Dean Ambrose and Luke Harper Will Steal the Show at WWE Extreme Rules

WWE started their post-WrestleMania programming lull early this year with a distinctly lackluster buildup to the Extreme Rules pay-per-view event this Sunday.

However, there are several matches on the PPV card that could deliver more than their build suggests. Dean Ambrose vs. Luke Harper is one of the bouts with the potential to steal the show.

With the Lunatic Fringe seeking revenge after taking a brutal powerbomb through a ladder at WrestleMania, the two men will battle in a Chicago Street Fight. There will be no disqualifications, no count-outs and very little in the way of rules.

Ambrose and Harper are two of the WWE performers most at home in the realm of brutal stipulations. During their time as Jon Moxley and Brodie Lee in CZW, they had a series of exceedingly violent battles.

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The PG landscape of WWE will not allow for barbed wire and light tubes, but Ambrose and Harper can be relied upon to make the most of the level of brutality on offer. Harper shone in a heart-stopping ladder match with Dolph Ziggler last year, and Ambrose became a gimmick-match machine during his rivalry with Bray Wyatt at the tail end of 2014.

During his war with Ziggler, Harper showed his disregard for his own safety. On multiple occasions, he simply launched himself at his opponent, landing painfully on the mass of metal littering the outside area. In defiance of the PG Era, both men bled as they repeatedly hammered each other with steel.

If Harper brings that level of violence and personal disregard to Sunday's bout, Ambrose will have to unleash his own dark side to stand a chance.

Ambrose has shown that dark side on multiple occasions, battling his former Shield stablemate Seth Rollins and against Wyatt, where he competed in everything from a TLC match to the first ever Ambulance match on Monday Night Raw.

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In a hardcore environment, the unpredictability of Ambrose's Lunatic Fringe gimmick means he is capable of just about anything. Against Wyatt, he leapt from ladders and drove his opponent through tables. When he squared off against Rollins inside Hell in a Cell, both men took a hideous bump through the announcers' tables.

Harper can bring the brutality, but there's no doubt that Ambrose has an answer for it.

There is incredible symmetry between Harper and Ambrose. Both men have suffered from the breakup of stables. Ambrose's star has fallen in the wake of the Shield's split, while Harper has played second fiddle to his former father figure following the separation of the Wyatt Family. They each have plenty to prove.

The two men also share inventive, unorthodox methods of offense. Harper marries the power of the great in-ring big men with surprising agility while Ambrose is simply impossible to predict between the ropes. Add weaponry into that equation and you have the recipe for a match that could provide a great showcase for two underutilised Superstars.

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Their match sticks out in the midst of an unimpressive card.

Randy Orton and Seth Rollins will be hampered by overbooked stipulations, Ziggler and Sheamus have a silly post-match wager between them and a classic bout and Rusev vs. John Cena is a rivalry that already feels well past its sell-by date.

Harper and Ambrose both deserve to be thrown a bone by WWE Creative and will be looking to prove themselves at Extreme Rules. They will put their bodies and minds on the line to put on a violent show for the WWE Universe.

Tables will splinter and steel chairs will bend as Harper and Ambrose brawl their way to a show-stealing display.