6/7 WWE Extreme Rules Reax

Phil S. of Arizona (8.5): Goodness, didn't see Punk cashing in the MITB coming. Punk could turn heel after that. But it does show how important that briefcase is. Very good ladder match with Edge and Hardy. Rey and Jericho delivered again. That finish could not have been better. Nice to see Batista go over so strong. When the heel is finally caught by the chasing face, that is exactly what should happen. The opener was fun. But damn it was sloppy. Kofi winning is what was really needed. Good call WWE. I didn't mind the submission match at all, although the finish didn't seem to work out all that well. The hog pen match was pretty brutal. But my girlfriend did pop when Vickie got slopped. So I guess there was some kind of payoff to the Santina angle. Umaga is a very good big man. I always enjoy watching him work. Punk beating him made more sense at the end of the night. Last but not least, hats off to Dreamer. That was a great moment for Tommy and his fans. He always makes me believe that title means the world to him. Thanks to WWE for giving us a moment like that. First class move.

Terrie Neilson of Las Vegas, Nev. (5.0): Best: Jericho vs. Mysterio (despite the finish). Worst: hog pen match (probably default). Normally I write my reax fresh after a show or PPV and let my instincts dictate how I score. Tonight was a rare occasion because there is this sense of deja vu I hoped I wouldn't have to go through. It's deja vu to Unforgiven 2008, when my first instinct was to tank the score based solely on the final five minutes of the Raw Scramble match when Jericho's presence buried Punk and killed the brutal match he had earlier with Shawn Michaels in one fell swoop. I ultimately chose not to lower the boom and regretted it. Here we are again. For an Extreme Rules concept PPV, what was so extreme about a four-way with no weapons involved? Matt Hardy barely used his ever-growing-heavier cast. The match was also sloppy, as noted with MVP slipping trying to make the three-man tower move. Up until the finish, the Jericho-Mysterio match was moving along really well. I would have rather Jericho win the title only setting up for a title vs. mask re-match. I came away from that match with a feeling of Rey getting buried. The Umaga-Punk strap match turned out all right after all, but there was the shortcut of the strap being long enough the opponent could be mid-ring while one went to touch the corners. I'm guessing that succession counted if each corner was touched within a certain time frame but that never seemed to be clarified. And I also thought that succession meant without interruption, which messed with the finish. I'm surprised Dreamer came away with the title, but I'm not mad about it. The match was fine; no complaints in terms of quality. Odd thing I would have gone for was Dreamer and Christian resorting to the weapons and Swagger staying away from them. Would have given more for Swagger to whine about besides taking the loss. Dreamer celebrating by the fan with the "Thank You Tommy" and the crowd chanting "Oh My God" (instead of "Holy Sh-" which came later) were ironically cool touches. The promos and the videos packages through the night were fine, but the Vickie-Edge promo backed the hog pen match into a corner of needing to be on the PPV instead of as a dark match. The hog pen and submission matches went on too long; the cage match went way too short. The squash against Cody Rhodes I can barely understand, but Randy too? Apparently the reported injury to Batista would excuse this otherwise complete burial of Randy. Edge and Jeff Hardy have enough ladder experience to put on a great match. There were some new moves like the ladder-aided Sharpshooter, Hardy's front suplex forcing Edge to eat the upside-down ladder, and Edge hanging crucifix-style for the finish. There was also the botched flapjack that got Jeff tangled in an ugly way in that ladder (only because the ladder used was too close). The plusses outweighed the minuses, and Edge-Hardy was the right main event to close with. As for Punk cashing in, I'm hoping Punk will step in for Edge. I begged off saying it for a while, but Edge was dragging his left leg near the end. He deserves time off. Punk cashing in may have just given him that time off. Plus the promo with Vickie opened an "out" door, too. With such a strong finish by Punk against Umaga, Umaga also got buried to a degree. What was the point of Umaga's return then? In the end, could we be seeing the birth of The Straight Edge Heel come Friday...and maybe even an eventual Edge face turn to go with it? I wouldn't mind it right about now.

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