WWE Extreme Rules 2017 Review: Top Highlights and Low Points of Raw PPV
Several weeks ago, it appeared as though Extreme Rules 2017 would shape up to be much different than the end result the WWE Universe received.
Braun Strowman's injury put the kibosh on what appeared to be an Ambulance Match main event against Roman Reigns, changing up plans to become the Fatal 5-Way to determine the No. 1 contender to Brock Lesnar's Universal Championship.
Sadly, that also meant several other matches were grouped together in order for that to happen, which seemed to sacrifice the rest of the card.
Going into this event, skepticism was far from unjustified.
Only six matches were announced—two less than the usual average—with many of them being hard to build anticipation toward.
This would be the third time Neville and Austin Aries would fight for the Cruiserweight Championship on a pay-per-view, so that had been seen and done before. The same goes for The Hardy Boyz fighting Cesaro and Sheamus.
The mixed tag team match was arguably something that many fans would have skipped even on the pre-show, and if WWE could go back in time and not air the "Bayley: This is Your Life" segment from Raw, the other women's match would be better off, too.
Needless to say, this event had an uphill battle, but a lack of potential doesn't mean there can't be some surprises.
With the event now concluded, it's time for us to look back on Extreme Rules 2017 to single out the biggest highlights and low points of the show, presented in order of appearance.
Low Point: Extreme Rules Kickoff
1 of 5
On a regular basis, the pre-shows before pay-per-views aren't worth investing an entire hour watching. Sadly, this was no different.
Admittedly, the match between Kalisto and Apollo Crews wasn't bad and it's a good thing it was included, but 10 minutes over the course of an hour doesn't save it from still being mostly useless to tune in to.
Why weren't Goldust and R-Truth facing each other? Why wasn't there more of an advancement in the storyline with Kurt Angle or who attacked Enzo Amore?
Instead, the panelists just dawdled for 50 minutes and recapped the lackluster feuds we've suffered through for the past few weeks on Raw anyway.
This is far from the worst thing in the world, but it's exactly the reason why the average fan shouldn't bother wasting their time watching anything but the main card, if that.
Highlight: The Miz Wins the Intercontinental Championship
2 of 5
This was hilarious as it subverted expectations, with The Miz winning the title but not by disqualification.
It would have made perfect sense to have Maryse slap The Miz to give him the win, but referee John Cone wasn't having any of that.
Then, a secondary attempt to push Dean Ambrose into the referee started to push the limits and caused a perfect distraction for The Miz to hit the Skull Crushing Finale.
Not only was this a fun way to get around what felt like a predictable outcome, it also means the Intercontinental Championship is in great hands.
The Miz was able to take the title to new heights when he held it on SmackDown, so it's reasonable to assume he'll do the same on Raw.
On the contrary, Ambrose was resting on his laurels and not bringing any attention to the title. He's better off chasing for belts than defending them, so now he's back to playing to his strong suits.
Where WWE goes from here will be interesting as Elias Samson can somehow be factored into the mix and new challengers should arise to face The Miz as well, but at the very least, the way this match was booked was an interesting way for the title to change hands.
Low Point: Mixed Tag Team Match
3 of 5
While it was a decent effort to try to merge these two feuds together, this was exactly the type of match that better fits the pre-show rather than the main card.
Noam Dar and Rich Swann have been feuding long enough that it would be surprising if anybody in the audience at any show over the past month cared in the slightest to see them interact anymore.
That hurts the feud between Sasha Banks and Alicia Fox, which hasn't exactly been stellar storytelling on its own, either.
This was the type of match that never would have made it on to the card if Strowman hadn't been injured and the Fatal 5-Way was able to be split up into individual matches as seemingly was originally planned.
Hopefully this is the end of this feud, as the last thing we need is for Swann and Dar to keep it going on Raw and 205 Live any longer.
Low Point: Kendo Stick on a Pole Match for Raw Women's Championship
4 of 5
Alexa Bliss and Bayley seems like one of the easiest feuds to pull off, with the writing team going on cruise control and letting both women take care of it themselves.
It really writes itself, as Bliss is a mean and nasty woman who would easily pick on someone who is bubbly and childish like Bayley.
However, this feud has been a struggle to say the least, and things don't seem to get much better as time goes on.
The "Bayley: This is Your Life" segment was atrocious and this match was supposed to make up for it but ended up doing nobody justice.
For the most part, this was a squash. That is good for fans of Bliss, but Bayley supporters will probably think she's being buried.
Also, any object-on-a pole match is typically awkward, as retrieving the object doesn't end the match, nor does it make any sense why the wrestlers don't just use other weapons since it's a No Disqualification scenario.
This match never should have been given this stipulation, and the build to it needed to be much better, so this feud as a whole just appears to be a complete misstep.
Highlight: Fatal 5-Way No. 1 Contender's Match
5 of 5
Leading up to the Fatal 5-Way, the Raw Tag Team Championship and Cruiserweight Championship matches weren't good enough, or bad enough, to truly call highlights or low points.
Instead, they were in the middle of the road with nothing too memorable for positives and negatives, meaning the main event needed to wow in some fashion to make up for the lull.
Thankfully, there were enough spots to make this feel closer to the Extreme Rules name, even though it won't go down as a particularly memorable hardcore extravaganza.
If you look at this as being the reason we didn't have three separate matches on the card, it is a bad thing, as it wasn't good enough to make up for everything that came before it.
However, inside the bubble of this specific event, this was one of the better segments of the night.
Samoa Joe pulling out the victory may be something we look at in retrospect as a major mistake, as he could be jobbing out to Brock Lesnar at Great Balls of Fire for no reason other than to make The Beast Incarnate look good.
Still, until that happens, we should relish the idea that we could be getting a great match between the two and that this is the first major match Joe has won, helping solidify him as a true main event caliber talent on the Raw brand.
What do you think were the highlights and low points of the night? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below.
Anthony Mango is the owner of the wrestling website Smark Out Moment and the host of the podcast show Smack Talk on YouTube, iTunes and Stitcher. You can follow him on Facebook and elsewhere for more.
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