WWE Extreme Rules 2020: Lack of Star Power Cripples Fan Excitement, Anticipation

WWE limps into Sunday's The Horror Show at Extreme Rules battered by subpar television ratings and general apathy for the product that will not improve any with the decided lack of star power on pay-per-view card.

While the lineup touts the likes of Bray Wyatt, Braun Strowman and Drew McIntyre, it is as notable for those who are not a part of the broadcast despite considerable television time devoted to them since the Backlash extravaganza in June.

The questionable decision to exclude certain stars only adds to a noticeable lack of excitement and anticipation for the event.

Match Card

• Wyatt Swamp Fight: Braun Strowman vs. Bray Wyatt
• WWE Championship match: Drew McIntyre vs. Dolph Ziggler
• Eye for an Eye match: Rey Mysterio vs. Seth Rollins
• SmackDown Women's Championship match: Nikki Cross vs. Bayley
• Raw Women's Championship match: Asuka vs. Sasha Banks
• Tables match for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship: The New Day vs. Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura
• United States Championship match: Apollo Crews vs. MVP

Who's Missing?

Randy Orton has spent 2020 enjoying a career renaissance. From an unforgettable heel turn that ignited an intensely personal feud with Edge to weekly excellence on Raw as the master of the little things that make characters that much more compelling, he has earned consideration for Wrestler of the Year in WWE.

Despite a fairly high-profile feud with fellow future Hall of Famer The Big Show, Orton has been left off the Extreme Rules card. The blow-off to the program with the giant will instead take place on a throwaway episode of Raw that will likely struggle to find an audience in the same way every broadcast this summer has.

Why waste a marquee match that could have bolstered the event and gave fans familiar with those two a reason to invest in it beyond the hope of popping a one-time TV number?

AJ Styles is another star, one that has been at or near the top of the card since signing with WWE in 2016, whose value is being wasted in the hopes of generating a television audience.

The Phenomenal One defended his Intercontinental Championship against Matt Riddle on SmackDown on Friday in a match that, like Big Show vs. Orton, would have been better served on a pay-per-view card.

Considering how valuable both are to their shows as lead heels, it is almost unfathomable that they would be tossed aside in favor of title matches we have already seen play out on free television or CGI-heavy gimmick bouts that are likely to be cringeworthy for all the wrong reasons.

Then there is former universal champion Kevin Owens, who returned to action in recent weeks and even rekindled his rivalry with Seth Rollins. Yet with a little more than 24 hours until WWE presents its unironic Horror Show, he is not anywhere to be found on the card.

Can The Horror Show Succeed Anyway?

It could.

The talent level in WWE at this point is as high-quality as it has ever been, so it is never a surprise when the in-ring content of any company-produced show exceeds expectations. 

But the ring work of any show is only part of the equation.

The other? The emotion the audience gets watching the show, and that is where Extreme Rules is almost certain to disappoint.

Other than Wyatt vs. Strowman and maybe Rollins vs. Rey Mysterio, both cinematic matches with ample time for the company to edit them into whatever finished product it desires, it is hard to imagine any other match on the card generating the type of sentiment that elevates the show beyond any other B- or C-level PPV the company has produced this year.

Had WWE made the conscious effort to book Orton, Show or Styles for the event, it may have succeeded in creating more excitement and anticipation than it has been able to manifest this summer.