Hulk Hogan is officially backstage at tonight’s WWE pay-per-view.
After the company announced that he’s been reinstated into their Hall of Fame, Hogan sent out a tweet this afternoon about meeting with the WWE roster at Extreme Rules: “Just met with the @WWE Superstars and on all levels the volume of love and support was overwhelming. I’ve been praying for this day and I finally feel like I made it back home. Only Love 4 the #WWEUNIVERSE brother HH”
Dave Meltzer notes that Hogan apologized to everyone for the racist rant that led to Hogan being fired from WWE in July 2015. Meltzer added that there were wrestlers cheering for Hogan and congratulating and hugging him.
PWInsider first reported the details of Hogan’s apology. They wrote that Hogan reminded everyone to always think about what they’re saying and that, in today’s day and age, “they have to remember that there are always cameras everywhere and they could be recorded even when they don’t realize they are.”
WWE also confirmed on the Extreme Rules pre-show that Hogan is backstage at the PPV. As of now, that and him being reinstated into the Hall of Fame is all that WWE has announced about his status with the company.
WWE’s final pay-per-view before SummerSlam takes place tonight as the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania hosts Extreme Rules.
While the originally announced multi-man number one contender’s match was canceled, the show could still get us closer to finding out Brock Lesnar’s next challenger. Roman Reigns and Bobby Lashley have been positioned as two contenders for Lesnar’s Universal Championship and will face off tonight.
We’re looking for your thoughts on tonight’s show so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected]
Ronda Rousey will appear despite her storyline suspension. She’ll be front row for Alexa Bliss and Nia Jax’s extreme rules match for the Raw Women’s Championship. The Intercontinental title will also be on the line as Dolph Ziggler defends against Seth Rollins in a 30-minute Iron Man match.
In Raw’s other matches, Braun Strowman faces Kevin Owens inside a steel cage, Finn Balor takes on Baron Corbin, and The B-Team challenge for Matt Hardy & Bray Wyatt’s Tag Team titles.
On the SmackDown side, AJ Styles will defend his WWE Championship against Rusev, Daniel Bryan & Kane challenge for The Bludgeon Brothers’ Tag Team titles, Shinsuke Nakamura gets a shot at United States Champion Jeff Hardy, and, with James Ellsworth above the ring in a shark cage, Carmella defends her Women’s Championship against Asuka.
The New Day vs. SAnitY in a tables match and Andrade “Cien” Almas vs. Sin Cara are also set for the pre-show, which begins at 6 p.m. Eastern time.
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By Dave Meltzer
ANDRADE CIEN ALMAS VS. SIN CARA
Similar to their TV mattch on Tuesday but not quiet as good. Sin Cara got a lot of offense and hit a frog splash but Zelina Vega distracted the ref. Almas won with a running dropkick the double knees into the corner and the hammerlock DDT. A little sloppy as Sin Cara tried a huracanrana off the apron to the floor but completeley missed and Almas took the bump to the floor anyway.
SANITY VS. NEW DAY TABLES MATCH
Eric Young was on the middle rope. Alexander Wolfe was biting Kingston as Kingston tried a German suplex off the apron through a table. Young came off the ropes with an elbow that put Kingston through the table so Sanity won. Kingston, Woods and Killian Dain all did dives early and there was a big spot where Woods & Big E both had Wolfe & Young up on his shoulders and and Kingston came off the top rope with a double foot stomp onto Wolfe & Young when they were in that position. It was really not much except for the stunts but that’s what the match is about.
They are pushing that Hulk Hogan and Ronda Rousey are both there and showed Rousey and Travis Browne backstage.
MATT HARDY & BRAY WYATT VS. BO DALLAS & CURTIS AXEL FOR RAW TAG TITLES
Axel & Dallas won the titles when Hardy was knocked into Wyatt and Dallas gave Matt a draping neckbreaker and pinned him. Short match that was fine. It was what you’d think it would be. There was a nice pop for the title change.
Carly Caruso interviewed Dallas & Axel on the stage. Axel talked asked how did Stretch Armstrong feel when he ladned on the moon. Dallas led fans in chanting B Team. Tehy were over as a cult thing.
Kurt Angle interview said Brock Lesnar isn’t interested in returning. This is a work. Kurt said Brock refuses to face any opponent. He said that either Brock shows up tomorrow on Raw, or he can come to an agreement for the date of his next title shot, or he’ll be stripped of the title. Obviously they are pushing hard to build tomorrow’s rating after last week.
FINN BALOR VS. BARON CORBIN
Match was fine. Basically an average match everything looked fine but never got out of second gear. Balor was on the top rope for the coup de grace but Corbin shook the ropes and Balor was crotched. Corbin went for the End of Days and Balor used a small package to get the pin. This is the same thing they did at the house shows.
The Bludeon Brothers are destroying Team Hell No backstage. They threw Bryan into the garage door and then Rowan hit Kane in the knee with his mallet. Paige showed up and and asked for medical help.
CARMELLA VS. ASUKA FOR THE SMACKDOWN WOMEN’S TITLE WITH JAMES ELLSWORTH IN A SHARK CAGE
Carmella retained when Carmella shoved Asuka’s head into the shark cage and pinned her. The match was short and there wasn’t to it as far as a match went. Ellsworth threw down a chain early but Asuka got it away but didn’t use it. Then Ellsworth threw down hair spray but Asuka blocked using that. Ellsworth picked the lock of the shark cage and tried to escape but ended up getting his foot caught on purpose and was hanging upside down. Asuka was kicking the hell out of Ellsworth. A bunch of guys came out to put Ellsworth back in the cage by lowering it and getting him back in. Asuka threw them around and they left. Carmella came from behind and threw Asuka into the shark cage. Carmella came from behind and threw Asuka into the cage. This was more entertaining than their last match becaus of the Ellsworth antics. Also Asuka got more offense..
Asuka kicked the hell out of Ellsworth and gave him two German suplxes and kicked him in the head and finished him with the Asuka lock.
JEFF HARDY VS. SaHINSUKE NAKAMURA FOR U.S. TITLE
Nakamura gave him a low blow before the bell. The bell rang and Nakamura hit the Kinshasa and got the pin in five seconds. Nakamura’s mannerisms were great,
This was done to set up Randy Orton coming back. Orton came out and gave Hardy a stomp to the groin. It was supposed to be a heel turn but people didn’t boo Orton. Orton then walked out. Nakamura looked like he was confused by all this.
KEVIN OWENS VS. BRAUN STROWMAN CAGE MATCH
Owens won the match when both were standing on the top of the cage and Strowman threw Owens off and Owens fell back first through a table. That was a completely unnecessary risk. The match itself wasn’t much. Mostly Strowman throwing him aorund until Owens handcuffed him to the corner. Owens beat him up and went to climb out of the cage when Strowman broke the handcuffs, climbed to the top of the cage and they went right to the finish. Owens went out on a stretcher. The impression I had is that there was no great concern nor did it appear to be a real injury but you can’t take a bump like that without taking a big risk. It was basically a copy of the 1998 Mick Foley bump.
LUKE HARPER & ERICK ROWAN VS. DANIEL BRYAN FOR THE TAG TITLES IN WHAT APPEARS TO BE A HANDICAP MATCH UNTIL KANE COMES OUT
Good for what it was. They beat up Bryan until a dive spot where Bryan did a tope on Rowan, but Rowan held Bryan for Harper to do a tope. Kane then came out with a walking boot out. He made a hot tag and choke slammed both Harper and Rowan. He tried for a tombstone but couldn’t get it. Bryan tagged in and the place went nuts for his yes kick comeback. But Rowan took him out with a spin kick and they used a doomsday device on Bryan and Harper pinned him.
Roman Reigns was backstage. The B team said if you beat Bobby we can all be part of the B Team. Reigns looked at them like they were goofs. They kept celebrating.
ROMAN REIGNS VS. BOBBY LASHLEY
This was a very good match. The crowd tried to crap on it early but they were really into it in the last few minutes. The finish was Reigns going for the spear but instead Lashley hit him with a spear and got the pin. There were some cool spots iincluding Lashley doing an overhead belly-to-belly onto the German announce table. Lashley went for a spear but was hit with a Superman punch. Reigns also gave him a Superman punch when Lashley was on the top rope. Reigns kicked out of Lashley’s vertical suplex. Lashley took a fireman’s carry and was dropped over the top rope and landed hard on his shoulder which was a bad looking fall..
ALEXA BLISS VS. NIA JAX FOR THE RAW WOMEN’S TITLE IN AN EXTREME RULES MATCH
This was pure chaos. Lots of weapons were used. Mickie James kept interfering and Natlaya tried to stop James from interfering. Bliss & James were beating on Natalya when Ronda Rousey hopped the rail and she threw James around., The crowd went nuts for Rouseuy and she showed great intensity as she threw James into the barricade, the German table and gave her a judo throw in the ring. They got Rousey out of there and Bliss came off the top rope but Jax caught her. Jax went to give her a Samoan drop but James started hitting Jax with chair shots. Bliss hit her Jax with a few chair shots and then pinned her after a DDT on a chair. This was a short match and all chaos so it was good for what it was supposed to be. Rousey again went over Bliss after the match. .
They announced Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Jeff Hardy for the U.S. title on Tuesday.
A.J. STYLES VS. RUSEV FOR THE WWE TITLE
This was easily the best match so far. Good story telling, great excecution, both worked great. Rusev has dropped a lot of weight and was easily in the best shape since he’s been with the company. Styles worked him over with low kicks and it paid off later as Rusev sold the leg and could never fully get the accolade. Aiden English undid the padding on one turnbuckle. Rusev in chasing Styles ran into the turnbuckle. Styles hit a springboard 450 but Rusev kicked out. Styles gave English a sliding kick to knock him to the floor and pinned Ruseve clean with a phenomenal forearm.
DOLPH ZIGGLER VS. SETH ROLLINS FOR THE IC TITLE IN AN IRON MAN MATCH
So this was something. The match was a big disappointment for a lot of reasons. The story behind the match is that the crowd kept reacting to the clock and backstage they didn’t like it so they took the clock off the screen in the arena. Then fans started doing countdowns and fake buzzers over and over and didn’t care about the match. Then Kevin Dunn made the call to put the clock back up and the crowd still did countdowns and fake buzzer sounds. The guys worked hard and showed good stamina but the crowd lack of reaction made the match seem like a backdrop. Then the finish made no sense.
Rollins won the first fall with a buckle bomb and la magistral cradle. He won the second fall with a curb stomp. He won the third fall via DQ when Drew McIntyre destroyed him including using a Claymore kick. McIntyre was thrown out. Ziggler then got his first pin. He got his second pin with a superkick and a third pin with a zig zag. For the seventh fall, Rollins went for a tope but Ziggler hit him with a palm thrust and pinned him using the ropes making it 4-3 for Ziggler. Rollins catapulted Ziggler into the corner and pinned him to tie it up. Time ran out and it looked like it was tied. Kurt Angle then came out and said fans in Pittsburgh deserve a winner and restarted it. So it started and then Rollins went after McIntyre, who came back out and Ziggler used a zig zag and got the pin. It made no sense that Angle restarted it but then didn’t restart it after that interference finish. We’ll talk about the announcing later.
On the last episode of Raw before the pay-per-view, another stipulation match was added to the card for Extreme Rules.
WWE announced that Braun Strowman will be facing Kevin Owens in a steel cage match on Sunday. After Strowman trapped Owens in a porta-potty and tackled it off the stage last week, their storyline tonight was that Owens hid from Strowman in Kurt Angle’s office and had a doctor’s note that said he couldn’t compete. It led to Strowman eventually coming into the office and Angle making the match for Extreme Rules.
Raw Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss vs. Nia Jax in an extreme rules match and Intercontinental Champion Dolph Ziggler vs. Seth Rollins in a 30-minute Iron Man match are the other stipulation matches that are set for Sunday’s PPV in Pittsburgh.
The card for Extreme Rules is now up to 10 matches. Here’s the updated lineup:
WWE Champion AJ Styles defending against Rusev
Roman Reigns vs. Bobby Lashley
Raw Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss defending against Nia Jax in an extreme rules match
Intercontinental Champion Dolph Ziggler defending against Seth Rollins in a 30-minute Iron Man match
SmackDown Women’s Champion Carmella defending against Asuka
United States Champion Jeff Hardy defending against Shinsuke Nakamura
SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Bludgeon Brothers (Harper & Rowan) defending against Team Hell No (Daniel Bryan & Kane)
Braun Strowman vs. Kevin Owens in a steel cage match
Finn Balor vs. Baron Corbin
Raw Tag Team Champions Matt Hardy & Bray Wyatt defending against The B-Team (Curtis Axel & Bo Dallas)
Nine matches have now been officially announced for Extreme Rules.
Via a video announcement from Cathy Kelley, WWE confirmed today that Finn Balor will face Baron Corbin at the July 15 pay-per-view in Pittsburgh. They’ve been feuding over the last few weeks since Corbin began his “Constable of Raw” gimmick.
Corbin pinned Balor while teaming with Kevin Owens against Balor & Braun Strowman on the June 18 episode of Raw. The next week, Balor & Corbin vs. Strowman & Owens ended in a countout as Balor and Corbin wouldn’t stop fighting with each other after Corbin tagged himself in. Corbin then mocked Balor and demanded an apology from him on this Monday’s show.
The segment ended with Balor calling Corbin “Stephanie McMahon’s stooge” and Corbin cheap shotting him before backing off when Balor hit a slingblade and a dropkick.
Here’s the updated card for Extreme Rules:
WWE Champion AJ Styles defending against Rusev
Raw Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss defending against Nia Jax in an extreme rules match
Roman Reigns vs. Bobby Lashley
SmackDown Women’s Champion Carmella defending against Asuka
Intercontinental Champion Dolph Ziggler defending against Seth Rollins in a 30-minute Iron Man match
United States Champion Jeff Hardy defending against Shinsuke Nakamura
SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Bludgeon Brothers (Harper & Rowan) defending against Team Hell No (Daniel Bryan & Kane)
Finn Balor vs. Baron Corbin
Raw Tag Team Champions Matt Hardy & Bray Wyatt defending against The B-Team (Curtis Axel & Bo Dallas)
It appears that Shinsuke Nakamura’s dog-bite injury won’t keep him from wrestling at Extreme Rules.
On tonight’s SmackDown, WWE announced that Jeff Hardy would be defending his United States Championship against Nakamura at the pay-per-view. The match was originally scheduled for the June 26 edition of SmackDown, but WWE pulled Nakamura from the episode after he was bit on the left leg by a police dog at the Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield, California on the morning of WWE’s June 25 house show at the venue.
While using a crutch, Nakamura appeared at SmackDown’s house shows in Tokyo and Taipei this weekend but didn’t wrestle. He did an interview with Nikkan Sports while in Japan and said that he expected to be out of action for two more weeks, which would allow him to return in time for Extreme Rules.
Hardy defeated The Miz in a US Championship open challenge on tonight’s SmackDown. A promo from Nakamura also aired, with him promising to take Hardy’s pride, honor, and title.
The PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania will host Extreme Rules on July 15. Here’s the updated card:
WWE Champion AJ Styles defending against Rusev
Raw Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss defending against Nia Jax in an extreme rules match
SmackDown Women’s Champion Carmella defending against Asuka
Roman Reigns vs. Bobby Lashley
Intercontinental Champion Dolph Ziggler defending against Seth Rollins in a 30-minute Iron Man match
United States Champion Jeff Hardy defending against Shinsuke Nakamura
SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Bludgeon Brothers (Harper & Rowan) defending against Team Hell No (Daniel Bryan & Kane)
Raw Tag Team Champions Matt Hardy & Bray Wyatt defending against The B-Team (Curtis Axel & Bo Dallas)
After it was teased last week, Roman Reigns vs. Bobby Lashley is now official for Extreme Rules.
That was announced in the aftermath of Reigns & Lashley facing The Revival again on Raw tonight. The story of the match was that Reigns, who was wrestling in his second match on the show and was beaten down earlier in the night, refused to tag Lashley in. It ended in a disqualification when Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder were both in the ring and wouldn’t stop attacking Reigns, with Lashley walking out on him during the attack.
Reigns teamed with Seth Rollins against Drew McIntyre & Dolph Ziggler in his first match on the episode. The Revival interrupted it for the DQ and ended up laying out Reigns with the Shatter Machine.
Following their match tonight, Reigns went to Kurt Angle’s office wanting to face Lashley at the pay-per-view. Angle informed him that Lashley wanted it as well. They were originally the only two wrestlers confirmed for the multi-man number one contender’s match at Extreme Rules before WWE canceled it due to the storyline where negotiations for Universal Champion Brock Lesnar’s next title defense fell through.
There are now seven matches officially announced for Extreme Rules, which will take place at the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh on July 15. Here’s the updated card:
WWE Champion AJ Styles defending against Rusev
Raw Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss defending against Nia Jax in an extreme rules match
SmackDown Women’s Champion Carmella defending against Asuka
Roman Reigns vs. Bobby Lashley
Intercontinental Champion Dolph Ziggler defending against Seth Rollins in a 30-minute Iron Man match
SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Bludgeon Brothers (Harper & Rowan) defending against Team Hell No (Daniel Bryan & Kane)
Raw Tag Team Champions Matt Hardy & Bray Wyatt defending against The B-Team (Curtis Axel & Bo Dallas)
Despite being suspended for 30 days in storyline, it looks like Ronda Rousey will be making an on-camera appearance at Extreme Rules after all.
WWE posted video of a brief sit-down interview with Rousey today where Rousey said she’d be in attendance for Alexa Bliss’ Raw Women’s Championship defense against Nia Jax at the pay-per-view. “Even though I’m suspended from Raw, I’m not suspended from Extreme Rules,” Rousey said. “So, I’m going to be buying a ticket. It’s going to be a front row ticket.”
Rousey’s storyline suspension began on the June 18 episode of Raw following an angle where she went on a rampage, attacking Bliss, Kurt Angle, and referees. The attack was revenge for Bliss cashing in her briefcase during Jax vs. Rousey at Money in the Bank and then mocking Rousey on Raw.
Rousey will also be in action at this weekend’s house shows in Philadelphia, New York City (Madison Square Garden), and Bridgeport.
Extreme Rules is taking place at the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh on July 15.
Click play below to watch Rousey’s interview with Renee Young:
After being set up as the next challengers prior to Money in the Bank, The B-Team (Curtis Axel & Bo Dallas) will finally get their Raw Tag Team title shot at next month’s pay-per-view.
Matt Hardy & Bray Wyatt defending their titles against Axel & Dallas was confirmed for Extreme Rules on tonight’s Raw. Axel & Dallas won a number one contender’s tag team battle royal on the June 4 episode of the show to earn the title shot.
Axel countered a superplex into a crossbody to defeat Hardy in a singles match this week. Hardy and Wyatt then applauded Axel, with the storyline being that The B-Team didn’t know what to make of them.
Extreme Rules is taking place at the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on July 15. As of now, WWE Champion AJ Styles defending against Rusev and Nia Jax challenging for Alexa Bliss’ Raw Women’s Championship are the only other matches officially announced for the PPV.
The multi-man number one contender’s match that had previously been announced for Extreme Rules apparently won’t be happening.
Tonight’s Raw opened with a segment where WWE had Kurt Angle announce that, due to a storyline where there was a snag in negotiations with Universal Champion Brock Lesnar, the match to decide Lesnar’s next challenger was — at least for now — no longer on the table. A singles match between Roman Reigns and Bobby Lashley, who were the only two wrestlers confirmed for the multi-man, was instead teased.
Reigns & Lashley lost a tag team match to The Revival, with tension between them leading to Dash Wilder rolling up Reigns. Reigns also appeared later in the show and helped Seth Rollins even the odds against Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre.
Paul Heyman continued the angle with Lesnar over the weekend, writing a Facebook post where he said Lesnar was going to focus on “more pressing, ‘Ultimate’ opportunities” until someone proves that they’re worthy of challenging for the Universal title.
There will be two more episodes of Raw building to Extreme Rules before the pay-per-view takes place on July 15.
SmackDown has its main event for next month’s Extreme Rules pay-per-view.
Rusev won a number one contender’s gauntlet match on SmackDown tonight and will be challenging for AJ Styles’ WWE Championship at Extreme Rules. Rusev entered the gauntlet last before submitting The Miz to win.
Styles came into the ring after the match and shook hands with Rusev. Aiden English then extended his hand to Styles until pulling it back and mocking him. Styles laid out English to close the show.
The story for much of the gauntlet revolved around Daniel Bryan. He entered first, with his entrance interrupting The Bludgeon Brothers, who had just retained their SmackDown Tag Team titles against Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson. Bryan defeated Big E, beat Samoa Joe by countout, and then was attacked by Harper & Rowan before losing to Miz.
Extreme Rules is taking place at the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on July 15. Here’s the updated card:
WWE Champion AJ Styles defending against Rusev
Number one contender’s match for a future shot at Universal Champion Brock Lesnar (Roman Reigns and Bobby Lashley already confirmed)
Raw Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss defending against Nia Jax
Raw’s main event at Extreme Rules will be a multi-man match to decide Brock Lesnar’s next challenger.
WWE had Kurt Angle announce that news on Raw tonight, with the winner presumably facing Lesnar for the Universal Championship at SummerSlam. Roman Reigns interrupted Angle and called himself the uncrowned champion, Bobby Lashley came out to say Reigns doesn’t have what it takes to beat Lesnar, and Angle said they would both be in the multi-man match.
The Revival interrupted next before being defeated by Reigns & Lashley. Lashley blind-tagged himself in at the finish and won with a spear.
Finn Balor lobbied for one of the other spots in the multi-man in a backstage segment, which resulted in Balor & Braun Strowman vs. Kevin Owens & Baron Corbin being made for tonight. Elias also sang a song about wanting to face Lesnar.
WWE hasn’t confirmed how many other wrestlers will be joining Reigns and Lashley in the multi-man at Extreme Rules or how they’ll be decided on television. The pay-per-view is being held at the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on July 15.
