10 Impulse Reactions Following WWE Extreme Rules 2017

7. Caged

Alexa Bliss Bayley
WWE.com

A well worn tale, The Hardy Boyz feud with Sheamus and Cesaro has little left to offer. And yet, this cage match tag title switch not only proved that, but also potentially forced even more misery on fans desperate for a new spark to reignite Raw's flailing doubles division.

The match was fifteen minutes of passable action, with the story centred around the desperate escapes when the wrestlers remembered that was the purpose. Failed attempts at leaving the structure took precedence over violence between one another, which made sense within the narrative of the match itself but raised questions as to why on earth the Hardy Boyz would select this in the first place.

Matt and Jeff have had mixed fortunes in big cage matches, defeating Edge and Christian for gold in 2000 but losing titles to The Dudley Boyz in 2001. Sadly for the North Carolinians, this contest mirrored the latter, with Jeff taking a huge risk at the end of the contest that was ultimately their undoing.

Having already escaped, the younger Hardy re-entered the match in order to save his brother from the challenger's wicked double team moves. A Whisper in the Wind took both heels out, but they recovered quicker than Matt and Jeff, clambering over the side as Matt tried and failed to scrape his brother up and out through the door.

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