Six stipulation matches are set for tonight’s Extreme Rules pay-per-view in Philadelphia.
Matt Riddle and Seth Rollins’ personal rivalry will culminate as they step inside the Fight Pit tonight. The MMA-inspired cage match can only be won by knocking out your opponent or submitting them. UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier will be the special guest referee.
Two Women’s title matches are set for the PPV. Liv Morgan and Ronda Rousey will collide in an extreme rules match for the SmackDown Women’s Championship, while Bianca Belair puts her Raw Women’s Championship on the line against Bayley in a ladder match.
Drew McIntyre will take on Karrion Kross in a strap match, Edge and Finn Balor face off an in “I Quit” match, and there will be a six-man Good Old Fashioned Donnybrook between Imperium and The Brawling Brutes.
After weeks of teasers, tonight appears to be where we’ll get some answers about WWE’s “White Rabbit” QR codes. The teasers look to be hyping the return of Bray Wyatt.
Extreme Rules airs live on Peacock/WWE Network starting at 8 p.m. Eastern time. There will also be a pre-show starting at 7 p.m. Eastern.
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Kickoff show —
Kevin Patrick replaced Kayla Braxton as the kickoff show host, as the latter was feeling under the weather. Patrick, Jerry “The King” Lawler, Booker T, and Peter Rosenberg were the full panel. It’s mostly the typical assortment of promos, packages, and analysis.
At one point, the pre-show panel was interrupted by a White Rabbit video. The panel just kept talking as if nothing happened.
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WWE Extreme Rules report —
The show started with a really fun hype package surrounding a kid trying to spell “extreme” in a spelling bee.
Brawling Brutes (Sheamus, Ridge Holland, & Butch) defeated Imperium (Gunther, Ludwig Kaiser, & Giovanni Vinci) in a Good Old-Fashioned Donnybrook [17:50]
This was an awesome physical spotfest. This Sheamus-Gunther feud has been maybe the highlight of WWE programming in 2022.
Sheamus was so over in this match. There were barrels and bar tops set up at ringside. The two teams went right after each other at the bell, with the Brutes eventually landing a running dropkick on Kaiser before being leveled with a Gunther chop. Imperium gained control, using three-on-one attacks against their individual opponents. They sent Sheamus into the steel steps.
Gunther just killed Sheamus with repeated chops, then Imperium tried to take him out of the equation by dropping him hard onto the wooden bar top. With Sheamus incapacitated, it was a three-on-two advantage for Imperium, who hit the Imperial Bomb on Holland on the outside.
Imperium then beat down Butch for a good while until Sheamus fired up. The Irishman took out Kaiser and Vinci on the outside, leading to the big heavyweight face-off with Gunther in the ring. Gunther hit a German, but Sheamus fired back with lariats and a powerslam.
Sheamus hit the 10 Beats of the Bodhran, with his Brutes getting involved for good measure. White Noise followed. Sheamus nailed the Brogue Kick, but Vinci broke up the pin on a springboard. There was a parade of big moves, ending with Sheamus hitting the Irish Curse backbreaker and locking on the cloverleaf. Kaiser broke it up with a shillelagh shot.
The two teams brought themselves to their feet as the subordinates went after each other. Gunther and Sheamus, forehead to forehead, traded hard strikes. Kaiser took out Butch, Vinci took out Holland, but then Sheamus landed a rising knee for a near fall.
Imperium cleared off the announce table and set Sheamus up for the Imperial Bomb. Holland broke it up before Butch took them out with a moonsault off a barrel. Gunther smashed Sheamus with a shillelagh shot to the face for a good near fall. Gunther set up for the powerbomb, but Butch and Holland snapped his fingers and Sheamus whacked him with the shillelagh.
Holland and Butch laid in shillelagh shots on Vinci and Kaiser, then Sheamus hit the Celtic Cross on Gunther through the announce table. With the Brutes restraining him, Sheamus crushed Vinci with the Brogue Kick for the win.
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The Miz was backstage. An interviewer asked why he was at Extreme Rules, and Miz said he wanted to talk to Triple H in person about his birthday celebration this Monday. He was distracted by Gritty, the Philadelphia Flyers’ mascot, who presented Miz with a T-shirt. Miz threw the shirt down, stomped on it, and walked off.
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WWE Smackdown Women’s Championship: Ronda Rousey defeated Liv Morgan (c) in an Extreme Rules match [12:48]
There were moments that this could’ve been really good — the layout was solid and Ronda comes across like a killer — but Liv was absolutely atrocious here. Her selling was, like, day one community theatre fake fighting, and she really struggled with some of the props/weapons. And then she smiles as Ronda’s putting her in a blood choke for the finish? Terrible.
Early on, Liv produced a bat, which Ronda effortlessly disarmed and tossed away. Ronda landed a knee to the midsection and went for an ankle lock, but Liv escaped. Ronda intercepted a dive, trapped Liv in the ring skirt, and slapped her straight across the face. Liv came back by letting a fire extinguisher loose in Ronda’s face, but Ronda took her down with an Olympic slam and baseball bat shots.
Liv avoided a swing and landed an enzuigiri. Ronda came back with whipping shots from her black belt, then bat shots, having tied her up. Liv got a brief moment of reprieve and propped up a table in the corner, but she took too long, allowing Ronda to smash her into the table and stretch her through the ropes.
Back in the ring, Liv tried to prop up a chair, but it fell out of the ring. She sent Ronda through the ropes anyway. Liv laid in chair shots and hit a something of a facebuster through the chair for two. She set up a table, propped Ronda on it, and landed a top-rope senton through the table for a good near fall.
On the kickout, Ronda immediately locked Liv in a triangle. Liv kind of powered out of it, but Ronda didn’t relinquish the hold. Ronda turned it into a key lock, then a leg sleeper, leading to Liv passing out and Ronda winning the title.
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Karrion Kross defeated Drew McIntyre (w/ Scarlett) in a Strap Match [10:03]
The pre-match brawl was pretty good. The match itself was barely anything, with 80% of it just being Kross heat on McIntyre’s arm/shoulder alongside a screwy interference finish.
Before the match, Kross played some mind games by taking a long time to put the strap on. He threw the strap to Scarlett, which distracted McIntyre and allowed Kross to attack. Kross sent McIntyre into the ring post and over the barricade. They fought up into the crowd — the match hadn’t even officially started — before eventually returning to the ringside area. McIntyre reversed a suplex on the floor into one of his own before planting Kross on the apron with a sidewalk slam.
Finally, back inside the ring, McIntyre put the strap on Kross, and the match was under way. McIntyre dominated until another Scarlett distraction allowed Kross to pull McIntyre repeatedly into the ring post. McIntyre sold his left arm and shoulder hard.
Kross attacked at McIntyre’s arm for a long time, driving him into the announce table at one point. He eventually started whipping McIntyre, with Scarlett cheering him on. Inside the ring, Kross hit the Doomsday Saito for two.
After a long beatdown — I’m talking 6-7 minutes — McIntyre started a comeback with lariats. He wanted the Future Shock DDT, but Kross fought out, forcing McIntyre to re-position and land a spinebuster for two. They laid into each other with strikes before whipping each other. McIntyre got the advantage, hitting the Future Shock DDT and kipping up.
McIntyre counted down to the Claymore Kick, but Scarlett entered the ring and got in between them. She blasted McIntyre with pepper spray, then Kross hit the Kross Hammer for the win.
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The Miz was backstage again, trying to find Triple H. He was interrupted by Gritty for a second time.
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WWE RAW Women’s Championship: Bianca Belair (c) vs. Bayley in a Ladder Match
