Wrestling Recap: The Horror Show at Extreme Rules Results

 

 

Winner: Kevin Owens

It’s sad to see Kevin Owens relegated to the pre-show, really; this is somewhat similar to when Kofi Kingston went from being the WWE Champion (remember that?) and then was jerking the curtain and slumming it in the tag team division as if nothing happened. Okay…maybe it’s not as extreme as that but that did kind of happen to Owens back when Goldberg beat him for the Universal Championship so…Anyway, it seems like Owens is slowly making his way back on to television and defeating Murphy here and, taking into account what happened later in the night, he’ll probably end up mixing it up with Seth Rollins again.

 

 

Winners: Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro

This was built up and finalised on the last episode of Friday Night SmackDown before the pay-per-view, in which Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro got to name their stipulation for their title shot. It’s nice to see a tables match to mix thing sup a bit but I’m pretty sure we normally get at least one of these a year at TLC s. Similar to Owens, I feel bad for Nakamura and Cesaro; at least teaming up gives them something to do but how many odd-ball, slapped together teams has Cesaro been in now? How many times has been a Tag Team Champion? I’d jus like to see him (both of them, really) mixing it up for the mid-card titles; is that too much to ask?

My prediction: Bayley by pin fall, championship retained
Actual winner: Bayley by pin fall, championship retained

I mean, I think we all expected this outcome: Bayley was too overconfident and underestimated Nikki Cross’s energy and determination so she had to resort to Sasha Banks passing her one of those ugly gold rings to cheat to win. On the plus side, though, it’s a great look for Nikki to be challenging for a singles championship and not just playing second fiddle to Alexa Bliss; I could totally see Nikki turning heel off the back of this, unfortunately, just to keep her away from the championship scene when Bayley and Sasha start feuding but I’d rather not see that just yet as determined Nikki is great.

My prediction: MVP by pin fall, new champion crowned
Actual winner: MVP by forfeit, new champion crowned

So…this wasn’t actually a match in the end because, apparently, even when Apollo Crews catches a break he can’t catch a break. Instead, MVP came out, talked some bullshit about Apollo not being medically cleared to wrestle, and declared himself the new champion. No idea what they’re going for here or if Apollo is really unfit to compete but why do I get the feeling that when Apollo does come back, he’ll just start losing and disappearing off television again?

My prediction: Rey Mysterio by…removing Seth’s eye, I guess?
Actual winner: Seth Rollins by removing Rey’s eye

I suppose you have to hand it to the WWE; now that they’re doing these cinematic-style matches, they can actually deliver on their dumbass match stipulations in ways they never could before no matter how little sense it actually makes. As a result, not only was Rollins able to make full use of all the toys and weapons that had been helpfully provided, he was also able to actually deliver on his promise and pop Rey’s eye out using the edge of the steel stairs.

Apparently, Rey isn’t actually tied into a WWE contract at the moment so it’s possible that this was done as a way to write him off of television, or out of the company completely, but I assumed that we’d be seeing him and Dominick teaming up a bit more, Rey managing his son, and possibly feuding with him when Dom turned on him. Now, if Rey does show back up, he’ll probably end up turning on Dominick or some daft shit like that.

My prediction: Sasha Banks by pin fall, new champion crowned
Actual winner: Sasha Banks by Bayley’s decision, championship fate unknown

The ending to this match was, ironically, startling similar to what I expected to see at the finish of the Braun Strowman/Bray Wyatt match; after holding her own against Asuka and wearing her down, the heels took full advantage when the referee got taken out of the match. Bayley threw on a referee shirt, counted a pin fall, and then bullied the other officials into announcing Sasha as the winner and the new champion…but I don’t think that’s an official decision.

We have seen similar things happen before and it count but I don’t think it will here mainly because I feel it’d add to the tension between Sasha and Bayley to have Sasha think she is the champion, say she is the champion, but not actually be the champion and Bayley to throw that in her face at some point. Still, I would have preferred Sasha to actually win and then the two belts to get unified in she inevitable match against Bayley but they definitely set this up in a way to get you to tune into Raw tonight.

My prediction: Drew McIntyre by pin fall, championship retained
Actual winner: Drew McIntyre by pin fall, championship retained

One thing I missed when talking about this match was that, over the last few weeks, Dolph Ziggler had earned the right to name the stipulation for the match but, of course, he didn’t actually reveal it until on the night and, rather than actually picking something fun and new and exciting, simply opted for an Extreme Rules match (…how fitting) that was tipped in his favour (i.e.: Only Ziggler could use weapons and cheat).

Not that it mattered, though, as Drew McIntyre simply absorbed everything Ziggler threw at him, including numerous Zig-Zags, and then just killed him with a Claymore to win and retain. On the one hand, this again made McIntyre look super strong and powerful, which was all Ziggler was in there for in the first place, but it also makes Ziggler look massively incompetent and weak as he couldn’t win even with the odds tipped in his favour!

My prediction: Bray Wyatt by no contest, championship retained
Actual winner: Bray Wyatt by…default, I guess? Championship retained

I suspected this heading into this match but I wasn’t entirely sure but, yes, this match wasn’t actually for the Universal Championship because….fucked if I know. It really bugs me when they do that, especially considering how the match ended and that they could have easily just had Bray Wyatt obtain the belt from Braun Strowman but not actually be the champion.

Anyway, this was, again, one of those massively over-produced cinematic style matches that have started to become to go-to for the WWE, especially with Wyatt. We got to see Strowman get attacked by himself (in the old sheep mask and everything), Alexa Bliss tempt him into rejoining with Wyatt (which was a bit weird and ill-fitting; does this make her a heel now?), and Wyatt leaping out of the swamp water like a slasher villain as the Fiend and dragging Strowman under, turning the water red and walking away, apparently, as the victory. Not really sure what this mans for Strowman, to be honest, but I’m sure it’ll lead to some fun/weird promos from Wyatt.

What did you think of The Horror Show at Extreme Rules? Which match was your favourite, or least favourite? How did you predictions pan out? What do you see happening as we finally start building towards SummerSlam? Whatever you think, leave a comment below.