The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods) vs. AJ Styles, Omos & Bobby Lashley – Six man tag match

Background: Big E recently cashed in his Money In The Bank contract on Bobby Lashley and won the WWE Championship. Lashley joins forces tonight with AJ Styles and Omos who have had their run-ins with Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods as of late and are still reeling from losing their Raw Tag Team Championships to RKBro.

Previous PPV matches: This is a first six man tag team match involving these men.

Extreme Rules PPV Record: Big E is 3-2, Kofi Kingston is 4-2, Xavier Woods is 2-1, Bobby Lashley is 1-1, AJ Styles is 2-1 and Omos makes his Extreme Rules debut tonight.

Match: AJ Styles and Xavier Woods kick off the match and Styles actually locks on a calf crusher early but Woods gets to the ropes and tags in Kofi. It’s not long before Big E and Bobby Lashley are in and it turns into a three on one against Bobby. The heels soon take control with Lashley against Kingston. Omos soon tags in for the first time and continues the domination. Lashley destroys Big E on the outside, stopping Kofi from tagging him in. Xavier Woods makes a hot tag and picks up the pace. Big E gets back up to the apron and gets his own hot tag, going after everyone. Big E hits some impactful moves on AJ Styles but can’t keep him down. Kofi and Lashley tag in where Bobby hits a version of a dominator for a near fall. All hell breaks loose with all six men. Lashley looks to end it with a spear but AJ tags himself in. Lashley tags back in, accidentally hits AJ with a spear and Big E hits the big ending on Bobby Lashley for the win!

Result: The New Day win by pinfall.

Review: This was a fun way to kick off the show. The New Day had to win it as the actual team and to give Big E the big win on his first PPV as champion. I would have preferred to have seen a title defence but this was still fun. I’m sure Big E and Lashley will split off going forward and it’ll be interesting with the draft coming up whether New Day will get split up again.

Rating: 6.5/10

The Usos (Jimmy & Jey) (c) vs. The Street Prophets (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins) – Smackdown Tag Team Championship match

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

Extreme Rules PPV Record: The Usos are 0-2 at Extreme Rules, The Street Prophets wrestle at this event for the first time tonight.

Match: Angelo Dawkins and Jimmy Uso start the match and it’s all Dawkins. Montez Ford, with his ribs taped up, tags in and this allows The Usos to take control as they target the ribs. Dawkins makes a hot tag and picks up the pace, taking on both Usos. Dawkins hits a superplex and a neckbreaker on Jimmy Uso for a two count. The Prophets hit a double team blockbuster off the top rope with a crotch chop thrown in for good measure. Dawkins hits the anointment and Ford looks for his frog splash but Jey gets his knees up. Dawkins kicks out of an Uso splash. The fight goes to the outside where Montez Ford hits a huge plancha over the ring post and takes out both Usos. Montez then rolls Jey back into the ring and hits a frog splash for a near fall. All hell breaks loose with all four men which results in The Usos hitting a double superkick on Montez Ford and then a double Uso splash for the win.

Result: The Usos win by pinfall.

Review: This was a good match between two proper tag teams. There were times where you thought the Street Prophets would win but in the end it was The Usos who win cleanly and take the titles home. This will probably be the end of this rivalry judging by the clean finish.

Rating: 6.75/10

Charlotte (c) vs. Alexa Bliss – Raw Women’s Championship match

Background: Alexa Bliss targeted Charlotte, telling her that she wanted the Raw Women’s Championship. Alexa would present Charlotte with a doll representative of Charlotte, a doll the champion didn’t want. Tonight these two girls meet one on one.

Previous PPV matches: These two girls have wrestled once on pay per view before and Charlotte won.

Extreme Rules PPV Record: Alexa Bliss is 2-1, Charlotte is just 1-0.

Match: It’s a fast paced start to the match with both girls countering each other. Charlotte soon takes control, using her superior strength as the crowd chant for Alexa. Charlotte executes a submission that I haven’t seen before, it’s like a tarantula in the middle of the ring. Charlotte swings Alexa into a barricade. Charlotte doesn’t like the fact that she’s getting boo’d. Alexa rolls though natural selection and hits a senton for a near fall. Bliss gets her feet up for a moonsault attempt and then hits a sunset flip powerbomb for a near fall. Charlotte avoids twisted Bliss but gets rolled for a two count. Charlotte grabs Lilly, throws it at Alexa and then hits a big boot and natural selection for the three. After the match the fight continues with Charlotte ripping up the Lilly doll and then throwing Alexa over the announce desk.

Result: Charlotte wins by pinfall.

Review: This was a decent match between these two girls. You get the sense there is heat between the two. Charlotte can be stiff at times. I wouldn’t have minded seeing a title switch tonight. This was Alexa’s best match for a while. Judging by the aftermath I wouldn’t be surprised to see this rivalry continue.

Rating: 6/10

Damien Priest (c) vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Sheamus – Triple threat match for the United States Championship

Background: At SummerSlam, Damian Priest defeated Sheamus to win the United States Championship. On the August 30 episode of Raw, Priest retained the title against Sheamus and Drew McIntyre in a triple threat match. On the following episode, Sheamus defeated McIntyre to earn a United States Championship match against Priest at Extreme Rules. On the September 20 episode, Jeff Hardy defeated Sheamus to earn a spot in the title match at Extreme Rules, thus making it a triple threat match.

Previous PPV matches: This is a first time triple threat match between these three men.

Extreme Rules PPV Record: Jeff Hardy is 0-3, Sheamus is 4-2 and Damien Priest wrestles at this event for the first time tonight.

Match: The bell rings and straight away Sheamus hits Jeff Hardy with a pump knee strike sending him out of the ring. Sheamus and Priest then fight to the outside where Hardy gets involved again too. Sheamus launches Priest into the ringpost which allows Sheamus and Hardy to go at it in the ring. Sheamus is dominant in this match for a long time. Priest looks for something but falls off the apron. Hardy hits whisper in the wind on both men for a near fall on Sheamus. Sheamus hits an Alabama slam on Jeff Hardy and Sheamus’s protective mask comes off in the process. Priest looks for the reckoning on Jeff Hardy but Hardy counters and they both fall over. Hardy then hits a twist of fate and heads to the top for a swanton bomb but Sheamus pushes him off the top. Sheamus then hits a knee drop off the top on Priest for a near fall. Priest avoids a brogue kick and then chokeslams Sheamus off the top. Hardy breaks up the pinfall attempt with a swanton bomb. The crowd are behind Hardy as he and Priest slug it out. Sheamus hits a brogue kick on Priest but Hardy pushes Sheamus out of the ring and pins Priest for a near fall. Sheamus brogue kicks Hardy but Priest rolls Sheamus up for the three!

Result: Damien Priest retains the United States Championship by pinfall.

Review: This was a really fun match, I enjoyed it. There were times you wondered whether Sheamus or Jeff Hardy would win but in the end it was Damien Priest who retained the title. The feud between Sheamus and Damien Priest doesn’t appear to be over but it’ll be interesting to see if Jeff Hardy is figured into the future plans.

Rating: 7.25/10

Becky Lynch (c) vs. Bianca Belair – Smackdown Women’s Championship match

Background: At SummerSlam, Bianca Belair was originally set to defend the SmackDown Women’s Championship against Sasha Banks. However, Banks was unable to appear for unknown reasons. Carmella was then announced as Banks’ replacement. Before the match could begin, however, Becky Lynch, in her first appearance since the Raw after Money in the Bank in May 2020, made a surprise return, attacked Carmella, challenged Belair, and subsequently defeated her in 26 seconds to win the title. On the following SmackDown, Belair challenged Lynch to a rematch, however, Lynch refused. Belair then won a fatal four-way match to become the number one contender. The following week, Belair challenged Lynch to a match for that night, but Lynch again refused, stating she would defend the title when she was ready. Later backstage, WWE officials Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville told Lynch that she would defend the title against Belair at Extreme Rules.

Previous PPV matches: These girls have wrestled on PPV once before and Becky won that one very quickly.

Extreme Rules PPV Record: Becky Lynch is 1-0 at Extreme Rules, Bianca wrestles at this event for the first time tonight.

Match: The match starts the same was as Summerslam but this time Bianca powers out of the man-handle slam. It’s all Bianca from there as Becky keeps trying to escape. Lynch takes control by using Bianca’s braid against her. It’s back and forth from here with Bianca out-powering the champion. Lynch takes the fight to the outside where she throws Bianca into the ring steps. Both girls counter each others finishers until Bianca gets Becky up on her shoulders for the kiss of death but out of nowhere comes Sasha Banks! She nails Bianca, causing the disqualification! Sasha then goes after Becky!

Result: Bianca Belair wins by disqualification.

Review: This was a really solid match. I don’t mind the way it ended, it makes sense for Sasha Banks to get involved and I’d quite like to see a triple threat. Bianca misses out on the title though but I know it won’t be her last shot.

Rating: 7/10

Roman Reigns (c) vs. “The Demon” Finn Balor – Extreme Rules match for the Universal Championship

Background: On the July 23 episode of SmackDown, after Roman Reigns declined John Cena’s challenge to a match for the Universal Championship at SummerSlam, Finn Bálor challenged Reigns for the title at the event, which Reigns accepted. During the contract signing, however, an altercation occurred, resulting in Cena signing the contract and becoming Reigns’ opponent at SummerSlam[16] where Reigns retained. Bálor then got his opportunity at the title on the September 3 episode of SmackDown, but he was unsuccessful. A rematch between the two for the Universal Championship was scheduled for Extreme Rules. On the September 10 episode, it was revealed that Reigns would be facing Bálor’s alter ego, “The Demon”, and it was later stipulated to be an Extreme Rules match.

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

Extreme Rules PPV Record: Roman Reigns is 5-2, Finn Balor is 1-1.

Match: Roman Reigns looks to use his power in the early going but Finn Balor no-sells. Reigns then pulls out a kendo stick but Balor pull out about 6 tied together and lays into Reigns with them. The crowd chants for a table and Balor looks to oblige but Reigns kicks the table back under the ring and lays into his challenger with a chair. The fight then goes through the crowd and up to the kick-off show desk which Reigns through Balor over. Back in the ring and Roman hits a urunage on Balor through a table for a near fall. They exchange Pele kicks and Superman punches but it’s not enough to finish the match. Balor counters a spear the first time but runs into the second. Balor kicks out of the pinfall, delivering a low blow as he does so.

Finn hits a coup de gras but The Usos then pull him out of the ring, hit him with superkicks and looks to put him though a table but Balor fights them both off, powerbombing Jey through the announce desk but then turning around into a spear from Roman Reigns, right through the barricade! Everyone is down but suddenly Finn Balor’s music hits and Balor rises up to his feet! The Demon lays into Reigns with a chair and then dropkicks him through a table. All whilst his music is playing, this is weird. Finn rolls Reigns into the ring and goes to the top rope but suddenly the top rope snaps and Finn falls to the floor. This is getting weirder. Reigns hits a big spear on Balor and pins him for the three.

Result: Roman Reigns retains the Universal Championship by pinfall.

Review: Well this was a pretty good match but the ending was bizarre. Finn started flailing around like a fish, came back to life, went up top but the top rope snapped. I don’t know. Strange. But generally the match was good. It wasn’t the cleanest of victories for the champion but it keeps this rivalry going. This is the first time ever that The Demon has lost. And what a way to go. Reigns continues his epic championship reign.

Rating: 6.5/10