13 Match Star Ratings For WWE Extreme Rules 2019
A night of change AND a return to the status quo: WWE, everybody.
Amid the rhetoric of war, competition and counter-programming, AEW presented a charity show, Fight For The Fallen, 24 hours removed from WWE's own B-show Extreme Rules.
It was the worst of the first three events promoted by the upstart company. Very uneven, production issues marred a humid, sapping night for the talent and audience alike. Kenny Omega vs. CIMA was an excellent, story-driven match, in which the veteran spammed his Meteora finish in a burst of desperation. He was outclassed; it was all he could do. He half-destroyed his knees in the process which, combined with Omega's own assault, saw him fall mid-sprint, leaving him prone for a sick V-trigger to the back of the head.
Elsewhere, beyond two pulsating midcard tag team matches, AEW got too cute with the get-guys-over-in-defeat thing by seeking to elevate Kip Sabian. The result only lowered the stock of Hangman Page. Admirable in its attempt to further establish the drama of time limits, it was nonetheless the wrong time to do it. Too many matches outstayed their welcome. Jim Ross effectively complained that some performers were doing too much in there, actively campaigning for the finish at various points, incredibly.
Fight For The Fallen was a 6.5/10 show.
On the evidence of it, and Extreme Rules, each side is at a standoff on the battlefield...
13. KICKOFF: Finn Bálor Vs. Shinsuke Nakamura - Intercontinental Title Match
Short but not bad short - there wasn't enough time for Shinsuke Nakamura to do nothing, slowly, in the space between moves - a respectful crowd excited for the night ahead even raised the volume during an unending modified guillotine choke.
This was very much "a match". This was a match that, despite the dreaded "glancing blow" euphemism, was competently worked by two performers who know how to extract excitement from the meaningless. Some excitement. This was really quite mundane, come to think of it, but it was committed. Nakamura does Taiji Ishimori's sliding German suplex justice. It's a difficult move to execute without it looking like the recipient is bumping, and Nakamura has retained enough of his old speed and snap to pull it off.
That the Intercontinental title was defended and switched here is a telling indication of how little it matters. This even, hollow match lasted just 7:40, arrived with zero fanfare, and the action wasn't anything we haven't seen before. It was an unremarkable match crafted by two performers who have never felt more unremarkable.
This felt more like a narrative reset than a title match.
Star Rating: **3/4