Extreme Rules 2021 airs at a fraught time for WWE, reason being that with the exception of Making Money, they just continue to be bad at everything they have traditionally promoted themselves as being good at: production, public relations, even good-old-fashioned Moments. They no longer promote the Corporate Sports Entertainment Agenda nor do they pretend something different will rise from its’ foundation — the bastards have just settled, and we are watching it: Extreme Rules, with its one Extreme Rules Match, live from Ohio.
0. Liv Morgan vs. Carmella
This is like the fifth city that Liv Morgan got super over with, and I hope someone in WWE notices because she has only been on TV in about five cities. The match? It was a WWE Kickoff match. Each got in a neat spot and they found a rhythm for all the stretches that mattered. Most of all Liv Morgan was just super over. **3/4
1. The New Day vs. Bobby Lashley, AJ Styles & Omos w/ MVP
The show began properly with two of the most reliable matches WWE has left, a 6-man tag from The New Day and a regular tag from The Usos. The surprises were few but the work was fun, especially with Big E in the WWE Champion role and Kofi & Woods so established that Bobby and AJ were clearly receptive to any spot they pitched. Kofi took heat, E tossed AJ, and Omos was a certified “Colossus.” An overthought WWE finish was pulled off really well too. ***1/4
2. SmackDown Tag Team Title: The Usos [c] vs. Street Profits
Maybe WWE has looked to New Japan for advice on enduring these trying times, as here was another good match that relied on too many familiar notes to stand out as better. Everybody put in the work, with Dawkins selling his ribs and the Usos always good for a few main event near falls. Montez Ford again popped off the screen with his speed, charisma, and a tope con hilo that went way way way over the top of the corner turnbuckle. ***1/4
3. RAW Women’s Title: Charlotte Flair [c] vs. Alexa Bliss
I liked Alexa’s run as women’s ace in 2017, not for any standout epic match but for the quality character work and how she did adapt in-ring to look meaner and bigger than her 5’1” frame would suggest. Along the way between now and then she’s become someone who above all else looks totally comfortable in a WWE ring, whether asked to go even with Charlotte Flair in a title match or to deliver some of WWE’s dirt worst WrestleCrap material. There was too much start-stop and general silliness for this to completely work, but the work stayed solid and they had the crowd biting on a couple near falls at the end. **3/4
4. Triple Threat Match – WWE U.S. Title: Damian Priest [c] vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Sheamus
Here was a bunch of action I hasten to guess was designed to make Damian look strong, and by golly they did that. As an added bonus it had Jeff Hardy still going hard (if not hitting perfectly) and Sheamus doing the Hardy fingers. Bell-to-bell it didn’t reach the levels of the other Triple Threat Match on Monday, though there were a few near falls at the end here that absolutely popped the crowd more — before a rollup, the coward’s finish. ***1/4
5. SmackDown Women’s Title: Becky Lynch [c] vs. Bianca Belair
This was good while it lasted, which is a weird statement considering it went 16 minutes. They teased the SummerSlam finish for Belair immediately, then went to work in a match that stayed interesting but didn’t hit that pesky second gear until right before Sasha Banks ran-in and caused a no contest.
Babyface Bianca delivered no less than four awesome feats of strength — the roll-through suplex and Disarmer power-out especially cool — while Becky played heel without being annoying about it. It had the drawbacks of being a match on a B-level WWE PPV that was headed towards a run-in, but main event Becky has returned and Bianca continues to deliver. Also, Sasha Banks is back. ***1/4
6. Extreme Rules – WWE Universal Title: Roman Reigns [c] vs. “The Demon” Finn Balor
What a stupid wrestling match. I mean I liked it, maybe. No I didn’t. I don’t know. There were red lights and smoke and a supersized Demon Balor kendo stick. Crowd chants ensured plenty of table teases and eventually table bumps. Roman put on a facemask before brawling in the crowd and Balor was jolted to life by his theme music and more red lights before the top rope snapped and caused his demise.
Facepaint or not, Balor and Roman keep their matches moving and delivered something approximating a good match among a whole mess of bad ideas — not to mention the original idea where they booked the return of The Demon for a match with Roman Reigns a week after they booked the return of Brock Lesnar, already headed towards another match with Roman Reigns a month after this one. I’m happy for the experience, bummed for those expecting anything more out of Demon Balor in WWE. ***1/2
Happy Thoughts: The show WWE delivers when they’ve settled, though also when they have a Draft in a week and are going back to Saudi Arabia in a month and all kinds of other dumb stuff. The wrestling was pretty much all good, the wrestling was pretty much all lacking something. 3.0 / 5.0
