WWE Extreme Rules 2010 Review

The annual PPV after WrestleMania sees the WWE go extreme as two big WrestleMania rematches lead the pack. Edge looks to avenge his loss against Chris Jericho inside a steel cage while John Cena looks to defeat Batista once again in a Last Man Standing match!

Match 1: Gauntlet - ShoMiz vs. R-Truth and John Morrison vs. Mark Henry and MVP vs. The Hart Dynasty
2010 saw The Miz rise to the top of the roster but before that, he was tagging with The Big Show. Teddy Long came out and made an impromptu gauntlet match with the team beating ShoMiz scoring a shot at their Unified Tag Team Championships. The first team to come out was R-Truth and John Morrison. Poor Morrison, who would have thought that he would become the lesser star when he was teaming with The Miz. Truth and Morrison were quickly disqualified when Morrison would not let up a triangle choke submission he had on Big Show which then saw the referee call for the bell. The second team in Mark Henry and MVP nearly scored the win after MVP hit a Playmaker on The Miz but a punch out of nowhere from Show changed those plans. Lastly, Bret Hart led out The Hart Dynasty who quickly hit their Hart Attack to score the win. Good opener that served its purpose. Their way of also promoting an inevitable match between Hart and The Miz.
Winners: The Hart Dynasty
Rating: *1/2

Match 2: CM Punk vs. Rey Mysterio
Always enjoyed the matches these two had against each other, really good chemistry and great to finally see them enjoy a long feud in 2010. Things got even more heated after WrestleMania when the two met here in a match where if CM Punk lost, he would have to shave his head completely bald. These two veterans really know how to pace a match and get the audience to keep their eyes glued to the action. Fast and filled with an array of athletic moves. The referee would end up kicking the rest of Straight Edge Society out before a hooded man appeared from under the ring and left a steel chair in the ring. The distraction allowed the referee to turn his back while the hooded man attacked Mysterio outside. Afterwards, Punk hit a GTS to score the win. Another solid match between the two that certainly sets up something bigger down the road.
Winner: CM Punk
Rating: ***1/2

Match 3: Strap - Shad Gaspard vs. JTG
Totally forgot that these guys were still doing their Cryme Tyme thing as late as 2010. They finally broke up and get their highly anticipated match here at Extreme Rules. Sense the sarcasm? Basic match here with the two mindlessly beating each other with the strap. Ending saw Shad Gaspard tie up JTG behind his back and while he went to touch every corner, JTG was right there touching them along while tied up. Finally, JTG dropped Shad and touched the last corner to get the win. Take it for what it was, at least JTG got a nice, little pop at the end.
Winner: JTG
Rating: *1/4

Match 4: WWE World Heavyweight Championship - Extreme Rules - Jack Swagger (c) vs. Randy Orton
After winning the Money in the Bank match at WrestleMania, Jack Swagger would go on to cash in his briefcase against Chris Jericho to quickly win his first World Championship and insert himself into the main event scene. That lasted all but a few months. His first PPV challenge came in The Viper. Orton was coming off his fresh babyface turn and was really over with the audience here. A perfect foe for Swagger. It really is hard to put into words how good Orton became during this time, he really took his game to another level. Every movement was as crisp as you could imagine. This was an Extreme Rules match but the two barely used that stipulation to their advantage aside from a couple shots with the title belt and a steel chair. Sweet finish came when Orton looked to RKO Swagger through a steel chair before Swagger was able to reverse it and slam Orton through the chair. Orton sold it brilliantly. Swagger then picked him up for his Gutwrench Powerbomb to seal the clean win. Good for Swagger to get such a big win against one of the company's biggest commodities. Shame this was basically the apex of his year. No pun intended. After the match, Orton hits an RKO to Swagger on the outside for a receipt.
Winner: Jack Swagger
Rating: ***1/4

Match 5: Street Fight - Sheamus vs. Triple H
Prior to the match, Sheamus ambushed Triple H backstage with a pipe. The match was then pushed back to later on the card as Triple H sold the effects of the ambush and Sheamus had a huge advantage going in as the bell tolled. Bit of a slow match considering they took Triple H's injuries into account and it certainly dragged with Triple H constantly refusing to quit. Four kicks to the face later, Sheamus finally pinned Triple H and scored another huge win in his career after beating the likes of John Cena and Randy Orton. Sometimes, short is better and for this case, they could have chopped the match in half and told the same story and things would not have felt so dragged out. Afterwards, Triple H was helped to the back by some referees as Sheamus made another appearance and dropped Triple H once more with a kick on top of the ramp. If you could not tell by now, they were pushing Sheamus harder than anyone else in the company. I am gonna let you be the judge on if you think it panned out well for him.
Winner: Sheamus
Rating: ***

Match 6: WWE Women's Championship - Extreme Makeover - Michelle McCool (c) vs. Beth Phoenix
I say this about every time I go back and watch a Divas match around this period... I still cannot believe how far this division has gone. This match was practically a complete joke with the announcers all making fat jokes directed at Vickie Guerrero. Try and see if that will fly in 2018. How much of a joke was this match? Well, they had a table of makeup at ringside for whatever reason and they used a plastic bucket along with broomsticks as weapons. Anyway, Beth Phoenix gets her big win over Michelle McCool and the match is thankfully over.
Winner: Beth Phoenix
Rating: 1/2*

Match 7: Steel Cage - Edge vs. Chris Jericho
This is the rematch from their very underwhelming match at WrestleMania XVI, the main differences being that there is no title on the line and it is now inside a steel cage. Two guys who are this good and can have a masterful story behind it need not any title to make it worth watching. Safe to say, I enjoyed this match much more than their previous encounter and they really made a story around the injury sustained by Edge a bigger deal here inside the cage. Chris Jericho was ready to walk out and secure the win but decided on going back in order to inflict more damage. This would ultimately be his downfall as he ran right into a Spear before later getting getting toyed with by Edge as Jericho would beg for the door to be opened again. Finally, Edge hit another Spear and the chapter between the two looked to finally be concluded. While I enjoyed the match, it is just so strange to me that these two could not click like we had expected them to. Maybe we failed to take into account the legitimate injuries Edge sustained that would force him to retire less than a year later.
Winner: Edge
Rating: ***1/2

Match 8: WWE Championship - Last Man Standing - John Cena (c) vs. Batista
Batista's run as a heel around this time may have been one of my favorite runs from him ever. He looks to avenge his WrestleMania loss in a Last Man Standing match that always seems to happen on the PPV after WrestleMania. Let me also just quickly note how unbearable Matt Striker became around this time as his heel commentary just became so annoying throughout the match. Regardless, if there was any debate whether or not Batista is better as a babyface or a heel, look no further than this match. His mannerisms as a heel fit him so perfectly along with his rugged style of offense. Plus, he even told a kid in the stands that he hates him... or her, I couldn't tell. They brought out all the usual tools for a great Last Man Standing match including John Cena hitting his Attitude Adjustment on Batista through the announcers table that made a huge splash. Batista was able to push for a little comeback but Cena pulled out all the stops and took some duct tape as Batista ended up getting his feet taped together as his legs were in between a ring post. The referee made the count and Cena was victorious. I recall many hating the finish of this match and it seemed pretty silly to bring out duct tape in the main event. However, I liked it and it was definitely something different from the usual Last Man Standing matches and it completely sets up a final bout later on between the two.
Winner: John Cena
Rating: ****1/4

Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
Another WWE PPV that you can just take it for what it's worth. Aside from the last two matches, there really isn't much to write home about and nothing really of historical purposes. However, it's nice to at least say that the crowd was sent home happy with a fantastic main event as they saw the biggest heel in the company whine like the biggest baby in the world. Good times.
Rating: 6/10