Kofi Kingston will defend his WWE Championship against Samoa Joe at the pay-per-view. Their program began on last night’s Raw, with Joe attacking Kingston and putting him in the Coquina Clutch after Kingston defeated Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens in singles matches.
WWE also posted a video where Dolph Ziggler was unhappy about Kingston vs. Joe being made for Extreme Rules.
Tonight’s SmackDown will feature Kingston responding to Joe’s attack.
Kingston retained the WWE title against Ziggler in a steel cage match at Stomping Grounds on Sunday, while Joe lost the United States Championship to Ricochet.
Extreme Rules is taking place at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on July 14. Universal Champion Seth Rollins & Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch will face Baron Corbin & Lacey Evans at the PPV, and Roman Reigns & The Undertaker will team against Shane McMahon & Drew McIntyre.
Rollins & Lynch vs. Corbin & Evans has a winners-take-all stipulation, with both the Universal and Raw Women’s Championships on the line as part of the match.
The Undertaker is officially set for a match at Extreme Rules.
Roman Reigns & The Undertaker will take on Shane McMahon & Drew McIntyre at Extreme Rules. The pay-per-view is being held at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on July 14.
The match was set up by The Undertaker’s surprise appearance on tonight’s post-Stomping Grounds edition of Raw. Shane & McIntyre faced Reigns in a handicap match where they could be in the ring at the same time and didn’t have to make tags. Undertaker made the save for Reigns and took out both Shane & McIntyre.
This will be the second time that The Undertaker has wrestled in 2019. He defeated Goldberg at Super ShowDown in Saudi Arabia earlier this month.
In what appeared like it was going to be Undertaker’s retirement match at the time, Reigns defeated Undertaker at WrestleMania 33 in 2017
Universal Champion Seth Rollins & Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch vs. Baron Corbin & Lacey Evans has also been confirmed for Extreme Rules. The Universal and Raw Women’s Championships will both be on the line, with the winning team getting the respective titles.
After it was set up at Stomping Grounds, WWE has made a mixed tag match official for Extreme Rules.
Universal Champion Seth Rollins & Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch will team against Baron Corbin & Lacey Evans at Extreme Rules. Rollins and Lynch’s titles will both be on the line in the match, with the winning team getting the respective titles.
Rollins & Lynch kicked off tonight’s post-Stomping Grounds episode of Raw. They were interrupted by Corbin’s music, with Evans then ambushing Lynch. Rollins & Lynch fought Corbin & Evans off, then Corbin & Evans proposed the mixed tag match for Extreme Rules.
Lynch accepted under the condition that Corbin & Evans couldn’t get another shot against Rollins & Lynch if they lost. Corbin & Evans wanted another stipulation, and Rollins accepted without hearing what it was. Corbin then said Rollins and Lynch’s titles would both be on the line in the match.
Rollins retained the Universal Championship against Corbin in the main event of Stomping Grounds, while Lynch retained her Raw Women’s title against Evans in the opening match of the main card. Evans was the special guest referee for Rollins vs. Corbin but was taken out by Lynch at the end of the match.
Extreme Rules is taking place at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on July 14.
We’re looking for reports on the non-Raw matches, dark or Main Event stuff from Everett, WA tonight as well as from the NXT shows in San Antonio, Houston and Oklahoma City and the Pro Wrestling Revolution show in San Francisco on Saturday to [email protected]
We’re also looking for your thoughts on Stomping Grounds last night, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected]” target=”_blank”>[email protected]
Raw is Monday night from Everett, WA. Announced so far is Ricochet vs. A.J. Styles in a non-title match, plus Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre & Shane McMahon.
NEW JAPAN FROM SENDAI AT 5:30 A.M. EASTERN MONDAY ON NEW JAPAN WORLD
Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Yuji Nagata & Yota Tsuji
Ren Narita & Shota Umino & Tomoaki Honma & Togi Makabe & Kota Ibushi vs. Tetsuya Naito & Evil & Sanada & Bushi & Shingo Takagi
Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa vs. Juice Robinson & Mikey Nicholls non-title
Sho & Yoh & Toa Henare & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Jay White & Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens & Taiji Ishimori
More than two months removed from the first women’s WrestleMania main event, the WWE women’s division is struggling to regain the momentum it had earlier this year.
In a rematch from Money in the Bank, Becky Lynch will defend her Raw Women’s Championship against Lacey Evans at Stomping Grounds. Bayley and Alexa Bliss will look to improve upon their underwhelming feud from 2017 as they face off for the SmackDown Women’s Championship at the pay-per-view.
A look at what we can learn from the ticket sales to AEW’s All Out show, the ticket demand, how it compares with WrestleMania’s and major UFC events, details on the number, why the secondary market tickets are so limited, why ticket demand was so strong out of the block, reaction of the ticket industry, details on the process used for selling the ticket and what the number mean, and rate of sales for the biggest WrestleMania.
Also have a look at WWE Stomping Grounds, including ticket demand, lineup, thoughts on the matches, interest in Super Showdown and more.
Read a preview of the G-1 Climax tournament, with the lineups, who are the favorites, different storyline directions, what matches will air on television, live broadcast times of every show on the tour and more.
Take a look at Adrian “Lionheart” McCallum and his recovery from a broken neck to become a U.K. star, and the sad ending of his life.
Also look at cities being considered for WrestleMania, what city is a favorite for the next two years, value of WWE to FOX and FOX Friday numbers, WWE gets an Espy, full card for next Takeover, update on XFL, death of AAF and how they are related, more Ric Flair legal issues, funny stories on WWE names, new movie with WWE stars, new TV deal, WWE salaries and revenue, and a WWE star honored.
This issue has a complete rundown of Bellator in Madison Square Garden, the plight of Aaron Pico, notes on the new fighters, pushed fighters who lost and match-by-match coverage.
ORDERING INFO: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
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MONDAY NEWS UPDATE
Bryan and I will be back talking Raw, Seth Rollins, Will Ospreay, and whatever other news comes up tonight with Wrestling Observer Radio as wellas taking your e-mail questions to [email protected].
Expect some different ideas tonight for Raw to get around the new ban of wrestling during commercial breaks.
You know how this goes, but it’ll all go down tonight, but the planned main event as of this moment for Extreme Rules in Philadelphia on 7//14 is Baron Corbin & Lacey Evans vs. Seth Rollins & Becky Lynch. With three weeks of TV until the PPV, I’d expect more of the show than usual will be out for a day-after show. Tonight’s show should also get the post-PPV ratings bump so the rule of thumb is to not expect any record low level stuff this week.
New Japan has ordered buysumotickets.com to stop facilitating New Japan Fan Club memberships to people from outside Japan. The fan club is supposed to be for Japan, but fans had gone through sumotickets to join by using proxy Japanese addresses. New Japan has indicated they will be starting an International Fan Club. This avenue had been the best way for foreigners to get premium seats at the major shows. It’s a major blow to the super hardcore American fans that have been flying over for the big events.
Joey Janela should be good to go for Saturday’s Fyter Fest match with Jon Moxley. His hand was bruise and swelled up badly over the weekend in a match in Australia.
WWE
A lot of people have been talking about this document just released from 2016 when the Trump campaign was to research and vet Linda McMahon regarding being appointed to the cabinet. (thanks to Corey Lieb and Christpher Cruise)
Stomping Grounds got 200,000 Google searches yesterday. That’s usual B show numbers, ahead of Super Showdown. It was 7th yesterday. The update for Saturday is that The Paulie Malignaggi vs. Artem Lobov fight was 2nd with 200,000 and the UFC show was fifth with 50,000. The Women’s World Cup game had 5 million on Sunday and the India vs Afghanistan cricket game was first on Saturday.
UFC
A significant light heavyweight fight between ranked fighters between Jim Crute of Australia and Misha Cirkunov of Canada has been added to a 9/14 show in Vancouver, BC.
Melissa Gato has pulled out of her 7/6 fight in Las Vegas. She was to face Julia Avila, who wi9ll now face Pannie Kianzad, who had been released by UFC but is being brought back for this late replacement fight.
Martin Day pulled out of his 7/13 fight with Benito Lopez in Sacramento due to knee surgery. Vince Morales is the name going around as the replacement, although that is not confirmed.
Impact has announced a partnership with the MLS team FC Dallas with Brian Cage attending the 7/4 game at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, TX. Cage at halftime will attempt to score on a penalty kick against FC Dallas mascot Tex Hooper, the bull. He will be doing other promotion for the team. This will build Impact’s 7/7 PPV in Dallas at Gilley’s Dallas where Cage defends against Michael Elgin. Impact officials say that Cage,who suffered a hip injury in Australia over the weekend, is good to go for the PPV show.
Tickets are now on sale for the first day of the New Japan Super J Cup on 8/22 in Tacoma, WA at the Temple Theater. Tickets are on sale at www.njpw1972.com/53769 Defy also has a show featuring some New Japan talent on 8/23 in the same building and tickets will go on sale on 7/5 at 10 a.m. Defy also runs 7/26 and 7/27 with the S8XGP tournament at Seattle’s Washington Hall with Tama Tonga, L.A. Park, Brian Cage, Joey Janela and Artemis Spencer with tickets at www.defywrestling.com
Nick Gage debuts with AAA on a 7/12 AAA/EMW show in Tijuana.
OTT from Sunday in Dublin, Ireland: Puma King b Justy, Jimmy Havoc & Raven Creed b CT Flexor & Valkyrie, Darren Kearney & LJ Cleary & Nathan Martin b Martina & Angel Cruz & B Cool, Scotty Davis b Darby Allin, Bandido b Rey Hours, Mark Haskins b Terry Thatcher via decision to win the gender neutral title, Charlie Sterling & Sha Samuels & Zack Gibson b Aidan Epic & Capt. Sexsea & Fabulous Nicky, Jordan Devlin b Sean Guinness to keep the OTT title, Walter b David Starr via referee decision (thanks to Paul Sosnowski)
PWA from Saturday night in Edmonton before 350 fans: Above Average Joe’s b The League in a submission match to win Canadian tag titles, Reid Matthews kept PWA Mayhem title in elimination tables match over Colton Kelly, fxBobby Sharp, Kenneth Anthony, Sky Flyer Jeff Tyler and Maxton Flexwell, Omen Gabriel & Mephisto b Space Mountain, Zoe Sager won four-way to become PWA women’s champ over Alex Zwicker, Kylie Morgan and Kat Von Heez, Shawn Spears b Shaun Moore to win PWA Commonwealth title, Original Marky won three-way over Sheik Shaz and Michael Allen Richard Clark to win PWA title, Teddy Hart b Michael Richard Blais in 40:00 in what was said to be an incredible match (thanks to Ross Hart)
Michael Elgin, Konnan and Lanny Poffo will all be at the CWE show on Friday in Winnipeg at Rookie’s Sports Bar.
WrestleCircus from last night in Austin, TX: Daga won four-way over Low Rider, Teddy Hart and Aerostar, Will Allday & Alex Gracia b Anthony Greene & Scarlett Bordeaux, Colin Delaney (who was doing the announcing and was a late in-ring replacement for injured Colt Cabana) b Jordan Len-X, Gentleman Jervis b Sami Callihan to keep the Sideshow title, Dezmond Xavier won three-way over JT Dunn and Jake Atlas, Zachary Wentz & Trey Miguel won three-way over Logan Riegel & Sterling Riegel and Private Party, Peter Avalon b Orange Cassidy (Leva Bates was at ringside and dressed and acted like Orange Cassidy), Scorpio Sky b Tessa Blanchard to keep the Ringmaster title in a very good match after outside interference. Fans were thanking Blanchard when Sami Callihan hit the ring and laid out Blanchard with a piledriver, and then Daga made the save (thanks to Shannon Walsh and wrestlingwithdemons.net)
Rise will be doing an all-women’s show on 9/1, the day after AEW All Out, at 5 p.m. at the Ealges Club in Berwyn, IL. There will be an eight-woman single elimination one-night tournament.
Sendai Girls vs. All Out from today i Tokyo: Akino b Sakura Hirota, Dash Chisako b Shunma Katsumata, Chihiro Hashimoto b Yuki Iino, Meiko Satomura d Konosuke Takeshita over 20:00, Takeshita & Katsumata & Iino b Chisako & Satomura & Hashimoto to win the KOD trios titles (thanks to Shannon Walsh)
Very interesting note is that Impact is sending Booker T to their media day on Wednesday for Press Pass on the Impact YouTube and Facebook page. Booker T’s Reality of Wrestling is working with Impact for a show on 7/6 in Houston on Twitch. It’s notable that Booker T was on the preshow panel for Stomping Grounds yesterday.
LFA on 8/2 in Dallas at The Bomb Factory on AXS TVG live features Levi Mowles (11-4) vs. Adrian Yanez (8-3) and Hailey Cowan (3-1), a former Acrobatics and tumbling All-American at Baylor faces Lisa Mauldin (3-1).
Randy Orton is back, and made a statement tonight at Extreme Rules.
Orton returned right after Shinsuke Nakamura captured the United States title from Jeff Hardy on tonight’s program. Right before the match was to begin, Nakamura low blowed Hardy. After he said he would continue the match, Nakamura struck Hardy with the kinshasa and pinned him in a short match. As Nakamura as celebrating, Orton made his return to the company, music playing as he headed to the ring.
After he and Nakamura had a staredown, Orton took a recovering Jeff Hardy back to the ground and stomped him right in the groin, seemingly turning heel in the process. He then made his way to the back, leaving Nakamura in a state of confusion. Later in the program, commentators noted that Hardy wanted his rematch against Nakamura on SmackDown. It was said that Paige had yet to sanction the match.
Orton was last seen on television back in May at Backlash, where Hardy defeated Orton to retain the United States championship. He had been out the last couple of months following surgery that repaired a medial meniscus tear in his left kneee.
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.
**********
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.
If you wanted another match for Extreme Rules, you got one.
Andrade Cien Almas will once again battle Sin Cara, this time as part of the preshow kickoff set to air before Extreme Rules. WWE confirmed the news this afternoon on their Twitter account. This would be a rematch from this past Tuesday’s match on SmackDown where Almas defeated Sin Cara pretty decisively after hitting the double knees in the corner.
This brings the match total for this Sunday’s Extreme Rules event to 12, including two kickoff matches. Here is the full card:
AJ Styles vs. Rusev for the WWE title
Roman Reigns vs. Bobby Lashley
Alexa Bliss vs. Nia Jax in an Extreme Rules match for the Raw women’s title
Dolph Ziggler vs. Seth Rollins in a 30 minute Iron Man match for the Intercontinental title
Carmella vs. Asuka for the SmackDown women’s title where James Ellsworth will be suspended above in a shark cage
Jeff Hardy vs. Shinsuke Nakamura for the United States title
Bludgeon Brothers vs. Team Hell No for the SmackDown tag team titles
Braun Strowman vs. Kevin Owens in a steel cage match
Finn Balor vs. Baron Corbin
Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt vs. the B-Team for the Raw tag team titles
A new stipulation has been added to the SmackDown women’s championship match at Extreme Rules.
GM Paige made the announcement during SmackDown tonight that James Ellsworth will be suspended above the ring during the match between Carmella and Asuka. Ellsworth was the one responsible for Asuka’s loss last month at Money in the Bank when he made his return to the promotion, helping Carmella score the win while distracting Asuka.
After the first Battle of the Sexes bout proved to be inconclusive, James Ellsworth and Asuka had their second encounter on tonight’s episode of SmackDown. Like the previous week, Ellsworth continually tried to escape out of the ring. But this time, since it was a lumberjack match, he was kept in the ring thanks to the likes of Becky Lynch and Naomi. Asuka eventually latched on with the Asuka lock for the submission.
Despite winning the match, it was Asuka and James Ellsworth who were left standing, as Ellsworth sprayed Asuka in the eyes with an unknown substance. Carmella followed up with a superkick which laid Asuka out.
Extreme Rules is this Sunday on the WWE Network. It will take place at the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Paige announced on Twitter today that The New Day would face all three members of SAnitY (Killian Dain, Alexander Wolfe and Eric Young) in a tables match. It will take place on the kickoff show prior to the main card.
The match stems from an angle last week where the New Day were competing against one another in a pancake eating contest. They had just started when SAnitY’s music hit. The trio jumped them from behind, leaving them all lying.Young then launched off the top rope and put Woods through the table with an elbow drop.
Here is the latest card for this Sunday’s show, which will air live on the WWE Network:
AJ Styles vs. Rusev for the WWE title
Roman Reigns vs. Bobby Lashley
Alexa Bliss vs. Nia Jax in an Extreme Rules match for the Raw women’s title
Dolph Ziggler vs. Seth Rollins in a 30 minute Iron Man match for the Intercontinental title
Carmella vs. Asuka for the SmackDown women’s title
Jeff Hardy vs. Shinsuke Nakamura for the United States title
Bludgeon Brothers vs. Team Hell No for the SmackDown tag team titles
Braun Strowman vs. Kevin Owens in a steel cage match
Finn Balor vs. Baron Corbin
Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt vs. the B-Team for the Raw tag team titles
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)
There’s a new stipulation for the Raw women’s title match between champion Alexa Bliss and Nia Jax at Extreme Rules.
Jax came out before her match tonight against Mickie James and said that she and Alexa Bliss, who was with James, would compete under Extreme Rules at the titular show. Nia once again was the babyface to Bliss’ heel. Jax then defeated James after help from Natalya, who warded off Bliss on the outside.
This would be the third match in a row pitting Jax against Bliss. They first squared off at WrestleMania, where Jax beat Bliss to win the title. She also won the following month at Backlash. Bliss regained the title after cashing in her briefcase at Money in the Bank, pinning a prone Jax to win the title.
Ronda Rousey, who has been suspended, has hinted that she will be part of the match in some fashion. In an interview tonight on Raw, Rousey mentioned that while she is suspended from Raw, she is not suspended from Extreme Rules, and therefore will buy a ticket and sit in the front row.
Extreme Rules will take place at the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
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)
