WWE Extreme Rules 2014 Updated Lineup - 6 Matches Announced

By John Canton /

The WWE Extreme Rules pay-per-view (or "Special Event" as WWE is trying to call it in the post-Network era) takes place at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey on May 4th. There's only one more episode of Raw left before the event and it looks like the card is set although another one or two matches may be added. This past Monday on Raw, it was announced that Daniel Bryan will defend the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Kane in an Extreme Rules match that was confirmed on WWE.com. What's an Extreme Rules Match? It's the same thing as a No Holds Barred match where anything goes. It will be interesting to see how it's booked because it's highly unlikely that Bryan would lose one month after winning the title and having Kane lose would hurt him after bringing him back as the "devil's favorite demon" in the mask. There could be a controversial finish because it feels like a storyline that could lead to multiple PPV matches. The other big match on the show, which could be the main event, is the reuniting Evolution group matching up against The Shield. There are reports that Batista could take some time off following Extreme Rules, so if that happens then it's likely that The Shield would get the win to continue their babyface momentum. Then again, a scenario could happen where Dean Ambrose & Seth Rollins turn on Roman Reigns out of jealousy. It's an intriguing match for many reasons and it could also main event Extreme Rules. John Cena's rivalry with Bray Wyatt saw Cena get destroyed by all three members of the Wyatt Family on Raw. As Wyatt said, he's got the whole world in his hands. He's also got John Cena in a Steel Cage match at Extreme Rules. Either Cena beats Wyatt like he did at WrestleMania or Wyatt gets the win to avenge the loss and possibly leads to the big third match. Here are the rest of the matches that have been announced on television and are listed on WWE.com: - Big E defends the Intercontinental Title against the winner of the Bad News Barrett vs. Rob Van Dam match on Raw next week. It will likely be Barrett to set up a face vs. heel matchup. Barrett could leave with the IC Title since he has a lot of momentum now. - Paige defends the Divas Title against Tamina Snuka. It's hard to see Paige losing the title less than a month after winning it. They need to establish her as a new diva that can hold her own in title matches. - Alexander Rusev vs. R-Truth & Xavier Woods. Rusev has beat both of them in singles matches. He'll likely win this match in dominant fashion in under five minutes. Those are the six matches that are officially announced. It seems like The Usos will defend the tag team titles against Curtis Axel & Ryback based on the attack by the challengers during Raw. Cesaro will probably have a match on the card against either Jack Swagger or Rob Van Dam. They're doing Cesaro/Swagger on Smackdown, so it could be RVD since Cesaro lost to him via countout on Raw. The lineup for Extreme Rules looks pretty good. Much like WrestleMania 30, it's built on the strength of the top three matches. If they deliver it will be a great show.