WWE Extreme Rules 2014: 8 Worst Booking Decisions in PPV's History

On the heels of WrestleMania, Extreme Rules is traditionally one of the better pay-per-view events of the year.

The matches that may have been promising on paper but, for whatever reason, did not get enough time to tell their stories at the Showcase of the Immortals usually excel in a more laid-back atmosphere and provide fans with the action they had hoped to see weeks earlier.

As good as the Extreme Rules event has proved to be since its inception in 2008, it has still suffered from its fair share of bad booking decisions. Some surround the match results, while others center on the competitors in said matches. Regardless of what the case may be, these blunders could have put a damper on the entire show.

In preparation for 2014's Extreme Rules event and in hopes that nothing new will be added to this list next year, here is a look back at the worst booking decisions the event has ever seen, listed in chronological order.

Santina vs. Vickie Guerrero in a Hogpen Match (2009)

Santino Marella in drag is something that fans never wanted to see, but they were exposed to it in 2009 when the creative brain trust in WWE developed a character named Santina, the twin sister of the former intercontinental champion. She won the disaster known as the Miss WrestleMania Battle Royal at WrestleMania and, unfortunately, continued to be part of WWE programming for months afterward.

Even worse than having to endure the stupidity of the character was having to watch the rivalry with Vickie Guerrero unfold leading into Extreme Rules the following June.

What was worst of all? The announcement that Santina and Guerrero would actually compete in a match. But not just any match. No, this match would be the first Hogpen match in six years.

Never able to pass up a joke at Guerrero's expense, the company seemingly got great glee out of referring to the wife of the late Eddie Guerrero as a pig. The company had, and would continue to, poke fun at her and put her in embarrassing situations. The match with Santina was no different.

That the match was horrendous did the already terrible program no favors.

The contest was not only humiliating to Guerrero, it was an embarrassment to all involved and more importantly the company that promoted it. Any match between Santina and Guerrero would have been bad enough, but the fact that the company dusted off one of the worst gimmick matches in its long and illustrious history only made the ordeal more painful to watch.

A bad booking decision accented by an even worse match led to the biggest blunder in Extreme Rules history...bar none.

Batista Ends Randy Orton's Title Reign (2009)

The WWE spent months building Randy Orton into a vile, devious villain who would stop at nothing to become champion. He punted both Vince and Shane McMahon in the head, dropped Stephanie McMahon with both an RKO and a DDT and kissed her while her husband Triple H was handcuffed to the ropes and made to watch.

There was a bump in the road in the form of a poor WrestleMania 25 main event, but Orton finally captured the WWE title at Backlash and embarked in a title reign that should have seen him take his spot at the top of the industry as the most hated man in the sport.

That did not quite happen, thanks to a very questionable booking decision that unfolded at Extreme Rules.

At Judgment Day in May, Orton got intentionally disqualified against Batista in a last-ditch effort to escape the show with his championship intact. By order of Vickie Guerrero, they would clash inside a steel cage.

The match was fine enough, but the finish had many scratching their heads. Said finish included Batista delivering a Batista Bomb to Orton and pinning him to capture the WWE Championship.

After months of working hard on a story and developing Orton into the top heel in the company, WWE took the championship off him just two months into his reign in order to add to Batista's already impressive resume. It was unnecessary and undid everything the creative team had accomplished to that point.

It was a big mistake that killed Orton's momentum dead. Luckily, he would regain some heat later in the year, thanks to his lengthy rivalry with John Cena.

JTG vs. Shad Gaspard in a Strap Match (2010)

For years, Cryme Tyme was one of the more popular tag teams in the sport. No matter if they were on television weekly or sporadically, they always managed to pop the crowd. So when WWE opted to split them up in 2010, at a time when legitimate tag teams were few and far between, the decision was met with skepticism.

After all, the sum was greater than the individual parts, and neither JTG nor Shad had a strong enough connection with the audience to thrive in singles competition. Yet, that was the course WWE attempted to take with both competitors, and it all started at Extreme Rules in 2010 when the former tag team partners met in a strap match.

There was nothing inherently wrong with the match. Both men worked hard, and JTG impressed with some great babyface fire. Unfortunately, the crowd was largely unresponsive, and at just over seven minutes, including entrances, the Superstars never had the opportunity to win the audience over.

JTG won the match, which was contrary to booking plans for Gaspard to become a relevant midcard star, but it would not matter. Neither man gained any traction with the crowd, and before long, they were wallowing in the lower portion of the card.

Gaspard would be released from his contract in November of 2010. JTG remains with WWE to this day, though no one really knows why.

The Cryme Tyme split may have been a bad decision in hindsight, but an even worse one was putting their feud, which was anything but hot, on a pay-per-view broadcast to die in front of a crowd that did not care.

Last Man Standing Finish (2010)

The Last Man Standing match between John Cena and Batista at Extreme Rules 2010 was a very good match, and its placement on this list has nothing to do with the quality of the bout.

It does, however, have everything to do with its finish.

Late in the match, Cena crotched Batista around the ring post and retrieved a roll of duct tape. He then taped Batista's feet together around the same post, preventing him from standing. He then taunted the struggling former champion as the referee completed a 10 count and awarded the match to Cena.

The Last Man Standing match has always been one of the most grueling, physically demanding matches in WWE. Superstars such as Mick Foley, Triple H, The Rock and Steve Austin have been beaten and battered and spilled their own and others' blood in the match type. They are difficult matches to craft, but when done correctly, they create a tremendous amount of drama and add to the legendary toughness of those Superstars who compete in them.

The finish of the Cena vs. Batista match may have been clever, but it went against everything that the match has stood for in the past. It was a cheap finish to set up a rematch when ideally the Last Man Standing match should spell the end of a heated rivalry.

It also greatly diminished what had been a very impressive pay-per-view main event to that point. It was a bad decision all around.

Orton Wins Again (2011)

At WrestleMania 27, Randy Orton defeated CM Punk in a competitive, hard-fought match. During that match, the New Nexus didn't interfere, and Orton overcame a knee injury and caught Punk in midair to pick up the win.

When a Last Man Standing match between the two was booked for Extreme Rules, many figured Punk would find a way to escape Tampa, Florida with a victory.

Many would be incorrect, however, as Orton delivered a stunning RKO from the top rope that put his opponent down for the 10 count.

The match, like Batista vs. Cena a year earlier, was outstanding. The finish was brilliant, and Orton and Punk should be proud of the effort they turned in. Why Orton won, however, remains a major question mark.

Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that Punk had yet to sign a contract extension, and the company was in the process of burying him on the way out. That type of thinking and the manner in which Punk was being used at the time led to his desire to leave, and jobbing him twice to Orton did nothing to help create any goodwill between the two sides.

After Orton won the match at WrestleMania, the feud was essentially over. Logical booking states that there was no need to drag the program out another month just to produce the same outcome. It made no sense and only further devalued Punk until his "pipe bomb" promo reignited his fire and elevated him to Superstardom.

Michael Cole and Jack Swagger vs. Jerry Lawler and Jim Ross (2011)

Credit: WWE.com

The worst match in WrestleMania history is, arguably, Jerry Lawler vs. Michael Cole from WrestleMania 27. Cole, an untrained wrestler, had no business going 13 minutes with Lawler, who should not have been booked to go that long either.

The match was awful, and the crowd in Atlanta let both performers know it via their lack of reaction. For what it was, it should have been a three-minute beatdown and win for Lawler. Instead, it outlived its welcome and will go down in history as being notoriously bad.

So why WWE would decide to run with Lawler and Cole for a second straight pay-per-view was even more perplexing. Worse yet, the company included another non-wrestler in the form of Jim Ross and threw in former world heavyweight champion Jack Swagger for good measure, booking a tag team match for Extreme Rules. To top it all off, the contest was a Country Whipping match.

Cole wearing bubble wrap to the ring was funny and a nice touch given the over-the-top nature of his character, but that was the only positive to come out of the match.

Again, the action was limited, and Cole again came out on top after pinning Ross following a low blow.

Unfortunately, WWE would not learn from its consecutive mistakes. A month later at Over the Limit, Lawler and Cole would again meet, this time in a Kiss My Foot match. This time, Lawler would emerge victorious and thankfully end the ridiculous program once and for all.

Still, the Extreme Rules 2011 match featuring Lawler and Cole is second only to the aforementioned Guerrero vs. Santina match detailed earlier in terms of overall lack of quality.

John Cena Defeats Brock Lesnar (2012)

One of the most controversial outcomes of the last five years came in 2012 when John Cena defeated the returning Brock Lesnar in an Extreme Rules match.

Lesnar spent the entire bout pounding away at the former WWE champion, bloodying him in the process and completely outclassing him. He dominated Cena in a way that even The Rock could not just weeks earlier. Lesnar was the superior athlete throughout and appeared well on his way to victory.

Then he let his arrogance get in the way of what would have been a huge victory, and Cena capitalized for the win.

The fans in Chicago embraced Cena late in the bout, which was incredible to see given their history with the leader of the Cenation. Regardless of the reaction he received, the decision to put Cena over Lesnar was the wrong one to make.

The story behind the encounter played up Lesnar's cockiness, and the finish played off it, but that story was flawed from the beginning. What should have been a monumental victory that played up Lesnar's dominance and led to him tearing through the top Superstars on the roster instead was another excuse to put Cena over a top star.

That is not an indictment against Cena. The face of WWE for the last decade, he works hard and delivers in big matches. But this was one instance where Superman needed to be defeated in order to create the next supervillain. Instead, the story ended the same way nearly every issue of the comic book had in the past: with Superman reigning supreme.

Chris Jericho Defeats Fandango (2013)

Prior to WrestleMania 29 in April of 2013, Fandango made his triumphant debut and was treated like a major star right out of the gate. His first in-ring encounter was slated to occur at the biggest show of the year, a high-pressure situation if there ever was one. His opponent that night would be Chris Jericho, one of the best wrestlers on the planet, which increased the pressure to have a great showing in the character's televised debut.

For the most part, Fandango lived up to his end of the deal. He and Jericho worked a very good match, one of the best of the night. There was noticeable amount of buzz surrounding the ballroom dancer, but in an ominous sign, he never quite moved on from Y2J following his victory. The two continued feuding leading into Extreme Rules a month later, where they met in a rematch.

The match was another solidly wrestled bout, but this time, Jericho caught his opponent with the Codebreaker and scored what was a surprising victory.

Why did WWE spend so much time building to Fandango's debut, give him an elaborate entrance on a weekly basis and an even more impressive one at WrestleMania and book him to beat Jericho in the biggest match that the young performer ever competed in only to have him drop the rematch a month later?

It was counterproductive to everything the company had accomplished in getting him over with the fans. Crowds across the country reacted strongly to the star, and "Fandangoing" became an Internet sensation. In one night, WWE killed his momentum, and shortly thereafter, a concussion took care of the rest of it.

Fandango has not returned to that level of competition since. Instead, he has become nestled safely into the lower midcard, where he is largely a comedy act that is embroiled in a never-ending feud with Santino Marella.