Extreme Rules Has Arrived.....

A Merry Extreme Rules, Enthusiasts!

 

I know that many don’t really care about this one but that never stops me. I’m here for the action. This will be an interesting evening because it’s a mild test for the WWE. Take a brief look across social media outlets and there’s little to no buzz for Sunday. AEW got a 2^nd hour for Rampage and they appear to be what to keep eyes on at the moment. There’s not much WWE can do about this but they do have to establish that they remain in business for a good reason besides periodic budget cuts. For the immediate and near future WWE has to change its reputation. It’s got to put on a good show no matter what. If they want to remain relevant, failure is no longer an option.

 

That being said, we have Extreme Rules and there are a few places it could go really wrong. I will touch on the big ones that I feel could crash and burn epically but I won’t go over everything. In those cases, I’ll just sit back and watch.

 

This post is a little special because I think for the first time I’m going to focus on the Women’s matches. Not all of them but 2 of them are interesting to me and I only talk on the matches that spark my interest.  So, the first one is Charlotte vs. Alexa Bliss. Now, to put this in context, this could be a tough time for Charlotte with her father’s, Ric Flair’s, old antics being fresh news again. I know she has nothing to do with that but it will inadvertently cloud her match. It doesn’t help that she’s facing Bliss. Now, I’m going to talk about The Demon at the end but here’s where things can go bad early. I don’t know what they plan to do here but if it has anything to do with hocus-pocus, they’re going to lose at least half of us. Some people eat this stuff up but I don’t have enough to go on to shovel any onto my plate so I’ll be watching for the train wreck here. I know they’re not trying to tank it but it’s hard to say WWE knows what they’re doing creatively so I’ll be surprised if any of their notions take. I think they’re best bet is keeping this a wrestling match. Charlotte has shown that she can get a crowd on her side so let them just have a match. It’s doubtful they ever nail this angle.

 

The next match of interest is Becky Lynch vs. Bianca BelAir. Now, given how we ended up here, we’ll all be disappointed if this isn’t a banger match. I wouldn’t be surprised if they take match of the night. That’s what they should be angling for given how 26 seconds have become kind of a big deal. A lot of people didn’t like BelAir taking a squash but I thought it was on brand.

 

WWE is a heel company, let’s just admit it. They are here to take our money and do it as they please. Nevertheless, to do that they have to find a floor for success. What I mean by that is that they can’t sell us shit and say it’s gourmet chili. We can see and smell that it’s shit. That’s kinda what they’ve been doing in recent years. Just slapping it together and sending it out with a lot of bells and whistles to dress it up. It showed. With AEW on the rise, they just can’t get away with it anymore. MLW is going to have a show on Vice in October and I’ll check it out just ‘cause I’m curious. Promotions are starting to make pushes to see if they can take a portion of this market that WWE has always dominated. If they want to continue to hold on to that, they’re going to have to up their game. I know I’m saying this over and over but it’s true. The time has come, my friends. They have no choice but to overhaul. I really never thought I’d see the day but we all knew the day was coming. That’s what happens with this sort of thing. The truth is just out and the only way to change it is to turn things around. They hit bottom without going on the bender, thankfully. So, what we should be seeing henceforth is better product or at least solid attempts at better product. We just have to expect they’ll still get it wrong from time to time. It’s fine though, AEW is far from perfect but it’s coming from an honest place and that is resonating with fans. This is why WWE has to be on point from here on out because that’s the only thing that will get them the street-cred. They want to leave people muttering under their breath not have plenty of fodder to continue talking about how much they suck. This is a no bullshit sort of time.

 

That said, Lynch and BelAir will be a match where a statement can be made. Impact may have a Women’s Division that could possibly rival WWE at the moment so WWE has to lead with strength and show why they are akin to Starbucks when it comes to brand popularity. Impact is Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf just because they’ve been around and AEW is Peet’s Coffee due to the organic/hipster feel. These ladies have to show that women can and will main event and that shouldn’t be a bad thing.

 

Then we have the main event, with Roman Reigns vs. The Demon, Finn Bálor. Now, SmackDown left this in a palatable place which surprised me. They usually get this so wrong. I’m preparing myself for it to go south but Friday was a fair beginning. I can see where this can go and the crowd appears to want it. They want to believe and that’s something WWE shouldn’t waste. I don’t blame them for being somewhat standoffish this time around. We all know WWE’s track record so, making this work and protecting Bálor at the same time is the real magic trick here. The general sentiment is that fans don’t want The Demon to lose. To have him lose does diminish the mystique. That’s why I wasn’t too thrilled to see them go to The Demon so fast. It’s the sort of thing they should build so, throwing it out there tells me they still don’t get it. Yet, they seem to be keeping it on the ground for now which is fine. If they lay this down right it could really take off. Bálor could be a big thing if they go about it right but that’s the big question. Will they do it right? This is the main reason I don’t see him going to AEW. He needs the production values if his gimmick is to work. Selling it will require special effects, makeup artists potentially and theatrics. That shit ain’t cheap so, if he’s going to get paid and blow our minds, he needs deep pockets. If they can pop this off, he ain’t going anywhere.

 

Yet, that isn’t going down tonight. I think we have to view this as the beginning. I don’t doubt we’ll have a great match so they should just relax and have fun there. Bálor needs to use this time to craft the difference between the versions of himself. What he does as The Demon should differ from when he’s not invoked. When he’s out, it has to be clear he went next level. Watch any battle anime. The top fighters don’t bring it out in the early rounds. They face the other hot shit and take it there. Or they realize that some early round shit is hot shit and then take it there to win. Reigns disrespected him and is the resident “hot shit” so I can see why Bálor went there but in terms of storytelling, he kinda jumped the gun in my opinion. If they really want to build him up, he should know that Reigns isn’t a real threat if he is truly otherworldly. Right now, Bálor looks kinda fallible which could be compounded by putting on the makeup to fight. It’s a bit much for war paint. So, that’s the sort of thing that comes out about WWE. The veil gets a lifted again and you can kinda tell that someone is just trying to cheaply sell the gimmick. They’re underestimating the audience. I can guarantee that everyone is into more complex shit, so cutting corners to get the payday is just going to show. No more bullshit. If they want The Demon to work, they should slow things down and plant the seeds. Why waste the time and end up having to start over anyway? They have to do it right, not just their way.

  

Okay, all that said, my vote is for Brock Lesnar crashing the party to save everyone face. Paul Heyman left some hints on Friday for the set up for Saudi Arabia so, this is a good time to gear up for that. If I had a say, I’d have Lesnar take out Bálor and then Reigns so Bálor has the running theme of someone not respecting him. This allows for him to develop a grudge that could further fuel The Dæmon. I change the spelling because I think that’s what he really should be shooting for. Not some gimmick or alter ego, what “he is”. He is old. He is powerful and others aren’t recognizing what they’re dealing with. It’s a go big or go home sort of thing. If he wants it…he has to go all in and become Bálor. He could be the embodiment, some incarnation, having a lark and toying with humans. I don’t really care which way they go but they should go ahead and let him be it. We want to have some dark fun. Comes with the territory.

 

All right, that’s all I got to say about that. I’m rooting for WWE. Like I keep saying, they have the talent. They just need a Vision. I think they’re developing one and that’s great. It’s about damn time. It was looking like they were trying to go out of business for a while there. Now it looks like they want to keep it. Thank the Heavens for all of us. I’m happy for AEW but they aren’t my bag. But it’s nice that there’s an alternative. Not everyone will work in the WWE Universe. It’s just a hard truth. It’s not for everyone. Doesn’t mean these aren’t good wrestlers or people. The general populous just doesn’t care. That’s when one must find their niche. It’s nice to see that the industry has developed enough to have lucrative options. There is now life after or instead of WWE. One doesn’t have to hang it up and enter into the real world just yet. Funny tweets and Likes get retweeted. Just try to be fair tonight. Let them put on the show and just be honest. They’re really trying now so, let’s be encouraging when warranted. Don’t lie out there either.

 

 

See You in a Bit,

-Nicole Alexis (^_~)