CONTACTABOUTFACEBOOKTWITTERPODCAST IPHONE APPANDROID APPAMAZON APPRSS
Pro Wrestling Torch
Pro Wrestling Torch Reaches The Most Wrestling Fans Every Week: #1 in iTunes • #1 on iPhone and iPad • #1 on Android • #1 on Kindle
GOT THE PWTORCH APP YET?
iPhone & iPad
Android
Amazon Kindle
Windows Phone
PWTorch Phone App
THE SPECIALISTS
TUCKER LIVE AT EXTREME RULES: Instant Reaction to an inoffensive, yet somewhat ineffective Sunday night WWE PPV

Apr 27, 2015 - 1:08:34 AM
PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT TO BOOKMARK US & VISIT US DAILY


CDjYY3LUkAAIoQo.jpg



Instant Reaction - WWE Extreme Rules 4/26
By Benjamin Tucker, PWTorch TV specialist


Overall Score - 6.0

On a show with an extremely consistent, unremarkable in-ring product, WWE highlighted both the major positives and crippling flaws of their current writing strategy. Ultimately, Extreme Rules will be seen as a forgettable event, in large part thanks to the terrible hype preceding it.

WWE does deserve credit for seemingly figuring out how to "work" a modern-day crowd. Roman Reigns went into his Last Man Standing match facing a largely apathetic crowd. Through the use of tables, big spots, and impressive usage of WWE's bag of tricks, the audience was chanting Roman's name by the end of his segment. On the other hand is the New Day, the team whose gimmick is so terrible that they were forced to turn heel. In a Bo Dallas-esque moment, the New Day shockingly win the Tag Titles, infuriating both casual fans and the most ardent online blogger. It's taken a while, but WWE is slowly adapting their writing style to the modern day.

That being said, Extreme Rules arguably showed off more negatives than positives in WWE's booking strategy. Roman Reigns's win, while impressive, is beginning to set an incredibly negative precedent for the formula of a wrestling match. The "kick out of multiple finishers" concept, first popularized by Steve Austin and The Rock, then taken to the next level by Shawn Michaels and Undertaker and elevated yet again by Brock Lesnar, can only work in very rare scenarios. Otherwise, a wrestler's finishing maneuver is portrayed as weak and ineffective, as Roman Reigns's Superman Punch and Spear were portrayed at Extreme Rules. For the second month in a row it took multiple finishers to come close to beating Roman Reigns's opponent. Combine this with Reigns's Cena-esque overcoming of the odds and you have matches that psychologically don't mesh at all with any other contest on the card. Why do other finishers work all the time? If Reigns can go through so much punishment, how could Big Show pin him with one chokeslam two months ago? The over-use of finishing maneuvers must cease immediately.

Meanwhile, Extreme Rules featured a severe lack of stipulations being followed. The winner of the "Kiss Me Arse" match did the favors to his losing opponent. The steel cage was compromised three times and the banned RKO was used twice. In the moment, these booking decisions can work. However, in the long-term, viewers get wise to the booking and lose interest in seeing another such ruling again, reducing the investment in what they're seeing.

And of course, the Divas match featured a never-turned-face Diva retaining her belt against a fresh heel after her potentially-face sister cheated to help her win. Lovely storytelling that is.

But, overall, this show was a step up from my extraordinarily low expectations. The pace was solid and not a single match disappointed (no match surpassed three stars, though). The mid-card is teeming with characters, and despite a convoluted main event both Seth Rollins and Randy Orton come out of the event unscathed. Sunday's event didn't quite live up to the Extreme Rules name, but did provide a nice Sunday night diversion. It indeed felt like a three-hour Raw masked as a pay-per-view, but as a B-Level show it was largely inoffensive.

Questions? Comments? Reactions? Find me on Twitter @BTuckerTorch, where I talk about wrestling and... stuff!


We suggest these recent related articles...
10/5 WWE Raw Hits & Misses: Natalya vs. Paige, Owens vs. Cara, Stephanie McMahon, Sasha Banks, Xavier Woods
COLLECTIBLES COLUMN: The History of Foam Hands in Pro Wrestling
9/28 WWE Raw Hits & Misses: Kane's Split Personality, Divas Revolution, Heyman & Big Show, Reigns vs. Wyatt
prowrestling.net
CLICK HERE FOR EVEN MORE PW.NET HEADLINES


CLICK TO EMAIL THIS ARTICLE
CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO MAIN LISTING

NEW! SIGN UP FOR FREE PWTORCH BREAKING NEWS EMAIL ALERTS
BECOME A PWTORCH VIP MEMBER
-FORMER MEMBERS LOGIN HERE TO RENEW
-NEW MEMBERS CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP
SELECT BY ARTICLES CATEGORY
SEARCH PWTORCH.COM



CLICK HERE FOR LIST OF UPCOMING PRO WRESTLING EVENTS
MORE HEADLINES AT AFFILIATE SITES
MMATorch
LATEST HEADLINES - CLICK TO READ CLICK HERE FOR MORE MMATORCH HEADLINES



LATEST HEADLINES - CLICK TO READ CLICK HERE FOR EVEN MORE INC HEADLINES

_
LATEST FREE AUDIO SHOWS - CLICK TO LISTEN VIEW MORE PWTORCH LIVECAST EPISODES
DOWNLOAD PWTORCH LIVECAST APP
SUBSCRIBE TO PWTORCH LIVECAST IN ITUNES


ABOUT US

THE TORCH REACHES MORE COMBAT ENTERTAINMENT FANS THAN ANY OTHER SOURCE

PWTorch editor Wade Keller has covered pro wrestling full time since 1987 starting with the Pro Wrestling Torch print newsletter. PWTorch.com launched in 1999 and the PWTorch Apps launched in 2008.

He has conducted "Torch Talk" insider interviews with Hulk Hogan, The Rock, Steve Austin, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Eric Bischoff, Jesse Ventura, Lou Thesz, Jerry Lawler, Mick Foley, Jim Ross, Paul Heyman, Bruno Sammartino, Goldberg, more.

He has interviewed big-name players in person incluiding Vince McMahon (at WWE Headquarters), Dana White (in Las Vegas), Eric Bischoff (at the first Nitro at Mall of America), Brock Lesnar (after his first UFC win).

He hosted the weekly Pro Wrestling Focus radio show on KFAN in the early 1990s and hosted the Ultimate Insiders DVD series distributed in retail stories internationally in the mid-2000s including interviews filmed in Los Angeles with Vince Russo & Ed Ferrara and Matt & Jeff Hardy. He currently hosts the most listened to pro wrestling audio show in the world, (the PWTorch Livecast, top ranked in iTunes)


REACHING 1 MILLION+ UNIQUE USERS PER MONTH
500 MILLION CLICKS & LISTENS PER YEAR
MILLIONS OF PWTORCH NEWSLETTERS SOLD
PWTORCH STAFF

EDITORS:
Wade Keller, editor
(kellerwade@gmail.com)

James Caldwell, assistant editor
(pwtorch@gmail.com)

STAFF COLUMNISTS:
Bruce Mitchell (since 1990)
Pat McNeill (since 2001)
Greg Parks (since 2007)
Sean Radican (since 2003)

We also have a great team of
TV Reporters
and Specialists and Artists.

PWTORCH VIP MEMBERSHIP

PWTorch offers a VIP membership for $10 a month (or less with an annual sub). It includes nearly 25 years worth of archives from our coverage of pro wrestling dating back to PWTorch Newsletters from the late-'80s filled with insider secrets from every era that are available to VIPers in digital PDF format and Keller's radio show from the early 1990s.

Also, new exclusive top-shelf content every day including a new VIP-exclusive weekly 16 page digital magazine-style (PC and iPad compatible) PDF newsletter packed with exclusive articles and news.

The following features come with a VIP membership which tens of thousands of fans worldwide have enjoyed for many years...

-New Digital PWTorch Newsletter every week
-3 New Digital PDF Back Issues from 5, 10, 20 years ago
-Over 60 new VIP Audio Shows each week
-Ad-free access to all PWTorch.com free articles
-VIP Forum access with daily interaction with PWTorch staff and well-informed fellow wrestling fans
-Tons of archived audio and text articles
-Decades of Torch Talk insider interviews in transcript and audio formats with big name stars.


**SIGN UP FOR VIP ACCESS HERE**

CONTACTABOUTFACEBOOKTWITTERPODCASTIPHONE APPANDROID APPAMAZON APPRSS
VIP SIGN-UP
VIP LOGIN
THE TORCH: #1 IN COMBAT ENTERTAINMENT COVERAGE | © 1999-2013 TDH Communications Inc. • All rights reserved -- PRIVACY POLICY