WWE Extreme Rules 2016: Date, Start Time, Matches, Live Stream, PPV Info

The road to championship victory will be paved with chaos at WWE Extreme Rules 2016, but to what extent?

On Sunday, May 22 at 8 p.m. ET, WWE will present its annual celebration of the extreme. A steel cage, chairs and other weaponry promise to play a role in the upcoming pay-per-view. But will Extreme Rules live up to its name?

Chris Jericho vs. Dean Ambrose may end up featuring the likes of a bucket and a potted plant. Baron Corbin and Dolph Ziggler's rematch is set to have no disqualifications, but their feud doesn't have the kind of bad blood associated with such bouts. The battles for the United States, intercontinental and tag team titles don't have any hardcore elements awaiting them.

As WWE heads to the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, it looks as if AJ Styles and Roman Reigns will not only have to close the show but provide the main supply of extreme action.

Live Stream, PPV Info

Before WWE truly gets down to business, it will air its one-hour pre-show beginning at 7 p.m. ET.

Renee Young will host as she and the panel of experts break down the night's biggest bouts. Expect predictions, previews and scripted banter aplenty. In the ring, Dolph Ziggler and Baron Corbin will go at it once more.

The Extreme Rules kickoff will stream for free on the WWE Network as well as WWE.com, the WWE App, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Pinterest and Google+.

As for the PPV itself, Extreme Rules will stream live on the WWE Network (subscription required). Fans can catch all the action via this service on Xbox and PlayStation consoles, Roku and Apple TV. For a full list of compatible devices, visit WWE.com's help section.

Traditional PPV is available for those without high-speed Internet access. Contact your local cable company to see if they are among those still carrying WWE PPVs.

Match Card

• Dolph Ziggler vs. Baron Corbin (No Disqualification)
• Dean Ambrose vs. Chris Jericho (Asylum Match)
• The Miz vs. Cesaro vs. Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn (Intercontinental Championship)
• Kalisto vs. Rusev (United States Championship)
• Charlotte vs. Natalya (Submission Match for Women's Championship)
• The New Day vs. The Vaudevillains (Tag Team Championship)
• Roman Reigns vs. AJ Styles (Extreme Rules Match for WWE World Heavyweight Championship)

Ziggler vs. Corbin

A neglected feud suddenly got tossed onto the card. Corbin attacked Ziggler on the night after WrestleMania; the babyface retaliated soon after. But that was all before Payback.

After Ziggler won the last time out in fluky fashion, we didn't see much of the issues between him and Corbin.

The Showoff and The Lone Wolf will now clash on the pre-show for the second PPV in a row. Expectations will be low here.

This storyline has little juice, and it feels like a foregone conclusion that Corbin with get his revenge win on Sunday. The lack of disqualifications will open this up to some weapon-based fun, but its placement on the show suggests that it will be skippable.

Ambrose vs. Jericho

Part blood feud, part comic relief, the Ambrose vs. Jericho has been a mighty odd matchup.

What began as a fight over whose talk show segment deserved to be on Raw led to Jericho destroying Ambrose's potted plant and The Lunatic Fringe shredding Y2J's light-up jacket. The hokey rivalry will now move into a steel cage.

In the inaugural WWE Asylum match, weapons (from a fire extinguisher to a mop) will hang above an enclosed cage. Escape is not a means to victory as they are in traditional cage matches.

Instead, two enemies will lock horns in a match that could be as violent and savage as anything we have seen in the PG era but could also easily devolve into a silly scene where wrestlers swing household items at each other.

Fatal 4-Way

The safe bet for the night's show-stealer is the IC title clash. Four talented wrestlers will collide with the benefit of a solid narrative foundation.

Zayn and Owens' feud merged with Miz and Cesaro's rivalry. Since then, there has been ample animosity between all four men.

Zayn and Cesaro are seeking their first IC title crown. An Owens victory would begin his third reign. The Miz, meanwhile, may just continue to be this generation's Honky Tonk Man and manage to escape with his gold in hand.

The action promises to be fast-paced. The collective hunger for the IC title has this poised to be one of the show's best contests.

US Title

The Bulgarian Brute is looking to regain both the title and the momentum he lost at WrestleMania 31. Since chasing Kalisto's title, Rusev has looked like his old self—brimming with intensity, a beast on the prowl.

He has tried to intimidate and anger the champion by demolishing his tag team partner, Sin Cara. A lack of interest in Sin Cara has hurt the impact of that part of the story, but there is still some strong enmity to work with here.

This will be one of the harder matches to call. It's just as feasible that Rusev will become another Goliath for Kalisto to conquer as this match leads to Rusev's rejuvenation.

Their chemistry together has been excellent, so the match has a good chance of being one of the PPV's standout clashes.

Women's Championship

This is likely the last chance for Natalya. She has been battling Charlotte for the championship since Roadblock. And now her biggest obstacle to victory is out of the way, as Ric Flair is banned from ringside.

That stipulation and the submission-only element means there will be no excuses should Natalya lose, while Charlotte can't lean on her usual methods of escape.

This certainly feels like the latest warm-up for Charlotte before she starts feuding with Sasha Banks, so there's not a great sense of unpredictability. But each time out, these women have put on a quality show against each other. With more of a focus on mat wrestling here, that is all but guaranteed to happen again.

Tag Team Titles

Enzo Amore's injury at Payback led to The Vaudevillains being the No. 1 contenders for the tag belts. The newcomers have since tried their best to keep with the antics of The New Day, but this is a case of two teams existing on wholly different planes.

The New Day is so red hot that it did a segment involving a cardboard time machine on Monday's Raw and managed to make it work. Simon Gotch and Aiden English, meanwhile, haven't felt like they belong on this prominent of a stage.

They will get a great chance to change that perception when they face the champs. A great showing here will shift the conversation about the challengers. That is, unless WWE decides to make this Extreme Rules' comedy bout, letting the silliness fly.

Styles vs. Reigns II

The most intriguing, most well-crafted feud this year has been Styles vs. Reigns. It has morphed from a simple title match to a faction-versus-faction battle. The Usos have battled alongside Reigns, while Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson have aided Styles.

The Phenomenal One was at first holding back, but as the intensity of this feud has shot up, he has taken to being more aggressive. The steel chair has been symbolic for Styles' moral code. At first, he didn't want to use it against Reigns, but on Monday's Raw, Styles smashed his foe with it, an act that displayed how much his character is changing.

Whether The Club will turn on Styles and whether champion or challenger will go full-blown heel are among the key subplots in a rematch of a thriller at Payback. These two men killed it last time they clashed and will now have the benefit of the absence of rules.

The sequel is poised to be special.