Highlights, takeaways and what’s next for the Superstars of WWE following Sunday night’s Extreme Rules pay-per-view event.
The 2019 edition of WWE Extreme Rules is now in the books and we’re now on our way to SummerSlam. Sunday night’s pay-per-view event was full of surprises and title changes and everything in between, so let’s not waste any time getting to all of the action from the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
The Extreme Rules Kickoff Show featured two title matches, neither of which got much time but served their purpose. For the second straight time, Shinsuke Nakamura knocked off Finn Balor and is now the WWE Intercontinental Champion. It was a bit surprising to see such a weak title reign for Balor but there should be more in store for him moving forward now that The Club is back. Maybe it’s as an ally or maybe as an opponent, but I see them going in that direction for SummerSlam in some capacity.
The second match of the Kickoff Show saw Drew Gulak successfully defend his WWE Cruiserweight Championship against former champ Tony Nese. This was yet another solid outing from the division and it looks as if Gulak is going to need a new contender, which should lead to some nice matches on 205 Live as someone will need to step up.
Let’s get to the main card.
No Holds Barred Match
The Undertaker & Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre & Shane McMahon
This was a great way to kick off the main card of Extreme Rules. The crowd was hot for the team of Roman Reigns and The Undertaker and I actually got more into this one than I thought I would, mainly because The Deadman looked better than he has in maybe four or five years.
Tag matches are exactly what he needs to be doing right now as he can get his rest in while still being able to display some explosiveness. It was easy to see how motivated he was after that Goldberg disaster in Saudi Arabia and it was fun to watch. I loved the stare-down with Drew McIntyre and it looked like Roman did as well. Did anyone else notice him marking out in the background?
We got the normal things from Shane McMahon, including both the elbow to the table and the coast-to-coast spot, which was pretty impressive going back-to-back like that. Drew didn’t get quite enough time to shine but this was still a fun match. I was worried that McIntyre would take the pin here and look foolish yet again but it actually was McMahon to take the 1-2-3, which was the right call.
It didn’t hit the level of No Holds Barred action we all expected, but this was a fun opener and I really enjoyed the post-match sign of respect between ‘Taker and Roman. It also looked like The Undertaker told Roman “this is your yard,” and Reigns truly looked like he was geeking out a little bit. Fun stuff.
What’s next: While it would be great to be able to say that the loss will be enough to keep Shane McMahon gone for a while, I don’t think we’ll get that lucky. I don’t want to see another match between McMahon and Reigns, as it’s time for Reigns to get away from all of this. He could potentially be thrown into the Universal Championship picture, especially with how the night ended. I’d love to see Drew McIntyre and The Undertaker in a one-on-one bout, which could possibly come at SummerSlam.