10 WWE Extreme Rules 2018 Impulse Reactions

5. In Hell

Bobby Lashley
WWE

Oh (Hell) No they didn't.

YES! They did.

Daniel Bryan was pinned clean by The Bludgeon Brothers in a match he sort-of had to go at alone because Harper and Rowan had decked them both backstage before the match. Though the premise delivered the unintentionally (or was it? Is any comedy, good or bad, not the priority of the writing staff above all else now?) of Kane hobbling out in a hospital boot despite previously surviving various attempts on his life without a scratch, it offered nothing else beyond it. Was it a rib on 'The Big Red Machine' because it's been well over a decade since anybody last saw one of his? Vince McMahon's disdain for people of a larger build might explain why one of his favourites was reduced to foil, but it made for sobering viewing when the figurative and literal lame duck partner still couldn't take the fall.

Daniel Bryan is huge of heart but short of stature - that message was abundantly clear when the company tried in vain to suppress the movement to see him made champion between 2013-2014. It was perhaps the biggest example of how WWE is many things in 2018, but a wrestling company is not one of them - on a night where literal B-Teamers won the equivalent belts on the flagship, a "B+ player" could not. It is better to be bad than good in this Universe.

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