WWE Extreme Rules: Sasha Banks leaves with Raw women’s championship

WWE Extreme Rules featured a lot of great in-ring action.

Halloween came early for WWE fans as Extreme Rules arrived with the Horror Show tagline. While there was not much in the space of jump scares and scary aliens, there was a wealth of wrestling action from across the two main roster brands in the promotion. Live from the Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, there was a lot to talk about coming out of this July PPV event on the WWE Network.

The kickoff show started with a singles match between Kevin Owens and Buddy Murphy. The former Universal champion and former Cruiserweight champion got after it immediately at the sound of the bell, exchanging blows to the head and body. Owens had the early advantage in the match, until Murphy landed a big Meteora off the top. Murphy kept landing combination moves but none was able to put Owens away. Owens took back control and even broke out the double-jump moonsault, but Murphy had enough left in him to kick out of the pin attempt. He did not have the steam left in him to kick out of the Stunner, which Owens hit moments later to get the pin.

The eight-time tag team champions, the New Day, defended their titles against the duo of Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro in a tables match. Pin falls and submissions do not matter in this type of match, as the only way to win was to put one member of the opposing team through one of the tables at ring side. The New Day got out to an early lead in this match, beating their opponents up both inside and out of the ring. It did not take long before that momentum swung in the direction of the challengers. That momentum swing would be enough in the end as Nakamura and Cesaro teamed up to put Kofi Kingston through not one, but two tables via a powerbomb from the top rope to the outside to get the victory.

Nikki Cross was the next challenger out to the ring. Her goal was to find a way to overcome the most prolific women’s champion in SmackDown history, Bayley. Cross almost surprised the champion, hitting her spinning neck breaker early in the match, but Bayley was able to kick out. Cross kept that pace up until the match ended up on the outside where Bayley took control. The champion had her moments early, but Cross consistently stayed on the offense, looking for pin fall after pin fall. Cross was doing all that she could to win until Sasha Banks got involved, slipping Bayley her “BOSS” ring that Bayley used to punch Cross. She stunned Cross enough to hit her with the Rose Plant to finish off the match.

Rey Mysterio loses an eye

Seth Rollins and Rey Mysterio have spent the last few months battling one another. It all came to a head at Extreme Rules, where they faced off in an eye-for-an-eye match. Both men were doing more than trying to pin their opponent, as the only way to win was to pull the other’s eye from his head. Both men brought out all the weapons needed for such a cause, even breaking open the toolbox kept under the ring. The end came when Rollins smashed Mysterio’s eye into the steel steps, forcing an end to what was a very high-quality match.

The next match out was for the Raw women’s championship. Asuka defended her belt against the second member of the Golden Role Models, Sasha Banks. Banks controlled much of the early match, slowing things down to hit Asuka with a variety of submission maneuvers. Banks had the champion reeling multiple times in the match but was unable to put her away. Banks reversed an attempt at the Asuka lock into a pin fall, but the champion saw it coming. Banks was able to reverse a top rope German Suplex to land on her feet but was unable to capitalize with a move of her own from the second rope.

The ending sequence was one of the most confusing in recent memory. Asuka went for her green mist but hit the referee by accident. Bayley rolled in and struck Asuka with the SmackDown women’s title. Bayley then pulled the referee’s shirt off his back, put it on and counted the pin fall for Banks. While there is no telling if this ruling will be upheld, Banks and Bayley walked out of the ring with all the women’s titles.

The story heading into the WWE championship match was that Dolph Ziggler had the right to pick whatever stipulation he wanted. Drew McIntyre was not sure how he would be defending his title, but that came to light when an extreme rules match for Ziggler only. Ziggler set the table for him to have a massive advantage in the match, but the outcome would not play out to that situation. McIntyre asserted his power throughout the match as Ziggler looked to bend the rules every chance he had. Ziggler landed a big sequence of moves and looked to hit a super kick to set up the finish. Before he could snap out the kick, he ate a Claymore from the champion and was pinned in the middle of the ring.

The night ended with the cinematic Swamp Match between Bray Wyatt and Braun Strowman. This match was a trip down a horror-filled path for Strowman. He found himself chained to a chair, welcomed back home by Wyatt. Strowman broke out of captivity, but was welcomed by fights, visions of Alexa Bliss and much more as he fought his way out of the swamp. It looked like Braun had a moment to escape before he was pulled back under the water. A few more moments of splashing would occur before things went silent. The Fiend emerged from the water signifying that he had a part in stopping Strowman’s rampage for a moment.

WWE Extreme Rules: The Horror Show results

• Kevin Owens defeated Buddy Murphy
• Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro defeated the New Day by putting Kingston through a table
• Bayley defeated Nikki Cross via pin fall to retain the SmackDown women’s title
• Seth Rollins defeated Rey Mysterio in an “Eye-for-an-Eye” match
• Sasha Banks defeated Asuka via pin fall to win the Raw women’s championship
• Drew McIntyre defeated Dolph Ziggler via pin fall to retain the WWE championship
• Bray Wyatt defeated Braun Strowman in the Swamp Fight