Monday, May 20, 2013

Extreme Rules 2013

Disappointing show. Jericho-Fandango was fine, and I liked the finish. The highlight was definitely Summer's dress. Ambrose-Kofi was a pretty awesome showcase for not only Hulu, but Ambrose, and Kofi managed to still look good in defeat. Henry-Sheamus has more action in the buildup than in the actual match. The Kaitlyn-AJ skit was pretty stupid. Looney Toons and the Coppertone baby referenced in one skit. Cole's expository commentary during the I Quit match was annoying. THIS COULD BE IT. WHAT. CAN. HE DO!? Match wasn't as good as either their WM one or the really good TV one. Instant replay felt like a way to "protect" Swagger with a loss, but the leg/armbar finish looked terrible. Don't try this at home ad on PPV...

I loved Bryan's new gear and JBL referencing May 19th not being Kane's favorite day. Great all-action match here - definitely aided by the tornado rules. Loved the sideslam/Hart Attack combo. Great springboard dive from Rollins to allow Reigns to escape the No Lock. Nice flying knee/spear combo got the best nearfall of the show so far. Slingshot/kick combo was a nice setup to the rack/knee drop one. Nice to see a tag match filled with double team moves. Show-Orton was a good, if generic extreme rules match. I fucking hate JBL calling all of the weapons toys. It bugged me on SD weeks ago and it bugged me now. It's just a really stupid thing to call items that are supposed to be treated as dangerous. The ladder bridge Vader bomb spot was crazy - good thing Orton moved. Show kicking out of the RKO helped make this seem like an important match. Orton winning with the punt was a nice surprise, and with Dolph's concussion, I'm surprised they did it - but it did make the move seem more devastating.

Ryback-Cena using the Backlash '07 finish with Batista and Taker was a bit odd, but probably the best way to get out of beating either guy. Hard to believe that was six years ago. Cena's giant leaping...hug/neck lock thing was wacky. Loved the idiocy of Cole saying THE REF IS HALFWAY TO FIVE while we're hearing him count. Thanks, Cole. The spear through the LEDs was at least impressive visually, but they've done these stunt show finishes too often to take it seriously. Show chokeslamming Cena through a bat signal was better-looking, and a bit more plausible. The Orton Payback ad was better than the wacky 12 Rounds 2 one. The Brock-HHH vid from SD was re-aired to further fill time, since the ads and wacky medical stuff with Cena and Ryback weren't enough. Bizarre to hear Cole say that Brock made his name in the UFC since that really downplayed his THREE WWE TITLE WINS.

Great opening for the cage match with Brock getting tossed right into the cage back-first instantly. HHH doing a double sledge off the top period, let alone the second he entered the cage, was a surprise. Flying knee into the cage looked good. Cole saying HHH was GOING INTO GAME MODE was amazing. Brock's knee injury was a great way to set the wheels in motion for a face turn since Heyman didn't really care much. The knee also gave them a chance to actually focus one of these Brock-HHH matches on something, instead of just doing a bunch of stuff and hoping it works. Chairs and clips to the knee ruled, as did the VINTAGE MIZ figure 4. I was hoping HHH would break out the reverse Indian deathlock here too. Loved the wacky HIDDEN SILVER SLEDGEHAMMER! Terrible leg placement for the Sharpshooter, and towards the end of it, he did it EXACTLY like Sting does now at his worst. Loved Brock's THAT'S MY MANAGER! when Heyman low blowed him. SLEDGHAMMER TO THE JAW sure would've seemed more effective if they hadn't shown numerous shots of Brock covering it with his fist. F5 got the win, and it was nice to see Brock actually win at Extreme Rules (and also odd to hear them not mention his past at the PPV). Best HHH-Brock match yet.

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