Triple H & Brock Lesnar main event the WWE's most brutal PPV event of the year.
Last year's Extreme Rules was the first ever PPV hailed a "classic event" since the blog's creation. It was a show that had many memorable matches and was highlighted by a particularly cringe worthy main event between John Cena and Brock Lesnar. This year's effort had the near impossible task of following the work the WWE superstars put forward when they collided in that all-time show in Chicago. Could they top last year's spectacle? Did HHH/Lesnar III live up to all the hype? Find out in my quick review of WWE Extreme Rules 2013 after the jump!
Chris Jericho vs. Fandango - A solid match that was a bit better than their match at WrestleMania. Was a little surprised Jericho walked away with the win here, but taking a look at this feud through retrospect, it was the right decision. A passable opener. [***]
United States Championship match: Kofi Kingston(c) vs. Dean Ambrose - I know this match has caught a bit of flack from some, but for me, this was one of the most exciting United States title matches I have seen in a long while. Maybe I'm biased, but I really thought they brought the suspense with this one. Was it as good as Kofi/Cesaro from Main Event? No. But the final moments of the match were damn near game changing. Ambrose is now your new US champion. And he celebrated as if it were the WHC. I think that he almost instantly made this belt interesting again. [***1/4] *Recommended*
Strap match: Mark Henry vs. Sheamus - This match wasn't much of anything. Predictable and a bit boring at times. Not very much to love here. Sheamus gets some momentum back as Mark Henry looks to take some time off after his loss here. [**]
I Quit match to determine the #1 Contender for Dolph Ziggler's World Heavyweight Championship: Alberto Del Rio vs. Jack Swagger - I enjoyed what I got here overall, but I was terribly disappointed that Swagger lost so this match left a bad taste in my mouth. Given their history, the potential storyline that Swaggs and Ziggler could have whipped up would have been great stuff IMO. [***]
Tornado Tag match for the WWE Tag Team Championship: Team Hell No (Kane & Daniel Bryan)(c) vs. The Shield (Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns) - As expected with any match involving The Shield, this match was a hell of a lot of fun. Reigns and Rollins have been teaming together long enough that they almost effortlessly defeated Team Hell No after a great bit of action. Their new finish is a play on the Doomsday Device, with Seth Rollins dropping a knee onto an opponent as Reigns hoists them up in a Torture Rack. Impressive work. [***1/2] *Recommended*
Extreme Rules match: Big Show vs. Randy Orton - Being that the event took place in his hometown of St. Louis, MO, the crowd was on fire for Randy Orton here. It made this match infinitely better than it would have been had it took place on a random episode of Monday Night RAW. A very good match that culminated with Orton using the Punt Kick for the first time in over two years. Like everyone else, I marked the f**k out for it. [***1/2]
Last Man Standing match for the WWE Championship: John Cena(c) vs. Ryback - This match was a lot better than I expected it to be going in. I thought Cena made Ryback look like an absolute destroyer here. With "the champ" barely seeming to get any offense in, Ryback pulled out all the stops to take the WWE Championship off of Cena in what was IMO, the best WWE LMS match of the decade thus far. Big time fight with an unbelievable spot that saw Ryback ram Cena straight through the set. Some may scoff at the "non-finish", but I thought the ending was a brilliant piece of storytelling. This feud can now continue with Ryback looking like much more of a threat than he would've had Cena just made his comeback and finished Ryback off in typical fashion. Enjoyed this match a great deal. [****] *Recommended*
Steel Cage match: Triple H vs. Brock Lesnar - This was far and away, the best match Lesnar and Triple H have had together. Say what you want about their feud, but each match has increased significantly in quality and that's more than I can say for most WWE feuds as of late. Lesnar hurt his knee in the early going and Trips looked to exploit it for the rest of the match. Unbelievable psychology and a fantastic sell job by Lesnar here. I thought this was the best match of the night and had that rare unpredictability factor that has been missing from many WWE main events. Loved this match. [****1/4] *Recommended*
Overall PPV Score: 7/10
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