10 WWE Extreme Rules 2018 Impulse Reactions

1. Burn It Out

Bobby Lashley
WWE

Dolph Ziggler and Seth Rollins went nearly 20 minutes and nearly 30 minutes in separate Monday Night Raw matches in June, which is presumably this unwelcome 30-minute Iron Man main event wasn't pitched with the usual war stories of marathons of old. On commentary as Rollins entered, Michael Cole made mention of Shawn Michaels, Brock Lesnar et al as prior winners, but it was impossible to marry up those feats with those that were about to occur.

The booking of the match tried, but it again exhibited the wafer-thin amount of good will the audience has for the product at this point - the crowd were furious when WWE took their toys from them after they'd began counting down with the clock as if it were a Royal Rumble. Boos rained down when the clock was removed - a genuine gesture from management to the wrestlers perhaps - but with the contest already six falls deep within the first 12 minutes there was little to give a sh*t about with 18 left.

Dolph Ziggler is not the wrestler he once (maybe?) was, whilst Seth Rollins remains a hero as much in the head canon of fans that so desperately want him back as a top level babyface as he does in real life. This was not the match to present him as a survivor, particularly in how his defeat was arrived upon. Double teamed without consequence, this entire angle will presumably lead to a Dean Ambrose return, but has that relegation back to the midcard already been confirmed for Rollins anyway?

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 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. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, 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