The next event coming down the WWE pipeline is Extreme Rules, a pay-per-view where every match has no rules (I guess stipulations count as rules, deal with my wording). In the last two weeks, three of the matches that will be at the event have been announced and the last two episodes of Monday Night Raw have started to build it up.
One of the matches announced was the WWE championship battle between the defending champion, John Cena, and Ryback. I really thought that they would go with Mark Henry versus Cena since they had a match last week but I was wrong. The thought of Henry versus Cena had me intrigued, he’d be a welcomed change in the championship landscape.
Instead they chose Ryback.
I don’t have a problem with Ryback at all. Do I think he’s WWE championship material yet? Hell no. He is a great competitor and the fans respond well to him but he still has a lot of work to do before he is ready. I’m not saying that it shouldn’t happen, it just shouldn’t happen right now. One of the points that I use to support my opinion is his TERRIBLE pre-taped promo he did on the April 15th edition of Raw. How terrible was it? All he did was whine about how Cena didn’t save him when he was attacked by The Shield. I have one word for him, waaaaaaah. Cena was the guy that put Ryback over and even-handed Ryback his title shot on October 15th of last year. I just didn’t understand the promo at all, it wasn’t spectacular and would have had way more impact had it been live. If it wasn’t done in the ring, it should have been done as a backstage segment. Having him just standing in front of a drab background didn’t add anything to it, just made it feel kind of blah. A champion should be able to deliver live promos and engage the crowd.
Raw on April 15th ended with Cena versus Ryback, with Ryback watching as Cena was attacked by The Shield. It was a great set up but it got, to quote the amazing James May, ‘cocked up’ the next week. They had gone with a backstage promo but it wasn’t the greatest thing I’ve ever seen. The crowd chanted ‘boring’ throughout. I think Cena versus Ryback could actually be a great feud, just not right now. We were subjected to some Cena/Ryback programming in the latter half of 2012, it would be nice to have a bit of a break. Maybe it could start after Extreme Rules and run until just after Summerslam, perhaps Survivor Series. Some may think I’m being picky but I’m not, I just know what I like. Cena retaliated by letting Ryback defend himself against The Shield, after Ryback’s confrontation with Mick Foley. Super Cena saved the day and retaliated with an attitude adjustment.
I still think Henry would have been a better choice, it would give him a chance to become even bigger of a personality than he already is. A girl can dream.
The second match that was announced was a steel cage match between Triple H and Brock Lesnar (with Heyman at ringside I’m assuming).
There is one thing that bothers me about this whole idea, other than the fact that we had to watch them face off just a few weeks ago at Wrestlemania. It’s the fact that Brock Lesnar doesn’t do his own speaking. Paul Heyman is a wordsmith and can probably work the crowd and a microphone better than most of the people in the locker room. However, shouldn’t Lesnar be issuing his own challenges? I mean, COME ON!
Can he not talk? Is he not confident in his skills? I just want to know what the deal is. Heyman was the one who called out Triple H and took the pedigree from him. When Triple H’s music hit, his face was priceless. With Lesnar’s absence, one would think that it was Heyman who would be taking on Hunter. I always enjoy a good cage match and I think it will be pretty good but Lesnar can’t compete in a regular wrestling match. I’m almost positive, and correct me if I am wrong, that each and every match that Lesnar has had since he first started appearing on WWE television again has had some kind of stipulation attached. The man can’t cut it in a WWE ring if it is just a straight wrestling match, he always needs to have an edge somehow.
The third match that was announced was a triple threat match between the new World Heavyweight champion, Dolph Ziggler, Alberto Del Rio, and Jack Swagger. I think that it would have been fine if Swagger wasn’t just tossed in on that. I just don’t see how his current gimmick fits in with the other two. Del Rio and Ziggler makes sense, Swagger seems like he was thrown in on a whim because they had nothing better for him to do at the time. Jack is a guy who everyone thought was going to be future endeavored after Wrestlemania, due to his arrest only weeks before the event.
Del Rio doesn’t need a title to be over with fans and Ziggler FINALLY got rid of that MITB briefcase that seemed like it was a weight on his back. Swagger just makes no sense as an entrant in this match and having him win would make even less sense. Dolph retaining the title is the only logical finish that I can see for this match. Seems to me like good ol’ Jack is the odd man out in this triple threat match.
While the even doesn’t happen for another few weeks, I hope the card gets beefed up a little and is entertaining. I’m just thankful that I don’t have to sit through another Rock versus Cena snooze fest on May 19th.
Come on creative, don’t let me down!
