WWE Extreme Rules 2018: Match Card, Latest Rumors, News and Buzz Before PPV

Sunday night's Extreme Rules continues to shape up as one of WWE's bigger events of the year. 

From a quantity standpoint, at least. It's a double-digit card as far as matches go, with the rumor mill struggling to dissect which match headlines the event. 

• Bobby Lashley vs. Roman Reigns
• Jeff Hardy vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (U.S. Championship)
• Finn Balor vs. Baron Corbin
• The Bludgeon Brothers vs. Team Hell No (SmackDown Tag Team Championships)
• AJ Styles vs. Rusev (WWE Championship)
• The Deleters of Worlds vs. The B-Team (Raw Tag Team Championships)
• Kevin Owens vs. Braun Strowman (Steel Cage)
• Dolph Ziggler vs. Seth Rollins (30-minute Ironman, Intercontinental Championship)
• Alexa Bliss vs. Nia Jax (Extreme Rules, Raw Women's Championship)
• Carmella vs. Asuka (James Ellsworth in a Shark Cage, SmackDown Women's Championship)
• Sanity vs. The New Day (Tables)
• Sin Cara vs. Andrade Almas

There isn't an easy answer for the main event, just as there isn't for big details like Daniel Bryan's future with the company and the latest drama surrounding Brock Lesnar. 

As expected, the rumor mill hasn't held back with less than 24 hours to go before the pay-per-view. 

Daniel Bryan's Contract

Bryan will suit up as one half of the revived Team Hell No for a title shot against The Bludgeon Brothers, yet the bigger topic on the mind of some fans might be his contract situation with the company. 

With his contract set to expire September 1, speculation has centered on whether Bryan will take his talents elsewhere, be it in pursuit of a lighter schedule or something else. 

That said, WrestleVotes reported in early July that WWE is so confident in the situation it built a chunk of the WWE 2K19 video game around Bryan.

Now he's opened up about the situation with Sharon Lee of the Business Times: "The wrestling world is an interesting world right now, but I love working with WWE and my wife [Brie Bella] is a part of WWE, and so there's a good chance I'll re-sign."

While Bryan on the independent professional wrestling circuit might prove interesting, he'd leave WWE and impact Brie's television show. With WWE, he might get an easier schedule and his desired say in who he fights and why, things he can earn while holding leverage in negotiations. 

And besides, we have yet to see Bryan's build for SummerSlam—something that could start as early as Sunday night. 

Main Event Drama 

WWE has been more unpredictable with its main events lately, and Sunday night shouldn't be an exception. 

On paper, it looks like there are two to four matches capable of headlining the show and sending fans home with something to remember. 

But to let the rumor mill tell it, there remains plenty of indecision backstage: 

The hesitation seems natural enough. Reigns and Lashley is the match with Lesnar implications ahead of SummerSlam. But at the same time, it hasn't had the best build, Lashley's character seems like a dud and it could fit elsewhere on the card, barring something incredible happening for the sake of the storyline. 

Similar story for Styles and Rusev. The former is probably the best in the business right now and the latter might be the hottest thanks to a catchphrase, but there hasn't been much of a build. Unless we're headed for a title change, this one going on last wouldn't make a lot of sense. 

Besides Rusev, Rollins has to be the hottest guy right now with fans, and deservedly so. His showdown with Ziggler would steal the show from a sheer match standpoint, but that's exactly the excuse the powers in charge of these decisions would use to slap it as the opener. 

Big-Name Return? 

It's close to a pay-per-view, so that means sending watchdogs to local airports and seeing who might show up. 

This time it's...Hulk Hogan? 

As Mike Johnson of PWInsider reported, Hogan showed up at Cleveland Hopkins International with Jimmy Hart. Extreme Rules is in Pittsburgh, so it's close enough to raise some eyebrows. 

Normally this wouldn't seem like such a big deal. But as Johnson notes, he wasn't able to find any scheduled Hogan appearances in the area, and Hogan himself seemed to go out of his way to make it look like he was at home: 

At around the same time, Hogan was in flight: 

Of course, this could be a scheduled tweets mishap. That or Hogan was really, really missing his backyard while on the plane. 

It's hard to see where Hogan would fit as a returning name during Extreme Rules, let alone why this pay-per-view would be the scene of his big return. But it's something to keep in mind as the event gets underway.  

Brock Lesnar Update 

Don't expect to see Lesnar on Sunday. 

According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the idea being floated backstage is to keep Lesnar away from programming and make it seem like he's prioritizing UFC over WWE while holding the Universal Championship hostage. 

If true, it's an interesting workaround for the plausible idea Lesnar only has so many dates left on his WWE contract and the company wants to save those for major events...like SummerSlam. 

Granted, this doesn't 100 percent rule out Lesnar for Sunday night, as an interference in Reigns vs. Lashley could make some sense. But also keep in mind that WWE went out of its way to avoid mentioning Lesnar at all on the latest edition of Monday Night Raw, a stunning thing to do before a pay-per-view considering he holds the company's top title, which seems to double as an admission WWE fans won't be seeing him anytime soon. 

WWE has an interesting storyline angle here after Lesnar popped up at UFC 226 and restarted his career over there. Raw is hurting in the meantime, but Extreme Rules isn't expected to lessen the impact of the situation.