We've made it to Extreme Rules and what a month its been. After Seth Rollins pulled off "the heist of the century" at Wrestlemania 31, he created a lot of enemies. Brock Lesnar went insane on Raw the night after Wrestlemania and got suspended leaving Seth without a number 1 contender. Director of Operations Kane fixed that by having a triple threat match between Randy Orton, Ryback and Roman Reigns to see who faces Rollins first. Big Show interfered in the match to take out Reigns leaving Orton victorious over Ryback. Big Show then chokeslammed Reigns on top of a car in London and challenged him to a Last Man Standing match tonight. What about Orton and Rollins? Orton and Rollins got to chose stips for their title match and Rollins took out Orton's best weapon by barring the RKO. Orton then figured to keep The Authority out by making it a steel cage match. Triple H then stacked the deck against Orton by having Kane the guardian of the door.....until Rollins started running his mouth about Kane for weeks leading to Kane wanting to strangle him. So now can Orton beat Rollins without the rKo or will Kane turn face and cost Rollins the title? In other matches, Rusev wants revenge on John Cena for beating him for the US title and challenged Cena to a Russian Chain match, which Cena accepted. Sheamus returned after Wrestlemania and inexplicably turned heel saying WWE is full of small dudes and he's a "real man". Basically if wrestling Twitter at the time was a real person. Naturally Dolph Ziggler took offense to this but Vince McMahon Jr decided to turn back the clock ten years and make it a "Kiss Me Arse" match where if Ziggler loses, he'd have to kiss Sheamus' arse but Ziggler said he'd make Sheamus kiss his own arse if he won. Speaking of little dudes, Adrian Neville finally made his main roster debut as a high flying cruiserweight and naturally Sheamus took exception to him. Sheamus made a call to Wade "Bad News" Barrett and Barrett will face Neville. Where's Daniel Bryan? More on that later. In Divas action, Naomi turned heel on Paige after she won a Divas battle royal to determine the number 1 contender so it'll be Naomi vs Nikki Bella for the Divas title. Ironically Paige is the only babyface diva on the roster but that's for another time. After being powerbombed through a ladder at Wrestlemania by Luke Harper, Dean Ambrose will slug it out with the demented Harper in a Chicago Street Fight. Finally, the New Day had turned heel and cheated to beat Los Lotharios to earn a title shot at the champs Tyson Kidd and Cesaro. Ironically it was announced on TV that New Day would face Kidd & Cesaro on the pre-show but they switched it last second to have the match on PPV and Neville/Barrett would be on the pre-show. Let's get Extreme!
April 26, 2015
ALLSTATE ARENA
ROSEMONT, ILLINOIS
Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry "The King" Lawler and JBL
Ring Announcer: Eden Stiles
Match 1
Adrian Neville vs Wade "Bad News" Barrett
So here's the problem. It was originally advertised as Barrett vs Daniel Bryan for the Intercontinental title but then after Daniel Bryan and John Cena defeated Sheamus and Barrett, Bryan simply disappeared. He wasn't mentioned on TV, he just disappeared. In his place, Adrian Neville started teaming with Dolph Ziggler against Sheamus and Barrett so we have this match instead. Poor Barrett, goes from a PPV match with Bryan to the pre-show with Neville. Sadly, the reason Bryan was removed was he suffered a bad concussion and would be out of action for a long time. Barrett grabs the mic on the way to ring and says he was going to Bullhammer Daniel Bryan but he's got some bad news, Bryan isn't medically cleared. Barrett says Bryan isn't man enough to face him but may have half a brain for not going out here. Barrett says he's the Michael Jordan of England without the gambling addictions so he'll face Neville instead. Cole says Neville is a former NXT champion as they lock up to start. Barrett takes the head then drops Neville with a shoulderblock. The crowd chants for Neville as Barrett takes the head again only this time Neville drops down and goes for the hiptoss. Barrett blocks it but Neville counters into a roll up for a deuce. Neville takes the head but Barrett backs him into the corner before punching him. Barrett stomps Neville then whips him into the corner. Neville backflips into the other corner and catches Barrett with a crossbody for a deuce. Neville ducks the line and head scissors Barrett down. Barrett goes to the apron and Neville dropkicks him off. Neville goes for the plancha but Bad News catches the feet and slams Neville on the apron. Wade sends Neville into the barricade and taunts the crowd. We cut to commercial (yes, even on the DVD there's a tape cut) and back inside Barrett catches Neville in mid-air and hits Wasteland. He covers for 1.....2....nope. JBL says Barrett brought a bag of Bullhammers and right on cue Barrett loads his armband up. Neville ducks under it and hits a standing enziguiri. Neville drags Barrett to the corner and goes for Red Arrow but Barrett crotches him. Barrett swings the Bullhammer but Neville dodges it, jumps over Wade into the ring and kicks Bad News in the head. Neville once again goes upstairs and this time hits Red Arrow. He covers for 1....2....3 to win the match. Cole says that may be the biggest win of Neville's career to knock off the former IC champ. Good match and it definitely showcased the size difference, yet Neville held his own. Barrett continues to fail to pick up meaningful wins so the writing is on the wall for him to be Sheamus' lackey moving forward, especially with Bryan gone.
Time of match: Officially 10:36 (3:48 on the DVD)
Winner: Neville by pinfall
Now let's get to the main show. The opening montage says they're going "extreme" with various clips of tonight's feuds. On to match 1....
Match 2
Luke Harper vs Dean Amrbose in a Chicago Street Fight
The Shield vs The Wyatt Family....sort of. During the Wrestlemania 31 ladder match, Luke Harper powerbombed Ambrose through a ladder. Then the two kept attacking each other on the weekly shows leading to this being a Chicago Street Fight. Cole before the match says both of these guys belong in straight jackets. Ambrose doesn't wait around, he attacks Harper outside before the bell even rings. Ambrose gets in a right hand and sends Harper in the ring. They run the ropes and referee Charles Robinson calls for the bell. Ambrose drops Harper with a jumping clothesline and Luke bails immediately. Ambrose catches Harper with a suicide dive then sends Harper into the ring steps. Ambrose pulls chairs out from under the apron then tosses them in the ring. He stalks Harper with a singapore cane as Harper reaches for a chair. Dean steps on the chair and waffles Harper with the cane. Ambrose goes to town on Harper with the cane then picks up a chair. He sets the chair down and sits in it to taunt Harper. Ambrose goes to suplex Harper on the chair but Luke reverses it and suplexes Ambrose on the chair. Harper covers for 1...2...no. Harper sheds his ring jacket and its his turn to fire away with the cane on Ambrose. JBL talks about the Chicago Cubs curse (which would be gone in just over a year) as Harper sets a chair up in the corner. Harper blocks a tornado ddt then launches dean head into the chair. Harper covers for a deuce and continues to hit Ambrose with the cane. Ambrose rallies and scoop slams Harper on a chair. Ambrose sends Harper outside who gets back in and runs into a boot from Ambrose. Dean finally hits a tornado ddt as the crowd chants for tables. Ambrose hits a jumping elbow drop and covers for a deuce but Harper counters Dirty Deeds (done dirt cheap) with a right hand and a big boot. Ambrose counters a powerbomb by lowbridging Harper outside. Harper blocks a suicide dive but Ambrose does a 360 on the apron and drops Harper with a clothesline. Ambrose grabs the cane and chases Harper to the back....they brawl into Gorilla Position and they fight in the backstage area. I don't remember this being falls count anywhere. Lawler says this may spill out into the actual street. Ambrose hits Harper with one of the lightposts. Harper climbs into an SUV and goes to drive off when Ambrose dives in. Harper speeds off with Charles Robinson running after them.....guess this will be continued. For continuity purposes, I'll post the conclusion in this portion here when it comes up. Until then....we're moving on.
If you're following along with the show, we return here after the New Day backstage promo. New Day picks up Harper and Ambrose dives off the top of the car....onto New Day as Harper gets out of the way. Ambrose and Harper brawl their way back to the ring. JBL makes a funny line that Harper was the one driving out of the arena and Ambrose was the one driving back. Hahahahaha I guess when they went to go get dinner or something they forgot who was supposed to be driving. Ambrose and Harper brawl back into the arena and back to the ring. Harper gets back in the ring and catches Ambrose with a superkick. Ambrose barely sells it and drops Harper with a clothesline as Charles Robinson runs into the ring. Imagine if he had to run after them outside? Harper goes under the ring and grabs a chair as Ambrose pulls his own out. They throw a bunch of chairs in the ring together before getting inside. The crowd starts a small ECW chant as Ambrose throws a chair at Harper then punches away at him. Harper powerbombs Ambrose on a chair and covers for 1...2...nooooo. Harper can't believe it and shakes his head no. The crowd chants "we want tables" as Harper stacks chairs on top of Ambrose. Harper goes upstairs but Ambrose gets out of the pile and slams Harper off the top onto the chairs. Harper staggers right into Dirty Deeds. He covers for 1...2....3 to win the match. Somebody actually made a staggering discovery that this was Dean's first ever solo ppv victory. He jobbed to Seth Rollins and Bray Wyatt before losing the ladder match at Wrestlemania after The Shield broke up. Harper lost a ton of heat by losing this match but it definitely launched Dean.
Now if you're following the show, jump ahead to the segment after New Day's interview.
Time of match: Technically 56:10
Winner: Dean Ambrose by pinfall
If you're reading this after I typed "we're moving on", good. The announcers are totally confused as the match is interrupted with the two guys not even in the building. The crowd is mad and start a CM Punk chant. We cut to the back with Triple H pulling Kane aside and telling him to go find Ambrose and Harper. Trips is worried about what they're gonna do in the streets of Chicago. Seth Rollins walks in and Triple H tries to play peacemaker by saying they need to get on the same page. He says to stop being childish and patch things up. Rollins bitches about Kane letting him get speared on Smackdown by Reigns and RKO'd on Raw. Kane calls him an ungrateful little punk and Triple H again has to play peacemaker. Triple H says Rollins has a point that Kane dropped the ball and he doesn't want to regret making Kane the gatekeeper. Kane assures them both that he'll do what's best for business as the crowd chants "boring". Onto the next match.
Match 3
Dolph Ziggler vs Sheamus in a Kiss Me Arse match
Oh boy, where do I begin? Sheamus returned after a five month hiatus only to turn heel and declare war on "underdogs" claiming to be a real big man. As mentioned earlier, imagine if wrestling Twitter was a person. Sheamus attacked Ziggler and Daniel Bryan during his turn and Ziggler didn't take kindly to it. After having back and forth encounters for weeks, Sheamus challenged Ziggler to a Kiss Me Arse match right out of 2002. Sheamus wants Ziggler to kiss his arse while Ziggler claims he's gonna make Sheamus kiss his own. As absurd as the stip is, its still big man vs little man. Bell's gone and Sheamus taunts him in the staredown. Ziggler unloads with rights and lefts in the corner then tries a headbutt which doesn't work. Ziggler kicks Sheamus in the head then hits a dropkick. Sheamus stays on his feet and Ziggler tackles him through the ropes to the outside. Sheamus sends Ziggler into the ringpost then a european uppercut stuns Dolph. Dolph counters with a tornado ddt off the ring steps. Back inside Dolph eats a knee to the side of the head. Sheamus clubs away at Ziggler on the apron then inside locks in a chinlock. Sheamus hits a sitdown powerbomb for 1...2...nope. Sheamus stalls to anger the crowd then floors Dolph with a clothesline. Sheamus hits another clothesline and taunts Ziggler that he doesn't belong in his ring. Sheamus locks in another chinlock before Ziggler powers out of it. Dolph ducks a line and starts unloading with running forearms on Sheamus. Dolph hits two Stinger Splashes in the corner but Sheamus drops him with a double chop to the throat. Sheamus blocks a superkick and locks in a Texas Cloverleaf. Dolph turns it into an inside cradle for a two count then hits the superkick. Dolph covers for 1....2.....noooooooo. Sheamus drops Dolph throat first on the top rope then executes a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. He covers for a deuce then turns a suplex into a slam then calls for the Brogue Kick. Dolph counters it with a roll up for a deuce before Sheamus hits another tilt-a-whirl slam. Ziggler counters a suplex with an inside cradle for 1....2....THREE! He got him! JBL and Sheamus can't believe it as now he has to kiss some arse. Sheamus claims it was only a two count and goes outside to protest. A fan says "YOU LOST, FELLA!" Sheamus goes to leave through the crowd but the referee stops him. Ziggler starts pulling his tights down as the women in the crowd cheer. Sheamus tells Ziggler to get it over with already and freaks out. Ziggler tells Sheamus to do it and he keeps stalling. Sheamus starts begging for forgiveness as the crowd gets into it. Ziggler pulls his tights up and Sheamus drops to his knees. Ziggler said it was his idea anyway and Sheamus low blows Ziggler instead. Sheamus buries Ziggler with the Brogue Kick and laughs as the crowd boos. Sheamus shouts "ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINEDDDDDD?" and grabs the mic. Sheamus "Did you really think I was gonna kiss your arse, Ziggler?" Sheamus pulls his own tights up and buries Ziggler's face in it as Lawler is disgusted. Ziggler wins the match and Sheamus keeps his heat, guess that's what's best for business.
Time of match: 9:16
Winner: Zigger by pinfall
After a commercial for WWE Network shows and a plug for a Roman Reigns special we go back to the commentary team to announce that the King of The Ring tournament returns this year. Onto the next match.
Match 4
The New Day (Big E Langston and Kofi Kingston) with Xavier Woods vs Tyson Kidd & Cesaro (with Natalya) for the WWE Tag Team Championship
Oh how the tables have turned. After Kidd and Cesaro successfully defended the tag belts at Wrestlemania, we had a slow double-turn. With The Uso's on the shelf due to Jey's shoulder injury, a team had to step up to face Kidd & Cesaro. For some reason WWE fans turned on the goody two-shoes New Day and started chanting "New...Day sucks! New.....Day sucks!" New Day then began a slow heel turn first by telling the fans to stick it without saying so, then cheated to win a number 1 contenders match with Los Lotharios. With their "new" attitude, Kofi Kingston beat Cesaro in a singles match due to interference from Woods and Langston. Since fans were cheering for Kidd and Cesaro anyway, mostly Cesaro, it looks like the teams are reversing roles for basically no reason. Cesaro does get a huge pop during introductions. Kofi and Langston will start with Woods on the outside, Kofi in the ring with Kidd. They chain wrestle to start with Kofi getting the upper hand with a splash. Lawler calls Woods the cheerleader as Kidd and Kofi exchange go-behinds. Kidd caters to the crowd to put over the fact he's working babyface as Kofi retreats to tag Big E. Surreal seeing Kofi acting heel and Kidd points to Cesaro for a big pop. Cesaro tags in and locks up with Big E. E floors him with a shoulderblock but Cesaro catches Big E mid-air on a leapfrog and effortlessly slams him. Cesaro does a standing coup de gras then tags in Kidd to stomp Big E. The crowd chants "New...Day sucks" and Natalya encourages it. Big E retreats to tag in Kofi as Kidd tags in. Kofi throws Kidd outside and knocks Cesaro off the apron. Kidd comes back to throws both members outside the other ring then somersaults onto Kofi....but walks into a clothesline from Big E. The crowd chants again as Woods shouts "What? What did we do? We're winning!" He's got a point, they did nothing wrong. Big E throws Kidd inside and puts the boots to him before Kofi tags in to continue the onslaught. Big E launches Kofi into a dropkick on Kidd but the cover only gets two. Kofi gets a chinlock on Kidd as Natalya gets a Tyson chant. A dropkick and cover by Kofi gets a deuce before Big E tags in. Big E claps then misses a big splash. Kidd moves out of the way and Big E sends himself through the ropes to the outside. E tags in Kofi but Cesaro gets the hot tag. Cesaro heaves Kofi into the corner then rallies with uppercuts. Cesaro drops Kofi with a big clothesline and covers for a deuce. Cesaro goes for the giant swing but instead slingshots Kofi into the corner...who lands feet first on the buckle. Cesaro catches the crossbody attempt and turns it into a backbreaker. He covers for 1....2...nooooo. A charge by Cesaro eats boot but Cesaro counters with an uppercut. Kidd tags in as Cesaro hits a superplex and Kidd slingshot elbows Kofi for 1...2...NOOOOO. Kidd can't believe it and goes for the sharpshooter but Kofi kicks out of it. Kofi tags in Big E who spears Kidd all the way out of the ring to a big pop. E throws Kidd inside then hits a back body drop on the floor to Cesaro. E tags in Kingston and they hit a double team move only for Cesaro to literally dive in and headbutt Kofi off of Kidd. Cesaro and Langston fall out of the ring together and Kofi starts clapping. Kofi goes for Trouble in Paradise but Kidd catches the foot and locks in the sharpshooter. Kofi crawls but Big E gets in and hits an overhead suplex on Kidd. Kofi runs into the feet of Kidd who tags in Cesaro. Cesaro uppercuts Big E out of the ring and hits the giant swing on Kofi. Woods hops up on the apron and Natalya slaps him off. Big E sends Kidd outside and Cesaro clotheslines E over the top to the floor. Kofi rolls up Cesaro out of the nowhere and hooks the tights for 1....2....3 and we got new champions! New Day wins the tag straps and celebrate together. HHH loves heels with belts so with New Day drawing more heat than Kidd & Cesaro, it made sense to do a double turn and give the straps to New Day. Kofi as a heel just doesn't feel right although Big E was a natural with Woods playing along. Still, New Day are the new champs and congrats to them for getting over as heels without really doing anything wrong.
Time of match: 9:47
Winners: New Day by pinfall (New Tag Team Champions)
We cut to the Extreme Rules kickoff panel which included Byron Saxton, Booker T and Corey Graves. Saxton asks Corey what he thinks and he calls Ambrose & Harper two maniacs. We got new tag team champs and Booker is happy for them. Love the unopened bottles of Mountain Dew in front of them. Saxton does reveal that doctors wouldn't let Daniel Bryan compete but Bad News Barrett would face Adrian Neville instead. We go to highlights of Neville winning before cutting to Renee Paquette backstage with New Day. Renee asks if their positivity got them to this point and Woods says today is the dawn of their new day. Big E shouts they're tag team champions and Kofi starts a chant. All of a sudden the SUV from earlier pulls up and Luke Harper is thrown out of it. If you're reading this, go back to the Ambrose/Harper match from earlier to continue.
If you're reading this while following the PPV, we return here after the conclusion of Ambrose vs Harper to a commercial for WWE Payback coming up on Sunday May 17th. That's just three weeks from this date, that's 3 Raws and 3 Smackdowns away. We then get a promo package for our next match, Rusev vs John Cena in a Russian Chain Match. Let's get to it.
Match 5
Rusev (with Lana) vs John Cena for the WWE United States Championship in a Russian Chain Match
This feud has been going on for months now but this should be the conclusion. Rusev hadn't been pinned since making his main roster debut the year earlier and was the unbeatable US champion going into Fastlane. Rusev beat Cena and refused a rematch until Cena brutally attacked Rusev, prompting Lana to give him a rematch at Wrestlemania. Cena won the title at Wrestlemania and started doing "open challenges" to random guys to show he was a fighting champion. During that span, Rusev appeared and laid out Cena with a chain, challenging him to a rubber match at Extreme Rules in a Russian Chain match. The rules are both men are tied together to the chain and whoever touches all four corners first wins the match. It sounds like a silly concept but that's wrestling. Ironically there's less "John Cena sucks" chants coming from the crowd, guess Chicago has no interest in cheering for Rusev. Cena and Rusev are strapped together and they start with a tug of war. Rusev gets the upperhand with an avalanche in the corner and he touches two corners but Cena rallies with a scoop slam. Just to show the fans what's going on, they have two sets of lights in every corner, the green is for Cena and the red is for Rusev. That's convenient. Cena touches three corners but Rusev kicks him in the ribs to reset the lights. Rusev tags two corners but Cena stops him, only to be thrown over the top rope. Rusev uses the chain as a pulley system and picks up Cena for a kick to the ribs. Rusev continues with kicks to the kidneys as the "Let's go Cena/Cena sucks" chants start. Rusev suplexes Cena back in the ring and touches two corners, but John whacks him with the chain. Rusev blocks an FU attempt and clobbers Cena with the chain. Cena pulls the chain outside and sends Rusev into the ring post. Cena does it again and goes to tag the corners. He gets two but Rusev blocks him from getting to corner three. Cena runs into a spinning heel kick and Rusev nails Cena in the ribs with the chain. Rusev whips Cena with the chain. Rusev tags three corners and goes for the fourth but Cena stops him. Rusev kicks Cena in the ribs but the lights reset, here we go again. Rusev punches Cena in the face with the chain and goes upstairs. Cena pulls Rusev off who lands on the chain. Cena clotheslines Rusev and tags two corners and drops Rusev with a shouldertackle. Cena gets caught and overhead press slammed by Rusev who then savate kicks Cena in the face. The crowd chants "We want Lana" and she waives to the crowd. Rusev gets jealous and kicks Lana out of ringside, sending her to the back. JBL says this isn't a Moscow beauty pageant. Cena takes advantage with a back suplex and the five knuckle shuffle. Cenna goes for the FU but Rusev blocks it and hits the Alabama Slam. Rusev then stomps on the back of Cenna then goes for the Accolade. Cena blocks it and locks in the STFU with the chain for help. After Rusev fades, Cena goes and touches three corners but Rusev rolls out of the ring to stop him. Back inside Rusev blocks another FU and drops Cena with a kick. Rusev locks in the Accolade but Cena stands up with Rusev on his back. Cena rams Rusev into two different corners but they count. Rusev quickly touches the third corner but Cena spins Rusev around with the chain and hits the FU. Both men are down but get up and touch a corner. They each get three corners and have another tug of war in the center of the ring. Rusev goes for the final corner but again Cena spins him around into an FU. Cena touches the fourth corner to win the match. Cena wins and retains the title, so much for Rusev's push. JBL "big match John has done it again" as Lawler laments losing Lana. The firework goes off and the US flag falls from the rafters and even the heel JBL says that's a good sight. Kind of a bad match since strap/chain matches with four corners are usually cucka but it served its purpose. This wouldn't end the feud officially but the writing was on the wall.
Time of match: 13:35
Winner: Cena (still US Champion)
After a Mountain Dew commercial and a Talk Is Jericho plug, we cut to Renee with Roman Reigns. Reigns says he can get knocked down but he won't stay down. Reigns says Big Show put him through hell and Reigns kept getting up, he'll be the last man standing. Onto the next match.
Match 6
Naiomi vs Nikki Bella (with Brie Bella) for the WWE Divas Championship
Here's an interesting dichotomy in WWE lore, there was just one babyface diva at the time. AJ Lee had retired after Wrestlemania and Naomi turned heel on Paige after Paige had won a number 1 contender's battle royal. Naomi took her spot and challenged Nikki for the Divas title. Summer Rae had turned on Damien Sandow on Raw and combined with Nikki, Brie, Cameron, Alicia Fox and Natalya, WWE had no babyface Divas apart from Paige who was out. Go figure. Naomi leapfrogs over the top rope during the entrance as she debuts her new entrance music. They lock up to start and Naomi piefaces her to start. Nikki hits a snap mare before locking in an armringer. Nikki turns it into a Fujiwara arm-bar but Naomi makes it to the ropes. They slug it out on the apron before Noami takes over with aggressive rights and stomps. Naomi hits a nice snap suplex and covers for a 1 count before locking in a chin-lock. Nikki powers out of it but eats a shoulderblock. Naomi covers for a two count before Naomi squeezes the neck with Brie on the outside screaming "LET'S GO NIKKI." Brie gets a clapping chant for Nikki going as Naomi starts dropping elbows. Guess Nikki is the defacto babyface by default for.....no reason I guess. Between the New Day and Kidd/Cesaro double turn and now this, WWE writers didn't know what the hell they were doing and fans had to just go along with it. Nikki rolsl up Naomi for a deuce and bulldogs Nikki into the middle buckle. Naomi covers for a deuce and goes for the Rear View, but misses. Naomi gets thrown into the corner who spingboard drop kicks Nikki down before taunting the crowd. Naomi covers for 1...2..nope. Naomi starts punching away on Nikki before kicking her outside the ring. Brie checks on Nikki and Naomi kicks her down. Naomi rolls Nikki inside and slowly makes her way inside. Nikki kicks Naomi down then clotheslines her. Nikki rallies with dropkicks and gets a babyface pop before hitting the Alabama Slam. She covers for 1......2....noooo. Naomi ducks the line and does the Hurricane elbow drop....haven't seen that in a while. Naomi goes for the split legged moonsault but Nikki moves out of the way. Nikki gets a knee to the face and covers for 1...2...and no. Nikki goes for Rack Attack but Naomi counters with a full nelson slam and roll over for a two count. Nikki gets a springboard dropkick and covers for 1..2...nooo. Nikki grabs the leg but Naomi kicks her off. The ref pulls Nikki away and Brie uses the distraction to kick Naomi in the head. Nikki hits the Rack Attack and covers for 1...2.....3 to win the match. Had to remind the fans the Bellas are still heels despite Naomi being one. Again, the writers have no earthly clue what they're doing right now. Brie and Nikki celebrate as we go to the replay of Brie kicking Naomi in the head. Thankfully NXT was loaded with the next generation so the Divas era was coming to an end, still a good match though.
Time of match: 8:10
Winner: Nikki Bella by pinfall (still Divas champion)
In the back Rusev is screaming at Lana in Bulgarian and tells her to take a walk. She knocks on The Authority's door and walks in....guess this feud has one more match left. Lawler takes a swig of Mountain Dew and clearly doesn't like it as JBL goes to open his bottle as well. Guess they heard me about the unopened bottles earlier. In my less than humble opinion, Mountain Dew tastes like fire hydrant so I don't blame Lawler. We get a promo package for Reigns vs Big Show before we head to our next match.
Match 7
Big Show vs Roman Reigns in a Last Man Standing Match
These two had been at each other's throats since Roman returned from hernia surgery after Survivor Series and this was the culmination. Reigns was famously hoodwinked by Seth Rollins at Wrestlemania 31 and Big Show cost Reigns the number 1 contender's triple threat match on Raw weeks earlier. Big Show then chokeslammed Reigns on top of a car in London and declared he was going to make it his life's mission to keep Reigns from ever reaching his potential. Show challenged Reigns to a Last Man Standing match and Reigns accepted. Vince was rolling with Orton's babyface momentum and had to keep Reigns active until it was his time to rise again. Bell's gone and Big Show bum rushes Reigns in the corner with right hands. Reigns rallies with right hands of his own but Show throws Reigns into the other corner. Both men are swinging right hands before Show dumps Reigns with a shoulderblock. Reigns recovers with right hands but runs into another shoulderblock. Show and Reigns slug it out more until Reigns clotheslines Show over the top rope to the floor. The ref starts the count but Show gets up at a count of five. Reigns pulls out a table but Show kicks Reigns in the ribs. Show puts the table away but Reigns send him into the ring post. Reigns runs over and dropkicks Show, who goes down to one knee. He gets up rather quickly as Reigns sets the table up from earlier. Show heaves Reigns into the barricade and smashes the table with his bare hands. Reigns grabs the singapore cane from Ambrose's match and waffles Show with it. Show gets made and heaves Reigns into the ring post. Reigns is down for a six count but gets up, only to be tossed into the ring. Show grabs the cane and snaps it in half before throwing it at the broken table. He says "I'm a giant!" to show he doesn't need weapons. Reigns rallies with right hands and a series of clotheslines. Reigns jumps off the second rope into a right hand from Big Show. Reigns is down for a six count but rolls outside on his feet. Show pulls Reigns to the apron who snaps him off the top rope. Reigns grabs a steel chair and waffles Show in the back with it. Reigns continues to clobber Show with the chair and then hits a ddt on it. Show is down for a seven count but gets up as Reigns grabs two more tables, putting them both in the ring. Roman runs right into the knockout punch by Big Show. JBL says that's the ballgame as Reigns is down for an eight count but staggers to his feet. Show sets up a table and calls for a chokeslam. Reigns counters with a samoan drop through the table. Both men are down for an eight count but they both get up. Reigns goes for the spear but Show spears him instead. Reigns is down for a seven count but gets up....only to get dropped with a headbutt. Show goes for the Vaderbomb and hits it, keeping Reigns down for nine. Show goes up to the top rope for some ungodly reason and Show crotches himself on the top rope. He screams loudly and Reigns breaks character to laugh at it. Reigns sets up a table outside and goes to superplex Show through it....get real, Reigns. Reigns gets shoved off but he does manage to slam Show off the top rope into the ring. Both men are down for an eight count but Reigns gets up and hits two Superman punches. Show then grabs Reigns and chokeslams him from inside the ring all the way through the two tables on the floor. The crowd pops even though Show is the heel as Cole says that's gotta be it. Reigns somehow gets up at nine and Show can't believe it. Reigns falls down again after beating the count as Show looks for something else to use. Show then grabs the steel steps and sets them up next to the announce table. Show then takes apart the announce table as the announcers clear out. Big Show grabs JBL's notepad and says "Big Show needs to lose weight? Who wrote that you dumbass?" He tosses it to Cole as Cole says its actually JBL's. The crowd chants "JBL" as Show gets back in the ring. He goes to spear Reigns through a table but Reigns moves and Show crashes through it. Both men get up at eight as Reigns finally hits the spear. Show rolls outside to break the count but Reigns runs around the ring and spears Show through the barricade. The ref counts to nine as both men get up. Show goes to chokeslam Reigns through the announce table but Reigns elbows out of it. Reigns runs up the steps and spears Show through the Spanish announce table. Show kind of telegraphed the spot by looking behind him to break the fall but it was still a cool spot. Show gets up at nine but Roman literally picks up the English announce table and throws it on top of Show to bury him. The ref counts all the way to 10 to end the match with Reigns counting along. Cole "Roman Reigns has arrived tonight!" Didn't he set the Royal Rumble eliminations record the year before and win the Rumble this year? What do you mean he arrived? Either way Reigns gets arguably one of his most important singles wins post-Shield breakup by knocking off Big Show. Last Man Standing matches are usually big spotfests but this one was very entertaining. If Reigns has to go through The Authority one by one to get to Seth Rollins, he took a giant step tonight....no pun intended.
Time of match: 19:56
Winner: Roman Reigns
We go to a Marine 4 trailer starring The Miz and Summer Rae before we cut to backstage with Kane walking around. Randy Orton of all people stops him and says they go back a long way. Orton says once the Authority is through with Kane they're going to throw him out like garbage. Orton "I know who you are, Kane, even if you've forgotten." Kane looks confused as we cut back to the mess of the announce table. Cole then plugs Tough Enough on June 23rd. The only noteworthy thing about the promo videos is one of them is a young Maxwell Jacob Friedman of AEW.
Back to ringside Bo Dallas comes out to cut a heel promo just to waste time before the main event. Dallas runs down Chicago and says they're not going to grow as people unless they Bo-lieve! Right on cue Ryback comes out and hits the ring. Dallas cuts him off with right hands and we got an impromptu match apparently. Why couldn't have this been an official match? Anyway, Ryback rallies with a spinebuster and a meat hook clothesline. Ryback hits the shellshock as JBL calls Dallas Tony Robbins. Ryback gets the obligatory pop.
Back from commercial we have this week's rundown with Raw followed by Jerry Springer (yes I'm serious) then Tuesday will be the King of The Ring tournament. Wednesday will be a Mick Foley special and Thursday features Stephanie McMahon on Talk Is Jericho. Friday will be a Floyd Mayweather vs Big Show lookback.....where the hell is Smackdown and NXT? Apparently Mayweather vs Manny Pacquiao was coming up.
Back to Byron Saxton who's with Rusev. Rusev says Cena hasn't beaten him yet and yells at Lana some more. Lana says the final chapter of this feud will be at Payback in an I Quit match. Rusev says America used to be full of fighters and now its full of quitters. Payback will be his payback for the American champion. FINALLY the cage begins to lower and we get our promo package for our main event. This is a long standing feud that goes all the way back to before Survivor Series. When Team Cena was preparing to face Team Authority, Randy Orton couldn't get along with Seth Rollins leading to Rollins curbstomping Orton and putting him out of action. Orton returned at Fastlane then appeared to have rejoined The Authority. Then he famously turned on Rollins and challenged him to a match at Wrestlemania. Orton won the match and Rollins famously cashed in his Money In The Bank later that night to win the WWE Championship. Orton then won a number one contender's triple threat match to set up this match. Both men got to choose a stipulation and Rollins had the RKO banned and Randy countered by making it a steel cage match to theoretically keep The Authority out. Naturally Triple H made Kane guardian of the door. The only flaw with stacking the deck is Rollins was acting like a spoiled brat and incurred the wrath of Kane for weeks. Was Kane going to turn face and help Orton or would he do what's best for business? Let's find out.
Match 8
Randy Orton vs Seth Rollins for the WWE Championship in a Steel Cage Match
Kane walks out in a coat and tie first before the others make their entrance. Lawler asks what Kane is REALLY thinking as Orton comes out next. Rollins comes out without Joey Mercury and Jamie Noble, which is weird but somewhat understandable since they won't be able to do much since its a cage match. Bell rings as JBL brings up Hulk Hogan vs King Kong Bundy as Rollins tries to escape the cage early. Orton stops him but Rollins gets the upperhand by stomping Orton in the counter. Orton counters with a clothesline and throws Seth into the cage. Rollins climbs the cage but Orton throws him down to the mat. Orton european uppercuts Seth then rams him head first into the mat. Rollins Flair flips into the corner then Orton knocks him down. Orton stalks Rollins and slingshots him into the corner. Seth goes to escape the cage again but Orton stops him. JBL says Rollins is made of velcro as Seth counters with a buckle bomb. Rollins covers for a deuce and asks Kane to open the door. Kane does but Orton stops him. Seth rams Orton face first into the cage and covers for a deuce. Rollins stalks Randy and stomps him in the corner. Rollins throws Randy into the cage again and taunts him. Rollins throws Randy into the cage another time then punches him on the ground. Rollins uses a running neckbreaker and covers for 1....2...no. Rollins avalanches Randy in the corner and starts taunting Kane for some stupid reason. Rollins charges Orton and Randy sends him into the cage. Orton looks at Kane then starts trading punches with Seth. They trade strikes before Orton sends Rollins into the cage then drops him with two clotheslines. Rollins goes to escape but Orton stops him and they start battling on the top rope. Orton drops down and Rollins nails him with a jumping kneelift. Rollins covers for 1....2....no. Rollins goes to escape again and gets to the top but Orton catches him. Orton is on top of the cage with him and they trade punches. Randy brings him back to the top rope where Rollins knocks Randy off but jumps into a powerslam. He covers for 1...2....nope. Orton goes for the second rope ddt but Seth rolls through for 1...2...nope. Seth hits a savate kick and covers for 1...2....no. Seth goes to escape again and makes it to the top of the cage. Rollins jumps over the side but Orton catches him. Joey Mercury and Jamie Noble hit the ring to pull Rollins down but Orton brings him back to the top. Orton superplexes Rollins off the top of the cage and covers for 1..2...nope. Mercury and Noble go over to Kane and demand to be let inside and Kane chases them off. Mercury and Noble take their jackets off and try to climb both sides of the cage. Orton knocks them both off by simply launching Rollins into each of them. Orton hits an overhead powerslam and goes for the second rope DDT again, only to be countered by Seth. Seth tries to climb out of the cage again but Orton grabs the foot and crotches Rollins on the top rope. Rollins looks at Kane and decides not to go out the door. Instead Orton hits a top rope DDT and caters to the crowd. Lawler says we're gonna have a new champion and gives the sign for the rko. Instead Orton hits the pedigree and covers for 1...2....nooooo. Cole says that was a direct message to The Authority. The crowd starts a random "YES" chant as Orton looks at Kane. Randy then goes for the punt but Rollins moves out of the way. Rollins dropkicks Randy down and calls for the door. Kane opens it and moves out of the way. Rollins crawls but Orton catches him and delivers a backbreaker. Randy looks at the open door but Kane closes the door on him. Rollins goes to dropkick Orton but Randy moves and Seth ends up kicking Kane off the steps and the door open. Rollins goes for the door but Orton catches him and tries to crawl over him but Kane slams the door on Orton's head. Kane rips his coat and tie off then enters the ring with Mercury and Noble. Noble and Mercury end up getting double chokeslammed. Rollins begs off from Kane and Kane ends up grabbing Orton and chokeslamming him. Seth crawls over to the door but Kane grabs him and chokeslams him too. JBL and Lawler are totally confused as Kane pulls Rollins on top of Orton for 1....2...NOOOOO, Orton kicked out. Logically where the hell is Ryback, John Cena or Dolph Ziggler from Team Cena that's supposed to battle The Authority? Kane goes to tombstone Randy but Orton pushes him off and HITS THE RKO! Technically the RKO is banned on ROLLINS, not on Kane. Rollins then hits an RKO on Orton and crawls out the door to win the match. That was a pitiful blowoff for Orton since he basically had to fight 4 against 1. Lawler says Rollins should have lost because he used the RKO but JBL mentions what I said in that only Orton was banned from using it. Either way The Authority wins against Rollins grabs the belt and celebrates. Cole says the bottom line is Rollins has won and JBL adds that the future is now. In terms of a cage match it was decent but the cage is supposed to keep people out, having 100 people run in defeats the purpose. Then again Kane was the guardian and we all knew he was going to make an impact anyway. Rollins walks out of Chicago still the WWE Champion.
Time of match: 21:02
Winner: Rollins (still WWE Champion)
Well, that ending extended Orton's babyface run for at least another month.. A decisive victory by Rollins would have rendered Orton essentially useless as a babyface since Roman Reigns in the chosen one, and its toon soon to do another Team Cena vs Team Authority storyline. Its going to be interesting moving forward to see how things develop. We got new tag team champions in New Day and Cena is still the US Champion. Cena and Rusev will meet one last time but there's no chance in hell Rusev wins now. Daniel Bryan may relinquish yet another title if his concussion doesn't heal and Nikki Bella is somehow still Divas champion. Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns are finished with Luke Harper and Big Show respectively so it'll be interesting to see if either one of them goes after Rollins. Speaking of Rollins, with Orton essentially screwed by Kane you know there's going to be a rubber match next month at Payback.....or they may just have Orton battle Kane. Monday Night Raw tomorrow night will be in Green Bay so I'll see everyone there. As for the show as a whole, it was pretty good all things considering.
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