WWE Extreme Rules 2019: Brock Lesnar Has Perfect MITB Cash-in and More Hot Takes

A masterfully executed Money in the Bank cash-in, breakthrough performance, and misguided handicap match are just a few of the most significant takeaways from Sunday's WWE Extreme Rules pay-per-view spectacular.

The show, headlined by Brock Lesnar's latest universal title victory, was a triumphant one for a much-maligned WWE product. Providing entertaining matches, hardcore action in a city that eats it up and solid booking from start to finish, it was a banner event for Vince McMahon's company.

Dive deeper into these hot takes and find out why the key events of the WWE Network broadcast inspired reaction and how they may affect the company going forward. 

Brock Lesnar Wins Universal Championship in Perfect Cash-in

Paul Heyman knows Brock Lesnar and Lesnar trusts Heyman.

It should be of no surprise, then, that Lesnar captured the universal championship one night before Heyman is turned loose as the Executive Director of WWE Raw. And while the idea of Lesnar holding the top prize in wrestling is less-than-thrilling, his latest coronation was handled perfectly by the oftentimes maligned WWE Creative.

Lesnar is a lazy, entitled megastar who has repeatedly done as little as possible and still reaped the rewards. It is a character that has been established dating back to his return to WWE in 2012 so it makes absolute sense that he would crash the Money in the Bank match in June and win the briefcase, then pick an opportune time to cash-in and regain his universal title.

He did just that Sunday night, capitalizing on an emotionally spent Rollins, reintroducing him to Suplex City and dropping him with the F-5 to win the title. His win was uncontested. As he has done so many times in the past, he did little work and was rewarded with the top prize in the industry.

Not only was the cash-in true to Lesnar's character and set up a scenario in which Heyman will have the reigns to push him in a manner that eclipses the creatively devoid reigns of the past, it has the potential to drive other storylines.

Prior to Extreme Rules, Becky Lynch was adamant that she would not be the reason Rollins lost his title. Though she was not pinned or made to submit by Lacey Evans, she was still indirectly the cause for his defeat.

Late in Sunday's mixed tag team main event, she endured End of Days from the heinous Baron Corbin. That jaw-dropping incident caused Rollins to expend all of his emotional energy obliterating Corbin and essentially left him defenseless in the face of Lesnar's arrival. 

What might the fallout be? Will it affect the high-school romance of Rollins and Lynch? Did WWE Creatively even mean to book such a potentially layered story?

Probably not, but it still helped with the overall presentation of Lesnar's five-star cash-in.

And if you still don't like or agree with the outcome, you can't say Heyman didn't warn you it was coming.

The Very Best Bobby Lashley Yet

You can say what you will about Bobby Lashley as an in-ring performer. He is not the flashiest, rarely evokes any sort of excitement from fans and will never be the dynamic talker but Sunday night, in the Last Man Standing match against Braun Strowman, we saw flashes of a Lashley that is world title worthy.

The All Mighty was ruthlessly aggressive, showing no fear in the face of an onslaught from StroIwman early. From there, the capitalized on a previously established injury suffered by The Monster Among Men and dominated the action.

When the time came, he bumped around for Strowman, throwing his own body around with reckless abandon. Late in the bout, as the fight spilled back into the stands, he showed the raw athleticism that made him such a hot commodity at two different points in his career.

Though Strowman had his arm raised in victory, it was one of those rare occasions in which the loser gained as much–if not more–than his opponent.

There is no telling what the immediate future holds for Lashley but if his performance Sunday night is any indicator, he has momentum on his side and certainly would not look out of place challenging for a WWE or universal title.

There was, at one point, a time when Lashley vs. Lesnar was a dream match. Maybe that dream should become a reality as soon as SummerSlam.

A Meaningless Handicap Match

One of the most intriguing stories on WWE television has been Alexa Bliss' not-so-subtle manipulation of Nikki Cross as Little Miss Bliss chases Bayley and the SmackDown women's title. On a night in which WWE Creative produced a strong show with few flaws, one of the most prominent missteps was the lack of resolution to said story in the 2-on-1 handicap match.

Bliss and Cross dominated the action, had Bayley where they wanted her, but the champion fought through the disadvantage and retained her title. That is perfectly fine and, probably, the right outcome. The issue is not with that but, rather, the lack of fallout afterward.

Instead of showing her true colors and blaming Cross for the defeat, Bliss held her in her arms, comforting her "friend" while staring down the champion.

Yes, there will be proponents of lengthy storytelling that suggest we let it play out and see where it goes from here. After eight-to-ten weeks of storytelling, though, there should be some sort of payoff rather than the demand that fans stay patient and tuned-in.

At some point, WWE Creative must rip off the band-aid, show off Bliss' selfishness and set her on course for a showdown with Cross. It could come as soon as Monday's Raw but pay-per-views should always be the setting of a story's payoff. They are the shows WWE works to and using them as yet another chapter so that a lengthy angle can be paid off on free television is backward booking.

Worst of all? It renders the handicap match from Sunday's extravaganza obsolete. 

Intergender Spot Earns Baron Corbin Even Greater Heat

Intergender wrestling is a hot topic within the industry for obvious reasons. Fans and wrestlers alike have their reasons for wanting to see it infiltrate WWE programming or not but in the wake of the Extreme Rules main event, there is no denying one thing: Baron Corbin dropping Becky Lynch with End of Days was key to the overall execution of the match finish and everything that followed.

Furthermore, it buys Corbin tremendous heat that even losing the match in the manner he did will benefit The Lone Wolf exponentially going forward.

He was already the most over heel on Raw thanks to his smarminess and arrogance. Fans genuinely hated him before he laid his hands on a woman, no matter how tough she is, and dropped her face-first with his devastating finisher. It was a heinous act that left even the hardcore Philly audience in shock of what they had just witnessed.

It also gives Corbin yet another moment to build heat off of.

He still brings up retiring Kurt Angle at WrestleMania, to relatively great effect, and is just the type of villain to brag about delivering his finisher to a woman. We may never see the footage on television but the mere mention of it will generate the type of jeers for Corbin that will ensure he remains a valuable asset to the Raw brand, even if he lost two straight pay-per-view main events.