10 Red Flags For The Future Of Triple H's WWE
5. The Match Lengths On Extreme Rules...
...were completely unacceptable, save for one that still seems unbelievable.
Ronda Rousey should have dispatched of Liv Morgan in half the 12 minutes it took her, and maybe would have if she'd been permitted to do more fun weapon stuff than gently swing a bat that she was evidently worried might actually connect. Finn Bálor and Edge's I Quit snoozer got great in the last five minutes but that didn't excuse the twenty four that came before it. And Karrion Kross and Drew McIntyre's strap match going 10:20 is itself the new greatest mystery in wrestling. Unlike the lost Bret Hart/Tom Magee tape though, it's the match nobody wants to watch.
This was all vintage Triple H stuff. TakeOvers became long and over-indulgent too, and at the horrendous expense of the brand and wrestlers' credibility. Hunter will likely take a hard line on this one, which is identical stubbornness to that of the man he replaced. It's worth him reflecting on what else - beyond AEW - brought his golden era NXT's momentum to a screeching halt...