WWE Misses the Mark with Sheamus-Dolph Ziggler Match Stipulation

(Note: The following article contains spoilers for Thursday's SmackDown.)

On the most extreme night of the WWE calendar, officials have decided that Sheamus and Dolph Ziggler will venture into silly territory rather than live up to the upcoming pay-per-view's name. 

Extreme Rules offers WWE a chance to showcase one of its best brawlers. This could have been The Celtic Warrior's opportunity accentuate his shift into villainy with a mayhem-filled match. It could have portrayed Ziggler as a master of ladders or a man far tougher than we give him credit for.

Instead, Ziggler vs. Sheamus will reportedly be a Kiss My Arse match.

Word coming out of Tuesday's taping of SmackDown is that Sheamus called out The Showoff and named the stipulation for their meeting. ProWrestling.net reported that "Sheamus told Dolph Ziggler at the WWE Smackdown TV taping that he would face him in a 'Kiss Me Arse' match at the Extreme Rules pay-per-view."

That is one of those sentences you have to read more than once because you assume you misread it. 

If this wasn't just Sheamus joking around, the move is a head-scratcher. No one was expecting a Clockwork Orange House of Fun match, but to go the butt-kissing route is a mistake. It turns a potentially compelling match into a standard one with a goofy moment assured at the end of it.

Credit: WWE.com

For those unfamiliar with the rules of this kind of bout, the loser has to kiss the winner's rear end.

The Rock took on Billy Gunn in a contest just like this at SummerSlam 1999. Jerry Lawler battled Bret Hart in a variant of the match (the loser kissed the winner's foot instead) at the King of the Ring pay-per-view in 1995.

Those two clashes are perfect examples of why Ziggler and Sheamus got shafted here.

Neither of them were anything special. Gunn vs. The Rock revolved around an unattractive woman at ringside who Gunn promised would do the kissing if he lost. This was one of the most ridiculous things The Rock was ever a part of as a WWE star.

Credit: WWE.com

Lawler and Hart had a great feud. This was about as anticlimactic as an ending to that rivalry as WWE could come up with.

This stipulation adds little to a match. Sure, there is some extra suspense, as victory has an added bonus (if a guy putting his lips on your butt is a prize), but it doesn't add highlights to the match itself. There are no dives through tables or Singapore canes cracking on a man's back. There is simply wrestling followed by kissing. 

Sheamus and Ziggler's story doesn't even fit with this humiliation angle. Their feud just got started. It's a bit early to start bringing rump-kissing into the mix.

Why not opt for a Falls Count Anywhere match or a 2-out-of-3 Falls bout?

The former would have been fitting for a bruiser like Sheamus. He's a guy who loves to fight. Giving him a stipulation that most resembles a back-alley brawl is a no-brainer.

Credit: WWE.com

The latter option would have had Ziggler vs. Sheamus be a strong candidate for Extreme Rules' show-stealer.

Out of all the possible match varieties WWE had to choose from, it picked one of the least appealing. This is one of those stipulations that are rarely seen, not because they are too dangerous, but because they are so stupid. 

Rusev and John Cena will be whipping each other with chains. Randy Orton and Seth Rollins will collide inside a steel cage. There will be no rattling steel or splintered wood for The Celtic Warrior and The Show-Off. Instead, one of them will be pulling down his trunks for the other's lips.

Sheamus and Ziggler have to wonder who they angered to draw that assignment.