10 Impulse Reactions Following WWE Extreme Rules 2017

1. Bayley To Bury

Alexa Bliss Bayley
WWE.com

The internal WWE apologist nestled deep within most wrestling fans was awaiting a huge (but relatively obvious) payoff at the conclusion of the Women's Title match between Alexa Bliss and former champion Bayley.

The story was clear enough, with Alexa walloping her challenger with a kendo stick on television to express her mean streak, safe in the knowledge that the 'Hugger' was simply just too damn nice to enact quite that level of violence in response. Their Monday Night Raw standoffs had been the same, with Bayley hovering over using the weapon long enough for Bliss to flee, or worse, disarm her.

Sentiment for the feud nosedived on the go-home show after Bliss' 'This Is Your Life' appraisal descended into the lowest level of WWE snark, doing more to enrage audiences at having to suffer through it than endear them to the challenger's pursuit.

That comprehensive mishandling couldn't even compare to this utterly bewildering mess.

Having already heard some aforementioned boos from the Baltimore crowd, Bayley never got out of the blocks in her big return battle, despite the fact that she acquired the stick first.

Once again, she froze (and worse, failed to live up to the pre-match promo that signposted her ability to go 'Extreme'), long enough for Bliss to annihilate her with the weapon and wrap things up in just over five minutes.

Bayley looked like a total idiot, and as commentators already moved Alexa past her to Nia Jax, it's hard to see how her character turns a corner in the near future.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett