championship match

Background: After being drafted to Raw from NXT in the 2018 WWE Superstar Shake-up, Drew McIntyre aligned himself with Dolph Ziggler. Although the team saw success in winning the Raw Tag Team Championship, they eventually broke up. Ziggler was moved to SmackDown the following year, while McIntyre remained on Raw and won the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 36 Part 2 in early 2020. On the June 22 episode of Raw, Mcintyre was interrupted by Ziggler, who was traded to Raw. Ziggler brought up their history together, claiming credit for McIntyre’s success, and stated that McIntyre owed him a title match. McIntyre, noting that he needed an opponent for Extreme Rules, reminded Ziggler that it was he who gave him the nickname the “Scottish Psychopath” and asked if Ziggler still wanted a title match and Ziggler confirmed. During the contract signing the following week, McIntyre told Ziggler that he could choose the stipulation for the match. Ziggler opted to wait until the event itself to reveal the stipulation.

Previous PPV matches: This is a first time PPV match between these two men.

Extreme Rules Record: Drew McIntyre is 0-1, Dolph Ziggler is 2-2.

Match: Drew comes out of the gate hard, taking it right to Ziggler. He motions for a claymore early but Dolph heads to the outside. Ziggler rakes the eyes and brings a chair into the ring but McIntyre throws it right back out. A lot of the early stages of the match are spent outside the ring. Ziggler sets up a table on the outside. Ziggler hits a blatant low blow to take the advantage and then lays into the WWE Champion with a chair. Ziggler hits a fame asser off the announce desk and then locks on a sleeper but Drew breaks free. McIntyre motions for a claymore but Ziggler hits him with a chair and then a zigzag for a near fall. Ziggler hits an elbow drop to the outside on McIntyre, putting him through the table and McIntyre just beats the count back into the ring. Drew hits a Glasgow kiss but Ziggler hits a fame asser, a zigzag and then a rock bottom on a chair for a near fall. McIntyre hits a claymore from nowhere and wins the match!

Result: Drew McIntyre retains the WWE Championship by pinfall.

Review: This was a decent match, not a spectacular one but it did the job. Two solid workers who I felt needed a live crowd for this one. Drew wins, we knew he would. The stipulation was fun and added an extra dimension to the match not seen before. The table spot was good. McIntyre moves on to his next challenge.

Rating: 6/10

Braun Strowman (c) vs. Bray Wyatt – Swamp Fight

Background: At Money in the Bank, Braun Strowman retained the Universal Championship against Bray Wyatt. Wyatt returned on the June 19 episode of SmackDown in a Firefly Fun House segment that was interrupted by Strowman, who declared that Wyatt had his chance at Money in the Bank but failed. Wyatt stated their rivalry was just getting started before appearing as his old cult leader persona of The Wyatt Family. Wyatt said they needed to take a step back before they could move forward and stated that since he created Strowman, it was his job to destroy him. The following week, Strowman recounted how he initially joined Wyatt, reciting a story about their time at Wyatt’s compound in the Florida swamps. Strowman then challenged Wyatt to return to the swamp for a fight, and a non-title match between the two called the Wyatt Swamp Fight was scheduled for Extreme Rules.

Previous PPV matches: This is a second PPV match between thesr two men. Braun Strowman won the previous match.

Extreme Rules Record: Braun Strowman is 1-1, Bray Wyatt is 1-2.

Match: This is obviously a cinematic match. Wyatt is waiting for Braun but disappears when he arrives. Wyatt is under his old Bray Wyatt gimmick. A couple of masked men attack Braun but Strowman sees them off. Braun then gets hit with a shovel by….himself? He got hit by Wyatt Family Braun Strowman and then wakes up chained in a rocking chair. Brsy shows up and talks smack to Strowman, getting in his head. This part goes on for a long time. Too long. A woman (Siser Abigail?) then walks in with a snake that bites Strowman. Strowman wakes up somewhere else and has to fight off more of Wyatt’s lackeys. The woman from earlier under the veil then reveals herself to be Alexa Bliss who goads Braun over to her which is where Wyatt sjows up and gauges his eyes. Strowman chokeslams Wyatt into a boat which then floats off down the swamp and then comes back again without Wyatt. Wyatt attacks Braun in the swamp and appears to drown him but he doesn’t, Strowman is still alive. Bray beats the Universal Champion down with an oar but Strowman kicks him into the swamp. Wyatt vanishes for a while but then pulls Strowman into the swamp. The water then goes red and The Fiend emerges from the swamp.

Result: Bray Wyatt wins.

Review: This was different. It wasn’t as good as the other cinematic matches we’ve seen. Too much time spent on Braun battling nobodies and then Wyatt promoing. It was weird and to be honest it was what I expected it to be. But it wasn’t great. Bray Wyatt wins which will presumably earn him a Universal Championship match as The Fiend.

Rating: 3.75/10