Welcome to the Rasslin’ Roundtable for WWE Extreme Rules 2014! I am your host, Rhett Davis. Remember that the People Power pick was decided by The Pulse Polls that went up earlier in the week. Now without any other delays…
Rasslin’ Roundtable
WWE Extreme Rules 2014
Match One
WWE Extreme Rules Pre-Show WeeeLC Match
El Torito vs. Hornswoggle
Justin C: I have no idea why this match is happening again. The less said the better.
Winner: El Torito
Camden Fordyce: This might be one of the silliest matches of the night but in the end I believe Hornswoggle come up a bit “short”
Winner: El Torito
Rhett Davis: A small person TLC Match. This will only work if the belt is only suspended about 6 feet in the air and the ladders are also miniature. That being said… this feels like a hate crime of a match. I say El Torito wins because it’s the Pre-Show match.
Winner: The Little Bull
Chris Sanders: Somehow this got traction and I can’t exactly explain why. I mean, Torito has impressed me whenever I’ve seen him in short spots here and there so I’m all for seeing more of him. Hornswaggle, not so much but at least he dropped the leprechaun gimmick, you know, right before his leprechaun movie comes out. I still have yet to get an explanation as to why he joined 3MB in the first place.
Winner: El Torito
People Power: With 68% of the vote, El Torito wins the ‘People Power’ pick.
The Tally: El Torito – 5
Hornswoggle – 0
Match Two
Handicap Match
Alexander Rusev vs. R-Truth & Xavier Woods
Justin C: This match is on the card for one reason: To get Rusev over. I’ve liked what I have seen so far from him. I’m curious to see how he performers in a longer match. That more than likely won’t happen here. Rusev gets the squash win, and possibly moves on to an actual one-on-one feud with someone down the line. I’m guessing he is being built up for John Cena in the near future.
Winner: Alexander Rusev
Camden Fordyce: Rusev is a monster. Winning a handicap match against a couple of jobbers with charisma appears to be step one in the process of building up a future main eventer.
Winner: Rusev
Rhett Davis: These kind of matches are fine, but aren’t exactly a match in which the victor is in doubt. Do we really think that two guys that haven’t won a singles match on Raw in how long will triumph over the undefeated monstrosity of Alexander Rusev in Rusev’s first match (excluding Royal Rumble) on PPV? Dream on. Rusev wins probably with a double Accolade. Because what’s more intimidating than a foreign wrestler using a Camel Clutch?
Winner: The Bulgarian Brute
Chris Sanders: Rusev crush?
Winner: Alexander Rusev
People Power: With 95% (really?) of the vote, Alexander Rusev wins the ‘People Power’ pick.
The Tally: Alexander Rusev – 5
R-Truth & Xavier Woods – 0
Match Three
Intercontinental Championship
Big E (c) vs. Bad News Barrett
Justin C: Has anyone’s momentum been stalled more than Big E’s recently? Big E was once thought to have a bright future in the WWE and now he is barely on RAW. Bad News Barrett, on the other hand, has been rising up the charts and has the most amount of momentum he’s had since the Nexus. I always thought Barrett was booked poorly in the WWE and hopefully he starts to get a better push. I think it starts here with the Intercontinental Title. Yes, Barrett has one it before. But a win here and least changes things with the stagnant IC Title.
Winner: Bad News Barrett
Camden Fordyce: Ok, we finally have a title defense by Big E where we actually have a lil doubt in whether he will retain or not. BNB is getting a push, but he’s been down the mid major title road before and I think he looks good but loses in the end. Maybe he gives Big E a beatdown after the match to ensure a rematch.
Winner: Big E
Rhett Davis: This is the first match so far where there actually is uncertainty as to who will win. Does Big E win to actually have some dominant wins under his belt as champ? Or do they give it to the red-hot Bad News Barrett so he can flounder with a mid-card belt yet again? I like Barrett somewhat, but giving him the belt I think is a mistake. I loved the tournament concept, but I feel like Big E should’ve been on commentary or at least ringside instead of weirdly groping his title backstage watching the monitor. I say Big E wins this one after Barrett makes a costly mistake. I’d like to see Big E hold the title until at least SummerSlam fending off different challengers at every PPV to give us fresh matchups in the mid-card. Then the title becomes a big deal when some hot heel finally dethrones him.
Winner (and STILL Intercontinental Champ): Big E
Chris Sanders: This is Barrett’s big chance…to get the belt he had exactly one year ago. Congrats, he’s reached Kofi status.
Winner: I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news…
People Power: With 78% of the vote, Bad News Barrett wins the ‘People Power’ pick.
The Tally: Bad News Barrett – 3
Big E – 2
Match Four
Divas Championship
Paige (c) vs. Tamina Snuka
Justin C: The WWE is just buying time here until AJ decides to make her return from her hiatus. Paige is the future of the Divas division and she gets the win here. If AJ isn’t back soon, hopefully the WWE lets Emma get the next shot.
Winner: Paige
Camden Fordyce: Snuka missed her opportunity at Wrestlemania to become at least the transitional champion so beating the young upstart seems like a huge longshot to me.
Winner: Paige
Rhett Davis: I feel kind of bad for Tamina because, if it hadn’t been for Paige, I feel like that moment on Raw where AJ lost the title would’ve been hers. Although I still feel like giving the top obtainable title to someone on first night is a colossal mistake, no matter how much I enjoy Paige’s ringwork. It’s too soon, and now Paige has nothing to build towards. A lengthy reign I guess? But no real rivals on the main stage as of yet considering AJ is on leave. This match hasn’t had hardly any heat that I recognize, but it’ll probably be a very decent to good divas match. Paige wins doing her impressive submission move. A Scorpion Crosslock I believe it is called?
Winner (and STILL Divas Champ): Paige
Chris Sanders: Still weird that AJ didn’t even stick around for the rematch but I guess it works with the character (the prideful champ loses and can’t handle losing and leaves, blah blah blah). But people do weird things when they’re in love. Unless CM Punk returns (Half Life 3 confirmed) and delivers a GTS to Paige while Tamina delivers the belt back to AJ, Tamina has no chance here.
Winner: Paige
People Power: With 96% of the vote, Paige wins the ‘People Power’ pick.
The Tally: Paige – 5
Tamina Snuka – 0
Match Five
Triple Threat Elimination Match
Cesaro vs. Rob Van Dam vs. Jack Swagger
Justin C: I was hoping for just a one-on-one match with Cesaro and Swagger. RVD has looked out of shape since his return and has had a couple of bad matches. Cesaro is the one with the brightest future out of everyone involved here, so he gets the win. But I really wonder what is next for him.
Winner: Cesaro
Camden Fordyce: Cesaro is hot as a pistol. RVD is the legendary contender. Swagger seems like the odd man out. “Beware of the snake in the grass.” Triple Threats tend to sway with the weakest link at times and I’m going out on a limb here and predict Swagger sneaking in for a steal. (BTW, met Mrs Swagger in New Orleans and she’s smoking hot.)
Winner: Jack Swagger
Rhett Davis: Cesaro is one of the top fa…heels in the company at the moment. Now I love having Paul Heyman with such a talented guy like Cesaro, but why isn’t Cesaro being pushed as a face after what happened at WrestleMania? And what’s with that terrible music? I’d rather Paul Heyman just talk the entire time for Cesaro’s entrance as he did the first week they joined forces. Although ideally, he should’ve stolen the theme song and the ‘We The People’ and claimed it in his own terms. But whatever, Cesaro’s a heel and still getting cheered. Swagger is only here because of their retired friendship at Mania. RVD is here because he came back… and needed a PPV match. I actually look forward to this match and think it has the potential to be MOTN. As for who wins, I feel like RVD will win this. I think Cesaro will be about to pin Swagger after hitting The Neutralizer, but RVD will knock Cesaro out of the way, hit the Five Star Frog Splash, and steal Cesaro’s win. Post-match, Cesaro goes berserk and takes out RVD setting up a singles match for Payback.
Winner: Rob Van Dam
Chris Sanders: So RVD was inserted into a break-up feud because WWE needed him on the card? Nice to see WWE had a reason to bring him back. There’s no stopping Cesaro at this point and Swagz goes back to irrelevancy.
Winner: Cesaro
People Power: With 86% of the vote, Cesaro wins the ‘People Power’ pick.
The Tally: Cesaro – 3
Jack Swagger – 1
Rob Van Dam – 1
Match Six
Steel Cage Match
John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt
Justin C: This feud has definitely kept its momentum going after Wrestlemania. I was worried what would happen and that maybe Bray would lose some of his heat, but that definitely didn’t happen. You might even argue that he has gained more. I really didn’t like Cena’s response to what happened on RAW. What should have been serious turned into Cena responding with a lame and corny promo. Bray needs the win here. A loss and he may not get any momentum back this time. I could see a scenario playing out where Bray gets Cena to snap, and Cena throws Bray through the cage wall. Bray wins, and then forces Cena to recognize what kind of monster he has become. Maybe Cena takes a few weeks off TV to regroup. I said Bray didn’t need the win at Wrestlemania. He NEEDS the win here.
Winner: Bray Wyatt
Camden Fordyce: I love this feud! Cena seems to be the logical choice in a cage, but something tells me they are going to find a way to get the family heavily involved. Cena probably breaks and finds a way to do something unethical. Wyatt finds a way to win the battle but not the war.
Winner: John Cena
Rhett Davis: This is one of the better feuds going on at the moment and it is the only repeat match from the WrestleMania card which is amazing. The cage aspect is only to ‘ensure’ that The Family doesn’t interfere, but we saw how well that worked at Elimination Chamber didn’t we? I think something eerie happens at Extreme Rules that gives Bray Wyatt the win. Imagine Cena is setting up for the AA, the lights go out, come back up and it’s the ring surrounded by kids wearing sheep masks with Harper and Rowan. John Cena freaks out, turns around and Bray Wyatt is laughing, hits the Sister Abigail and escapes the cage and begins leading the children in singing as Cena looks on horrified.
Winner: Bray Wyatt
Chris Sanders: If there ever was a chance for somebody to beat Cena on a PPV, it would be in a cage match. Now of course, we can all look into how Bray seemed to get one over on Cena this past Raw when Cena was given a high dosage of the creeps when surrounded by singing children (I, too, am creeped out by singing children) and so that will translate into Cena getting the ppv win. That might be the case but I still have a feeling…
Winner: Byatt
People Power: With 79% of the vote, Bray Wyatt wins the ‘People Power’ pick.
The Tally: Bray Wyatt – 4
John Cena – 1
Match Seven
Six-Man Tag Team Match
The Shield vs Evolution
Justin C: If we didn’t know Batista was taking some time off after Extreme Rules, I would have given the win to Evolution rather easily. Now it is a question. I could see Batista being replaced with someone line Sheamus or Big E if they want to keep the Evolution thing going. They could also have Ric Flair cost The Shield the match. But Flair didn’t look in the best of shape on RAW. I find it odd that Evolution would just reunite for one match. But more and more I think The Shield is winning here. But again, what would be next for them? This is a toss up for me. I said The Shield on the HTCPulsecast Thursday, and I guess I will stick with that.
Winners: The Shield
Camden Fordyce: So Ric Flair endorses the Shield? Blood is thicker than Water, and in the end, Flair finds a way to give his old friends an assist and a victory.
Winner: Evolution
Rhett Davis: Hmm… I generally have no idea who wins this. I realize that Batista is disappearing for a bit after Extreme Rules so you’d think that would be an odds-on-bet that Evolution would lose. However, they also kind of set-up Ric Flair to double-cross The Shield by putting himself on their side on Raw. Tricky, tricky. I’ll say that Evolution wins Sunday due to Flair trading on Shield. That’ll set-up The Shield to be angry on Raw and take out Batista giving him an alibi for however he’s gone for.
Winners: Evolution
Chris Sanders: Shield have just about as much momentum as anybody in the company right now and I’m assuming this Evolution reunion will be short-lived with all the rumors of Batista taking time off in the very near future. I’m expecting a pretty good match out of this.
Winner: Shield
People Power: With 57% of the vote, The Shield wins the ‘People Power’ pick.
The Tally: The Shield – 3
Evolution – 2
Match Eight
WWE World Heavyweight Championship Extreme Rules Match
Daniel Bryan (c) vs. Kane
Justin C: There are a lot of people saying Daniel Bryan is getting the shaft with his Title run. He’s already not main eventing a PPV. But guess what? IT’S ONLY ONE PPV. Plus, he’s still getting the strongest reactions from crowds and his segments get the best ratings on RAW. Lets not overreact to everything after one month. And not only that, at least they have done a good job building heat up for the match. Many thought Kane would get no response at all, but the WWE has done a good job of making him seem like a monster again. In the end, Daniel Bryan gets the clean win since it is an Extreme Rules match. Bryan wins here, and my guess is he goes on to fight either Randy Orton again or a newly heel Sheamus.
Winner: Daniel Bryan
Camden Fordyce: I think Daniel Bryan would win, but I think it doesn’t make sense to hot-shot the title to Kane so soon after Bryan winning.
Winner: Daniel Bryan
Rhett Davis: I’ve really liked how they’ve built this match as Kane has been built up well. However, I wonder what happens to Kane after this match? Has anyone thought about that? I can’t see Daniel Bryan really losing this match as it is his first title match, but this feud could spill over into the next PPV. I doubt it as I’m sure Orton will cash in his rematch-cause making it Orton vs. Bryan.
Winner (and STILL WWE Champ): Daniel Bryan
Chris Sanders: About as much of a guaranteed win as there’s ever been. If Kane wins, I will hack off my left hand. (Remember the last time I guaranteed a win was Taker beating Brock at mania, so I’ll be sure to keep the machete handy…get it? Hand-y?)
Winner: Daniel Bryanson
People Power: With 93% of the vote, Daniel Bryan wins the ‘People Power’ pick.
The Tally: Daniel Bryan – 5
Kane – 0
Thank you for joining us and be sure to tune it here for my live coverage of WWE Extreme Rules tomorrow night!
