WWE
WWE snatched defeat from the jaws of victory at Sunday’s The Horror Show at Extreme Rules pay-per-view.
The card was interesting and had a chance to lay an epic foundation for SummerSlam, the second-biggest show of the year. Superstars known for putting on amazing matches put on amazing matches.
But the finishes to certain bouts botched all potential and momentum.
Certain matches, like the Rey Mysterio vs. Seth Rollins encounter in an “Eye for an Eye match” that had the potential to be a fun, pre-taped cinematic encounter with a goofy wrestling finish. And while some of the action briefly flirted with “dream match” status between a modern great and a legend like The Master of the 619, a miserable finish derailed things.
To close out the weirdly stipulated contest, Rollins again hit Mysterio in the eye with a steel staircase. As if that wasn’t silly enough, the veteran acted like he lost an eye, an announcer mentioned “it’s out” and Rollins then…puked.
It was an impossible stipulation to pull off a proper finish with if it wasn’t a cinematic match, and the fact that Rollins was forcefully vomiting and the paramedics on the scene didn’t appear ready despite knowing the stipulation beforehand was about as cringeworthy as it gets.
And that was just the beginning for bad finishes.
Fast forward to the Raw women’s title match between Asuka and challenger Sasha Banks. A superb in-ring match as expected with plenty at stake over the long term for the latter given the dynamic with her partner, fellow tag champ and SmackDown women’s champion Bayley going into SummerSlam.
Instead, things got wickedly goofy at the end of the match, with the referee taking Asuka’s green mist to the face, Bayley stealing and donning the official’s striped shirt and giving The Boss a three-count to win the title. Nobody from the back intervened and suddenly a pay-per-view match technically featuring every top women’s title outright was a messy no-contest.
In other words, no dynamic potential rift between the two friends heading into SummerSlam on August 23 and no strong finish for either match contender. Despite the potential for some engaging developments, a messy finish that smells like a Raw ratings grab for the upcoming Monday show, when WWE will likely call off the finish, call for a rematch right away or something else.
And then there was the Wyatt Swamp Fight between Braun Strowman and Bray Wyatt, a disaster of a mostly boring affair compared to the expectations set by previous cinematic encounters featuring names such as Undertaker, John Cena and others.
Which isn’t to say there weren’t some great moments, such as the Alexa Bliss appearance. But the bar was set so high by other Superstars in these positions that the mystical presence of Wyatt, Strowman’s past and the inevitable appearance of The Fiend created similar expectations.
But it just didn’t deliver. Strowman meandered about the place yelling, Wyatt popped in and out, the swamp setting didn’t feature the way it could have, and The Fiend’s predictable appearance closed the show.
Sometimes the booking of finishes steals the spotlight and ruins an otherwise good show. That was the case here.
Nikki Cross had a great match with Bayley. Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura stealing tag gold from The New Day was fantastic. Dolph Ziggler came with an amazing stipulation for his clearly unwinnable title match against Drew McIntyre, and the champion put on yet another great performance, fully showing he’s deserving of top-dog status.
But nothing that happened does much for SummerSlam, which is a massive problem. There was an expectation going into Sunday that this pay-per-view was merely a transitional one to lay the groundwork for feuds and stories that will headline the August 23 spectacle.
The needle hasn’t moved on much, though. Rollins is in no man’s land. Randy Orton was nowhere to be seen. The Banks and Bayley saga might remain in a holding pattern well past the August event. Strowman is still in an obvious “wait for The Fiend” mode. McIntyre doesn’t have a challenger.
One could make the argument that’s what the weekly broadcasts are for ahead of SummerSlam. But ratings are down to the point WWE is seemingly holding names like Orton off of events like Extreme Rules specifically to draw eyeballs to Raw. The Asuka-Banks situation clearly looks like another ratings grab.
And if the ratings remain down anyway after a card highlighted by bad finishes, it’s going to be nearly impossible for the company to properly build hype for SummerSlam. There won’t be a Roman Reigns or some big-named outsider to hype the event. If Brock Lesnar were on his way back, WWE probably would’ve made it known already.
Like some of the finishes Sunday night, the initial hype rollout for SummerSlam has been botched. It wasn’t really a mistake WWE could afford during this audience-less era, and what highlights the issue so much more is simple: Sunday’s initial card looked like the perfect opportunity to get the ball rolling in many of these areas.
Equally impactful in the disappointing column is the fact that fans know WWE can do so much better with its back against the wall like this. A show like WrestleMania 36 was stunning in this way; Sunday night, not so much.
Luckily for WWE, there’s always an out: McIntyre is as impressive as it gets as a top guy, The Fiend will make for a great PPV highlight, and Bayley and Banks are talented enough to make this work.
But if fans aren’t encouraged to watch the weekly programming to see the builds because Extreme Rules had so many quizzical rough spots, SummerSlam won’t have the hype WWE would prefer for the biggest non-WrestleMania show of the year.