WWE Extreme Rules 2017 Results: Ranking Every Match at Raw PPV
WWE Extreme Rules 2017 is not a show that will go down in the annals of Vince McMahon's professional wrestling promotion as one of the better in-ring presentations it has ever produced, but the Superstars of Raw still came together to deliver quality work between the ropes.
Things got started on the right foot with an athletic display from Apollo Crews and Kalisto and improved exponentially moments later with a superb match between Dean Ambrose and The Miz.
From there, things were up and down from a quality standpoint, some matches hitting while others failed to captivate the audience.
By night's end, the WWE Universe was wowed by a Fatal 5-Way main event that put on display the elite performers the Raw brand has to offer.
A lackluster show that did nothing really to evolve any of the stories that have made up the last month of television, it at least delivered (to some extent) from an in-ring perspective.
Relive the WWE Network presentation with this look at all seven of the night's matches, where they ranked— from worst to best—and why.
7. Bayley vs. Alexa Bliss
1 of 7
The Kendo Stick on a Pole match should have seen Bayley's frustration and humiliation at the hands of Raw women's champion Alexa Bliss culminate in the NXT export pummeling Little Miss Bliss with the weapon. Instead, she was hesitant to use the weapon and paid dearly for it.
Bliss unloaded on Bayley with the kendo stick en route to successfully retaining her title courtesy of a nasty DDT.
The match was a squash in which Bayley was never once treated like an equal to her opponent. She was beaten down, shamed and essentially buried in some of the harshest booking for a prominent star in recent memory.
A major disappointment, the contest failed to live up to the story that accompanied it. It was one-sided and threatened Bayley's credibility. At a time when WWE Creative has done a poor job of building up any contenders other than the once-beloved babyface, sacrificing her in the manner in which management did Sunday night was not only detrimental to the performer but to the division as a whole.
6. Kalisto vs. Apollo Crews
2 of 7
The Extreme Rules Kickoff Show featured Apollo Crews' squaring off with Kalisto in a match dictated by recent booking also involving Titus O'Neil.
Crews, under the guidance of the former Florida Gator, was able to showcase some of the speed and agility that his main roster performances have lacked. He never appeared to be overwhelmed by the speed of his opponent.
Kalisto was his typical explosive, energetic self. Even as he fought from underneath late in the match, he had an in-ring charisma about him that elevated the match from the standard Raw fare to something just slightly better.
The timing was a little disjointed, with Kalisto visibly waiting for Crews to get into position, but that was not enough to hurt the overall quality.
The finish—which saw Kalisto use O'Neil as a platform and deliver Salida del Sol for the pinfall victory—was clever and furthers The Titus Brand storyline WWE Creative appears intent on continuing.
All things considered, it was an entertaining romp that was likely forgotten early in the main broadcast.
5. Rich Swann and Sasha Banks vs. Noam Dar and Alicia Fox
3 of 7
The Mixed Tag Team match Sunday night featured two stories intertwining to create a brief but fun ride for fans.
Rich Swann had been feuding with Noam Dar and Alicia Fox for months. The former cruiserweight champion was fighting for the honor of friend Cedric Alexander while Banks had gotten on Fox's bad side over the last month.
Swann and The Boss came together to form an energetic team that proved too effective for Fox and Dar.
Swann paired off with Dar while Banks and Fox unloaded on each other early. As the action progressed, Banks scaled the ropes and delivered a huge diving double knee to Dar, setting the Scot up for the Phoenix Splash from Swann, which secured the babyfaces the win.
The match was nothing special, but it was a suitable way to blow off the rivalry and thus accomplished what it set out to. The energy all four Superstars brought to the proceedings helped elevate it from a run-of-the-mill tag team match to a fun bout that entertained the red-hot Baltimore fans and spotlighted their hometown hero, Swann.
4. Austin Aries vs. Neville
4 of 7
The Submission match for the Cruiserweight Championship was more one-sided than most may have realized in the moment.
Yes, Aries rallied late and even forced a tapout from Neville on the arena floor, but the contest was largely dominated by The King of Cruiserweights. A Red Arrow and The Rings of Saturn put an exclamation point on a showcase for Neville, who suddenly finds himself without an obvious No. 1 contender with Aries out of the way.
The contest was fine but detrimental to Aries in the long run.
He was outmatched, overwhelmed and never felt like he had a chance of actually beating his opponent. That is quite the change from their WrestleMania bout, in which he was moments away from dethroning The King on numerous occasions.
If anything, the inability to convince fans Aries had a legitimate shot at victory was the biggest detriment to the bout's overall quality.
3. The Hardy Boyz vs. Sheamus and Cesaro
5 of 7
If you have ever seen a Hardy Boyz steel cage match, odds are you knew exactly what to expect from Sunday's Raw Tag Team Championship defense against Sheamus and Cesaro.
Following a formula the brothers have used on two other high-profile occasions, Jeff found himself on the outside of the cage, watching as his opponents worked Matt over on the inside. Forced to make a controversial decision that would ultimately come back to bite him, Jeff scaled the cage and delivered Whisper in the Wind, re-entering him in the match.
Cesaro and Sheamus took advantage, exiting the cage over the top while Matt had to drag the limp body of his daredevil brother toward the door. The champions were beaten out by inches, their titles taken from them by a Celtic Warrior and Swiss Superman whose strategy paid off.
The late drama helped elevate the match significantly.
What started slowly and somewhat messily picked up and culminated with an incredible sequence featuring Jeff's high spot and the creative finish.
2. Dean Ambrose vs. The Miz
6 of 7
On any other night, Dean Ambrose and The Miz probably would have ranked No. 1 on this list. A brilliant wrestling match with superb in-ring psychology, crowd manipulation, creative sequencing and clever cheating on the part of the heel, it was a tough act to follow as it kicked off the night's festivities.
Miz was at his slimy best, repeatedly devising ways to get Ambrose disqualified so he could hang onto the title. It was clever booking and showed the depths to which the Hollywood A-lister would sink, including letting his own wife slap him, to win his seventh IC title.
Ambrose was the resilient good guy, overcoming all of his opponent's nonsense and begging referee John Cone to see through the heel's cheating.
After three or four attempts at getting Ambrose DQed late in the match, Miz benefited most from the distraction of referee Cone and his own wife Maryse, delivering the Skull-Crushing Finale and pinning Ambrose to slither away with the title.
The pacing was spot-on. The character work was beautiful and the finish not only helped Miz get over as an even more insufferable bad guy, but it also created sympathy for Ambrose, who was only beaten after having everything but the kitchen sink thrown at him.
This was a really strong wrestling match between two guys who could work seven months in a row and not have a bad match together.
1. Fatal 5-Way No. 1 Contender's Match
7 of 7
There was nothing inherently extreme about Sunday's Extreme Rules pay-per-view prior to the night's main event. The Fatal 5-Way match featured five of the best professional wrestlers on the planet delivering a wild, chaotic and unpredictable bout that kept fans guessing as to which Superstar would leave with a guaranteed title opportunity against Brock Lesnar on July 9.
The temporary alliance forged by Samoa Joe and Bray Wyatt was a nice piece of booking that played to their love-hate relationship in recent weeks. The two behemoths pummeled and punished the competition before ego got the best of them.
Seth Rollins, arguably the least interesting character involved, shone in a big way. Whether he was at the center of the action in the ring or throwing caution to the wind with a frog splash from the top rope, onto Bray Wyatt and through the Spanish announce table, he was determined to make sure fans were talking about him even if he did not win.
Late, the bout became The Roman Reigns Show.
The Big Dog sparred with every one of his opponents, including taking big bumps for Finn Balor. The closing sequence, which saw Balor moments away from victory only to have Joe apply the Coquina Clutch and choke him out, was good stuff and set up a potential Joe-Balor rivalry post-Great Balls of Fire.
An Attitude Era-style brawl of a main event, the match brought the unpredictability and fun to the show it had been missing in the two hours that preceded it.
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