WWE Extreme Rules 2015: Match Card, Potential Spoilers, Predictions and More

In the storm of violence and mayhem that WWE Extreme Rules 2015 promises to be, it will be the heels who emerge from the debris with the right to boast of victory.

A pack of WWE's villains are ready to rise. Sheamus' turn to the dark side has him tearing through the competition. Naomi's heel turn has her poised to be Divas champ for the first time in her career. And Seth Rollins, the company's top heel, will add another memorable bout to his growing resume.

Chicago plays host to a show that should certainly be fun but will be more about chaos than narrative. The build has been minimal for several matches.

Blame the annual WrestleMania hangover from the WWE creative team.

Not making full use of the extreme nature of the pay-per-view doesn't help either. Sheamus and Dolph Ziggler are set for a Kiss Me Arse match where the action will end with an extremely uncomfortable moment. The tag title and Divas Championship matches don't have stipulations at all.  

It's up to a Chicago Street Fight, Russian Chain match and Rollins' first WWE title defense to provide the kind of savagery Extreme Rules is famous for. 

News, Potential Spoilers

What WWE is teasing for its next big main event hints at what to expect at the end of Extreme Rules. A promo has leaked for this year's Payback. It appears to be advertising a Triple Threat between Rollins, Randy Orton and Roman Reigns.

If that's the match WWE is moving toward, it all but assures that Reigns wins against Big Show and moves on to the title picture. It also means that the Orton-Rollins feud won't end inside the steel cage on Sunday.

As for the Tag Team Championship, it was certainly surprising that The New Day beat out The Lucha Dragons for a chance at the belts. After all, Kalisto and Sin Cara are faces, which makes them ideal foes for the heels currently holding the gold.

Some changes may be in order, though. 

F4WOnline reports (h/t Wrestle Zone) that Cesaro and Kidd will work as babyfaces at Extreme Rules, but it's unclear what awaits them afterward. The Chicago fans are likely to treat the champs like fan favorites anyway. 

That is certainly the type of crowd to jump all over a struggling act like The New Day and would prefer to root for the more respected in-ring performers in Kidd and Cesaro.

Chicago is sure to be pulling for Dolph Ziggler. He has long been a favorite of the more diehard fans like those in The Windy City. A recent rant from The Showoff seems to point to some frustration with WWE management and a tease of an exit in the new few months.

Ziggler tweeted this lengthy message:

That makes it even more likely that Ziggler loses on Sunday. As everyone from JTG to Zack Ryder have discovered, airing your grievances online usually leads to getting pounded in the ring.

It's looking more and more like Bryan won't compete at Extreme Rules. WWE announced on its official website that "Bryan is undergoing diagnostic testing to see if he can defend his title at Extreme Rules."

That testing may have already been completed, though. A source told the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t Wrestling Inc) that Bryan is expected to miss five weeks of action. That would have him not only miss Extreme Rules but Payback as well. 

Match Card

• The New Day vs. Cesaro and Tyson Kidd (Tag Team Championship)
• Dean Ambrose vs. Luke Harper (Chicago Street Fight)
• Naomi vs. Nikki Bella (Divas Championship)
• Daniel Bryan vs. Bad News Barrett (Intercontinental Championship)
• John Cena vs. Rusev (Russian Chain, United States Championship)
• Dolph Ziggler vs. Sheamus (Kiss Me Arse)
• Roman Reigns vs. Big Show (Last Man Standing)
• Randy Orton vs. Seth Rollins (RKO is banned, Steel Cage, WWE World Heavyweight Championship)

Bleacher Report's Dan Pecoraro offers his picks for Extreme Rules' biggest matches here:

You will notice that some of those differ from my own thoughts. He is higher on The New Day's chances, for example.

Quick Predictions

• Cesaro and Kidd retain
• Ambrose over Harper
• Naomi over Nikki
• IC title match canceled
• Cena over Rusev
• Sheamus over Ziggler
• Reigns over Big Show
• Rollins over Orton

The New Day Not Ready

Kofi Kingston and company aren't fully heels yet. They are still working on moving into that territory. With their characters still in progress and fans not invested either way, it would be a mistake to give them the belts now.

Look for Cesaro and Kidd to make it out of Chicago with their championships still in hand.

The pre-show match suffers from a lack of build, so don't expect much here. The famously vocal Chicago crowd's treatment of The New Day will be the highlight of the bout.

Ambrose Finally Gets a Win

Not a lot of story to build on here. These guys have been battling in hard-hitting matches as of late but with no added motivation.

Ambrose has been unable to get a win as a singles star on a pay-per-view. That changes on Sunday night. The Lunatic Fringe may not be as high on the WWE totem pole as Rollins and Reigns, but he's certainly above Harper.

Harper lost to Ryback without much resistance and fell to R-Truth on Superstars. That signals that WWE thinks of him as a low midcarder.

Count on him doing the job for Ambrose here, who is likely to head back into the Intercontinental Championship scene.

Credit: WWE.com

Fresh Face Atop Divas Division

Nikki has been Divas champ since November. There isn't much momentum to speak of surrounding her reign.

And while it would make sense to build Naomi up more before having her swipe the belt from Nikki, WWE is likely to rush things along. Naomi is thriving as a heel. She has people talking. She offers new blood for the title picture.

A Naomi reign would create an easy way to bring back Paige when she's done filming Santa's Little Helper. Paige can hunt down the woman who took away her title shot and injured her. If Naomi is champ, that only makes that story more interesting.

Cena Not Done with U.S. Title

The first rule of predicting a wrestling match is to not bet against Cena. He wins and he wins often. Rusev found that out firsthand, suffering his first pinfall loss thanks to Cena.

Count on the company keeping the U.S. title with the squared circle's Superman. He can continue to use his name power to help the championship garner spotlight. He can also keep his entertaining open challenge going.

Credit: WWE.com

That's even more likely with Bryan injured. The IC title may be pushed away from the foreground while Bryan heals. That leaves Cena to pick up the slack in the "elevating midcard title prestige" game.

Sheamus' Wrath Continues

WWE has built up Sheamus to be a destroyer since he returned from injury. He has manhandled his opponents, kicking off an angle where he looks to take down WWE's smaller wrestlers. 

To have him lose here and have to kiss Ziggler's bare butt would make little sense. Why stop his momentum so early? Why go through all the trouble to revamp Sheamus' image only to force his lips on Ziggler's buttocks.

Expect this to be just one of Sheamus' many conquests. He's headed for title contention by steamrolling one underdog at a time.

The World's Largest Stepping Stone

Reigns is headed for the WWE title scene again. The company is clearly behind him, as fans saw leading up to WrestleMania 31.

A feud with Rollins, the man who robbed him of a chance to knock off Brock Lesnar, makes too much sense to pass up. To get there, he has to add trouncing Big Show to his resume.

The Last Man Standing stipulation allows this feud to come to a close and free Reigns to go after Rollins.

Rollins Finds a Way

It's too early to have Rollins lose the title. His reign is just getting started, and WWE likely wants to keep building up the emerging star rather than crown the fully established Orton once more.

The Viper just serves as a high-profile name for Rollins to defeat—much like Big Show with Reigns. 

Credit: WWE.com

How Rollins gets that victory can come a variety of ways. Kane could assist him either by accident or on purpose. J&J Security could assist the champ. Regardless of how it plays out, the safe bet is on Rollins to retain.

He presumably has a date with Reigns in the coming months and one with Lesnar at SummerSlam. Losing to Orton derails those plans.

Extreme Rules will struggle to follow the tremendous WrestleMania that fans just experienced. Several of the wrestlers won't have much in the way of storylines to help them accomplish that, but they will wield chairs, Kendo sticks and broken tables. With these tools in hand, expect WWE's sadist to create a good number of lasting images.