WWE Extreme Rules 2016 Preview and Predictions

“Don’t compare Extreme Rules to ECW.” – Tazz (2016)

Giving their thoughts and predictions on what to expect from the PPV are members of the site @JoeyOnEarth, @TimWelcomed and @TomBlargh.

Baron Corbin vs. Dolph Ziggler in a No DQ Match on the kickoff show

Joey:

Poor Breakfast. There is basically no chemistry between these two and they have yet to have a noteworthy match. Hopefully the No DQ stipulation helps add to it and Corbin gets the final win in their series. I don’t have much hope for it being anything special and they will not be able to live up to last month’s legendary Ryback vs. Kalisto kickoff match.

Interest Level: 4/10
Prediction: Baron Corbin wins.

Tim:

This feud has been really forgettable so Corbin has that going for him at least. In a couple of months no one will remember any of this. Corbin definitely needs the win. He needs to work with someone better than Ziggler to get going. He can look good in the right scenarios. Lets just get it over with. I think I just decided to fix me an adult beverage for this show.

Interest Level: 0/10
Prediction: “Big Breakfast” Baron Corbin wins.

Tom:

Fucking Ziggler, the debut killer. Just let him get squashed by Breakfast so we can move on with our lives!

Interest Level: 2/10
Prediction: “The Big Breakfast” gets the big win.

The Usos vs. Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows in a Tornado Tag Match

Joey:

The hatred towards Roman Reigns has carried over to the Usos and it’s wonderful. This ensures fans will actually care about their tag matches now and I think this could be a sleeper good match. It will likely open the show to set the tone for the main event. I haven’t enjoyed their tag matches on television much but it was always meant to culminate in a big AJ Styles/Reigns brawl. This time should see a real winner and a legitimate match.

Interest Level: 7/10
Prediction: Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows win.

Tim:

When I was little I used to want every tag match to be a tornado tag. I’m pretty excited to see one here. This is a tag match with an actual story and two teams that can be entertaining. The Clubb (I think it needs two b’s so I will spell it with two b’s) should get the win here. This has everything it needs to be a match of the night contender but I have a feeling things might fall apart. Hopefully I’m wrong! Either way I am very interested in this match.

Interest Level: 8/10
Prediction: Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows of The Clubb wins

Tom:

Man, I’m pretty into tornado tags (or at least I was in WWF No Mercy for the N64), so this is something I can get behind. Gallows and Anderson have had a bit of a strange debut so far, right? They’ve added an interesting edge to the AJ and Roman feud but it’s hard to consider them as a separate entity that has matches which don’t involve AJ. Anyway, I think this could be a pretty decent time.

Interest Level: 7/10
Prediction: Anderson and Gallows win.

Kalisto vs. Rusev for the United States Championship

Joey:

I view this as being a make or break match for the way the show will be perceived. Kalisto had that awesome match against Ryback last PPV and Rusev is showing signs of returning to the tremendous heel character he used to be. I’m hopeful of these two putting together a fun match in a somewhat important spot.

Interest Level: 8/10
Prediction: Rusev wins.

Tim:

This is an important match for Rusev whose character has been on the up-and-up over the last month. If he can pull out a good match with Kalisto I think he’ll be solidified as someone to watch again after he dipped into “no thanks” territory during that time without Lana and… well, that League of Nations thing was a mess. I have liked Kalisto as the champ even though he hasn’t really been given much of a spotlight but I think Rusev needs that belt right now. I’m really excited to see how this goes.

Interest Level: 9/10
Prediction: Rusev wins.

Tom:

They’ve almost made Rusev good again! Almost! It’s weird to wonder if he’ll live up to the high standards set by Ryback, but here we are. I can’t say I’m too optimistic about this being great – the build has been decent and it seems like it could be a fun combination, but I worry Rusev will still have too much League of Nations stink on him to really get things rolling.

Interest Level: 5/10
Prediction: Rusev wins.

The New Day vs. The Vaudevillains for the Tag Team Championship

Joey:

Man, the Vaudevillains are having a tough time gaining relevance on the main roster and that doesn’t appear to be getting any easier. The gimmick is very bizarre to see on Raw and they just don’t seem to look credible against New Day (or any successful act). While the lack of opponents have hurt them, New Day is still money and they have to get the win here.

Interest Level: 5/10
Prediction: New Day wins.

Tim:

I would rather this be Vaudevillains vs The Shining Stars so I could observe the quietest PPV crowd in wrestling history. This is what it is. New Day and Vaudevillains can have an okay match full of New Day shenanigans and some fun spots. I’m not that interested though. There are tag teams that could be interesting against The New Day. Hopefully WWE uses one of them next. I feel like something needs to happen with The New Day soon that could spice them up a bit more instead of just propping up the tag scene.

Interest Level: 3/10
Prediction: The New Day wins.

Tom:

It’s strange that this is happening. The Vaudevillains seem like they’re only on the main roster temporarily, you know? It’s like nobody really thought it through. The New Day are still very enjoyable but this feud seems like kind of a non-starter (unless The Vaudevillains go hardcore racist in their quest to return things to a bygone age).

Interest Level: 4/10
Prediction: The New Day wins.

Charlotte vs. Natalya for the Women’s Championship in a Submission Match

Joey:

I would prefer any other non-Paige combination of women to be feuding on television right now. The dull match last PPV with a horrible ending really killed any slight interest I had. Unless Bret Hart comes out to knock Ric Flair the fuck out, I don’t see anything fun happening here. Natalya just lacks a certain connectivity with me and I can’t possibly care about her title chase. Besides, we all know Charlotte is retaining here. Hopefully David Flair helps her.

Interest Level: 4/10
Prediction: Charlotte wins.

Tim:

Here we are again. Nattie has been awful on the mic. Charlotte needs to win more without her dad so hopefully this will be the start of that if they plan on keeping that title on her for a really long time like it seems. Hopefully they can actually make something interesting here but I don’t have high hopes anymore. You have a roster full of great female wrestlers and this is what you’re doing for a second month?

Interest Level: 1/10
Prediction: Charlotte wins.

Tom:

Nattie is a car-wreck on live television when she has to speak and not really in a good way. I think Charlotte has been good lately, despite all the nonsense finishes and Ric being unnecessary, so the stipulation here is actually welcome. However, can’t say I’m excited for the match itself.

Interest Level: 2/10
Prediction: Charlotte wins.

Dean Ambrose vs. Chris Jericho in an Asylum Match

Joey:

I hope Big Cass beats the shit out of Dean Ambrose from being a scumbag and costing him his first main event match. Chris Jericho’s character is pretty great right now but everything else about this feud is painfully stupid. It’s become aggressively lame and that’s probably the best way to describe Ambrose in 2016.

Side note: Cage matches can fuck off forever.

Interest Level: 3/10
Prediction: Dean Ambrose wins.

Tim:

I’m still not seeing what people are seeing in this particular version of heel Jericho. It definitely hasn’t helped this feud at all. The old man doesn’t come close to lighting my world on fire when it comes to his in-ring performances lately. You know what? This is fine. Dean Ambrose is a straight up rotten cartoon character who mainly only has good matches against great wrestlers. Dean Ambrose is the product of Deadpool and The Joker having a child in someone’s fan fiction. This puts two of the most lame performers on the roster in one segment. I can use it to go fix another adult beverage.

Also, what a dumb match gimmick. This is something Vince Russo probably could have vomited out after a hard night of ranting about pointless bullshit on the internet. This match could easily have been something Abyss or Raven made up in TNA. We just thought they had scraped the bottom of the barrel clean with the Clockwork Orange House of Fun match. Why don’t you really make this intriguing and hang up some barbwire Christmas trees?

Interest Level: 0/10
Prediction: Dean Ambrose wins.

Tom:

WELCOME TO TNA! I’m sort of excited for this being dumb? But I don’t think it’ll be the right kind of dumb? Just let them use some light tubes for God’s sake, let’s turn this into a Cage of Death rather than a Lethal Lockdown.

Interest Level: 4/10
Prediction: Dean Ambrose wins.

The Miz vs. Cesaro vs. Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens for the Intercontinental Championship

Joey:

Finally the good stuff. All four wrestlers here have been on fire and this feud is wonderful. I actually view the Intercontinental Championship as being meaningful right now! Everyone knows how great Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn and Cesaro are so yeah. The Miz has never been better and may be the best character in WWE right now. I’m expecting a fantastic match.

I think The Miz will retain the title. My prediction for the future is KO winning Money in the Bank and either Zayn or Cesaro feuding with Miz into the summer. I can also see Zayn winning and Miz going after him.

Interest Level: 9/10
Prediction: The Miz wins.

Tim:

I’m really enjoying all four of the guys. This has been built well and is what I’m looking forward to the most on this show. All four characters are great and all four can bring something to the table in this match. I’m hoping Zayn or Cesaro win here. I’m mainly leaning towards Cesaro because I can’t handle the thought of him fading to the back again after a loss. A championship win so soon after his return would just feel right. That belt just goes with his character so well.

I figure Owens will go on to win Money in The Bank so he doesn’t really need this. He doesn’t really need it anyway. Miz is in the right spot. He’s perfect on this level of the midcard and has found the zone for his character. He’s gone from bland to, at the least, solid in the ring. I’m ready for this one.

Interest Level: 10/10
Prediction: Cesaro wins.

Tom:

I thought the build to this on Monday was really great. Seeing Owens and Zayn as a reluctant team was wonderful and I think all four guys have been presented really well in the feud. I’m not sure where they go from here – the four way seems designed to maintain the Owens / Zayn feud, as opposed to give it any kind of conclusion, which works for me – I’d hope that they keep it on the backburner for a good long while as it’s a rivalry that deserves some time to breathe.

Cesaro as IC champ could be fun, if he got a nice run as a John Cena-esque fighting champ (though it’s looking increasingly like John Cena is the only one who will get that kind of run with a mid-tier belt so WHATEVER).

Interest Level: 9/10
Prediction: Cesaro wins.

Roman Reigns vs. AJ Styles in an Extreme Rules Match for the WWE World Championship

Joey:

This is the best WWE Championship storyline in a long time. I love WWE’s direction of not making either man the absolute face or heel. The different fan bases representing their favorite has added far more excitement here than to any recent title program. Roman Reigns and AJ Styles had a phenomenal (LMAO) match last PPV and it should be even better this time. My expectation for the finish is Gallows and Anderson accidentally costing Styles the match setting up the future.

Interest Level: 10/10
Prediction: Roman Reigns wins.

Tim:

I didn’t really care for the over-booking of their last match but that wasn’t either of the two wrestlers fault and they had a great ending stretch. Reigns is best in short spurts so them doing it that way helped the ending a lot. This has been a surprisingly fantastic story but the go home angle on Raw kind of took me out of it.

I can enjoy the “shades of gray” booking of characters but at a certain point it devolves into two assholes hootin’ and hollerin’. If I wanted to deal with that I’d delve into US election coverage. I get the appeal though. It definitely has its place to break up the monotony of good vs bad which is actually the minority when it comes to how WWE feuds are laid out BUT this isn’t the place for that rant. Anyway, I’m hoping this is a good one. I hate to see AJ Styles come up losing yet again.

Interest Level: 9/10
Prediction: Roman Reigns wins.

Tom:

The build’s been surprisingly fantastic and these two have a chemistry that makes for very fun matches, so I’ve got high hopes for this! I think the continuing saga of “The Club” will help make it so AJ’s inevitable loss won’t be too much of a waste, though this whole ordeal may end up making him look like kind of a dickhead. HOWEVER, he doesn’t look like a total dickhead yet so let’s enjoy it while it lasts,

Interest Level: 9/10
Prediction: Roman Reigns wins.