13 WWE Extreme Rules 2019 Impulse Reactions
The best WWE Pay-Per-View of the year.
It’s becoming increasingly difficult to assess and adjust expectations for WWE pay-per-views.
In the criminally crap planning, promotion and execution of its Seth Rollins/Baron Corbin main event, June’s Stomping Grounds could be graded one of the lousiest shows in company history. A three-sided arena bore the critique out. Yet, half of the card was objectively of a decent standard, and some would subjectively argue more fervently in its favour.
The history books won’t look fondly on the event because of the empty seats and wretched conclusion, but the company haven’t ever cared less about any of that. They were probably more p*ssed off that the show lacked buzz, and only received the worst kind as it went off the air. Perception is reality, but in actual reality, the had enough early on that it was nearly - whisper it - a great pay-per-view.
Whispering it was all anybody was willing to do before this show, too. On a weekend in which wrestling’s fertile marketplace offered a multitude of options - NJPW's two G1 Climax cards, AEW's Fight For The Fallen and Evolve's anniversary show broadcast on the Network - a July B-show was paradoxically elevated to becoming the last big show from a very big weekend.
A card was assembled that, on paper at least, appeared prepared enough to live up to the billing. As an exhilirating Extreme Rules concluded, it remained increasingly difficult to assess and adjust expectations for WWE pay-per-views...
13. Finn Bálor (c) Vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
Corey Graves farted out platitudes about Shinsuke Nakamura getting his groove back against Finn Bálor during his non-title victory over the Intercontinental Champion on the go-home SmackDown Live, perhaps acutely aware that 'The Artist' wasn't going to be quite as potent here as he was on Tuesday night.
Bálor and Nakamura assembled a mini-banger for the blue brand, but on Sunday were stuck having their high spots interrupted by promos for the main show like every other poor f*cker in this spot. Was this match, this feud or the secondary strap itself not deemed worthy of something more?
In truth, all three would have benefited from addition by subtraction - the quality conclusion to this contest was betrayed by an inconsequential seven-minute snoozer beforehand. Nakamura winning his first Intercontinental Championship would have felt bigger within the confines of SummerSlam rather than skirting around the perimeter of Extreme Rules, regardless how forceful the usual suspects were about getting the "Nakamura is back" messaging across.
That should have been a job for a Michael Cole or Tom Phillips, not Jonathan Coachman.