Extreme Rules Predictions

Hello! It really is that time again. It feels like the last PPV was yesterday, partially because Payback and Extreme Rules are taking place within 3 weeks of each other- but mainly because there's been hardly any storyline progression in most of the feuds in the last 3 weeks. I mean, a lot of stuff has happened don't get me wrong- but you'd be really pushed to explain how at least half of the angles heading into tonight have actually progressed storyline wise.

Seeing as it's relatively big news, before I start off the Predictions I'm just going to put my thoughts out there with regard to the Cody Rhodes news. Cody's only 30 Years Old. A lot of people seem to forget that fact given how long he's been around as a Wrestler. The simple fact is, and it's one Ryback spoke about a lot in that Tumblr Post- Cody's "value" to the company has steadily declined since he was in Legacy and therefore so has the amount of money he's been making. Yes, Cody's been great in all of the gimmicks he's had since- but his general exposure on TV has never been the same he had in his Legacy days. That's just a fact.

Since the Stephen Amell stuff at Summerslam, I'm fairly certain "Stardust" has literally won 2 Matches- and I can't remember the last time he was actually on RAW. In short, as far as TV exposure goes Cody's basically hit rock bottom. I don't know if Cody's going to wrestle somewhere else, just with his name value let alone the fact he's a damn good worker he'd basically have his pick of the litter with regard to different promotions.

In short, Cody will only ever be of some value to the WWE again by leaving and building up his reputation again. You only have to look at Doc/Luke Gallows for proof. He was on Superstars if he was lucky before he was released from WWE back in 2010- but now, whatever can be said about how Gallows & Anderson have been booked they're two of the most featured guys consistently on RAW and Smackdown and will continue to be over the next few months as a minimum. Basically, leaving WWE in a weird way is at this stage the only avenue he's got left to actually be treated "properly" by WWE.

Right then, with that said there's 8 Matches to predict so I'll just jump into it.

Pre-Show: Baron Corbin v Dolph Ziggler- No DQ Match
I'm just going to throw this out there now, tonight is one of the easiest PPV's to predict on paper in quite a long time. That of course means WWE are going to throw a "curve-ball" in the midst basically just to fuck with us and everyone who bets on Wrestling. So it's actually going to be an extra prediction to predict the match that WWE will fuck with us in.

This is one that'll be low down on the list in that regard, for the simple fact that this was the match did for it at Payback. I said in my Predictions for Payback that Dolph had a proper chance of winning, and he of course did end up winning- but this month anything less than a Corbin win will be a swerve for the sake of a swerve and just monumentally stupid. Not only that, I want Corbin to absolutely destroy Dolph.

I doubt he will, and speaking from an overall card sense- having a lot of weapon usage and stuff like that on the Pre-Show is probably a bad move. But just from a character perspective for Corbin, given he's been featured sporadically- when he does appear he needs to make a massive impact.
Winner: Baron Corbin

Rusev v Kalisto- US Title Match
One of just two matchws on the whole card, including the Pre-Show without any sort of stipulation. I think that basically sums up how Kalisto's US Title run has gone- and just in general how the Title's been treated whilst on Kalisto. Rusev's sudden resurgence and push toward the US Title coinciding with Cena's return isn't a coincidence. However, regardless of if Rusev holds the US Title for 2 Weeks, 2 Months or 2 Years- he needs to take the Title off of Kalisto tonight.

I do believe that Rusev will win, and there's a 99% chance they play up the injury angle that they did in midweek to explain why Kalisto wasn't on Smackdown and Rusev just being too much for an injured Kalisto. If they did it like the Owens/Zayn match at Takeover where Owens won the Title by having Rusev just destroy Kalisto non-stop to the point where the Ref has to "throw in the towel" for Kalisto I'd absolutely love it.
Winner: Rusev

The Club v The Usos- Tornado Tag Team Match
The placement of this match on the card will be quite interesting to start off. This is either going to take place early on, and The Club destroy The Usos to make it actually "1 vs All" in the Main Event. Actually, quick aside- Roman's thing is "1 vs All" but he's got more allies than anyone else on the Roster. Think about that. The other option is this takes place directly before the Main Event and they either do the same thing with regard to having The Usos taken out- or they all take each other out making it (seemingly) a true 1v1 Match. More later.

The fact The Usos beat Gallows and Anderson clean on RAW makes me relatively expectant of a Club win. However, I don't know what goes on in WWE's heads most of the time- and it wouldn't surprise me that they've worked out some twisted logic of having The Usos win make sense.
Winner: The Club

New Day v The Vaudevillains- Tag Title Match
This is one of the matches where I think there's a realistic chance of fuckery in regard to the expected outcome and what WWE will give us. New Day have been Tag Champs for almost a year now, and it would be over a year were it not for the fact that Titus is a nice dad. Despite the fact New Day are one of the Merch sellers in the company, I think their time as *engages hip swaying* WWE World Tag Team Champions may be coming to an end soon. Especially given the fact that Enzo is surely coming back soon, and I would assume they're getting the Tag Titles soon- which would mean they need a Heel team to beat in The Vaudevillains.

If they do end up losing the Tag Titles, I'd absolutely love it if either Kofi or Big E won Money in the Bank- especially if it was Kofi. Given New Day's current importance to WWE with regard to Merch sales and general popularity- this is probably the last chance Kofi has to get pushed to the "next level". Anyway, I'm predicting New Day- but I'm definitely not ruling out The Vaudevillains basically.
Winner: New Day

The Miz v Kevin Owens v Sami Zayn v Cesaro- Fatal 4-Way for the IC Title
Firstly, I actually think this has a really good chance of being the Match of the Night. Not just because of the obvious involvement of Owens, Cesaro and Zayn- but the fact everyone knows their roles and how to wrestle the story I'm expecting to be told tonight to perfection.

Miz is going to win tonight, I'm certain of that fact. But it wouldn't surprise me if he takes a load of moves right off the bat and only reappears right at the last second to pick up the win. The Kevin Owens/Sami Zayn story is going to play out in such a way where they're both negatively affecting each others careers within kayfabe- with the eventual pay-off coming at Summerslam with a stipulation match billed as the "last time ever" that they'll wrestle.

Tonight it'll be both guys getting close to winning the Title, but fucking each other over allowing Miz to retain. Next month it'll be them both fucking each other over in the Money in the Bank Ladder Match- and that'll basically just keep going. The one person who I don't want Miz to pin tonight is Cesaro, because after tonight they're likely going to branch off from Owens and Zayn and feud 1v1 again.
Winner: The Miz

Charlotte v Natalya- Submission Match for the Womens Title
I said this in my RAW Review as well, the way this feud has been booked and just generally played out- there's not going to be a satisfying outcome in this match tonight. Either; Charlotte beats Nattie clean- which would be a huge anti-climax given how the feud's been booked, Charlotte cheats to win in some way- which would be a huge anti-climax given how they've built the match up or Nattie wins the Womens Title which would just be so fucking stupid.

I am expecting Charlotte to retain, and I don't think this will be one of the matches where WWE swerve us with the outcome because the Womens Title to the WWE is probably their 2nd most important Title at the moment.
Winner: Charlotte

Chris Jericho v Dean Ambrose- Asylum Match
I'm fearing the worst tonight. Plant Lives Matter. As we watch this match unfold, don't forget that fact. If something does happen tonight, and another Plants life is taken- be prepared to take appropriate action.

This is my predicted "swerve" outcome for tonight. The annoying thing is (unless I'm mistaken) we don't actually know when Jericho's done with this WWE run. If Jericho is done after tonight, and they're going to kill him off with a Plant to the Head tonight then of course Ambrose is going to win. But, given the fact we don't know that- and with this being in my opinion the feud with the best build for tonight I'm expecting Jericho to win just piss everyone off.

A Jericho win tonight would be perfect in my opinion, because it'd keep this feud going for another month- and it would get Jericho even more heat than he currently has. Imagine Jericho's Promos after he's beaten Ambrose in what is literally his match. If Jericho is done after tonight, then I'd expect the New Day match to be the "swerve" match- but this is the one I'm going for you stupid idiots.
Winner: Chris Jericho

Roman Reigns v AJ Styles- Extreme Rules Match for the WWE Title
If this wasn't already obvious, given some of the reactions I saw after Payback- Roman Reigns is in fact going to pin AJ Styles tonight. I still can't believe some people were actually getting worked up about that. The discussion, and prediction for tonight is only about what happens in the build-up to AJ getting pinned. I don't even care how little sense it'd make, I still want Gallows and Anderson to align with Roman. Which you could argue would make sense with regard to who Roman wants to align with if The Club beat The Usos therefore proving their superiority to them (I know it's tenuous).

There's of course the Finn Balor stuff, and I do think there's a much bigger chance of him debuting tonight than there was for Payback. My thing for this match, and just the feud- I just want there to be some storyline progression. I don't care how the story is progressed, whether it's Balor debuting and fucking AJ over, Roman aligning with Gallows & Anderson, Gallows & Anderson turning on AJ, or even something a bit more left-field like a Rollins return which has been rumoured today. I just want something, because we had nothing at Payback.

If I had to predict the match, AJ's going to look amazing again, the match will actually be pretty fucking good, Roman will kick out of 7 Billion Finishers including a Styles Clash onto a Chair and eventually The Club turns on AJ to allow Roman to win (but they don't align with Roman). That's my preferred direction for tonight, but as previously said I just want something.

I've not been a big fan of the build for tonight, but at the same time there's not a single match tonight that doesn't have at least the potential to be the overall Match of the Night in my opinion. I think that's going to be a theme of the next few months, because with the number of returns due over the next month or so- the PPV cards are going to be absolutely stacked especially heading into/for Summerslam.

Thanks for reading as always, when these Predictions show up there's always a Review not so far behind- so hopefully you'll be back here tomorrow for it. I do have reasonably high hopes for tonight, and hopefully you'll be tagging along on Twitter to watch it all unfold. Let's just hope for the best, and if not Finn Balor- at least No Way Jose interference in the Main Event.