From PROWRESTLING.NET

5/1 Powell's WWE Extreme Rules PPV results and review: Alberto Del Rio vs. Christian in a ladder match for the World Hvt. Championship, The Miz vs. John Cena vs. John Morrision in a cage match for the WWE Championship

Posted in: WWE PPV Reports, MUST-READ LISTING
By
May 1, 2011 - 10:00 PM

By Jason Powell

ExtremeRules_1.jpg
Dot Net Members can look forward Chris Shore and I reviewing WWE Extreme Rules in audio form later tonight. Join us on the ad-free version of the website by signing up right now via the Dot Net Members' Signup Page.

WWE Extreme Rules
Aired live on pay-per-view
Tampa, Fla. at St. Pete Times Forum


The show opened with a video and then pyro went off on the stage. Josh Mathews introduced the show from ringside, and then Justin Roberts introduced the opening match. Jerry Lawler and Booker T are also on commentary...

Powell's POV: The dark match result is up on the main page for those of you who missed it.

1. Randy Orton defeated C.M. Punk in a Last Man Standing match in 20:15. Mason Ryan, David Otunga, and Michael McGillicutty accompanied Punk on his walk to the ring. However, the anonymous general manager email chime sounded. Josh stood up and announced that all members of New Nexus are banned from ringside because Punk and Orton need to settle their differences.

Punk untied a turnbuckle pad before the match started. Orton took control early. Punk grabbed a kendo stick from underneath the ring and surprised Orton with a couple of shots. Booker said Extreme Rules is at extreme as it gets. Am I the only one who thinks Black Snow was better on commentary than Booker T?

Orton ended up with the stick and Booker said "payback is a mother." Orton tried to use the stick, but Punk cut him off. Orton went for the DDT off the middle rope, but Punk countered and then did the slingshot into the exposed turnbuckle. Orton made a comeback and hit a cool power slam on the floor. Punk ended up beating referee Charles Robinson's count.

At 10:40, Punk hit the GTS on Orton in mid-ring, but it wasn't enough to put Randy away. Punk had a chair set up in mid-ring. He set up Orton for a move and then flashed a cheesy smile at the camera, only to have Orton hit the RKO. Later, with both men at ringside, Punk wrapped a chair around Orton's head and then ran him into the ring post, which drove the chair into Randy's neck. Orton barely beat the count.

The camera closed in on Punk's back as he was setting up Orton on the table. Punk had some nasty welts. Punk went for the GTS on the announce table, but Orton countered with an RKO. The table remained intact. Orton went for a punt kick on the floor, but Punk avoided it and GTS'd Orton onto the ring steps. Orton was back to his feet at nine.

Back inside the ring, Punk went to the top rope for a move and Orton cut him off. Orton slammed the kendo stick across his back repeatedly. Orton hit an RKO off the top rope. The referee started the count. Orton got to his feet, but Punk was out for the ten count. Orton celebrated while Punk sold in the ring...

Powell's POV: Very good match. They were given plenty of time and made the most of it. The best Orton match in a long time. I'm not reading anything into this regarding Punk's future with WWE, as this appeared to be the blowoff since Punk and Orton are now on opposite brands. A correspondent in the building noted that Diana Hart Smith is in the building and was introduced to the live crowd. By the way, The Cole Mine is set up even though Cole is not on commentary.

An ad aired for The Rock's birthday part on WWE Raw... An ad aired for Paper Jamz with The Miz... The announcers recapped the top four draft moves for each brand...

Powell's POV: Did they really include The Great Khali, yet not mention Daniel Bryan's move to Fridays? Get ready for the internet to break.

Backstage, Teddy Long told Sheamus that he's defending the United States Championship in a tables match. Sheamus said he's the champion of the United States, and he's wrestling someone who isn't even from the United States. "Teddy, I demand to see his birth certificate," Sheamus said. Teddy said not to worry about it because he might not even be the U.S. Champion after tonight...

A shot aired of John Morrison doing Parkour moves...

Powell's POV: A weak play on the Donald Trump saga, although I must admit the Sheamus line made me chuckle a little. Teddy's comeback didn't really make any sense. I've been guessing since Monday that Kofi will be bringing the U.S. Title to Raw. I guess we'll find out now.

2. Kofi Kingston defeated Sheamus in a tables match to win the United States Championship in 9:10. With a table set up in the corner, Kofi made a run at Sheamus. However, Sheamus moved, and Kofi leapt up and braced himself on the second rope to avoid going through the table. Cool spot. He also avoided a table on the floor while taking a bump to ringside.

Late in the match, Sheamus was on the floor and was using a table to brace himself as he started to stand up. Kofi went to the top rope and hit a Boom Drop that drove Sheamus through the table for the win...

Powell's POV: Wow, great finisher. The live crowd wasn't very hot for the match. They popped for the cool finish, but there wasn't a big buzz over the title change. I guess that's what happens when WWE doesn't bother to advertise matches. I have no idea why they didn't bother to include that one in the pre-match hype.

Backstage, Todd Grisham interviewed R-Truth, who complained that he's not even on the show. "Nobody knows what a nose knows," Truth said. "You smell that? I smell a conspiracy. C-O-N... Conspiracy." He said conspiracies aren't good, they're bad. "As bad as John Morrison's breath," Truth said. He said Morrison stole his title shot. Truth said if there's one thing he can't stand, it's a thief...

3. Michael Cole and Jack Swagger defeated Jerry Lawler and Jim Ross in a country whipping match in 7:00. Cole came out wrapped in bubble wrap. He cut a promo in which he compared Ross and Lawler to Floridian retirees.

Powell's POV: The Terry Funk fan in me was begging for Cole to call them Florida Crackers. Kudos to MMA announcer Mauro Ranallo for the early line of the night via his Twitter page: "It just came to me! Wearing bubble wrap is the closest Cole will ever come to getting a pop."

Cole started the match, but bowed out quickly, but only after Lawler removed the bubble wrap. Swagger entered the match and took it to Lawler. The King took Swagger down and tagged in Ross at 4:50. Ross whipped Swagger a couple of times and then applied the ankle lock. Swagger pulled away and tagged in Cole, who was reluctant to check into the match.

Ross took it to Cole and then went into Dusty Rhodes mode while dancing with the strap. Funny. Ross whipped Cole a couple times and then applied the ankle lock. Swagger ran in and grabbed Ross by the collar. Ross low-blowed Swagger and was whipping him when Cole rolled up Ross and got the pin...

Powell's POV: The feud that just won't end. We have another pay-per-view later this month, so perhaps that will finally be the blowoff match. It wasn't as stiff as I thought it would be after Ross bloodied Cole's mouth on Monday. The crowd was responsive for Ross's flurry of offense.

An Over the Limit pay-per-view add aired. It started as a parody commercial for "LOE" (Lack of Entertainment) and then hyped the pay-per-view as the most exciting thing on television...

A video recapped the Cody Rhodes vs. Rey Mysterio feud. It was a slick video that recapped Cody's change from "Dashing" to disturbed...

4. Rey Mysterio defeated Cody Rhodes in a Falls Count Anywhere match in 11:40. Two men accompanied Rhodes and passed out paper bags to the fans. Cody told the fans to put the bags on their heads because they are extremely ugly. It's like he can see into my living room!

Rey and Cody battled into the crowd and up the stairs early on. They headed into the arena concourse and continued their brawl while a group of fans that were blocked off by security chanted, "This is awesome." They fought their way back into the arena. Rey climbed on the handrail and gave up on whatever he was going to do because Cody was too far away. He tried again on the guardrail, but Cody was still too far away.

Mysterio charged at Cody, who hip tossed him over the guardrail and got a near fall on the floor. They headed back inside the ring. The fans in the arena were not nearly as excited as the fans in the concourse, and that's putting it nicely. Cody hit an Alabama Slam, but Rey kicked out.

Rey sat on the top rope and went Great Kabuki on Cody by spraying (blue) mist in his face. Mysterio hit a standing 619 and a springboard splash and then scored the clean pin to win the match. Booker mentioned Great Muta while comparing the mist...

Powell's POV: Cool finishing sequence even without the mist. A good brawl that seemed to lose the live crowd once they left the arena.

Backstage, the Divas were hanging around with nothing better to do. Unfortunately, Kharma did not show up and destroy them. Rather, Layla was apologetic for her actions. Kelly Kelly said they like Michelle McCool even less than Layla...

Powell's POV: I guess that was their way of trying to establish someone as likable going into the Divas match.

Michael Cole entered the Cole Mine and joined the announcers on commentary...

5. Layla beat Michelle McCool in a loser leaves WWE match in 5:45. The attempt to cast Layla as the babyface was not successful, as the live crowd didn't give a damn. They hit some high impact moves. Layla took the Styles Clash, but ended up countering a pin attempt to get the win.

McCool cried after the match. The fans made more noise during the match by singing the goodbye song. Kharma's music played and she came out wearing cool gear that was somewhat similar to what she's worn in the past as Awesome Kong, but not as gladiator looking as her past gear.

McCool begged off. The crowd wasn't very hot as Kharma entered the ring, but the cheered when she stopped McCool from escaping. Kharma hit the Implant Buster and then laughed maniacally. She stopped and made a serious face. She laughed again, and then stopped when her music played. A shot aired of a group of stunned Divas watching the backstage monitor...

Powell's POV: I assume McCool will spend some down time with her hubby the Undertaker, but that's just a guess. Kharma's debut didn't seem to win over the live crowd, but you can't blame her since the fans don't pop for anything the Divas do these days. They didn't call it the Implant Buster by the way. People are asking whether Kharma is a babyface. I think she's just going after all of the Divas, and it made sense to have her attack McCool since she's leaving. The only thing I would have done differently is advertise that Kharma was debuting, as it may have led to more pay-per-view buys from the online fans.

A Tough Enough commercial aired...

Backstage, Alberto Del Rio had Ricardo Rodriguez work on announcing him as the new World Heavyweight Champion...

A Christian vs. Del Rio video package aired and focussed heavily on Edge vacating the championship due to retirement to set up this match...

Powell's POV: I'm disappointed that this match isn't closing the show. Maybe it bodes well for Del Rio since him going over wouldn't send the crowd home happy. I don't expect Cena to go over tonight, but he can always do something after the cage match to send the fans home happy. There's plenty of time for the two title matches, so we should get a nice, long match between these two.

6. Christian defeated Alberto Del Rio (w/Ricardo Rodriguez) in a ladder match to win the World Hvt. Championship in 21:05. There were ladders set up all around the ring. Christian took some nasty ladder bumps early that left a mean bruise on his back and side. Del Rio took a big back drop over the ropes and onto a ladder at 13:15.

Christian went to the ropes and had a ladder with him. Del Rio got to his feet, ran to the corner, jumped up, and used the ropes to set up a great kick to Christian, who then took another bump onto the ladder. Del Rio made a play for the hanging title belt, but Christian stopped him at 14:35.

Christian broke out a spear in tribute to Edge, which woke up the otherwise ho-hum crowd. At 16:30, Christian made a play on the ladder, but ended up being caught by Del Rio, who hung him up on one of the rungs by his neck. Christian broke free and broke up Del Rio's play for the title.

Del Rio had Christian positioned on a ladder that was set up on the ring apron and the announcers' table. Del Rio went for a top rope elbow, but Christian moved and Del Rio took a huge bump on the ladder. Christian made a play for the belt and the crowd went nuts thinking this was the finish.

Brodus Clay came out and pulled the ladder out from under Christian, who hung onto the cable that the belt hangs from. Brodus pulled him down, only to have Christian get the better of him. Christian hit him with a small ladder, which caused instant bleeding. Christian also suffered a forehead cut. Del Rio applied the cross arm breaker.

With Christian at ringside, Del Rio set up the ladder and went for the title belt. He was distracted by a car horn - it was Edge in a jeep that he drove to ringside. Christian recovered and pushed the ladder over. Del Rio took a bump onto Ricardo and a bloody Brodus, who left a pool of blood on the floor. Christian pulled the belt down to win the match and the World Hvt. Championship.

Christian stood on the top rungs of the ladder and held the belt in the air. Edge stood in the ring and clapped for his longtime friend. Christian and Edge hugged one another. Christian jumped up and down excitedly while hugging Edge, who raised Christian's hand as they played to the crowd...

Powell's POV: It took some time for the crowd to get into the match, but they loved seeing Edge and popped big down the stretch for some of the near grabs and the eventual title win by Christian. A cool moment with Christian finally winning a WWE World Title made even more special by Edge being there. Christian showed great emotion. Brodus is an absolute bloody mess, and he'll need a concussion test after that one. I have no idea why they didn't save that one for the main event. Maybe we'll understand after the main event.

A video touted the "That's What I Am" movie...

Backstage, Alex Riley spoke with The Miz and bitched about the odds that Miz is facing. He reminded Miz that he's guaranteed a rematch if he loses. Miz wasn't happy about him bringing up the possibility of him losing. Riley tried to say Miz is awesome, but Miz cut him off an angrily told him never to do that again...

7. Kane and Big Show beat Wade Barrett and Ezekiel Jackson in a lumberjack match to retain the WWE Tag Titles in 4:20. The heroes of WWE Superstars and the rookies from NXT served as the majority of the lumberjacks. Oh, and Evan Bourne was there too. The usual lumberjack stuff with the heels kicking the faces, and the faces trying to save the faces.

Big Show chokeslammed Barrett and scored the clean pin. The camera cut to Zeke, who looked furious when Barrett lost the match. A big brawl broke out at ringside. Zeke just walked to the back. Meanwhile, Kane and Show hit simultaneous chokeslams on Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater...

Powell's POV: They just threw the match out there. Barrett is losing more matches than Zack Ryder, who wasn't even at ringside. Sad. At least we got to see David Hart Smith wearing his cowboy hat for no reason. It's a Calgary thing, I guess, but it would be nice if someone bothered to explain that. Wait, honestly, I don't give a damn.

8. John Cena defeated The Miz and John Morrison in a Triple Threat cage match to win the WWE Championship in 19:55. We got the cage music, as usual. Morrison and Cena went at it early, and then Miz capitalized with a clothesline on Morrison. Miz went to work on both men.

Morrison made an attempt to escape the cage, but Miz stopped him. Later, Miz and Morrison ended up fighting on top of the cage. Cena and Morrison teamed up with a superplex on Miz from the top of the cage. Wow! Morrison hit a belly-to-back wheel barrow facebuster on Cena in another "wow" moment.

Powell's POV: In the biggest "wow" news of all, there are reports that Osama bin Laden is dead. Now back to your regularly scheduled pro wrestling coverage.

At 13:25, Morrison was on top of the cage. Cena and Miz got up together, making it obvious that Morrison was going to dive onto them rather than simply fall to the floor and become champion. It was an impressive move, but a bit telegraphed by the camera guys showing the recipients setting up for it.

Morrison was about to escape the cage through the door at 14:30. However, R-Truth came out and did a running knee that drove Morrison's head into the ring steps. Truth entered the ring and continued his assault on Morrison while Cena and Miz sold. Truth left Morrison lying and then climbed over the top of the cage. Obviously, he'll be claiming he could have captured the title had he been in the match.

At 18:25, Miz and Cena sat on top of the cage and traded blows. Cena got the better of the exchange, but Miz stood on the top rope and held his leg to prevent him from escaping. Miz set up for the Skull Crushing Finale off the top rope, but Cena countered with an Attitude Adjustment off the top of the cage and scored the 1-2-3.

Cena's celebration included him sitting on top of the cage, looking into the camera, saluting, and winking. He played to the crowd, which popped for the finish, but wasn't all that fired up during the post-match celebration...

Powell's POV: I guess that's why they saved the WWE Championship match for last. Strange move. They didn't have the Cena fans worked up and expecting a title change, so it's not like they made money for this one. It just kind of came out of nowhere, and I'm not sure what it sets up other than Cena and Rock teasing that their WrestleMania 28 match will be for the WWE Championship tomorrow night.

Overall, it was an entertaining and newsworthy show with the two title changes, even though I'm not crazy about the WWE Title change. I'll have a lot more to say about the show tonight in Dot Net Member Exclusive Audio with Chris Shore. You can join us by signing up for membership now via the Dot Net Members' Signup Page.

© Copyright 2011 by PROWRESTLING.NET