My WWE Extreme Rules 2012 Recap

Randy Orton defeated Kane in an entertaining Falls Count Anywhere match. Both men went back and fourth in the heated battle as they travelled through the crowd, out to the backstage area and then finally ended things back in the ring where Orton pulled out an RKO on Kane onto a steel chair for the one-two-three. I was expecting a decent bout here, but it certainly exceeded my expectations. Once again the consistent Orton puts in a solid performance.

Whilst backstage in the match Zach Ryder also began attacking Kane, only to have his strikes have apparently no affect against the already beaten down Kane and be quickly swatted away. Things aren't looking great for Ryder at the moment, they should've had him make a real impact on Kane to exact a bit of revenge and give him some much needed momentum back. 

Brodus Clay defeated Dolph Ziggler in an average to fair match up, largely due to the efforts of Ziggler. Clay didn't really reveal any more of his talents then he normally would on a Raw or SmackDown on this important pay-per-view match for him, which is a sign that he really might be as limited as he's seemed in his squash matches unfortunately, although I hope I'm wrong. Fortunately Ziggler managed to pull out a half decent match with his standard hard working ethics in the ring, the same work ethic that prompted the majority of the always awesome Chicago crowd to cheer him on.

We were shown footage from the pre show on YouTube where a wheel was spun to reveal that it would be a Tables match between Big Show and Cody Rhodes.

Cody Rhodes defeated Big Show (c) to win the Intercontinental Championship in a quite brief Tables Match. Show had most of the offense going at the start, but Rhodes managed to get back a short bit of momentum after rebounding from a table and applying an impressive Disaster Kick. The finish came after Cody tripped Show on the apron, causing him to accidentally put one of his legs through a table on the outside. Show decided to retaliate afterwards by spearing his opponent, then choke slamming him through one table and throwing him through another. 

I'm just relieved Rhodes is champ again. Hopefully this will be the start of his rebuilding towards to the main event spot, this Big Show feud hasn't really done anything for him.

Sheamus (c) defeated Daniel Bryan to retain the World Heavyweight Championship in a thoroughly enjoyable and intense 2 Out of 3 Falls contest. 'The Great White' gained the first point via disqualification after Bryan continuously kicked his shoulder in on the ropes, causing the referee to count to five. Bryan then won the second fall after causing Sheamus to supposedly pass out from the Yes Lock (Bryan had been damaging his shoulder for most of the match at this point). Finally Sheamus got the winning pin after applying a surprise Brogue Kick. 

From start to finish both wrestlers put in a great performance, and I'd say this is probably the finest match Sheamus has had in the company so far. This was also proof that Vince McMahon was dead wrong by having their match at 'Mania only last eighteen seconds, but we already knew that right? Yes! Yes! Yes!

Ryback defeated two unknowns in a Handicap match. It was the usual squash match for him, taking out both guys with his dominant maneuvers. The crowd greeted him with chants of "Goldberg" quite amusingly. For me I'm quite liking Ryback's progression so far, I've been waiting for WWE to finally book an up and comer as simply a dominant force for a while now. I mean, it's simple booking right? And the sort of booking that will make much needed stars for the company. I just worry now that whenever someone is moving up the ranks, Vince will pull the plug and give up on them like he has done with so many wrestlers over the last few years. 

CM Punk (c) defeated Chris Jericho to retain the WWE Championship in a Chicago Street Fight. And what a title match it was! Back and fourth both wrestlers went in a heated and thrilling match up. Once again any wrestling fan could plainly see that both these professionals wanted to steal the show and have the best match on the card, and on this night they succeeded. There were smart use of weapons (including the top of the announcers tables) and some exciting near falls to keep the fans suspense of disbelief going. I for one wouldn't mind this feud carrying on another month at all.

Layla defeated Nikki Bella (c) to win the WWE Divas Championship. The match itself was decent enough, compared to the usual standard of a match involving a Bella anyway. Layla's return wasn't met with much enthusiasm from the fans in Chicago unfortunately, as chants of "We want Kharma" got going, along with a largely indifferent reaction to her winning the title. I'm personally glad to see her back in the ring, the division needs someone to make it a bit more interesting again (and I'm pleased for other reasons, wink wink).

John Cena defeated Brock Lesnar in an Extreme Rules match. Now this was a strange one. It began as an almost fake MMA scrap between the two, with Lesnar cutting Cena open with an elbow. It was a drab start really, this kind of thing doesn't work with pro wrestling fans. Now don't get me wrong I'm an MMA fan, but when I watch a pro wrestling company whoever it may be I expect to see pro wrestling, not MMA style fighting on the ground. 

Fortunately it then started to pick up a bit after the referee (who'd been calling for medical to check up on Cena's cut almost every ten seconds, which just looks plain absurd in a match billed as 'Extreme Rules') got knocked out by accident. Lesnar dominated Cena for the large majority of the bout, performing some German Suplexes and plenty of strikes. At one point he also tied Cena up onto the corner post with his own chain and beat on him, which was a nice touch I thought. Cena of course managed a comeback after striking Lesnar with said chain to the head and performing an Attitude Adjustment onto the steel steps that Lesnar had previously brought into the ring, then gaining the winning pin.

Overall it was entertaining once it got going and was an enjoyable affair, just maybe not quite what I was expecting. Afterwards Cena grabbed a mic and spoke as though Laurinaitis could well be firing him after the win, but stated that if it was his last match than he was happy it was in Chicago, a "wrestling city". And that it is. 

On the whole Extreme Rules was a solid pay-per-view, with the Orton Kane match, World Title bouts and main event being the highlights. Tomorrows Raw with Triple H's appearance and Lesnar's possible future should be interesting.