10 Ups And 7 Downs From WWE Extreme Rules 2019

5. Smart Booking Aids Tag Match

The tag match that involved non-wrestler Shane McMahon and part-timer Undertaker – in Philadelphia – could have been a lightning rod of criticism. Philly fans are notoriously tough, and if they had to sit through three hours of PPV and get to a subpar match, it could have been a disaster.

So what did they do? WWE put the match on first, kicking off the PPV proper with the tag bout and drawing fans in while energy levels were high. The result was a hot crowd that popped for nearly everything, including whenever Roman Reigns went after Shane McMahon. The crowd’s energy definitely added something, chanting “You still got it!” at Taker and “Let’s go Roman!” while he was in peril.

The booking itself – making Shane an opportunistic jerk rather than some accomplished grappler – helped immensely, as it was easier to digest Shane in this role than for us to try to take him as a threat. And Elias provided the assist that McIntyre needed in carrying the offense for his team, which then opened the door for Shane’s two big contributions: a leap of faith elbow and a coast-to-coast dropkick.

All around, this was some smart booking by WWE, so we’ll give some kudos here.