10 Most Extreme Rules In WWE History

This match is a case study in stupidity. The two-out-of-three-falls match is usually telegraphed so far in advance that the announcers are calling the match in Morse Code just to try and keep up: if one man wins the first fall, invariably his opponent will win the second because if not, there will be no third fall.

That’s even more the case in a match in which each of the three falls is heavily gimmicked and/or overbooked. There aren’t three stories taking place here: the Three Stages Of Hell match is a single bout split into three acts. Of course Cena is going to win the tables match when Ryback wins the lumberjack match - if he doesn’t, then there won’t be any ambulance match to round it all off.

Austin and Triple H’s attempt at No Way Out in 2001 is, of course, the most famous and successful example of the Three Stages Of Hell match there is - and even that screwed the pooch something massive. Since there was no way in hell that the cage wasn’t coming down for the third part of the match, the finish of the street fight in the second match was a foregone conclusion.

Of course, the ending to Triple H and ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin’s trilogy was fudged too. The double knockout finish was ridiculous, and given the inconclusive ending, the match failed to blow the feud off properly.

The babyface out for bloody vengeance didn’t get it… and that babyface had a rep for being the most vicious, unforgiving SOB in the company. It made no sense for the Rattlesnake to consider his grudge with the Game concluded after this.