Extreme Rules 2014: Champions Who Will Continue Their Reign
At WWE's Extreme Rules event next month, look for several of the company's champions to retain their belts and continue their reigns heading into the summer.
WWE champion Daniel Bryan will be clashing with former Team Hell No tag partner Kane at the Izod Center. (Man, where is Dr. Shelby to bring these two together when you need him?)
Despite Kane’s brutal beatdown of him on Monday, Bryan will almost certainly be retaining.
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First of all, he only just won the belt at WrestleMania XXX and it's far too soon to take it off him. (And imagined how irate and betrayed his legion of devoted fans would feel?)
Besides, Kane simply isn't the guy to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship right now—or at any point, in fact.
His corporate character is fine, but certainly not anything special. His in-ring skills are still fairly average. Everything about “The Big Red Machine” screams “midcarder” these days. Even the return of the mask hasn’t revitalised or revived his act.
As a challenger he seems like a disappointment, so how miserably would he do as champion?
Similar to Bryan, WWE will likely decide it's too early to stripe newcomer Paige of her Divas Championship when she takes on second-generation star Tamina Snuka at the event.
British-born Paige, who won the belt from AJ Lee two weeks ago in one of the biggest upsets of the year so far, appears to have more potential than any woman WWE has introduced to its roster in quite some time.
She's good-looking, charismatic and, similar to early ‘00s wrestling star Amy “Lita” Dumas, has a unique and appealing personality.
She's also a very solid, well-rounded and experienced wrestler—no minor thing considering WWE tends to bring in models and actresses from outside the industry. It’s almost astounding how superior in the ring she is compared to the likes of Aksana or Rosa Mendes.
Booked correctly, she could be the next breakthrough Diva.
Certainly, scripting her to drop the belt to Snuka would be a colossal mistake. The 21-year-old is on a roll right now. Why risk that for a shock title win?
Big E can probably be counted on to retain his intercontinental title too.
(He’ll take on either Bad News Barrett or Rob Van Dam in East Rutherford, depending on who wins the No. 1 contendership bout on this week’s edition of Raw.)
Sure, he's had a middling and unremarkable run as champion so far, but it's difficult to see WWE bookers simply giving up on him. He is still one of its most promising new stars, even if the company can't quite find the right role for him just yet.
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