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This PPV used to be called One Night Stand,
a show that was supposed to have reminded fans of watching what ECW actually was
instead on what is run on Tuesday night has a new name. The initial One Night
Stand was a show booked from start to finish by the mad scientist known as Paul
Heyman as an ECW reunion show. The wrestlers who worked the show said it was the
most fun they had in years because Heyman let them do what they wanted without
restrictions. One Night Stand became an annual event after the success of the
first show but the shows that followed weren’t as good as the first one. Now the
show is called Extreme Rules and could be an interesting show but will not in
any way, shape or form remind you of what ECW stood for.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The "Bo's Prediction" part of the review below was
posted on Saturday afternoon (060609). |
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FATAL FOUR WAY MATCH:
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Kofi Kingston (c) vs. MVP vs. William Regal
vs. Matt Hardy |
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BO'S PREDICTION:
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I don’t have any idea where the extreme part of this match is
unless they make an announcement before the match starts. The Kingston/MVP match
on Monday was pretty good so I would have been happy with just the two of them
going at it but the added participants can work so the match should be sound.
Regal and Hardy have been working together so they will likely help each other
at the start before turning on each other later. I liked the idea of two faces
going at each other Monday and if booked right (knowing the Raw writers they
would screw it up) a Kingston/MVP feud could work well into the summer. Hardy
could get the belt since he is working with the broken hand though and Vince
likes that kind of dedication. The problem with that is that it makes the good
match Monday worthless so I think that MVP gets the belt back and continues the
program with Kingston. |
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BO'S REVIEW:
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The show opener was a bit sloppy and it
seemed like everyone’s timing was a bit off. It looked as if the four weren’t
given a lot of time to work out the match in the ring. There were some good
spots during the match and Kingston retained his title by hitting Regal with a
semi-botched Trouble in Paradise. There wasn’t anything extreme about this match
at all. This was followed by Josh Matthews interviewing Big Show outside the bus
that he travels from show to show with since he has a hard time on planes and in
hotel rooms. Show says he is going to win the match and tells Josh to get away
from his bus. |
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NO HOLDS BARRED MATCH:
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Rey Mysterio (c) vs. Chris Jericho |
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BO'S PREDICTION:
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As was the case with his feud with Shawn Michaels Jericho is
booking this program with little help from the booking staff. On the European
tour he accidentally unmasked Rey and it went over well with the fans so the
ultimate goal to this program is to unmask him for the first time in the WWE.
This is supposed to be a long program so that will not happen here but this may
be the best match on the card. If the two are given time then we should see a
certain level of restrained brutality and a match that could end up traveling
all around the building. Either man could win here but at some point we will see
part of Rey’s mask come off but we will not see his face just yet. |
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BO'S REVIEW:
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Jericho started the match at a concessions
stand in the arena telling fans that since you could buy Mysterio masks there
Rey was a hypocrite. He worked his way down the arena and told fans to not touch
him even though most never came close. It was the perfect way to make you boo
him and set up the match well. The match was filled with athletic move after
athletic move including Rey jumping over the ring steps then kicking them into
Jericho, a 619 from the top of a ring post and Rey getting thrown from the ring.
We also saw the return of the RVD kicking a chair into someone and a very clever
finish. As Rey tried to hit Jericho with a 619 Jericho grabbed his mask and took
it off. Rey tried to hide his face and was pinned so he lost the match, the mask
and the belt. We did not see Rey’s face but Jericho stood there smirking with
the IC belt (making him a 9-time champ) and the mask. He smirked all the way to
the back. This was a well done match that got the crowd back into the show after
the flat opener. Batista was interviewed backstage afterwards and threatened
Orton. |
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SAMOAN STRAP MATCH:
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CM Punk vs. Umaga |
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BO'S PREDICTION:
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For the record I have never seen a Samoan strap match in all my
years of watching wrestling and there isn’t a difference between a Samoan strap
match and any other strap match. The rules of the match are simple-beat the hell
out of your opponent with the strap. Punk is the man with the magic briefcase so
I would expect him to go over here. Umaga also has more flesh to flay with the
leather strap so he can take the most punishment since Punk is on the slim side.
If the match has the added stipulation of having to drag your opponent from
turnbuckle to turnbuckle Punk will have a hard time dragging the much larger
Umaga from post to post but I expect him to go over here since he didn’t at the
last PPV. |
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BO'S REVIEW:
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The stipulation of having to touch all four
turnbuckles was added to the match and they even introduced a new graphic to
show which were touched and who touched them. This didn’t add anything to the
match, however, because it was just okay. Every move you have ever seen in a
strap match was used here and Punk won after he hit Umaga with the GTS and
stretched out to hit the last turnbuckle. The one thing this match showed is
that Punk is super over with the audience. |
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TRIPLE THREAT HARDCORE
RULES MATCH:
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Christian (c) vs. Jack Swagger vs. Tommy
Dreamer |
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BO'S PREDICTION:
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The most interesting part of this match isn’t the match itself
but the fact that Dreamer’s contract is about to expire. If he decides to stay
then he has a legit shot at winning the ECW title and holding it for at least a
month as a reward for staying. Months back he did come out and say that if he
didn’t win the title he would retire but the geniuses on the booking staff
forgot about it the moment the words got out of his mouth. Despite Vince not
considering him a main event player Christian has been a major success upon his
WWE return and he has brought out the best in Swagger. This may be booked as an
old style ECW match with everything and the kitchen sink being part of it. If
that is the case then we will see the return of blood since that was part of
what extreme was along with great booking. In the spirit of good booking I would
have Tommy win then announce his retirement on Tuesday’s ECW and get named the
ECW GM so he can return Tiffany to her status as eye candy. If that isn’t going
to happen you have two options-Christian wins and gives Tommy a proper send off
or Swagger wins and you name Tommy GM to make Jack’s life miserable. |
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BO'S REVIEW:
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The match was set up with a backstage
interview with Christian that had him say that Dreamer was his friend but he was
going to keep the belt. Dreamer then came in to say that he was going to win the
belt. Swagger walked thru and tried to get into the conversation but both left
him standing there. It was a cool way to set things up and showed that Swagger
is a pretty big guy compared to the other two. It was mentioned in commentary
that Dreamer’s contract actually expired on Saturday but GM Tiffany gave him a
one day extension. I was hoping to see the New Jack shopping cart of doom
brought out by Dreamer but that didn’t happen. There were some good spots here
and a liberal usage of weapons including garbage cans, a Singapore cane and a
crutch. Dreamer won here with a sick looking DDT on Swagger and is now the ECW
champion. He celebrated inside and outside the ring. We didn’t see any blood
here so the anti-blood policy is still ongoing. |
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HOG PEN MATCH:
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Miss WrestleMania Vickie Guerrero vs. Santina
Marella |
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BO'S PREDICTION:
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The last hog pen matches I remember were when the then WWF had
the Godwinn brothers on the roster and one of the most well known hog pen
matches was between Henry Godwinn and a skinny guy named Hunter Hearst Helmsley.
It was most notable for one if the participants (HHH, as I semi remember)
getting a cut on his back that almost got seriously infected. The nature of the
match isn’t extreme but comedic and with the participants involved it will be
more so. Vickie will probably win here with help from Chavo but will be covered
with slop anyway since there is no way not to be in the match. |
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BO'S REVIEW:
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Jerry Lawler set up the match inside the new
and improved hog pen. The hogs were in a separate part of it and the floor was
mud. There were slop buckets inside. Vickie dragged Chavo out with her and
turned the match into a handicap match by adding him to it even though he wasn’t
dressed to wrestle. Santina threw mud at Chavo and the two went at it. Chavo had
Vickie come in to pin Santina but when Santina kicked out he grabbed a slop
bucket and ended up nailing her with it. From that point on the three of them
wallowed in the mud and Santina pinned Vickie to once again become Miss
WrestleMania. This set up a backstage segment in which Golddust made fun of her
since she smelled like you know what. Once she and Chavo got into her office
Edge was there and they argued until he asked for a divorce. |
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STEEL CAGE MATCH:
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Randy Orton (c) vs. Batista |
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BO'S PREDICTION:
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If this was really extreme rules then this match would take place
in a Hell in the Cell but since the WWE doesn’t want to use the Cell yet we will
have to settle. The Flair/Orton parking lot match on Raw really set this up with
Flair out cold in the cage and Batista threatening to kill Orton as he looked
through the cage. This match will have blood simply because heads will be thrown
into the mesh and that is going to cut you if it happens often enough. I don’t
expect Batista to win here because Orton is an entertaining heel champ and if
Batista wins then what do you do when HHH comes back? You could have HHH cost
Orton the match and continue their program while Batista works with the winner
of the Cena/Show match and in doing so have two main event style programs going
at the same time. It all depends on when HHH decides to come out from the back
and wrestle again. If he wants to sell his ‘injury’ at the foot of Orton a
little longer then Orton keeps the belt, if not Batista is the new champ.
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BO'S REVIEW:
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Orton started the match trying to climb out
of the cage but was dragged back in by Batista. The action here went back and
forth and we didn’t see any blood here either even though both were thrown into
the cage. Batista won clean here with a Batista bomb to become the new champion.
There was no outside interference of any kind here and that was kind of
refreshing. The match wasn’t long either which meant the main event ladder match
was going to have enough time to impress. |
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SUBMISSION MATCH:
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John Cena vs. Big Show |
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BO'S PREDICTION:
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If there was ever an example of the lack of long term thinking in
the WWE it’s this match. The Unforgiven PPV has been changed to a PPV in which
every match has a submission stipulation. So if Cena and Show are having a
submission match here then what would be the point of booking either of them on
that card? It’s nice that Show has learned a new move and all that but this
could have been booked as an I Quit match and would have been decent. Instead we
will see Cena try to put Show in the STF and fail a few times before he gets the
hold on and Show taps out. |
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BO'S REVIEW:
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This match was dull but it wasn’t because of
the participants. Submission matches are usually slow and don’t carry a lot of
heat and this was no exception. There was a cool spot that had Show swat Cena
across the ring and out of it. We saw Cena try to get the STF on Show and fail a
few times but after dropping him with the attitude adjustment he wrapped one of
Show’s legs in the ropes and put the crossface on him. Show’s leg came out of
the ropes so the camera angle changed so viewers couldn’t see it. Show tapped
here and Cena won again. As was mentioned in the preview for this match the
Unforgiven PPV is now called Submission Sunday (or something like that) and if
all the matches are like this one then I am going to need a lot of Mountain Dew
to stay awake during it. |
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LADDER MATCH:
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Edge (c) vs. Jeff Hardy |
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BO'S PREDICTION:
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Once again we have Edge and Jeff Hardy working with a tool that
they have each mastered-the ladder. This gives them an excuse to jump onto, off
of and use against each other in any method possible. Now we know that there
will be more items introduced into this match besides a ladder. We are going to
see tables, chairs, garbage cans and whatever else used except for lighter
fluid. We have seen this all before but we are still going to be amazed at what
the two of them are going to do and wince at the carnage that leads up to the
ending. The Hardy contract situation is still up in the air and that may pay a
part in the finish. Edge is more interesting when he doesn’t have the belt
because he whines and freaks out a lot but if Jeff is going to take his planned
vacation from the WWE then he should keep the belt. Vince loves to pull a swerve
so he may just have Jeff win because we think he isn’t going to but I think that
Edge wins anyway. |
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BO'S REVIEW:
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The ring, the ramp and the entrance
were filled with ladders. The match started with Jeff bringing in a ladder and
having it kicked into him by Edge and from there we saw crazy move after crazy
move. During the course of this must see match we saw: Edge spearing a ladder,
Jeff putting a ladder upside down and dropping Edge into the middle of it, a
twist of fate from the top of two ladders, Jeff hanging from the suspended belt,
both falling from a ladder onto a ladder straddling the ring and the barrier, a
whisper in the wind from the top of a ladder and ended with Edge getting
crucified on a ladder while Jeff grabbed the belt and became new champion. This
was followed by JR entering the ring to interview Jeff and CM Punk coming out to
cash in the briefcase. Once the bell rung he hit Jeff with the GTS but Jeff
kicked out. Jeff then almost pinned him but Punk kicked out and nailed him with
another GTS to become the new champion. It was a crazy finish to a crazy match.
The show also ended at about five minutes to 10:00 so for the second time this
year Vince has pushed the ending time back to let the matches go longer. |
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This was a damn good card considering the underwhelming opener. I
think a lot of that was due to the stellar main event but the Jericho/Rey match
and the ECW match were put together well. I do hope that when next year’s
Extreme Rules PPV happens then for at least one night blood will be reintroduced
to the WWE. I do hope that there are no comedy matches included on the card next
year since it doesn’t match the concept of the PPV. The backstage part of the
Vickie match was more interesting than the match itself because it started the
conclusion of the Vickie/Edge angle.
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Photo ©
2009 WWE/World Wrestling Entertainment
Article © 2009 Alternate Reality, Inc. |
