Six Biggest Takeaways From The Horror Show At Extreme Rules

4. Drew McIntyre Overcomes The Odds

WWE was very smart in keeping the stipulation between Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre a secret until moments before the match. It made Ziggler seem like a smart heel because he didn’t want Drew McIntyre – a tactical, strategic champion – to find out his gameplan. Win, win!

McIntyre’s ‘overcome the odds’ aura worked best due to this stipulation. It was obvious Ziggler was never going to become Champion. He has barely won a match this year and hasn’t been relevant for the better half of this decade. Unfortunately, WWE gave up on the ‘Showoff’ years ago.

This match was very fun! McIntyre struggled to stay composed so as not to get himself disqualified. However, he battled any rage that was inside him and managed to hit Ziggler with a wicked claymore for the win.

This may have made Ziggler look weaker (who really cares at this point) but it certainly made McIntyre feel stronger than ever.

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5. Cesaro & Nakamura Win The SmackDown Tag Team Championship

In the opening match of the main show, Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura finally got titles on their waists again in the form of the SmackDown Tag Team Championship. This came from the end of a fantastic tables match against former Champions, the New Day.

The ending spot was very innovative and saw a deadly powerbomb through two tables from Cesaro to Kofi Kingston! At first, I thought he was going to hit the neutralizer into the thin wood, which may have added a new meaning to “Horror Show”.

With Cesaro and Nakamura as Tag Champions, we could hopefully see fresh rivalries in the tag division for the blue brand. Even though New Day are great it felt like this title run was quite meaningless and that the tag division was literally just them, Miz and Morrison, and The Usos for months. Now, this could change and teams like Heavy Machinery or Lucha House Party could show what they can do. Or it’ll just be the New Day again…

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6. Sasha Banks Is The New Raw Women’s Champion?

Finally, in the most baffling ending of the night, Sasha Banks became Raw Women’s Champion because Bayley put a ref shirt on and counted the pin?

In WWE logic this could have certainly been an official way to crown the Boss as Women’s Champion. However, it jars with me. It can’t be whoever is wearing a ref top (unless it is for the 24/7 title) or everyone would go around dressed as a referee helping their buddies win. Although, this definitely works for the selfish characters of Bayley and Banks and it does have me excited to stay tuned for Raw tonight to get my answers.

It is believed that Asuka is still the champion, so we will see how WWE unfold this story and still reach the speculated Bayley vs. Banks match in time for August 23rd.

Despite this confusing ending, this match was incredible throwing it back to NXT level wrestling. Submissions were being countered with submissions. Banks even unleashed her inner-Pete Dunne targeting the fingers of the Empress. Unfortunately, the strangeness of this ending will be all that is remembered of this match. Which is a common point about most of the bouts at Extreme Rules.

Let’s hope the next few shows give us answers and deliver a captivating story heading into WWE’s biggest show of the Summer.

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• The Horror Show at Extreme Rules
• Bray Wyatt
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