7 Ups And 4 Downs From WWE Extreme Rules 2022

5. And Still… The EST

Bianca Belair
WWE.com

Conventional wisdom would have said that Bayley should have won the Raw Women’s Championship at Extreme Rules. She had the numbers and experience edge, and Damage CTRL would have benefited greatly from the increased momentum.

But Bianca Belair is just so freaking incredible of a champion that she made overcoming the odds and retaining her title make perfect sense and feel like the right call.

Belair and Bayley had a tremendous first-ever ladder match for the Raw women’s title, making what could have been a dull retread of countless other ladder matches feel more dramatic and impactful without resorting to too much gaga. Belair kept trying to climb to retain her title, while Bayley connived and plotted with the ladders. Bianca hitting a double KOD on Dakota Kai and Iyo Sky was a great moment.

And while it’s disappointing Bayley came up short, you can’t deny the quality of the match and just how strong Belair has been as champ. Her reign continuing can’t be anything but a positive.

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Contributor
Contributor

Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.