Extreme Rules - 4/29/12
 

Hoping for:

Match #1) Tag Team Championship Gauntlet
Brodus Clay & Santino Marella w/ Cameron & Naomi vs. Dolph Ziggler & Jack Swagger w/ Vickie Guerrero vs. Epico & Primo © w/ Rosa Mendes vs. Jey & Jimmy Uso w/ Tamina Snuka vs. Kofi Kingston & R-Truth vs. Mizark
Clay and Marella eliminate Ziggler and Swagger, Epico and Primo eliminate Clay and Marella and the Usos, and Kingston and Truth eliminate Epico and Primo to seemingly win the titles, only for John Laurinaitis to come out and declare that there’s still one team left, which brings out Mark Henry and The Miz, who eliminate Kingston and Truth to win the titles.

Match #2) Last Man Standing
Kane vs. Randy Orton

Match #3) Falls Count Anywhere for the Intercontinental Championship
Big Show © vs. Cody Rhodes

Match #4) 2/3 Falls for the World Heavyweight Championship
Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus ©

Match #5) Lumberjill Match for the Divas Championship
Beth Phoenix © vs. Kelly

Match #6) Ladder Match for the WWE Championship
Chris Jericho vs. CM Punk ©

Match #7)
John Laurinaitis vs. Theodore Long
Kind of a joke, but I could see it happening.

Match #8) Cage Match
Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena

Lesnar/Cena - First Blood obviously

And what happens if Cena is busted open in the first two minutes like last night?

Usually in first blood matches, I think they make it clear that it's gotta be something more than just a bloody mouth. I think it was Austin against Kane years ago where he just busted his mouth open or something and the match kept going.

I really do hope they end up going with first blood though. Doesn't have to be a long match and I don't think either one should be pinned cleanly yet so a first blood match would be a great way to give a straight up win to someone and not make the other look inferior.

They should just do relaxed rules for matches. They don't need gimmicks for all of them.

* Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan should be three matches in one, so we don't really need a stacked card. Well, let's say that they go about twenty-five minutes. That's easily two matches, at least.

* CM Punk defends the WWE Championship against Chris Jericho. That one is pretty simple.

* John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar has already been confirmed. Just let that be a regular match between the two.

* Randy Orton vs. Kane will no doubt be happening.

* Mick Foley vs. Dean Ambrose would be a pretty bizarre inclusion, but having Mick Foley work at Extreme Rules is a story enough in itself, and it's a great way to launch Ambrose out the gate.

* The only other match that really deserves to make the card is Big Show defending the Intercontinental Championship against Cody Rhodes.

There you are -- there's your Extreme Rules card consisting of six matches. If you do need another one, go with Beth Phoenix squashing Kelly Kelly in a Divas Title match.

Well, gimmick matches IS the theme of the PPV...

Also, it's a good excuse to have Cena vs Brock end decisively but without a pinfall for the reasons I stated above.

Here's what I'd like to see...

First Blood Match
John Cena vs Brock Lesnar

World Heavyweight Title 2 out of 3 Falls Match
Daniel Bryan vs Sheamus

WWE Title Submission Match
CM Punk vs Chris Jericho

Last Man Standing Match
Randy Orton vs Kane

WWE Intercontinental Title Ladder Match
Cody Rhodes vs The Big Show

Mixed Tag Match
Zack Ryder and Layla vs The Miz and Eve

I feel like Del Rio, Henry and some others deserve some kind of match too. And Santino and Brodus vs Swagger and Ziggler possibly with Primo and Epico thrown in for the tag titles. I don't know.

I don't think First Blood is gonna happen.....

The set it up perfectly on RAW, dont see why not.

They're obviously becoming more relaxed on their stance on things. The word "ass" was taboo there for a while and now the language limit is back to normal. Even if Cena getting his mouth busted open on Raw was a mistake, they ended up showcasing it regularly. So if they don't go first blood, it definitely won't be a "PG" issue like it would have been for all these years.

It is an issue. Accidental blood is one thing. They seem to have embraced it multiple times now.

They aren't about to start doing blade jobs again, though.

It doesn't HAVE to be a blade job

Well then you have absolutely no control over when the match is going to end.

Fake blood?
That eyebrow punch to open someone up the hard way that Foley talked about in one of his books?
Just repeating what happened on Raw?
There are ways.

I think you are clinging to the idea of this first blood match too much. Not gonna happen. Period.

I'm just saying if they wanted to, there are ways.

Crappy, haphazard ways, yeah.

I'm not saying it's GONNA happen. It just isn't out of the realm of possibility.

Especially with how they hyped Brock as "Bringing legitimacy back" and he instantly drew blood. Now they have to (At least they SHOULD) have a gimmick match of some sort. It makes sense.

They will have an Extreme Rules match.

Fake blood would not be the worst thing in the world. And it's not like it's gotta be a "crimson mask".

I think both Jericho-Punk and Lesnar-Cena will be No Holds Barred (Extreme Rules Match) although wouldn't be surprised if Jericho-Punk is in a cage.

Crimson Mask match. First to grab the Red Mask from ringside, and force it onto the head of his opponent wins.

And we've found ANOTHER way to do it!

Oh, a red mask. I thought it was just a mask of TNA "superstar" Crimson.

Would be way cooler... and way more humiliating.

In an e-fed angle, I once dropped a bucket of glue on this dude's face and glued a PowerPuff Girl mask to it.

Dude sold it for like two months.

Its in Chicago, smark crowd ftw.

Poor Sheamus though.

I'm actually wondering if the WWE will have Sheamus squash Bryan twice at Extreme Rules. It seems like the sort of thing they would do to try and get him over. If it doesn't fit the first time, repeat twice more to make it, dammit!

It'd be like having a Steel Cage Match at TLC, though -- entirely unwarranted. Just have Lesnar and Cena go at it in relaxed rules. With Laurinaitis entirely behind Lesnar, it's possible to have some sort of shady ending with Otunga getting involved and making things "grey," not that I feel they need to be.

I am with the first blood crowd on this one.

And that Chicago crowd is going to SHIT on Sheamus.

They mentioned it in the Brock thread, have Brock take Cena out via nefarious deeds, then have him face for a world title. I'm thinking Sheamus since they don't seem to care too much about Smackdown. This will piss people off because his first official match will be for a title, he just gets to jump to the front of the line because he's "legitimate". Sheamus puts up a fight, but ultimately falls to the War Machine™ in a Tables Match.

Now we have Brock the unstoppable monster with the following bragging points:

1. Embarrassed Cena on his debut
2. Injured Cena
3. Won a world title in his first match back, in a match that Sheamus had beaten Cena in way back when

So when Cena eventually returns, Brock will have enough heel heat to baptise Cena in an ocean of baby-face juice. Of course, Cena comes back as tweener Cena who still would do anything for the fans, but no longer gives speeches on morality.

not much of a spoiler#

Having a gimmick match at a gimmick match themed PPV would be like having a steel cage match at a TLC themed PPV?

:wtf:

Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena - Cage Match
Chris Jericho vs. CM Punk © - Ultimate Submission Match for the WWE Championship
Big Show © vs. Cody Rhodes - Bodyslam Challenge for the Intercontinental Championship
Brodus Clay & Santino Marella w/ Cameron & Naomi vs. Epico & Primo © w/ Rosa Mendes - Texas Tornado Match for the Tag Team Championship
Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus © - 2/3 Falls Match for the World Heavyweight Championship
Kane vs. Randy Orton - Last Man Standing Match

Yes, Extreme Rules has used gimmicks in the past, but "Extreme Rules" is also a gimmick in itself. Why throw stipulations out there for the hell of it? Gimmick PPVs themselves are dumb, but we don't need five duplicates of them. Let Extreme Rules be "Extreme Rules" and Tables Match be "Tables Match."

I hate Extreme Rules as a PPV for the record. Not so much because of what it is, but more so when it is. If it were a May PPV -- I'd be cool with it. Coming off WrestleMania, though, I think they should have a regular PPV where the fallout from Mania is solved. Backlash was perfect. From there you can build to your crazy shit for no reason.

I'm really curious to see how Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan turns out. The reason being that the WWE has to suspect that the crowd in attendance is going to be super-smarky. Three things are certain for the PPV:

1. CM Punk will have the fans in a frenzy for anything he does.

2. They will be rabid for Brock Lesnar and wanting to see him kill John Cena.

3. They will be all over Sheamus and chanting "YES!" a lot.

I can understand that they didn't expect Mania to go the way it did, since they are in total hype machine and may not have expected Smarkamania to be runnin' wild; but they should be prepared for Sheamus to get the living shit heckled out of him while Bryan is worshipped as a hero, despite every damn dastardly thing the WWE has done to make him seem like the worst guy on the planet. In my opinion, this would probably be the best way to go about booking the World Heavyweight Title match at Extreme Rules, to make everyone look good and making as many people happy as possible:

* Sheamus wins the first fall after he powers up Bryan -- who has him in a LeBell Lock -- into a Finlay-style Celtic Cross (which I think he used on Bryan at Elimination Chamber). Sheamus will be booed, but he looks as good as gold by drawing first blood and proving that he's the "rightful" champion, if you will.

* The crowd will then be rabid to see Bryan fight back and win the second fall, which he does, probably with a roll-up to stay in touch with his technically heel persona, and because I can't see the WWE having Sheamus tap-out.

* The third fall goes back and forth, with neither man going down easy. The end sees Sheamus catch Bryan coming off the top rope with a Brogue Kick (which is how I believe Sheamus won the US Title, too -- but I may be wrong). Sheamus wins the third fall and retains the World Heavyweight Title. He celebrates for a bit (probably to boos -- or at least a mixed reaction), before he heads to the back. Bryan is left in the ring, however, and he gets the "guy who put on amazing performance is left in the ring as he comes to getting lots of cheers" moment. Bryan loses the match, but finds himself standing in the ring as the Chicago crowd chants "YES! YES! YES!" and "Thank you, Bryan!"

From there, the WWE can move onto its regularly scheduled program and have Sheamus defend the World Heavyweight Title against Alberto Del Rio, while Bryan is sort of reborn as a babyface character -- looking to prove that he does belong at the top. Hell, since they seem to do it every two years, as I've suggested before, bring back the King of the Ring and have Bryan meet Chris Jericho in the finals at Over the Limit, where Bryan wins and his victory speech consists simply of "YES! YES! YES!" It at least gives Bryan a journey as a character over the next few months.

We agree that gimmick PPVs for the most part are dumb. They force gimmick matches into feuds as opposed to the feud flowing naturally into a climactic gimmick match. Hate it.

But getting past that and recognizing "It exists, can't do anything about it now, let's move on."

... it's Extreme Rules. Adding extreme rules to matches on a PPV called... ... ... Extreme Rules is not the same as having a cage match at a PPV called TLC.

Noid, the more I read your posts, the more I realize that you have such an incredible understanding for pro wrestling. You seem to "get it" more than most. :y:

I 100% agree with everything that you said about Bryan/Sheamus and feel like your booking for it is a win-win for everybody involved. It's just terrific.

After reading one of your first posts in this thread, I myself now see six matches would be the perfect amount for this card. As you said, the 2/3 Falls Match would be like three matches in one. My own personal idea for Jericho/Punk would be to have an Ultimate Submission Match. Suprisingly, they've only had one in the WWE, when Benoit and Angle wrestled for 30 minutes to see who could score the most submissions before time expired. It's a crime that it's only been done once, but they totally should make it happen again at Extreme Rules with Jericho and Punk.

The only change I'd make to your card is putting a tag title match between Brodus/Santino and Epico/Primo on the show instead of Ambrose/Foley, but other than that, the rest looks nice.

Ultimate submission matches are a bad idea. Your top guys, more specifically your top faces should not be tapping out multiple times in a night. It just makes them look ridiculously weak. A tap out should be a huge deal. I'd rather see a straight up submission match or an iron man match.

Thanks, Mr. C. Greatly appreciate your compliments there.

I disagree with #1-wwf-fan when he says that it makes the guys look weak -- there's a time and place for them. Especially when the guys in the ring are telling the right story, and the idea is that they might not be tapping out because they can't get out of the hold, or whatever, but that they are protecting themselves from injury and such. The tapping becomes part of a strategy.

That being said, I think the way this feud has turned, the sporting element that an Ultimate Submission Match would provide has been thrown out the window. Punk wants to hurt Jericho, and a "one fall to the finish" stip would suit them best. At this point in time, anyway. Somewhere down the track, they can rekindle their rivalry; or perhaps Punk and Bryan or Jericho and Bryan can bring it into a feud. But Punk's goal at Extreme Rules is now "kicking Jericho's ass."

I agree that Mick Foley vs. Dean Ambrose would be too "thrown together" right now. Also, with the way Ambrose is going about putting down Foley, any sort of "hardcore match" seems like something Ambrose would not agree to. When it does come for their program to make it to television, I think a straight wrestling match between the two escalates (mainly due to Foley -- probably a DQ win for Ambrose) and Dean agrees to have a Hardcore Match with Foley to "put him down for good."

Epico & Primo vs. Santino Marella & Brodus Clay would be a hot match, don't get me wrong, but my personal preference would just be for a chaotic Ladder Match. They've always been some of my favourites. Epico & Primo are called into Johnny Ace's office and he says "You want some time? Be careful what you wished for -- at Extreme Rules you'll be defending the Tag Team Championship against Kofi Kingston & R-Truth and Jack Swagger & Dolph Ziggler...in a Tables, Ladders & Chairs Match. People Power! *David Otunga sips coffee*"

It'd also be thrown together, but it would get Swagger, Kofi, Truth & Ziggler on PPV, which you know the WWE wants, and the whole "Epico's bitching gets them into trouble" is a pretty easy set-up. It being completely thrown together is what would fuel the story of the match. I see Marella & Clay appearing at Extreme Rules, but I can't see Johnny Ace rewarding them with a title match. At this point, it's probably most likely that we'll see Epico & Primo left off the card, and Marella & Clay just face Ziggler & Swagger. Epico will then take to Twitter and bitch about how those teams made the show, but they didn't.

Again, you make some excellent points that I would've never even thought of.

I agree that the Ultimate Submission Match is more of a dream/preference than what makes the most sense for Jericho/Punk. However, if they'd stress that the only way to score a fall in the match is by submission and, thus, the opponent can't get counted out, disqualified, or pinned, they could introduce weapons and whatnot to sell the fact that Punk wants to hurt Jericho. That being said, I personally want a match similar to Benoit/Angle at Backlash 2001 and not something that basically resembles an I Quit Match, so maybe later.

As far as the tag titles are concerned, I'd go with the new team challenging for the belts instead of Epico/Primo defending them against two teams they've already beaten in a Triple Threat Match on RAW. Sure, WWE doesn't always do what makes sense, but it would be dumb for Brodus/Santino to go over Ziggler/Swagger, who end up getting a title shot after already losing to the champs and then to a new team. Plus, I have no interest in seeing Brodus/Santino vs. Ziggler/Swagger again so soon after it ended so decisive the first time. That being said, I'd go with a Texas Tornado Match instead of a Ladder Match. Not really that extreme, but all four guys in the ring at the same time would be entertaining enough.

Also, do you think Lesnar/Cena should have a stipulation or not? The idea of Lesnar in a Cage Match at Extreme Rules is too appealing for the WWE not to be heading in that direction, seeing as how Lesnar has the UFC background.

I wouldn't have any stipulation for Lesnar/Cena beyond "Extreme Rules." That'll mean no countouts and no disqualifications, which is more than enough for these two at this point in time. Apparently No Way Out is going to be a Steel Cage-themed PPV (maybe just for one or two matches, I hope), so I would leave the cage for now.

The thing with Santino & Clay is that Johnny Ace should logically do everything he can to keep Marella, who just led a team against him, from getting any sort of title shot. Ziggler & Swagger may have lost to Marella & Clay, but they do have Laurinaitis' favour. Marella/Clay vs. Ziggler/Swagger could just be a continuation of what they have going on at the moment. Clay & Marella go over and continue mounting momentum for a title shot that Johnny Ace can't deny them. But I have a feeling that Santino Marella and Cody Rhodes will do a brand swap soon, with Rhodes taking the IC Title to RAW (which I think he will win back from Big Show) and Marella taking the US Title to SmackDown!. But in the meantime, Clay & Marella make an entertaining duo that theoretically (in the fans' minds, anyway) could have been champs.

So yeah, I'll change my TLC Match to a Tornado Tag Match between Santino Marella & Brodus Clay and Dolph Ziggler & Jack Swagger, with Marella & Clay going over and Epico then Tweeting about how it makes no sense that the Tag Team Champions don't make the PPV, but other teams did. Then you can build towards a Tag Team Title match for Over the Limit.

The Jericho/Punk idea is not a bad one at all, actually, with weapons and such coming into it as psychology. Especially if they do something where neither man really wants to submit to the other guy, leading to either a draw or extra time where Punk finally wins it.

:|

I'd personally rather see a Cage Match, but at least it's just not one-on-one at a gimmick match pay-per-view.

There will be blood

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I still remember MVP coming down and cleaning the blood of Kennedy's face and stopping his bleeding before the ref saw it...genius moment in probably one of the better FB matches I've ever seen.

I don't see what everyone's problem with Brock Lesnar facing John Cena in an Extreme Rules Match is. You have Steel Cage Matches happening in just two months at No Way Out (well, matches where the theme is "no escape," apparently). Hold your horses.

:shifty: