The post-WrestleMania pay-per-view can often have that “After the Lord Mayor’s show” feeling. Normally it features Mania rematches (usually of issues that have already peaked) and it’s difficult as a fan to “get up” for a “regular” show just weeks after the biggest show of the year. Could 2015’s Extreme Rules be any different?
For once it had a “fresh” main event in one sense. Although Randy Orton and Seth Rollins had met at Mania, in a very good match, the World Title had obviously not been at stake there and neither man had “officially” been entered into the Mania Main event title match. Of course, Rollins’ cash-in DURING the Brock Lesnar/Roman Reigns match there was a special moment and the fact that Orton had defeated him on the undercard made this title match a logical development. The Steel Cage stipulation added intrigue, but as a whole the match couldn’t live up to the Mania one. It was good, but not great. There was too much of a deliberate pace in the early going and whilst the middle portion of the match sparkled, the extra curricular activity towards the end marred the finish. Unless you are named Brock Lesnar of course, no “new” heel champion is allowed to be anything other than a cheating sneak so Rollins was always likely to win in this manner, but the fact you expected it doesn’t make it any the more satisfying to watch.
The big back up to the main event came in the form of John Cena vs Rusev and Roman Reigns vs The Big Show. Some had been surprised at how good the Cena/Rusev Mania match had been, although you shouldn’t really have been. For all his faults, a Cena match normally delivers on the biggest stages. The Russian Chain stipulation hampered them here, with the nearly always boring “touch four corners” stipulation coming into play. No prizes for predicting the finish here, either in terms of a Cena win nor in terms of the traditional “both men touch three corners in succession, before they battle out over who gets to touch the fourth” finish. Reigns vs Show’s Last Man Standing match was MUCH better, however, with another great performance from Reigns. Yes the stipulation meant that there were a few too many contrived and obvious “set up” moments but the effort from both men was superb and they assembled a dramatic and hard hitting match.
The undercard had it’s moments. The Chicago Streetfight between Dean Ambrose and Luke Harper certainly was “creative” and you can’t deny the effort, but the storyline that saw the two disappear for an hour before returning to the arena to conclude their match just didn’t help matters for me. It was fun, in it’s own way, but hurt what could have been a super-stiff brawl. Sheamus and Dolph Ziggler was too short to really get going and few could have thought the “Kiss Me Arse” stipulation added anything. I enjoyed the Tag Team Title match between Kidd & Cesaro and The New Day, although this was another one that could have done with a bit more time allocated to it, and although it would be a stretch to say that the Diva’s Title match between Nikki Bella and Naomi was great, it was fine for what it was and certainly wasn’t embarrassing.
After a five-star Mania, Extreme Rules was something of a come-down and it’s fair to say that it didn’t set the world, or – ahem – Universe alight. There was plenty that was entertaining although there were simply too many gimmick matches for one show (the usual problem with a show built around gimmicks like this one) for my liking. Still, there was a very good Reigns/Show match and some decent enough action. There just wasn’t really enough that grabbed you. A decent effort, but one that never really felt anything more than a B-Show.
In terms of extra’s on the Blu-Ray we add the kickoff bout between Bad News Barrett and Neville, which excites in the final straight but is far too short to really grab your attention. There are also three Seth Rollins TV bouts from Raw and Smackdown, the pick of which is a fantastic match with Neville, set up promos/altercations between John Cena & Rusev and Roman Reigns & The Big Show and some exclusive backstage interviews with Rollins & Sheamus.
Thank you to our partners, WWEDVD.co.uk and Fetch.fm for providing our review copy of WWE Extreme Rules 2015 which is available on DVD & Blu-Ray from Monday, June 29th 2015. You can pre-order your copy from WWEDVD.co.uk now by clicking here.
