The John Report: WWE “The Horror Show” at Extreme Rules 2020 Review
Welcome to the WWE The Horror Show at Extreme Rules 2020 review on TJRWrestling.
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The Kickoff Show match saw Kevin Owens defeat Murphy in a match that went 8:55.
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WWE The Horror Show at Extreme Rules
From WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida
Sunday, July 19, 2020
The opening video package focused on the key matches at Extreme Rules as they tried to focus on the two unique matches with Strowman facing Wyatt and Rollins facing Mysterio.
The New Day’s Kofi Kingston and Big E made their entrance as the Smackdown Tag Team Champions. The announce team of Michael Cole and Corey Graves were at ringside welcoming us to the show as they call the Smackdown matches. The New Day guys tossed their jackets at Corey Graves as usual. The developmental wrestlers in the crowd at the WWE Performance were wearing masks. Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura entered as the challengers.
Tables Match for the Smackdown Tag Team Championships: The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Big E) vs. Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura
The only way to win the match is to put somebody on the other team through a table. No tags in this match.
Cesaro and Nakamura were aggressive with corner attacks on both guys. Cesaro with an uppercut to Big E, but Kofi hit a double stomp to the chest, Big E with a corner splash, Kofi with a corner splash and Big E with a belly to belly slam. New Day brought a table into the ring as all four guys brawled on the floor. Big E whipped Nakamura into the boards followed by Nakamura hitting a dropkick on Nakamura and then Kingston hit a dropkick on Big E against the steel steps. A table was set up on the floor with Nakamura saving Cesaro from a double team attempt. Nakamura tripped up Kofi on the top rope and Cesaro hit Big E with the steel steps. Cesaro with an uppercut on Kofi as a table was set up in the ring. Big E saved Kofi from a superplex attempt, Nakamura punched Big E to avoid going through a table and Cesaro tried to slam Kofi, but Kofi broke free with a kick. Big E hit a Spear on Cesaro off the apron onto the floor. Cesaro was a few feet away from a table. Kofi kicked Nakamura off the apron to the floor. Cesaro was placed on the table in the aisle, Kofi and Big E went into the ring, Kofi ran the ropes, so when Kofi jumped over the top, Nakamura and Cesaro slammed a table into Kofi’s face. It didn’t break the table, but it knocked Kofi down. Big E was kicked by Nakamura. Big E saved Kofi from being slammed through a table. Nakamura and Cesaro each with kicks to the face of Big E. When Big E went for a charging attack, he was met by double knees by the heels. Big E suplexed Cesaro back into the ring while Nakamura hit a sliding knee on Big E. Nakamura grabbed another table from under the ring and he set it up on the floor. Kofi was up top and he a Trust Fall dive on Nakamura on the floor. Big E with a belly to belly suplex on Cesaro against the turnbuckle. New Day stacked a table on top of the table that was on the floor. Big E wanted to suplex Cesaro through a table, but Nakamura saved his partner. Nakamura gave Kofi a back body drop over the top to the floor. Cesaro shoved Big E off the top into the ring. Cesaro with a swing leading to a running kick by Nakamura. Kofi back in with a double axe to the head of Nakamura, who went to the floor and Kofi hit a dive on him. Kofi jumped off the steel steps with a clothesline on Cesaro on the floor. Cesaro had a hold of Kingston on the turnbuckle, Nakamura helped Cesaro keep his balance and Cesaro gave Kingston a Powerbomb through two tables outside the ring. It went 10:25.
Winners AND NEW Smackdown Tag Team Champions: Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura
Analysis: *** It was a pretty good match that was competitive right away and the time of the match felt right to me. They did a nice job of teasing table spots. Cesaro really stood out with his performance. The way Cesaro and Nakamura were booked in the build to this match is not typical WWE booking. They won non-title, they won in singles and they won the titles here. It doesn’t happen like that often, but it’s fine with me to see WWE avoiding some of the booking patterns that they do too often. That’s the end of New Day’s eighth reign as champions. How long until they win them back? I give it a few months.
Post match, Cesaro and Nakamura celebrated with the titles while Cesaro went over to the announcers to brag about how they won the titles.
Analysis: Nakamura is Cesaro’s third different tag team partner that he won the titles with since he also won the titles with Tyson Kidd and Sheamus.
Nikki Cross was backstage with Alexa Bliss, Asuka and Kairi Sane. Bliss tried to hype Cross up to get her ready for the title match. Bliss joined Cross at ringside for the match.
Bayley made her entrance as the Smackdown Women’s Champion and she was joined by her Women’s Tag Team Championship partner Sasha Banks.
Smackdown Women’s Championship: Bayley (w/Sasha Banks) vs. Nikki Cross (w/Alexa Bliss)
Bayley was overconfident early on as she shoved Cross down repeatedly. Cross came back with a quick neckbreaker for a two count. Bayley to the floor, so Cross followed with a DDT on the floor. Cross went up top with a cross body block for two and Cross did the same move again for another two count. Bayley bailed to the floor again, so Bayley hit a running cross body block onto Bayley on the floor. Bayley whipped Cross into the boards and back into the ring for a two count. Bayley with a chinlock, then she trapped Cross against the apron and she punched Cross repeatedly. Cross went under the ring on the other side near Banks, then Bayley slid right into the apron like a dumbass, so Cross punched her repeatedly. That was a unique spot that made Bayley look foolish. Cross with a neckbreaker against the ropes, then a Bayley mockery with a running elbow. Cross slapped on a Crossface submission, but Bayley got out of it and Bayley hit the Bayley to Belly slam for a two count because it is no longer Bayley’s finisher. Bayley set up Cross on the top for a superplex for a two count. Bayley argued with the referee, so Cross got a rollup for two and Bayley hit a knee to the ribs for two. Bayley went for an attack on the floor, but Cross caught her legs and sent Bayley’s upper body into the ring post. Cross hit a reverse DDT with both women down selling. Cross hit a basement dropkick and a running bulldog. Cross went up top, Bayley moved to avoid an attack and Cross hit a ripcord neckbreaker for two. Cross with two belly to back suplexes in a row for two. The referee spoke to both women, likely to give time cues. Cross to the ropes, Bayley tripped her up and hit a running knee for two. Banks: “WHAT THE HELL!” Bayley charged, Cross moved and Bayley hit the middle turnbuckle hard. Cross hit a neckbreaker on the floor. Bayley sold it for a bit, but then hit a clothesline in the ring. I don’t like Bayley doing that after taking a finisher on the floor. Anyway, Cross hit a clothesline for two. Banks put her “BOSS” knucks to Bayley, Banks distracted the referee with Bliss arguing with them and Bayley hit a cheap shot punch with the “BOSS” knucks on Cross’s ribs and Bayley hit her face first slam into the mat for the pinfall at 12:20.
Winner by pinfall: Bayley
Analysis: **3/4 It was a solid title match with Cross coming close to winning a bunch of times, but the crafty heel champion Bayley found a way to win again. I actually like the brass knucks style finish although it’s not exactly the same since it is more like shiny jewelry instead of the traditional brass knuckles. They worked hard and I thought the story was decent, but this just felt like an average PPV match to me.
There was a WWEShop commercial.
A Firefly Fun House video looked like it was about to play, but then it had an altered look. Bray Wyatt was in a darkened Firefly Fun House talking about how he had the most disgusting footage known to man. It was a clip of Karaoke Showdown, then it stopped and Bray said that it was the wrong time. Anyway, Wyatt had some more eerie comments while looking like something of a southern Dracula. I don’t know how else to describe it.
Analysis: Making fun of the Karaoke Showdown segment being bad was a funny. Well played making fun of your own bad segment, WWE.
The announce team was at ringside to tell us that Apollo Crews is not able to defend the US Title because of an injury suffered at the hands of Bobby Lashley. They said that Crews suffered the injury when Lashley gave him the Full Nelson.
Montel Vontavious Porter and Bobby Lashley showed up in their ring gear. MVP said that due to forfeit, your new United States Champion is…and MVP left the ring to grab the new US Title. MVP put the US Title around his waist while his music played. MVP and Lashley left while the announcers said that Apollo Crews is still the US Champion.
Analysis: I don’t know what the legit story is here, but they did state emphatically that Crews is still the United States Champion.
A commercial aired for SummerSlam on August 23.
There was a video package for Seth Rollins facing Rey Mysterio in an Eye for an Eye Match. We saw highlights of the build to this match over the last two months.
Seth Rollins made his entrance for the Eye for an Eye match. Rollins pulled pliers out of his black leather jacket as he entered the ring. Rey Mysterio ran to the ring to go after Rollins.
Eye for an Eye Match: Rey Mysterio vs. Seth Rollins
The stipulation is that you have to remove a man’s eye to win the match. Yes, that’s really what they have said to promote the match.
Rollins managed to stop a quick attack by Mysterio, but then Mysterio hit him with a headscissors that sent Rollins into the ring post. Mysterio grabbed the pliers and Rollins pushed him off. Mysterio grabbed a toolbox from under the ring and found some steel bar. Rollins grabbed a kendo stick from under the ring and hit Mysterio in the head. Mysterio with a dropkick to the leg. Mysterio went for a moonsault off the middle ropes, Rollins caught him and Mysterio sent him into the ropes, but Rollins bailed to the floor. Mysterio went for a hurricanrana while on the apron, but Rollins caught him and gave Mysterio a Falcon Arrow slam on the apron with Rey taking that bump hard on his back. Rollins gouged at the left eye of Mysterio. Rollins tried to send Mysterio into the steel steps, but Mysterio fought back with kicks and Rollins sent Mysterio back first into the barricade. Rollins tried to jab the kendo stick into the eye, but Mysterio fought him off. Rollins slid Mysterio under the bottom rope, right onto a table that was laying on the floor. Rollins tried to drive the point of a chair into Rey’s eye, but Rey was able to block that. Mysterio used a chair to jab Rollins in the ribs. Rollins tried to stab Rey in the eye with a pen. Rollins grabbed something from a toolbox to attack, he went for an attack and Mysterio hit a drop toe hold that sent Rollins into the corner of the announce table. Mysterio tried attacking with a chair, but Rollins fought that off and hit Mysterio in the back with a chair. Rollins tried using a rope, but Mysterio sent him into the ring post. Rollins tried sending Rey into the kendo stick eye first, but Mysterio blocked. Mysterio with a seated senton off the top, a headscissors and a low dropkick. Mysterio went up top and hit a Frog Splash. Rollins went for the left eye, Mysterio with a kick and then Rollins hit a release Powerbomb over his head. Rollins went for The Stomp, Mysterio moved and Mysterio hit a great Tornado DDT.
They left the ring again with Mysterio hitting a sunset flip Powerbomb into the barricade. Mysterio slid under the bottom rope into another sunset flip Powerbomb for a two count. Mysterio took out two pieces of kendo stick and gouged the eye of Rollins. It looked pretty close to touching the eye with Rollins rolling around the ring and grabbing the eye. Mysterio with a 619 double kick into the eye. Rollins was rolling around the ring grabbing his right eye. Rollins got a hold of Mysterio on the floor, he went for an attack into the step and Mysterio hit The Stomp on the floor on Rollins. Mysterio grabbed Rollins’ head and he sent Seth’s right eye into the corner of the steel steps, but Rollins hit a low blow to stop that. Rollins hit a superkick while Mysterio was pinned up against the barricade. Rollins hit The Stomp on the floor to Mysterio. Rollins said Rey did this to himself. Rollins grabbed Mysterio by the steel steps and he tried to drive Mysterio’s right eye into the steel steps and Rollins shoved the eye into the steps again. Mysterio looked like he was knocked out from it. Then Rollins went over to Mysterio and Reye was holding his right eye. Rollins was selling it like he was about to throw up. The match was over at 18:05.
Winner: Seth Rollins
Analysis: ***1/2 I think Seth and Rey had a very good match from a technical wrestling standpoint and a match that took two months to build up. Eye for an Eye isn’t a great stip, but they did the best they could with it. It was nice that they didn’t try to do something comical with an eyeball out of Rey’s skull or something like that. They just had Rey keep his hand over the eye while Rollins and the referee reacted as if it was out. Puts over Seth as a crazy heel. I picked Rollins to win because we don’t know if Rey has signed a new contract yet, so with that in mind, it’s sensible that Rollins would win a brutal stipulation match. I think if Rey does stick around (and I hope he does) then he should get the win back over Rollins at some point later this year.
After the match, the referee, a doctor and Rey’s son Dominick went out to Rey and helped him. Rey kept his right hand over the eye. There was a bit of a white ball there to signify the eye, but it’s not like Rey was carrying it in his hands. We never saw a clear eyeball or anything like that. Meanwhile, Rollins was throwing at ringside because he looked what he did to Mysterio and he was disgusted by it. The wrestlers in the crowd were booing Rollins for his actions.
Analysis: The reaction from Rollins was what it needed to be because it showed he was grossed out by what he did. I think having Rey put his hand over the right eye with Dominick, the referee and doctor helping Rey was the right way to do it. At least they didn’t do something comical with a fake eyeball in Rey’s hands or something like that. The rumors that they would do some CGI editing for the eyeball spot didn’t happen.
There was a commercial for The Undertaker Last Ride extra footage that premiered earlier on Sunday.
The Raw announce team was on camera talking about what just happened while using SERIOUS VOICES~! to comment on Rey’s eye injury. Byron Saxton said he hopes that what happened to Rey doesn’t alter his life.
Bayley was interviewed backstage by Kayla Braxton. Bayley said that if Rey was watching this he would not be seeing double vision because she is still Bayley Dos Straps. Bayley introduced Sasha Banks. Bayley bragged about beating Nikki Cross and said that when Banks beats Asuka, they’ll have all the gold and everything will be right in the world. Banks said she’ll be Two Belts Banks and it will be time to celebrate. Kayla was not impressed.
There was a video package about the Braun Strowman “Swamp Fight” with Bray Wyatt coming up later in the show.
Asuka made her entrance as the Raw Women’s Champion with Kairi Sane joining her. Sasha Banks had Bayley with her.
Raw Women’s Championship: Asuka (w/Kairi Sane) vs. Sasha Banks (w/Bayley)
Banks was in control early on. Banks went for the Bank Statement, but Asuka was able to fight it off. Banks hit the double knees for a two count. Banks remained in control until Asuka was able to counter her into an armbar with Banks rolling to the ropes to break the hold. Banks hit an armdrag that sent Asuka across the ring. Banks worked over Asuka with palm strikes, then a knee to the ribs and I heard Banks call a spot that led to Asuka hitting a rising knee to the face while Banks was coming off the ropes. Banks was on the apron, so Asuka hit a running hip attack that sent Banks to the floor. Banks came back with a spinning kick on the apron. Banks tried a slam off the apron, Asuka blocked and hit a sliding knee to the face. Banks managed to send Asuka into the turnbuckle and then she wrenched the arm against the top rope. Banks pulled back on the fingers of Asuka. Banks grounded Asuka by pulling on both arms while sitting on Asuka’s head. Banks hit the double knee attack to the ribs and then jumped off the ropes with the double knees to the ribs again. Banks pulled back on the arms again. Asuka fight off the mat with kicks to the body, then Asuka ducked a clothesline and hit a spinning back fist to the head. Asuka charged, but Banks used her legs to send Asuka into the middle turnbuckle. Asuka tripped up Asuka on the turnbuckle and then a double knee Codebreaker that put down both women. They went to the apron to battle, Asuka tried a suplex, but Banks picked her up and gave Asuka a Powerbomb into the boards. There are no more Buckle Bombs into the turnbuckle, but you can do it into the boards apparently.
Back in the ring, Banks went up top and hit a Frog Splash for two. Banks applied the Bank Statement submission, but Asuka got to the ropes to get out of it. Banks talked trash to Asuka, who came back with forearms and a rising knee to the face. Asuka picked up Banks almost like a German Suplex, but it was more of a bridging pin. Asuka hit a high angle release Germans Suplex and then a running kick to the face for a two count. Asuka hit another German Suplex and a running hip attack that Banks sold well for a two count for Asuka. Asuka went up top for a missile dropkick, Banks moved and Banks hit a running knee into a two count. This has been really good so far as both women were down selling while Saxton said “what a match” to put this over. Banks went to the turnbuckle, Asuka met her with a forearm and wanted a superplex, but Banks held on to block. Banks was standing on the top rope, Asuka went for a German Suplex and Banks thankfully flipped over to land on her feet. Banks went to the middle ropes, she was trying to jump off and the referee checked on her. Banks told the referee to get out of her face. I don’t think that was planned by Banks, but I don’t know. Banks went for the Bank Statement, Asuka got the hold on her and Sane went after Bayley on the floor. Bayley hit the Bayle to Belly on Sane on the floor. Banks and Asuka each got two counts. Asuka slapped on the Asuka Lock on the mat, Bayley threw a title into the ring, the referee took the title out and Banks was tapping out, but the referee never saw it. Asuka kicked Bayley to knock her out of the ring. Bayley didn’t touch Asuka, so no disqualification there. Banks had a Women’s Tag Team Title in her hands, the referee took it from her and Asuka sprayed the green mist. Banks moved and Asuka hit the referee in the eyes. Bayley went into the ring and hit Asuka in the back wit the Tag Team Title. Banks took the referee’s shirt off and put the referee’s shirt on her. Banks covered Asuka and Bayley counted the pinfall. The match went 19:55.
Winner? Sasha Banks?
Analysis: ***3/4 I thought it was an awesome match right up until the finish. They were on their way to a four star match or higher, but I can’t go that high with that finish. It has nothing to do with Banks and Asuka and everything to do with the creative team being too over the top in terms of coming up with a match finish. Silly finishes take away from the great work by two awesome wrestlers. I guess WWE feels it keeps people interested to see the next step on Raw, but I think it does more harm than good. For the majority of match, I really enjoyed watching it. I don’t even mind heel finishes sometimes. I just thought that this one was too over the top and that it’s going to frustrate fans more than it is going to get heat on the heels. But hey, at least we’ll probably get another Asuka vs. Banks match, which is usually fun to watch.
Bayley went over to ringside and demanded that the bell ring, so then the guy rang the bell. Bayley grabbed the Raw Women’s Title and handed it to Banks. The announcers wondered what this meant while Asuka was angry in the ring. Bayley and Banks were laughing about it.
There was an update on Rey Mysterio by Charly Caruso. They said that there’s a chance that Rey can maintain his vision. They used some medical terms to give us the update.
The WWE Championship match is up next, so there was a video about Drew McIntyre facing Dolph Ziggler. The story is that Ziggler gets to pick the stipulation.
Dolph Ziggler made his entrance first as the challenger. Ziggler hasn’t won a singles match since mid-April on Smackdown against Tucker. Drew McIntyre entered as the WWE Champion with a lot of confidence.
Ziggler did a pre-match promo saying that he’s smarter than him. Ziggler said that this match is Extreme Rules for Dolph Ziggler only. Ziggler said that if McIntyre gets counted out or disqualified then Ziggler becomes WWE Champion.
WWE Championship: Drew McIntyre vs. Dolph Ziggler
It’s an Extreme Rules match for Dolph Ziggler only. If McIntyre is disqualified or counted out then he loses the WWE Title.
The action spilled to the floor with McIntyre sending Ziggler into the announce table and ring post, which is not going to lead to a DQ. McIntyre worked over Ziggler with a hard chop to the chest and a belly to belly suplex across the ring. Ziggler bailed to the floor and Ziggler can’t be counted out because of his rules. They left the ring with Ziggler doing an eye rake. Ziggler brought a chair into the ring, Drew blocked it, threw the chair out of the ring and hit a belly to belly suplex. McIntyre with a hard chop when they were out of the ring. Ziggler avoided a slam, he sent McIntyre into the ring post and into the barricade. The referee was counting McIntyre, who managed to get back into the ring to break the ten count. Ziggler set up a table on the floor, McIntyre nearly did a suplex through the table, but then did it on the floor because he knew he couldn’t use the table or he would get disqualified. Back in the ring, Drew hit a Powerbomb for two. When Ziggler got back up, he kicked McIntyre in the groin for the blatant low blow. Ziggler brought a steel chair into the ring and hit McIntyre in the back with the chair repeatedly, then the chair into the throat and Ziggler with a chair to the left shoulder for a two count. McIntyre left the ring, Ziggler went after him and McIntyre hit a belly to belly suplex onto the announce table. McIntyre cleared off the announce table. Ziggler did an eye poke, kick to the leg and a Fameasser off the announce table onto McIntyre on the floor. Drew barely got back in before the ten count. That was a cool spot. McIntyre jumped off the top, Ziggler moved, Ziggler jumped on the back with a sleeper and McIntyre got to the ropes, but Ziggler didn’t have to let go and McIntyre slammed Ziggler off him. Ziggler sent McIntyre into the ring post shoulder first. McIntyre with a clothesline. They left the ring with McIntyre with a catapult that sent Ziggler face first into the boards with Ziggler punching the plexiglass to make a lot of noise.
They went back into the ring with McIntyre hitting a running back elbow and a reverse Alabama Slam sent Ziggler face first into the mat. McIntyre did the 3, 2, 1 countdown, but Ziggler hit him in the left knee with a chair and a Zig Zag by Ziggler got a two count. Nice nearfall there even though I doubt anybody watching thought Ziggler was going to win this match. They left the ring with Ziggler hitting a superkick that put McIntyre onto a table. Ziggler went up top and Ziggler jumped off with an elbow drop on McIntyre through the table. The referee John Cone checked on both guys, then he went back in to start the count on McIntyre, who got back in at the count of nine. Ziggler was screaming about that. Ziggler had a small cut on his left elbow. McIntyre hit a Glasgow Kiss headbutt that sent Ziggler into the ropes. Ziggler with a kick to the knee, a Fameasser again and a Zig Zag. Ziggler hit a uranage/Rock Bottom onto a steel chair for a two count. That was a nice sequence of moves. Ziggler tossed some chairs out of the ring. Ziggler set up for a superkick, McIntyre did a kip up and a Claymore Kick connected and Drew covered Ziggler for the pinfall win at 15:31.
Winner by pinfall: Drew McIntyre
Analysis: ***1/2 I thought this was an entertaining WWE Title match with an obvious outcome because I doubt anybody watching this thought that Ziggler might win. The good thing is that they picked a stipulation that made McIntyre have a disadvantage to start, the story of Ziggler attacking him made a lot of sense and having Drew kick out of everything made Drew look like a strong champion. McIntyre’s performance was outstanding. He really had to do a lot of thinking in the match in terms of avoiding contouts, disqualifications and things of that nature. It takes two to tango and Ziggler did his part as well, but I thought this story really showed how much McIntyre has progressed as an overall performer.
McIntyre celebrated with the WWE Championship after another successful title defense.
Analysis: They have definitely booked Drew McIntyre strong in 2020 and he’s had a lot of strong performances. Happy for him, but sure wish the fans were there to cheer him on.
There was a commercial for SummerSlam on August 23.
Wyatt Swamp Fight: Bray Wyatt vs. Braun Strowman
This was not for Strowman’s WWE Universal Title. This was a cinematic match, so I’m not going to rate it as a regular match. They taped it on Thursday evening. It’s hard to do play by play for these kinds of “matches” with all the camera cuts.
Bray Wyatt was sitting in a rocking chair in the swamp with Braun Strowman driving up to him. Strowman said that he’s home, Wyatt laughed and then Wyatt disappeared. Strowman went walking into the swamp and he had to fight off some guys that were wearing masks. They cut away to Bray in the Firefly Fun House cheering on Braun as if he was rooting for him. Strowman yelled saying he wanted Bray to show his damn face. That’s when Strowman was hit in the back by a shovel. Strowman looked up to see somebody dressed like him and it was Braun wearing a mask. That’s some nice editing. The masked Braun hit downed Braun with a shovel or so we think.
Braun was in a room where he was seated on a chair that he was tied to with chains. Braun looked he was groggy as he saw different Wyatt Family images in his head. The Wyatt Family song played as Wyatt walked towards Strowman with the lamp in his hands. Wyatt walked over to Strowman, Braun said he hated him and Wyatt laughed that he was already dead. Wyatt said that success is temporary while adding that when your 15 minutes are up, who will stand beside you and have your back. Wyatt said that Braun can’t see where he belongs. Wyatt told Braun that he is not his enemy. Wyatt said that Strowman is like him, Braun is special and that is why Braun needs him. Wyatt told Braun that they could rule it all. Wyatt asked if Braun knows where he has been, Braun said he didn’t care and said that he is sending him back to hell where he belongs. Wyatt said that he’s there, he feels good and he got his wings back while adding that he’s not going back to where he was. Wyatt said that Braun is a weapon while Bray is the hand that yields the weapon. Wyatt said that he had to destroy the monster. Braun said he didn’t care what Bray did to him and added that he will never go back to doing his bidding. Wyatt asked if Braun wanted to see something really scary and then he laughed at him. Somebody walked into the room with a snake, Wyatt told him not to be afraid and the snake bit Braun in the neck. At least that’s what we’re supposed to think after that.
Strowman was back out in the swamp and he beat up a couple of guys in masks. There was an unmasked guy who I don’t know, Strowman took a shovel and hit the guy in the head with it. Strowman kicked a guy into the fire pit, so the guy ran away while he was on fire. Strowman laughed about it. That showed that Wyatt was controlling Strowman again.
There was a woman’s voice and she said: “Come home, Braun.” It was Alexa Bliss with a dark cloak as we saw clips of Braun with Alexa in the Mixed Match Challenge. Evil Alexa said that this is what he’s always wanted, this could be his life and she told him to follow her. That led to Wyatt showing up and putting his hands on Strowman’s face. Strowman picked up Wyatt and gave him a Chokeslam into a boat. Wyatt was out laying in the boat.
It looked like Strowman was about to leave, but there was another boat that drove up to the swamp. Strowman walked over to the boat. There wasn’t anybody in it that we could see, but then Wyatt attacked Strowman with a paddle to the back. Wyatt tried to drown Strowman in the water, Strowman did his best to fight him off and then Wyatt let him go in the water. Strowman managed to get out of the water and he was gasping for air. Wyatt whacked Strowman in the ribs with the paddle. Strowman got in some punches, but Wyatt beat on him with another wooden weapon that may have been a paddle as well. Wyatt: “Look at what you made me do.” Strowman got back up to his feet, Wyatt laughed at him and Strowman kicked Wyatt off the platform they were on, which led to Wyatt getting knocked into the swamp water.
Strowman foolishly said “it’s over” and the Extreme Rules logo appeared in the bottom corner to make it look like the end of the broadcast…until a hand went into Strowman’s mouth. Wyatt pulled Strowman in the water with him. They were both under water and then we got some shots of the scenery along with some leaves that were in the water. There was red water that appeared after that. It was The Fiend emerging from the water. There was some Fiend laughter as The Fiend stared into the camera. The Fiend said: “Let me in.” End show.
Winner: Bray Wyatt?
Analysis: No star ratings for this stuff. It was fine. It was what I expected with The Fiend appearing at the end to set up Strowman vs. Fiend at SummerSlam. There were some cool moments in there. I think the part with Strowman seeing Alexa Bliss was done to show that Braun was poisoned (or something like that) after the snake bite I didn’t love it, but it was fine. I think we could use a break from cinematic matches for a while. There are probably some fans that love them and maybe they loved this Swamp Fight a lot more than I did. I just didn’t think it was that interesting. Yes, they told the story they needed to in order to bring The Fiend back into the mix, but is that really exciting at this point? To me, it’s not. The Strowman and Wyatt feud has been pretty boring even though I’m a fan of both guys. If you’re into the WWE Cinematic matches then maybe you’ll like this more than I did. It’s not like I hated it, either. It just didn’t feel like a PPV main event worthy match or segment.
This event had a runtime of 2:33:47 on WWE Network.
Five Stars of the Show
- Drew McIntyre
- Asuka
- Sasha Banks
- Seth Rollins/Rey Mysterio
- Dolph Ziggler
Final Thoughts
I’m going with a 5.75 out of 10 for this show.
There was enough good in-ring action to make it a watchable show, but I thought overall it was an average PPV at best. That’s because the storylines aren’t that interesting. The overall interest in the product is down for a reason. The stories are hurting. The match quality was strong thanks to multiple matches around the three-star level although I don’t think there was one particular match that stood out the most. If Asuka vs. Banks had a better finish then that would have been best. The Rollins vs. Mysterio match was very good for the most part, but with the stipulation involved, it was more of about the story. Rey “lost” his eye, but at least he didn’t have to carry it with him! I’m trying to be positive about an eye pulling match. Drew McIntyre was tremendous working with a disadvantage in terms of the rules, so that was entertaining to me. As for Wyatt and Strowman, it accomplished the obvious goal of bringing The Fiend into the story, but I didn’t find it that entertaining. Am I supposed to care about Strowman vs. The Fiend at SummerSlam? This feud hasn’t been interesting at all.
I think some of the match finishes hurt the show. It was also very heel heavy in terms of wins with McIntyre as the only babyface winner on the main card. My guess is WWE opted to go for some controversial endings because they feel like it might lead people to tune in to see what happens next on Raw or Smackdown. Ratings are down, so if you book endings that are confusing, then maybe people will want to tune in to see the fallout. Is it going to work? Probably not. To me, if you book better stories with stronger match endings then that’s better for the overall product. The stories need to be better.
It wasn’t the worst WWE PPV of the year (hey Super Showdown how you doing?), but it was among the worst WWE PPVs of 2020. I really hope they can bounce back for SummerSlam with more star power on the show, more meaningful matches and better finishes to the matches too. The wrestlers did their best with what’s given and I’m not questioning their effort, but from an entertainment standpoint, this was a weak effort overall.
My WWE PPV Rankings for 2020 looks like this so far:
Royal Rumble – 8
Money in the Bank – 6.75
WrestleMania 36 – 6.25
Backlash – 6
The Horror Show at Extreme Rules – 5.75
Super Showdown – 3
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