Extreme Rules Recap and Results

            The kick off match was between Liv Morgan and Carmella. I have said many times that you can often tell who is going to win a WWE pay-per-view by what a superstar wears to the ring. Carmella wore wedding night gear while Liv came to the ring dressed as Marvel's newest super hero. In an earlier post, I predicted Liv winning and win she did. That was expected. What was not expected was Peacock running both English and Spanish commentary at the same time. Oh, wait, it's Peacock. I guess sub par streaming was expected. PEACOCK SUCKS!!!

              The audio issues continued when English and French commentary played simultaneously at the beginning of the 6 man match between the New Day v. AJ Styles, Omos and Bobby Lashley. It was a decent contest with the New Day going after Lashley, as well as, Omos dominating his opponents. It is also important to note Jimmy Smith and Corey Graves speculating whether or not Omos and AJ will be separated as a result of the upcoming draft. I think that would be a good idea. Omos is now well established and AJ doesn't need an insurance policy. Back in the ring, Big E pins Bobby Lashley to pick up the win for his team.

            The Street Profits squared up against the Usos. I predicted the Usos retaining because the Bloodline story hasn't reached its apex. Anyway, the match starts with a very visible bullseye on Montez Ford. His ribs are heavily taped because of the actions of Roman Reign and the Usos this past Friday night. Sure enough, that's exactly what happened. Smelling blood in the water, the Usos hit Ford with multiple forms of aggression to the ribs and pick up the win to retain their titles. With the draft looming on the horizon, I am interested in seeing if the Street Profits will be split up. Montez would be a great singles competitor. I don't know about Dawkins future. I wonder if the Street Profits will go the way of Heavy Machinery. 

            Playtime is next as Alexa Bliss takes on Charlotte Flair for the title. The evil pixie could not overcome all the veteran moves of Flair to become the new Raw Women's Champion. The queen retains her gold. Charlotte decided to celebrate her win by destroying both Alexa and her doll "Lilly". I think this feud is over and a new one is starting. Alexa seems to come mentally undone at the site of her ripped apart doll. It could have been a good sell if we all didn't see the Alka-Seltzer tablet on her tongue causing her to foam at the mouth.

            From evil to enigma, Jeff Hardy finds himself in a triple threat match against Damien Priest and Sheamus. As much as I love Hardy, he is only in this match as a momentary x-factor here and there within the true feud between Sheamus and Priest. It was while executing an Alabama Slam on Hardy that Sheamus lost his protective face mask. This allowed Damien to target the still healing broken nose of the Celtic Warrior. Marry that with Sheamus' showboating and the Archery of Infamy retains his title.

            Back to the women as Becky Lynch defends her title against Bianca Belair. Bianca was dressed ready to win while Becky looked washed out in all white gear. A literal and physical tug of war match with Bianca's long pony tail being used as a hazardous rope of sorts. Many times, each athlete had a hold of the champ's braided packs of hair. I am still praying for Belair to rock a new hairstyle come 2022. Until then,  it will be Becky Lynch retaining her gold thanks to the interference of Sasha Banks. Thank you Sasha and I love your new gear. 

            Now it is time for the main event of the evening. Finn Balor squares up against the Tribal Chief, and defending champion, Roman Reigns. I have to be honest, the first thought that came to mind when I saw Finn Balor dressed as his alter ego, The Demon, was Peacock's decision to omit the WrestleMania VI match between Roddy Piper and Bad News Brown. Peacock defended the decision to remove the match because they felt Roddy was in "blackface". However, no suit over at Peacock seemed to have a problem with Finn's look tonight. Peacock, you are consistently inconsistent. WWE, you need to take back your house and put back accurate wrestling history, warts and all, before the bird brains "white wash" away all the facts. Puns heavily intended. Readers, what do you think?

            Back to the match. It was insane and intense from bell to bell. We saw kendo sticks, chairs and bodies going through tables. We even saw Roman put on a mask while fighting amongst the WWE Universe but take it off when he was back in the ring. That was a little surprising. What was not surprising was the Usos getting involved in the match. But wait, another shocker is on tap. After Roman savagely spears Finn through the barricade, the lights go red and we hear the "heartbeat" of the Demon. The air was full of New Jack flavor as Finn's music plays during the closing moments of the match. While perched on the top rope for the Coup-de-Grace, the rope snaps, house lights go back to normal and Reigns defeats Balor. 

            A decent pay-per-view with no title changes. My prediction tally was 6-1. Over on Draft Kings, I got 6 out of 10 right regarding the Roman v Finn match. Now, I get to look forward to Crown Jewel on Oct 21, 2021.  

#BringBackBraun

SmackDown before Extreme Rules and Predictions

            "Big Time" Becky opened this past Friday's SmackDown before Extreme Rules. She would soon be joined in the ring by the EST of WWE, Bianca Belair. A great verbal build-up to tonight. I am predicting the Becky will retain the gold.

        

            King Nakamura is next in a championship match against Apollo Crews. An obvious outcome with Nakamura winning the contest. Equally obvious was the drama on the outside between Commander Azeez and Rick Boogz. 

            Next is a match that I could care less about. Zelina "Red Rooster" Vega squares up against Liv Morgan. I am still dumbfounded that WWE released Alisteir Black and brought back his wife, Vega. Black is the better athlete and the bigger draw and headliner. An absolute headscratcher. The head scratching continues with Zelina picking up a win over Morgan. 

            Now it is time for something that I am completely invested in. It is the debut of Happy Corbin on the premiere episode of Happy Talk. True to character, his first guest is himself. However, Kevin Owens would have none of it. As Owens is making his way down the ramp, he is attacked by Riddick Moss. The happy host joins in on the chaos. And there you have it folks. Within 10 minutes, Happy Talk is now a segment and Moss has returned.

            It is back to women's action with the contest between Nikki Cross and Natayla. And in less than 5 minutes, Nikki wins. But wait, there's more. Shotzi Blackheart and Teagan Nox make their presence felt. How long before we see a championship title match between Shotzi and Nox verses Rhea and Nikki?

            I am torn about the storyline of the next superstar. Naomi got in the face of Sonya DeVille last week. Will that interaction lead to Sonya getting back in the ring? Or will Naomi join her husband and brother-in-law within the Bloodline? According to Naomi's speech in the ring, she wants a one on one with Deville who is at the top of the ramp exercising her duties as Naomi's boss. She refuses Naomi's challenge and has two security guards escort her out of the arena. 

            Moving on in the evening, it is Montez Ford in a bout against Roman Reigns. In my opinion, this was a filler match with the predictable ending of Roman winning. The Tribal Chief goes into tonight's pay-per-view as champ for the past 391 days. I predict Reigns will retain tonight against Balor. At the same time, I am wondering how long it will be before we see Lesner v. Reigns.  

            Here are all my predictions for tonight's Extreme Rules.

• Roman Reigns (C) v. Finn Balor - Roman retains
• Becky Lynch (C) v. Bianca Belair - Becky retains
• Charlotte Flair (C) v. Alexa Bliss - Alexa wins the title
• Damien Priest (C) v. Sheamus v. Jeff Hardy - Damien retains
• Usos (C) v. Street Profits - Usos retain
• Liv Morgan v. Carmella - Liv wins
• Usos (C) v. Street Profits - Usos retain

#BringBackBraun

Raw before Extreme Rules and Predictions

            It is the last Raw before Extreme Rules and the show opens with Big E celebrating with his New Day brothers after winning the championship last week over Bobby Lashley. After much thanks and appreciation, E sets his sights on SmackDown's Bloodline - Roman Reigns and the Usos. As a result, the first match of the evening will be a six man tag match between the Bloodline and the New Day. It was a vicious match because of the familiarity that exists between all 6 competitors. However, the height of the match happened when Big E and Roman Reigns went at it. A second highlight came when Bobby Lashley ran down the ramp and attacked both teams. Lashley's presence would allow Roman Reigns to execute the spear and pin Xavier Woods for the win. One last thing to note before moving on in the evening. MVP is noticeably absent. He suffered a broken rib last week as a result of a RKO and will be out indefinitely.  

            The second match of the evening has Randy Orton squaring up against AJ Styles. Each competitor has their respective tag partners at ringside. Awesome match which saw Omos get ejected from the area for interfering. After the commercial break, these two veteran competitors gave a expertly engaging performance. In the end, the viper Orton would pick up the win thanks to his signature move. 

            Women are up next with Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax meeting in the squared circle. This was a short chapter to the dissolution storyline between the former tag partners. Shayna quickly picks up the victory. However the destruction would continue after the bell with Baszler taking out the left arm of Jax with the assistance of the steel steps.

            Brutality continues with Rhea Ripley as she teams with Nikki Cross. They go against the tag champs, Nattie and Tamina for the gold. The champs control the first half of the match until Rhea hits the Riptide on Tamina on the outside. This was enough of a distraction to allow Nikki to pick up the win over Nattie. And just like that, we have new tag champs in the odd coupling of Rhea and Nikki. 

            The estrogen parade keeps going as Alexa Bliss and "Lilly" are hosting The Playground in the center of the ring. Their guest is none other that the queen herself - Charlotte Flair. There is such a mean girls flavor to this storyline. After a minute or two of verbal aggression, Charlotte takes off her heels, attacks Alexa and rips off the head of the doll "Charly". I predict Bliss taking the gold from the queen tonight at Extreme Rules.  

            Next we have a triple threat match between Roman Reigns, Bobby Lashley and Big E. Ettore demonstrates dominance to start the match. Each competitor took turns controlling the narrative but in the end,  the visiting Tribal Chief picks up the win. Is this a harbinger to come for tonight when Roman faces Finn Balor? I think so. As much as I would like to see Reigns finally stripped of his Universal title, my gut is telling me that the Bloodline story hasn't reached its peak. I predict Roman to retain his title at Extreme Rules. 

#BringBackBraun