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EXTREME RULES-2009
ONE NIGHT STAND-2007

EVENT:
WWE'S EXTREME RULES 200
9
PPV Predictions/Review by:
Larry "Bocepheus" Evans
Airdate:
S
unday June 7th, 2009
Location:
New Orleans Arena,
New Orleans, La
"...the show is called Extreme Rules and could be an interesting show but will not in any way, shape or form remind you of what ECW stood for."
"Remember if you haven't seen this Pay Per View then this review is jam pack full of SPOILERS! I don't want to hear any howling or gnashing of teeth, you have been warned!
 Proceed at your own risk."

This PPV used to be called One Night Stand, a show that was supposed to have reminded fans of watching what ECW actually was instead on what is run on Tuesday night has a new name. The initial One Night Stand was a show booked from start to finish by the mad scientist known as Paul Heyman as an ECW reunion show. The wrestlers who worked the show said it was the most fun they had in years because Heyman let them do what they wanted without restrictions. One Night Stand became an annual event after the success of the first show but the shows that followed weren’t as good as the first one. Now the show is called Extreme Rules and could be an interesting show but will not in any way, shape or form remind you of what ECW stood for.

EDITOR'S NOTE:
The "Bo's Prediction" part of the review below was posted on Saturday afternoon (060609).

FATAL FOUR WAY MATCH:

Kofi Kingston (c) vs. MVP vs. William Regal vs. Matt Hardy
BO'S PREDICTION:
I don’t have any idea where the extreme part of this match is unless they make an announcement before the match starts. The Kingston/MVP match on Monday was pretty good so I would have been happy with just the two of them going at it but the added participants can work so the match should be sound. Regal and Hardy have been working together so they will likely help each other at the start before turning on each other later. I liked the idea of two faces going at each other Monday and if booked right (knowing the Raw writers they would screw it up) a Kingston/MVP feud could work well into the summer. Hardy could get the belt since he is working with the broken hand though and Vince likes that kind of dedication. The problem with that is that it makes the good match Monday worthless so I think that MVP gets the belt back and continues the program with Kingston.
BO'S REVIEW: 

The show opener was a bit sloppy and it seemed like everyone’s timing was a bit off. It looked as if the four weren’t given a lot of time to work out the match in the ring. There were some good spots during the match and Kingston retained his title by hitting Regal with a semi-botched Trouble in Paradise. There wasn’t anything extreme about this match at all. This was followed by Josh Matthews interviewing Big Show outside the bus that he travels from show to show with since he has a hard time on planes and in hotel rooms. Show says he is going to win the match and tells Josh to get away from his bus.

NO HOLDS BARRED MATCH:

Rey Mysterio (c) vs. Chris Jericho
BO'S PREDICTION:
As was the case with his feud with Shawn Michaels Jericho is booking this program with little help from the booking staff. On the European tour he accidentally unmasked Rey and it went over well with the fans so the ultimate goal to this program is to unmask him for the first time in the WWE. This is supposed to be a long program so that will not happen here but this may be the best match on the card. If the two are given time then we should see a certain level of restrained brutality and a match that could end up traveling all around the building. Either man could win here but at some point we will see part of Rey’s mask come off but we will not see his face just yet.
BO'S REVIEW: 

Jericho started the match at a concessions stand in the arena telling fans that since you could buy Mysterio masks there Rey was a hypocrite. He worked his way down the arena and told fans to not touch him even though most never came close. It was the perfect way to make you boo him and set up the match well. The match was filled with athletic move after athletic move including Rey jumping over the ring steps then kicking them into Jericho, a 619 from the top of a ring post and Rey getting thrown from the ring. We also saw the return of the RVD kicking a chair into someone and a very clever finish. As Rey tried to hit Jericho with a 619 Jericho grabbed his mask and took it off. Rey tried to hide his face and was pinned so he lost the match, the mask and the belt. We did not see Rey’s face but Jericho stood there smirking with the IC belt (making him a 9-time champ) and the mask. He smirked all the way to the back. This was a well done match that got the crowd back into the show after the flat opener. Batista was interviewed backstage afterwards and threatened Orton.

SAMOAN STRAP MATCH:

CM Punk vs. Umaga
BO'S PREDICTION:
For the record I have never seen a Samoan strap match in all my years of watching wrestling and there isn’t a difference between a Samoan strap match and any other strap match. The rules of the match are simple-beat the hell out of your opponent with the strap. Punk is the man with the magic briefcase so I would expect him to go over here. Umaga also has more flesh to flay with the leather strap so he can take the most punishment since Punk is on the slim side. If the match has the added stipulation of having to drag your opponent from turnbuckle to turnbuckle Punk will have a hard time dragging the much larger Umaga from post to post but I expect him to go over here since he didn’t at the last PPV.
BO'S REVIEW: 

The stipulation of having to touch all four turnbuckles was added to the match and they even introduced a new graphic to show which were touched and who touched them. This didn’t add anything to the match, however, because it was just okay. Every move you have ever seen in a strap match was used here and Punk won after he hit Umaga with the GTS and stretched out to hit the last turnbuckle. The one thing this match showed is that Punk is super over with the audience.

TRIPLE THREAT HARDCORE RULES MATCH:

Christian (c) vs. Jack Swagger vs. Tommy Dreamer
BO'S PREDICTION:
The most interesting part of this match isn’t the match itself but the fact that Dreamer’s contract is about to expire. If he decides to stay then he has a legit shot at winning the ECW title and holding it for at least a month as a reward for staying. Months back he did come out and say that if he didn’t win the title he would retire but the geniuses on the booking staff forgot about it the moment the words got out of his mouth. Despite Vince not considering him a main event player Christian has been a major success upon his WWE return and he has brought out the best in Swagger. This may be booked as an old style ECW match with everything and the kitchen sink being part of it. If that is the case then we will see the return of blood since that was part of what extreme was along with great booking. In the spirit of good booking I would have Tommy win then announce his retirement on Tuesday’s ECW and get named the ECW GM so he can return Tiffany to her status as eye candy. If that isn’t going to happen you have two options-Christian wins and gives Tommy a proper send off or Swagger wins and you name Tommy GM to make Jack’s life miserable.
BO'S REVIEW: 

The match was set up with a backstage interview with Christian that had him say that Dreamer was his friend but he was going to keep the belt. Dreamer then came in to say that he was going to win the belt. Swagger walked thru and tried to get into the conversation but both left him standing there. It was a cool way to set things up and showed that Swagger is a pretty big guy compared to the other two. It was mentioned in commentary that Dreamer’s contract actually expired on Saturday but GM Tiffany gave him a one day extension. I was hoping to see the New Jack shopping cart of doom brought out by Dreamer but that didn’t happen. There were some good spots here and a liberal usage of weapons including garbage cans, a Singapore cane and a crutch. Dreamer won here with a sick looking DDT on Swagger and is now the ECW champion. He celebrated inside and outside the ring. We didn’t see any blood here so the anti-blood policy is still ongoing.

HOG PEN MATCH:

Miss WrestleMania Vickie Guerrero vs. Santina Marella
BO'S PREDICTION:
The last hog pen matches I remember were when the then WWF had the Godwinn brothers on the roster and one of the most well known hog pen matches was between Henry Godwinn and a skinny guy named Hunter Hearst Helmsley. It was most notable for one if the participants (HHH, as I semi remember) getting a cut on his back that almost got seriously infected. The nature of the match isn’t extreme but comedic and with the participants involved it will be more so. Vickie will probably win here with help from Chavo but will be covered with slop anyway since there is no way not to be in the match.
BO'S REVIEW: 

Jerry Lawler set up the match inside the new and improved hog pen. The hogs were in a separate part of it and the floor was mud. There were slop buckets inside. Vickie dragged Chavo out with her and turned the match into a handicap match by adding him to it even though he wasn’t dressed to wrestle. Santina threw mud at Chavo and the two went at it. Chavo had Vickie come in to pin Santina but when Santina kicked out he grabbed a slop bucket and ended up nailing her with it. From that point on the three of them wallowed in the mud and Santina pinned Vickie to once again become Miss WrestleMania. This set up a backstage segment in which Golddust made fun of her since she smelled like you know what. Once she and Chavo got into her office Edge was there and they argued until he asked for a divorce.

STEEL CAGE MATCH:

Randy Orton (c) vs. Batista
BO'S PREDICTION:
If this was really extreme rules then this match would take place in a Hell in the Cell but since the WWE doesn’t want to use the Cell yet we will have to settle. The Flair/Orton parking lot match on Raw really set this up with Flair out cold in the cage and Batista threatening to kill Orton as he looked through the cage. This match will have blood simply because heads will be thrown into the mesh and that is going to cut you if it happens often enough. I don’t expect Batista to win here because Orton is an entertaining heel champ and if Batista wins then what do you do when HHH comes back? You could have HHH cost Orton the match and continue their program while Batista works with the winner of the Cena/Show match and in doing so have two main event style programs going at the same time. It all depends on when HHH decides to come out from the back and wrestle again. If he wants to sell his ‘injury’ at the foot of Orton a little longer then Orton keeps the belt, if not Batista is the new champ.
BO'S REVIEW: 

Orton started the match trying to climb out of the cage but was dragged back in by Batista. The action here went back and forth and we didn’t see any blood here either even though both were thrown into the cage. Batista won clean here with a Batista bomb to become the new champion. There was no outside interference of any kind here and that was kind of refreshing. The match wasn’t long either which meant the main event ladder match was going to have enough time to impress.

SUBMISSION MATCH:

John Cena vs. Big Show
BO'S PREDICTION:
If there was ever an example of the lack of long term thinking in the WWE it’s this match. The Unforgiven PPV has been changed to a PPV in which every match has a submission stipulation. So if Cena and Show are having a submission match here then what would be the point of booking either of them on that card? It’s nice that Show has learned a new move and all that but this could have been booked as an I Quit match and would have been decent. Instead we will see Cena try to put Show in the STF and fail a few times before he gets the hold on and Show taps out.
BO'S REVIEW: 

This match was dull but it wasn’t because of the participants. Submission matches are usually slow and don’t carry a lot of heat and this was no exception. There was a cool spot that had Show swat Cena across the ring and out of it. We saw Cena try to get the STF on Show and fail a few times but after dropping him with the attitude adjustment he wrapped one of Show’s legs in the ropes and put the crossface on him. Show’s leg came out of the ropes so the camera angle changed so viewers couldn’t see it. Show tapped here and Cena won again. As was mentioned in the preview for this match the Unforgiven PPV is now called Submission Sunday (or something like that) and if all the matches are like this one then I am going to need a lot of Mountain Dew to stay awake during it.

LADDER MATCH:

Edge (c) vs. Jeff Hardy
BO'S PREDICTION:
Once again we have Edge and Jeff Hardy working with a tool that they have each mastered-the ladder. This gives them an excuse to jump onto, off of and use against each other in any method possible. Now we know that there will be more items introduced into this match besides a ladder. We are going to see tables, chairs, garbage cans and whatever else used except for lighter fluid. We have seen this all before but we are still going to be amazed at what the two of them are going to do and wince at the carnage that leads up to the ending. The Hardy contract situation is still up in the air and that may pay a part in the finish. Edge is more interesting when he doesn’t have the belt because he whines and freaks out a lot but if Jeff is going to take his planned vacation from the WWE then he should keep the belt. Vince loves to pull a swerve so he may just have Jeff win because we think he isn’t going to but I think that Edge wins anyway.
BO'S REVIEW: 

 The ring, the ramp and the entrance were filled with ladders. The match started with Jeff bringing in a ladder and having it kicked into him by Edge and from there we saw crazy move after crazy move. During the course of this must see match we saw: Edge spearing a ladder, Jeff putting a ladder upside down and dropping Edge into the middle of it, a twist of fate from the top of two ladders, Jeff hanging from the suspended belt, both falling from a ladder onto a ladder straddling the ring and the barrier, a whisper in the wind from the top of a ladder and ended with Edge getting crucified on a ladder while Jeff grabbed the belt and became new champion. This was followed by JR entering the ring to interview Jeff and CM Punk coming out to cash in the briefcase. Once the bell rung he hit Jeff with the GTS but Jeff kicked out. Jeff then almost pinned him but Punk kicked out and nailed him with another GTS to become the new champion. It was a crazy finish to a crazy match. The show also ended at about five minutes to 10:00 so for the second time this year Vince has pushed the ending time back to let the matches go longer.

This was a damn good card considering the underwhelming opener. I think a lot of that was due to the stellar main event but the Jericho/Rey match and the ECW match were put together well. I do hope that when next year’s Extreme Rules PPV happens then for at least one night blood will be reintroduced to the WWE. I do hope that there are no comedy matches included on the card next year since it doesn’t match the concept of the PPV. The backstage part of the Vickie match was more interesting than the match itself because it started the conclusion of the Vickie/Edge angle.

Photo © 2009 WWE/World Wrestling Entertainment
Article © 2009 Alternate Reality, Inc.

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