It’s the one time a year when the WWE goes “Extreme” but was 2020’s event worth the watch? Courtesy of WWE Home Video, Matthew Roberts takes a look at Extreme Rules 2020
The WWE certainly set themselves up for a, ahem, fall with the particular corner of the internet that “doesn’t watch” the WWE but constantly moans about it online by subtitling Extreme Rules 2020 as the “Horror Show”. The comments almost write themselves don’t they. Still, going in, this had a strong looking line up on paper and certainly had potential to be an enjoyable show. But was it? Let’s find out.
We kicked things off on the show proper with the WWE Smackdown Tag Team Championship match as Kofi Kingston and Big E put the belts on the line against Cesaro & Shinsuke Nakamura in a tables match. As expected, with the talent in there, it was a strong showing even if at times it was the wrestling equivalent of the villain in a James Bond movie spending all his time explaining his dastardly plan to a tied up Bond rather than just shooting him there and then. That aside, it was enjoyable and hard-hitting and was certainly a case of all four men earning their money through the bumps they took.
We continued with Smackdown next as Bayley defended her Women’s Championship against Nikki Cross. I had high hopes for this one and whilst they didn’t quite match those when it was all said and done this was still a pretty decent match. We’ve seen better but it’s perhaps as telling in terms of quality that a “good” match like this comes off as something of a minor disappointment these days simply because the women’s division is so good.
After MVP claimed the US title due to Apollo Crews being unable to make the show we came to the match that had been the talking point of the wrestling world in the build up; the “Eye for an Eye” match between Rey Mysterio and Seth Rollins. Was the stipulation, well, daft in 2020? Quite probably. Even in the vast annals of mainstream wrestling I don’t recall a match in my lifetime where the only way you could win was to tear your opponents eye out? But was the action itself very good? Yes, indeed. What made it even more entertaining was the fact that both men treated it deadly seriously and tailored the match around the stipulation. For all the “unbelievability” surrounding it, the wrestlers made you believe in the storyline. Some were disappointed there was no CGI nonsense for the finish, but I’m of the view that whatever they may have attempted in that way would not have gone down well. Seth being sick at the, ahem., sight of what he’d done in lieu of any footage of an eyeball hanging out was a classic old horror movie trope. The imagination of what had happened was way more sinister than anything else they could have shown us.
Even in a “no-fans” setting, Asuka and Sasha Banks had a lot to follow in their Raw Women’s Championship match. Luckily, the two are fantastic wrestlers at the top of their game and they assembled a very good match indeed. It was back and forth, played back to other encounters from their history and managed to serve up an atmosphere of “anyone could win”. Of course the screwy/confusing finish was not to everyone’s taste (and extra credit points to anyone who knocked this finish but constantly says the WWE is not as good as it was in the Attitude Era) and is not what I would ever book as a PPV finish but it fuelled the ongoing storyline with Sasha and Bayley, gave Asuka an “out” and set up the weeks and months to come in the Women’s Division . Not bad at all, then.
As someone who doesn’t see “it” in Dolph Ziggler I had little interest in his match for Drew McIntyre’s WWE Championship. Even the stipulation of “Extreme Rules for Dolph, but not for Drew” couldn’t come close to convincing you he had any chance of a win. This seemed even less of a possibility after Banks’s screwy “win” in the previous match. This is not to say it was a particularly bad match. McIntyre exudes the confidence of a man who knows that being champion and that he deserves to be there. He’s also a great worker. For my lack of interest in Ziggler I would still acknowledge his skills as a wrestler. So the action itself was fine, there was just a lack of any real drama.
And then it was time for the main event and the now seemingly traditional “cinematic” match. This month it was Braun Strowman against Bray Wyatt in a Wyatt Swamp Fight. By this stage there was the feeling that “less is more” when it comes to “matches” like this. It wasn’t boring, it wasn’t offensive…but neither was it all that memorable. The fact that most buzz in the aftermath was about the Alexa Bliss cameo should tell you a lot. It had it’s moments, but is not something that totally grabbed me.
If you watch WWE purely to find fault with it then I am sure you could find plenty to rant against on this show. For those of us on a more even keel this was a surprisingly strong effort. Love or hate the “eye” stipulation, Rollins and Mysterio put on a very good match indeed. The two women’s title matches were good efforts, especially Banks/Asuka and both the Smackdown Tag Titles match and the WWE Championship match had plenty to entertain you with. People will take or leave the Wyatt Swamp Match, but even with that not being a high point for this reviewer the overall show was a very entertaining effort. It was certainly never dull. The DVD adds the kickoff show match between Kevin Owens and Buddy Murphy, which was another strong effort.
8 out of 10.
Photographs courtesy of Fetch and WWE
Thank you to WWE Home Video for our review copy of Extreme Rules which is out Monday 31 August on DVD. You can buy your copy from WWEDVD.co.uk by clicking here.
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