7 Ups And 9 Downs From WWE Extreme Rules 2018

A lackluster show that was extremely mediocre.

Strowman WWE Cage

WWEFor a PPV called Extreme Rules, things really didn’t get all that extreme Sunday night, unless you count the extremely lackadaisical way WWE booked the show.

Short matches on a crowded card, multiple title bouts decided due to controversial means, a lack of memorable moments overall… Extreme Rules will be more notable for an announcement that took place outside the ring: Brock Lesnar must show up, put up (his Universal Championship) or be stripped of the title.

The wrestling was decent, but a series of short matches (more than half fell in the 7-8 minute range) with cheap endings lessened the impact of the night. There was no “classic” or memorable contest you’d tell your friends they just have to check out. Even the title changes, while noteworthy, weren’t “call your friends” moments.

Not every show can be a home run, but this one would more qualify as a sacrifice bunt, moving the runners over. Hopefully, it brought an end to a couple storylines and launched a couple new ones. We know of at least one newsworthy reason to tune into Raw Monday night.

Still, let’s break down Extreme Rules and find out what clicked and what clanged. Let’s get to it…

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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.