WWE Extreme Rules 2017 Preview and Predictions

Let’s get extreme.

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

Rich Swann and Sasha Banks vs. Noam Dar and Alicia Fox on the kick-off show

Joey:

Sasha Banks being involved in a cruiserweight feud is a good idea for the division. Hopefully it leads to more interaction between the normal wrestlers and the cruiserweights instead of pretending they are in different worlds. Noam Dar is probably my least favorite cruiserweight (sorry not sorry) but there’s a lot charm in the act here with Alicia Fox. The match will probably be one of the more entertaining ones on the show.

Interest Level: 6/10
Prediction: Sasha Banks and Rich Swann win.

Tim:

I am still incredibly bored by everything on Raw. There are a couple of things on Smackdown that really grab me. NXT is a super enjoyable show to me right now. Raw? It’s not what I am looking for at this juncture. Anyway, while I was trying to come up with what to say I did this.

Interest Level: 1/10
Prediction: Banks and Swann win.

Tom:

I for one am absolutely delighted to see Alicia Fox make her startling return to a PPV, even if it is on the preshow. She had a rough couple of years on Total Divas, given that she was chiefly featured as either Paige or Rosa Mendes’ friend, but now she’s “the richest prize on 205 Live” and she’s back on top.

I enjoy her and Noam Dar as an odd couple and the idea of seeing Sasha Banks in a mixed tag match with Rich Swann as her partner is such a weird shift from everything else she’s done on the main roster that I’m fairly into this. I’ll take weird over boring any day of the week!

Interest Level: 7/10
Prediction: Rich Swann and Sasha Banks win.

Orin:

To be honest, this is my most anticipated match of the evening. Alicia Fox and Noam Dar are a charmingly kooky pairing and Sasha genuinely looks like she’s been having a great time doing little dances with Rich Swann. Alicia is wonderful no matter what she does and, in my opinion, Noam has done an excellent job playing the weasely little greaseball. He doesn’t get a ton of credit for it, but he’s really put 110% into this silly, never-ending storyline. He’s great with jokey facial expressions and seems naturally gifted at looking like a horned up rat. I love it.

Interest Level: 9.5/10
Prediction: Sasha and Swann take it.

Neville (c) vs. Austin Aries in a Submission match for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship

Joey:

I love King Neville but this feud has to end as soon as possible. They have done good work together long enough. There just comes a time where you have enough of it. I can see this match going either way but I badly hope Neville wins.

Potential opponents for Neville if he wins: Kalisto, Cedric Alexander, Rich Swann, Mustafa Ali, Akira Tozawa

Potential opponents for Aries if he wins: TJP, Gulak, Nese, Dar.

Exactly. Go King!

Interest Level: 6/10
Prediction: Neville wins.

Tim:

WHY IS THIS STILL GOING ON? They’ve thrown in TJP for whatever reason and it just will not stop. I enjoy these two when they wrestle each other but I GET IT. PLEASE LET IT END.

Interest Level: 4/10
Prediction: Austin Aries wins.

Tom:

It doesn’t get more extreme than a submission match! Somewhat boring stip aside, Neville is still just about the best guy in WWE right now in a lot of ways but I’m ready for his feud with Aries to be over. I trust them to have a good match and do something interesting, but I just can’t get invested in a feud where Aries is meant to be the guy I care about.

Interest Level: 6/10
Prediction: Neville wins.

Orin:

Ehh. It’s a bummer to not be excited about a Neville match, but here we are. I don’t really care about this, although both him and AA are obviously more than capable of putting on a good one. Instead of this, they should just do a backstage segment with Neville tweeting out all caps insults about Aries’ plant-based diet book.

Interest Level: 3/10
Prediction: Aries wins.

The Hardy Boyz (Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy) (c) vs. Cesaro and Sheamus in a Tag team Steel Cage match for the WWE Raw Tag Team Championship

Joey:

I absolutely HATE cage matches. It is my least favorite stipulation and turn out to be a bore 90% of the time. The Hardys do always have wild ideas and Cesaro/Sheamus can make odd matches work, so there is some slight hope. I just haven’t been able to care about this feud AT ALL and the lame ass cage is not helping.

Interest Level: 4/10
Prediction: Hardys win.

Tim:

The build has been lackluster like most things on this godforsaken show but Cesaro and Sheamus hardly ever disappoint in a match. If I am going to sit through a damned cage match I am glad a team like The Hardyz are in it. I wish WWE would do more with the Hardy characters but they have at least been very impressive in the ring since their return.

Interest Level: 6/10
Prediction: Hardy Boyz win.

Tom:

I’m feeling weirdly optimistic about this! I’m assuming it’ll be tornado rules so we’ll constantly get some decent action, right? Or will they force them to squeeze themselves between the ropes and the cage and treat it like a normal tag match? If it’s the former, I think it could be really cool, even with Jeff and Matt being a bit creaky.

Sheamus and Cesaro have gone off the deep end with their accessorizing, but them being a couple of big bully boys tossing around the old flippy men is still appealing.

Interest Level: 8/10
Prediction: The Hardy Boyz win.

Orin:

This could be fun. I love the rare occasions when Sheamus “gets extreme” because he usually ends up with some kind of gnarly wound. Cesaro will be cool and powerful, as usual, and the Hardys will do Hardy stuff and Jeff will be a little dangerous on the side of the cage.

I’m also a little concerned about Sheamus and Cesaro’s outfits. Between their vaguely fascist wardrobe and the feckless WWE universe holding their arms a little too high while doing the “delete” gesture, things have felt a little uncomfortable during this feud.

Interest Level: 7/10
Prediction: Sheamus gets a couple of staples and The Hardys win.

Dean Ambrose (c) vs. The Miz for the WWE Intercontinental Championship (If Ambrose is disqualified, he will lose the title)

Joey:

The Miz will get disqualified and this feud will keep going on. Life isn’t fair.

Miz’s momentum peaked when Maryse was dressing as Nikki Bella making weird facial expressions and saying “JAWWWWWWWNNNNN” all the time.

Interest Level: 0/10
Prediction: Dean Ambrose wins by DQ

Tim:

Hey I did this too.

Interest Level: 3/10
Prediction: The Miz wins.

Tom:

I can’t believe this is still a feud. I just can’t believe it. Both Miz and Ambrose were probably the two Smackdown guys who most needed a shot in the arm as a result of the superstar shakeup, so seeing them switch to Raw and then start a whole new feud there just felt crushing. I don’t care about any of this. Hopefully Maryse will mispronounce some English words at ringside so there’ll be at least SOMETHING of value.

Interest Level: 2/10
Prediction: The Miz wins.

Orin:

I wish WWE Studios would ship these two off for a 12 Rounds/The Marine crossover movie, or maybe an Odd Couple reboot. Two things I know for sure are that 1) I am extremely bored with these two and 2) it would rule if they could go ahead and end this feud forever.

Interest Level: 0/10
Prediction: No matter who wins, we all lose.

Alexa Bliss (c) vs. Bayley in a Kendo Stick-on-a-Pole match for the WWE Raw Women’s Championship

Joey:

Alexa Bliss has proven to be such a great champion. The recent “This is Your Life” segment was obviously awful but she didn’t get rattled at all and stayed completely in character. WWE clearly loves Bliss in the role of the champion so I don’t see it ending any time soon. The stipulation is so stupid but I think they’ll have a good match against the odds. Bliss as this generation’s The Sandman will provide entertainment.

Interest Level: 7/10
Prediction: Alexa Bliss wins.

Tim:

They still can not capture the magic of Bayley properly and it leads to some of the most awkward segments. It doesn’t need to be said but Alexa Bliss is maybe the one good reason to watch Raw. She has her character down to a science and will always pull through in a rough segment. Kendo sticks may be one of the dumbest weapons but I think in this case we have a chance to see some great character moments in the match revolving around the weapon.

Interest Level: 7/10
Prediction: Alexa Bliss wins.

Tom:

What a stipulation. I think Alexa Bliss is fantastic but this feud with Bayley has been very stupid, and I can’t imagine this match helping things. Kendo sticks are goofy and pole matches are goofier SO… yeah, can’t say I’m particularly optimistic.

Interest Level: 5/10
Prediction: Alexa Bliss wins.

Orin:

It’s a pole on a pole match! I think that Bayley will once again give us a glimpse of her extreme side by grabbing that kendo stick and ~almost~ going ham on Alexa with it. She’ll stop herself, of course, and lose. What I’m most excited for here is watching Alexa wack Bayley with a stick, because I know she’ll make it look great no matter what. I trust in Alexa to give us something good here.

Interest Level: 6/10
Prediction: Bayley gets mildly extreme; Alexa wins.

Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins vs. Finn Bálor vs. Bray Wyatt vs. Samoa Joe in a Fatal 5-Way Extreme Rules match to determine the #1 contender for the WWE Universal Championship

Joey:

Here we go. This is the only match I can see myself going out of the way to watch. Finn Balor is my favorite thing in WWE right now so I’ve paid close attention to the guys involved in this match lately. The in-ring work involving these five have been the only things to keep my interest on Raw.

Multi-person main event matches in WWE are always great even though Steve Austin will complain about them on his podcast. I think the match is going to be tremendous. My issue here is Brock Lesnar likely steamrolling over the winner.

WWE is obviously saving Roman’s title shot. I don’t think they’d have Finn or Seth lose on a secondary show. They obviously value Bray Wyatt over Samoa Joe. By process of elimination, I think Joe will be the winner to get rekt by Brock next month.

Interest Level: 10/10
Prediction: Samoa Joe wins.

Tim:

I am interested in seeing this match but could not care less about the outcome or anything surrounding it. Finn is right behind Alexa Bliss on my “reasons to watch Raw” list but they have done nothing to make him not seem like the most bland person in the world since his return. I think he’s coming away with the win and will go on to defeat Lesnar with the help of Anderson and Gallows. They’ll then feud with The Shield. Roman will win the title back, lose it to Lesnar, and then win it back at Wrestlemania. (Okay, yes, Finn will lose to Lesnar if he wins this match.)

Interest Level: 6/10
Prediction: Finn Balor wins.

Tom:

This should be a big crazy match with all kinds of silly spots. I’m even hopeful that the guys I like less, like Bray, should be well showcased – most of his best performances were in the big crazy Wyatts/Shield matches, so as long as there’s a similar momentum to this, I think it’ll be a fun time. Also! It’ll be interesting to see how this shakes out as it should present a pretty clear picture of what the next months’ worth of feuds will look like.

Have they announced when the title shot will be happening? Is there a Raw PPV between this one and Summerslam? Let’s assume there is, and that’ll be when the title shot happens. If that’s the case, I think there’s a good likelihood we’ll see someone like Finn win, given the idea of Brock destroying everyone else on the Raw roster before Roman gets his big ‘Mania rematch feels awfully likely. So, yeah. My assumption is Finn will win, only for Bray Wyatt to interfere during his match with Brock and set up a fantastic spooky match between Wyatt and Bálor at Summerslam.

Interest Level: 9/10
Prediction: Finn Bálor wins.

Orin:

This might be good but it also might be a great big mess, as these types of matches often are. I hope Brock shows up projected on the mat, worm-style, to intimidate the contenders. Then, they all start fighting the mat and get tired. Finn wins because he’s untrickable, thanks to his demon tendencies and cool jacket.

Interest Level: 3/10
Prediction: Finn wins.