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Csonka’s WWE Extreme Rules 2019 Review
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Csonka’s WWE Extreme Rules 2019 Review
OFFICIAL RESULTS
– WWE IC Championship Match: Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Champion Finn Balor @ 7:35 via pin [***]
– WWE Cruiserweight Championship Match: Champion Drew Gulak defeated Tony Nese @ 7:45 via pin [***]
– No Holds Barred Match: The Undertaker & Roman Reigns defeated Shane McMahon & Drew McIntyre @ 16:55 via pin [***½]
– Raw Tag Team Championship Match: Champions The Revival defeated The Usos @ 12:35 via pin [***½]
– It’s a Match Match: Aleister Black defeated Cesaro @ 9:45 via pin [****]
– Smackdown Women’s Championship Handicap Match: Champion Bayley defeated Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross @ 10:20 via pin [**½]
– Last Man Standing Match: Braun Strowman defeated Lashley @ 18:20 [***]
– Smackdown Tag Team Championship Match: New Day defeated Champions Rowan & Daniel Bryan and Heavy Machinery @ 13:58 via pin [****]
– WWE United States Championship Match: AJ Styles defeated Champion Ricochet @ 16:33 via pin [***¾]
– It’s a Match Match: Kevin Owens defeated Dolph Ziggler @ 0:10 via pin [LOL]
– WWE Championship Match: Champion Kofi Kingston defeated Samoa Joe @ 9:45 via pin [**¾]
– WWE Universal and Raw Women’s Championship Winners Take All Extreme Rules Match: Champions Becky Lynch & Seth Rollins defeated Lacey Evans & Baron Corbin @ 19:55 via pin [**]
– Universal Title Match: Brock Lesnar defeated Champion Seth Rollins @ 0:13 via pin [NR]
– Follow all of my reviews at this link.
WWE IC Championship Match: Champion Finn Balor vs. Shinsuke Nakamura: They lock up and work to the ropes, and Balor shoves Nakamura away and then attacks with strikes. He follows with a dropkick and then delivers chops. They have some issues with a counter spot and Nakamura follows with a knee strike and they work to the apron but Balor hits an enziguri. The tope con hello follows and Balor then slams Nakamura to the barricades. Back in and Nakamura pulls an arm bar, but Balor makes the ropes. Nakamura follows with knee strikes and covers for 2. Nakamura locks on a dragon sleeper, Balor fights to his feet, escapes, but Nakamura follows with a front facelock. Balor escapes with a PELE, dropkicks the knee and hits a basement dropkick. The final cut follows for 2. Sling blade follows, and then Nakamura cuts off John Woooo with a jumping kick. Balor battles back with an enziguri, heads up top and Nakamura crotches him. Nakamura then hits the sliding German, and sets for Kinshasa and Balor cuts him off with the running double stomp. John Wooooooooo follows but the top rope double stomp misses; KINSHASA connects to the back of the head and then a regular one follows for the win. Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Champion Finn Balor @ 7:35 via pin [***] They didn’t get a lot of time, but this was good with Nakamura looking motivated like on Smackdown, hopefully the follow up booking is strong.
WWE Cruiserweight Championship Match: Champion Drew Gulak vs. Tony Nese: Gulak attacks at the bell, taking control until Nese ground the action. Gulak fights back, but Nese picks up the pace, hits kicks and sweeps the leg, covering for 1. He dumps Gulak and follows but Gulak cuts him off with an apron clothesline. Back in and Gulak grounds the action, and then follows with a dropkick for 2. He works a neck crank, but Nese fights to his feet and hits the pump handle driver for 2. Nese is slow to follow, they trade chops but Nese hits the German to the buckles. The running Nese is cut off and Nese drapes Gulak in the ropes and hits a moonsault on the apron. Back in and Nese heads up top and hits the 450 knees first for 2. Gulak fires back with kicks, strikes and then they work into counters and Gulak follows with the powerbomb for 2. The Argentine cutter follows and Gulak covers for the win. Champion Drew Gulak defeated Tony Nese @ 7:45 via pin [***] Unfortunately, they didn’t get a lot of time, but they made the most of it and know how to work well with each other. It was good and Gulak continues to roll as champion; give me Gulak vs. Lorcan.
No Holds Barred Match: Shane McMahon & Drew McIntyre vs. The Undertaker & Roman Reigns: Reigns and Drew begin. They immediately trade strikes, but Drew follows with an overhead toss and Shane tags in. he lays in “strikes” on Reigns, but Reigns fires back and slams him to the buckles. He follows with strikes and tags in Taker. He lays in strikes, attacks the arm and then covers for 2. Taker looks for old school, but Shane cuts him off and lays in body shots until Take cuts him off with strikes. The clothesline follows and old school connects. Drew tags in and comes face to face with Taker and follows with strikes, Taker fires back but Drew dumps him only for Taker to pull him to the floor and works him over on the apron. The apron leg drop follows, and the cover gets 2. Reigns tags in and follows with strikes and then clotheslines in the corner. The big boot follows and he follows by taking out Shane but then gets dumped as Shane low bridges him. Taker gets a chair and chases Shane away as Drew slams Reigns into the steps. Back in and Drew follows with a suplex for 2. Shane tags in and covers for 2. Drew back in and follows with an overhead suplex for 2. He grounds the action, but Reigns fires up and hits a Samoan drop. Drew misses a charge and posts himself. Taker tags in and works over Shane, follows with a corner clothesline and snake eyes. The big boot connects; he takes out Drew and dumps Shane. He follows him out and dismantles an announce table. Elias arrives and attacks Taker with a guitar shot to save Shane. Reigns attacks, but Drew claymores him into the crowd. Drew claymores Taker, dismantles another announce table and they lay Taker on one of them. Shane follows with the top rope elbow through the table onto Taker. They roll Taker in and set him up for coast to coast. They set the trashcan in front of Taker’s face and Shane heads up top and hits coast to coast. Reigns is back and takes out Elias, but Drew cuts him off but Taker sits up and chokeslams Shane. One for Elias as well. Drew then gets speared by Reigns and Taker tombstones Shane for the win. The Undertaker & Roman Reigns defeated Shane McMahon & Drew McIntyre @ 16:55 via pin [***½] For a no holds barred match, they were certainly polite and followed the rule of tag team wrestling well. Anyway, they got past that and played well to the stipulation and Taker looked way better than his last few appearances (because he was smartly protected in a tag match, it’s 2019, he should be used this way and play the hits because that’s all the people really want), and this was actually better than expected; it was very good & fun.
Next week is Raw reunion.
Raw Tag Team Championship Match: Champions The Revival vs. The Usos: Dawson starts off with Jimmy, and they work into counters, and both go for pins. They end in a stalemate. They lock up and they trade strikes, Jey tags in and double teams follow. Dawson cuts him off and tags in Dash, but Jimmy tags in and they work double teams. The Revival powder, and then cut off suicide dives but the Uso battle back and follow with topes. Dawson cuts off Jey on the floor, slams him to the barricade and we get a countout tease. Jey makes it back in and Dawson follows by grounding things and Dash tags in and double teams follow for 2.Dash catapults Jey under the ropes and then covers for 2. He grounds the action, but Jey battles back and looks for a tag. Dash distracts Jimmy, the tag is made but the ref didn’t see it. The champions pummel Jey, Dash tags in and the Demolition demolisher connects for 2. Dawson takes Jey up top and Jey fights him off, knocks him to the mat and he spills to the floor. Tags to Jimmy and Dash, high cross by Jimmy follows for 2. He follows with strikes and Samoan drops to both. Dash then cuts him off with a powerbomb and that gets 2. Dawson tags in and Jimmy fights them off, hits whisper in the wind and Jey tags in and double teams follow for 2. Dawson takes out Jimmy but Jey cradles him for 2. Dawson fights back and hits the brainbuster for 2. he takes Jey up top and Dash tags in as they hit the Power & Glory for 2 as Jimmy flies in to make the save. It breaks down as they brawl, superkicks by the Usos follow and Dawson trips one up and shatter machine follows for the win. Champions The Revival defeated The Usos @ 12:35 via pin [***½] This was really good with great tag work and the Revival picking up the strong win. It felt as if they were holding back as if this was the first match in a series, they left a lot on the bone here, which isn’t a bad thing.
Aleister Black vs. Cesaro: Black teases black mass, but Cesaro lays in uppercuts and hits the belly to back suplex. Black counters the Gotch, but Cesaro sits down to mock him. Black follows with strikes and then hits the moonsault to the floor. Back in and Black hits meteora, a knee strike, and covers for 2. Black looks for black mass, Cesaro fires back, they trade and Cesaro dumps him. Back in and Cesaro hits the springboard uppercut for 2. He then grounds the action, and then follows with a clothesline for 2. The gut wrench suplex connects for 2. Cesaro hits elbow drops, the double stomp and covers for 2. He grounds things, working the arm. Black fights back and hits the springboard moonsault press. Black follows with kicks, but Cesaro fires back with uppercuts and catches meteora and follows with the pop up uppercut for 2. Cesaro lays in strikes, uppercuts but Black gets the backslide for 2. He follows with a flurry of kicks, a knee strike as Cesaro springboards back in and covers for 2. Cesaro dumps him, but Black back in and cradles Cesaro for 2. he attacks with leg kicks, pulls a knee bar and Cesaro fights for the ropes and then transitions into the sharpshooter. He transitions to the crossface, but Black attacks the knee and escapes. Black hits a knee strike, and both men are down. They trade, Black follows with uppercuts and Cesaro fires back and teases the Gotch, but Black attacks the knee and hits black mass for the win. Aleister Black defeated Cesaro @ 9:45 via pin [****] This was great, they got time, there was no bullshit as they worked a very non-traditional WWE match (very strike heavy similar to last week’s Ibushi vs. KENTA match), I loved Black constantly attacking the leg with leg kicks, and they had a really entertaining and competitive match with Black winning in his re-debut. It also reminded me that this company needs to use Cesaro more.
– Truth looks for Hornswoggle and his 24/7 championship. Bliss gives Nikki a t-shirt as the Street Profits make a random appearance. They want to know where Bliss’ after party will be, and then laugh at the notion of “co-champions” for Nikki & Alexa.
Smackdown Women’s Championship Handicap Match: Champion Bayley vs. Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross: Bliss and Bayley begin, working into some back and forth with Bliss taking control and tagging in Nikki. Bayley stuns her off the ropes, hits the sliding clothesline and covers for 2. Bayley works over Nikki until Bliss slams her off of the steps. Back in and the challengers work quick tags, and beat down Bayley in the corner. Nikki then hits the neck breaker for 2. She grounds the action, but Bayley dumps her and then gets trapped in the ring skirt and Bliss follows with a dropkick. Bliss then slaps the shit out of Bayley, drags her back in and covers for 2. More slaps follow and Nikki tags in, sets Bayley in tree of WHOA and lays the boots to her. Bliss back in and sits up top, lays in strikes and locks on a sleeper. She slams Bayley down by the hair, hits the moonsault knees and covers for 2. Bayley fires back, but Bliss hits the big right and then runs into a clothesline. The suicide dive on Nikki follows and then hits the stunner in the ropes on Bliss for 2. Nikki tags in, Saito suplex by Bayley and then slams Bliss onto Nikki. Bayley locks on a trailer hitch, Bliss misses the knee drop and crossfaces her. Bliss bites her way out and then saves Nikki. Nikki now hits the tornado DDT and covers for 2. Bliss tags in and heads up top and twisted bliss eats knees, sorta. Nikki flies into a knee strike and Bayley heads up top and hits the elbow drop for the win. Champion Bayley defeated Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross @ 10:20 via pin [**½] Bayley overcomes the odds to retain, and now we see how the Nikki & Alexa angle plays out from here. The match was solid, and they played the stipulation well and gave Bayley a big clean win, but it felt a bit flat overall and I was the weakest thing on the show so far.
Last Man Standing Match: Braun Strowman vs. Lashley: They brawl right away and Braun kicks Lashley’s ass on the floor. Back in and Braun hits corner clotheslines, and then tackles him on the floor. Lashley fights back and hits a spear, and then slams him off the steps. Lashley picks up the steps and hits him with them. He then nocks Braun into the crowd. Lashley then works him over with chair shots, they fight up into the crowd and Lashley follows with body shots, possibly attacking the allegedly ruptured spleen of Braun. They battle into the merch/concessions area, and Lashley slams him into a wall. Braun then suplexes him into a merch stand. They battle back into the crowd, and Braun takes control. He then charges and hits a tackle. Lashley fights back and spears Braun through the barricade. Lashley attacks the ribs and lower back again, slamming him into the apron. Lashley takes a lap and spears Braun over the announce table and then pushes the table on top of him. The ref counts as Braun slips out and beats the count. Lashley hops the barricade but Braun tosses him into the international announcer’s area. Lashley makes it back to his feet; Braun follows with head butts and then strikes. The running boot connects, more strikes by Braun and Lashley is down. Bran keeps throwing strikes, Lashley keeps getting up and they again fight in the steps. Lashley uses a fan as a shield, and Braun follows with chair shots in a sectioned off portion of seats. Lashley fights back and Braun powerslams him off and to their death as they disappear. The ref counts, and Braun does the HEY KOOL-AID THROUGH A WALL and wins. Braun Strowman defeated Lashley @ 18:20 [***] While a bit lethargic at times, they worked hard and the crowd really liked it and reacted big to the finish. I think it went a bit too long but it worked overall.
Smackdown Tag Team Championship Match: Champions Rowan & Daniel Bryan vs. Xavier Woods & Big E vs. Heavy Machinery: Woods and Bryan begin, locking up and Bryan follows with a shoulder tackle, they work into counters, and Woods follows with a rolling elbow. Tucker tags in and grounds Woods, but Woods picks up the pace and follows with a head scissors. Rowan tags himself in and takes out Tucker. The splash on Woods follows for 2. He tags in Bryan and double teams follow. Bryan grounds things, trying to rip of Woods’ nose and follows with strikes. Rowan back in and the pump handle back breaker follows. Bryan slams Big E to the steps as Woods hits an enziguri. The missile dropkick on Rowan follows, and Woods tags in Otis, Otis runs wild on Bryan, hits shoulder tackles and the spinning slam. The suplex follows, OH YEAH! Otis follows with the caterpillar, tags in Tucker and double teams follow for 2. Bryan battles back, Big E tags in and hits suplexes, but the running splash eats knees. Otis tags in and the powerplex follows for 2. Rowan makes the save, runs wild and hits a running cross body on Woods on the floor. Flying knee by Bryan but Big E hits the suicide spear. Otis fires up and teases a dive and then jumps off the apron to wipeout the pile. Tucker up top and hits a high cross to he floor onto Big E & Rowan. The compactor follows on Big E but Woods makes the save. Rowan in and Heavy Machinery fight him off and hit double teams. They take him up top and follow him up but Big E is back and the tower of doom follows as Bryan blind tags in. Big E and Rowan work up top and Big E it’s the superplex but Bryan hits the flying head butt and LeBell lock, Big E fights, but Bryan ties up the other arm and adds in a leg in Zack Sabre Jr fashion until Big E finally escapes. Bryan follows with kicks, but Big E takes them, fires up and Bryan slaps him. Big E is PISSED and kills him with a lariat. The straps are down, he catches the backflip attempt and midnight hour finishes Bryan. New Day defeated Champions Rowan & Daniel Bryan and Heavy Machinery @ 13:58 via pin [****] I really loved this, it was laid out well, everyone got time to shine and the closing stretch with Bryan and Big E was really excellent stuff. Loved this.
– Paul Heyman interrupts New Day’s celebration and introduces himself to the live crowd. He says he is Philly, he is the concept of extreme, and won’t leave until he’s part of history. Tonight, Brock will cash in his MITB contract. But also says you have to question if he’s just fucking with us.
WWE United States Championship Match: AJ Styles vs. Champion Ricochet: The Good brothers are at ringside and attack Ricochet before the bell. The bell rings and Styles takes control right away until Ricochet fires back and hits a head scissors and dropkick. Styles backs off, slams Ricochet to the buckles but Ricochet hits arm drags, corner clotheslines and then a dropkick. Styles to the floor and Ricochet hits a shooting star press off of the apron. Gallows distracts him and Styles attacks and posts Ricochet. Back in and Styles follows with chops, and then whips Ricochet to the buckles. Styles follows with a back breaker for 2. Styles grounds the action, Ricochet fights to his feet but Styles quickly cuts him off. Styles grounds him again, but Ricochet fights back to his feet and hits an enziguri. He follows with kicks and then the springboard clothesline and then hits a dive onto the Good Brothers. Back in and the lionsault follows for 2 on Styles. Styles looks for the asai DDT but Ricochet counters into a northern lights suplex and rolls into a regular suplex for 2. Ricochet goes for a springboard but Styles cuts that off with an ushigoroshi. Styles favors his knee now, but cathodes Ricochet with a suplex into the buckles and covers for 2. Styles follows with an inverted DDT and covers for 2. Ricochet looks to rally, but Styles cuts him of and the springboard forearm is avoided by Ricochet but Styles hits the wheelbarrow slam for 2. Ricochet counters the clash into a RANA and cradle for 2. They trade strikes, Ricochet gets pissed and Styles ands a flurry and hits the PELE and a brainbuster for 2. Styles pulls him up and takes Ricochet up top, he follows and they trade strikes. Ricochet fights him off and knocks Styles to the mat. Ricochet follows with a shooting star press and covers for 2 but Styles’ leg was under the ropes. Ricochet back up top and leaps down, takes out Anderson and heads back up and Gallows crotches him as Anderson takes the ref. Styles grabs him and hits a reverse avalanche clash off the ropes and wins the title. AJ Styles defeated Champion Ricochet @ 16:33 via pin [***¾] This was a really good match, they played well off of their previous meetings, the interference was minimal but there as it was heavy on the story aspect, and sets them up for a rematch in what could turn into a really great series of matches. It sucks that Ricochet lost the title already, but at least it’s being used to reestablish the Club.
Kevin Owens vs. Dolph Ziggler: Owens hits the stunner an wins, fuck off Dolph. Kevin Owens defeated Dolph Ziggler @ 0:10 via pin [LOL] AAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA… Amazing.
– Post match, Kevin runs down Shane and tells him to kiss his ass and to go to hell.
WWE Championship Match: Champion Kofi Kingston vs. Samoa Joe: Kofi attacks at the bell but Joe cuts him off and grounds the action after taking out the knee. Kofi fires back but Joe just mows him down. Joe keeps it grounded, Kofi fights to his feet but Joe hits an enziguri for 2. Kofi fires back, but Joe sidesteps the high cross only for Kofi to hit a dropkick. Joe cuts off the suicide dive, and then covers for 2. He follows with kicks and strikes, and then tries to break his fingers. Joe traps them in the steps and stomps on them, because he’s an asshole. Back in and Joe slaps Kofi around, and then stomps the shit out of him. Kofi fires back with chops, a clothesline, and then hits the high cross for 2. Joe follows with the snap slam and that gets 2. The powerbomb follows, Joe transitions into the STF, and Kofi makes the ropes. Kofi then hits SOS for 2. He looks for trouble in paradise, but Joe gets the clutch, and the uranage and senton follows for 2. Joe looks for the clutch, but lays in jabs instead. And Kofi hits trouble in paradise for the win. Champion Kofi Kingston defeated Samoa Joe @ 9:45 via pin [**½] This was solid, but disappointing. Joe beat on him, dominated, but never felt like he could actually win and due to that it came off as flat to me. Joe also drops to something like 0-8 in World & Universal title matches.
WWE Universal and Raw Women’s Championship Winners Take All Extreme Rules Match: Champions Becky Lynch & Seth Rollins vs. Lacey Evans & Baron Corbin: Lynch kicks Evans in the ass and to the floor. Corbin tags in and Rollins attacks. The blockbuster follows and Corbin powders. He grabs a kendo stick, misses and Rollins follows with strikes. The enziguri and sling blade connects, Rollins cuts of the Evans kendo shot as Lynch attacks her with kendo shots and they then beat on Corbin. They take the action to the floor, and then back in and Rollins maintains control. The rolling elbow follows, but Corbin cuts him off with a chair shot, covering for 2. Corbin follows with strikes, sets up chairs but Rollins counters the chokeslam and gets cut off with a DDT for 2. Corbin follows with chair shots, wedges a chair in the corner, and gets cut off with an enziguri and Rollins runs him into the chair. Lynch attacks Evans with a chair, and Evans dropped her chair and it accidentally hit Lynch in the face. Back in and Lynch bulldogs Evans onto a chair. The XPLODER onto chairs follows. The second rope leg drop onto a chair on Evans follows for 2. Lynch heads up top and Corbin saves Evans, but Rollins flies in with the knee strike and Lynch follows with a missile dropkick. Rollins and Corbin spill to the floor, Evans trips up Lynch and hits the slingshot elbow drop. The Mero-sault follows for 2. Lynch avoids the women’s right, and hits the inverted DDT for 2. Rollins tags in and gets a table. Lynch joins him and they get another. They set up tables, but Evans and Corbin fight back and take control. Corbin slams Rollins off of an announce table, gets more kendo sticks and he and Evans beat on Rollins. There is no heat for any of this. Corbin & Evans hit stereo chokeslams for 2. They all work to the floor, but the champions battle back with suplexes onto the ramp. They lay the challengers on the tables, Rollins up top and Lynch follows and leg drops Evans as Rollins hits the high fly flow onto Corbin, putting the challengers through the tables. Rollins rolls Corbin in and looks for blackout, but Corbin counters into a powerbomb and hits deep six for 2 as Lynch makes the save. Corbin hits end of days on Lynch, Rollins gets pissed and beats on Corbin with kendo and chair shots. Blackout follows and Evans bails on Corbin, Blackout connects again. Rollins hits a third and wins. Champions Becky Lynch & Seth Rollins defeated Lacey Evans & Baron Corbin @ 19:55 via pin [**] WWE rules suck, this was “extreme rules,” which means no rules, but they tag in politely and then harp on “it’s only men vs. men and women vs. women,” which if there are no rules, doesn’t apply in this match. I mean, there sure a lot of rules for a match wit no rules, a lot of things you can’t do in an anything goes match. The match was ok, but really lacked in overall crowd heat until Corbin hit his finish on Becky and Seth went crazy on him. I can safely go the rest of my life not seeing another Baron Corbin main event.
– Brock arrives and takes Rollins to Suplex city. He cashes in, F5, and we have a new champion in 13-seconds.
The 411 on Wrestling Podcast returns to the 411 Podcasting Network for episode 35. On the show, the good brother, Jeremy Lambert, joins 411’s Larry Csonka; the guys will preview this weekend’s WWE Extreme Rules & AEW Fight For The Fallen events, and also discuss some Impact Wrestling departures. The show is approximately 75-minutes long.
* Intro
* AEW Fight For The Fallen Preview: 2:00
* Impact Wrestling Departures: 26:45
* WWE Extreme Rules Preview: 33:00
You can subscribe and listen to the 411 on Wrestling Podcast via the above player on Transistor, or on the following platforms:
* iTunes
* Spotify
* Stitcher
* Google Play
– End scene.
– Thanks for reading.
