Extreme Rules 2009 Thoughts
Extreme Rules 2009 was the first ever Extreme Rules PPV event produced by the WWE. It took place on June 7, 2009, at the New Orleans Arena in New Orleans, Louisiana. Attendance was at 9,124 (what you expect in a small arena) and buyrate from home was 213,000. This show was a continuation of the concept of every match being hardcore that was of the former PPV, One Night Stand. Though viewed hy some as a successor of One Night Stand 2008, WWE has noted this to be an inaugural PPV. This was also the last appearance of Umaga as Edward Smith Fatu was released following this event for violation of the Wellness Policy and passed away in December that year.
8 matches were set for the card with an additional match later added at the end of the night (an angle actually). Most hyped up was of course the main event between long time rivals Jeff Hardy & Edge who were in a ladder match for the World Heavyweight Championship. The two were having a tremendous feud leading up to this show and at the time Smackdown was the must watch show for the WWE. We also had another great feud representing Smackdown which was Chris Jericho vs. Rey Mysterio for the Intercontinental Championship that saw a heel Y2J ranting on the legacy of Rey Mysterio and his lucha style wrestling. Major feuds on the Raw side included Batista vs. Randy Orton for the WWE Championship in a Steel Cage and John Cena vs. Big Show in a Submission Match. The ECW brand featured a Triple Threat hardcore match for the ECW Championship.
The Good - The ladder match was a spectacular match as expected. It was a little bit of a spot fest but it still was enjoyable and told another story in the feud and in both men's careers. But boy the aftermath was such a harsh move (in a good way) to book CM Punk to cash in the briefcase right after Hardy's victory. I'll admit when seeing it again on my favorite wrestler as an adult still hurts a little but it was a brilliant way to build up Punk's future heel turn who was pretty much a tweener after this. The No Holds Barred match was excellent too as Y2J and Rey Mysterio had one of the best Intercontinental Championship feuds in years. I think they had a better match a PPV earlier but this was still good. I also enjoyed the Triple Threat match for the ECW title. I almost forgot how Christian made ECW worth watching when he joined in. Him and Dreamer who won the belt would go on to have a great face-feud in the future. Only drag was that ECW commentary was awful.
The Meh - Opening for the US title was fine. It was really just a generic fatel four way match and not much else. I felt bad though for 2 stars in that match (Matt Hardy & MVP) who both kind of regressed after being drafted to the Raw brand a month in a half earlier. CM Punk vs. Umaga was okay but I wasn't much of a fan of the stipulation.
The Bad - The Raw brand as a whole looked embarrassing with the matches represented on this show. First I won't get into that stupid comedy match of Vickie & Chavo vs. Santina (Santino) which was more embarrassing rather than funny but Batista vs. Randy Orton had potential to be a great and brutal match but it ended up being a short and wasted match. 90% of the match is either Orton & Batista beating each other up or Orton trying to escape the cage but out of nowhere Batista wins by a pinfall just like that in 7 minutes. The pinfall was what I feel hurt the match a lot and it does for a lot of Steel Cage matches actually. Cage matches don't even feel special anymore when booked like that. Cena vs. Big Show was way too long and a snoozed fest. It's unfortunate a botch finish was noticeable to the point where even the camera hidding couldn't fool anyone.
Overall - EXTREME.... Not really. I think this concept was a bit hurt by wrestling being PG now. I mean no blood and lack of weapons for most matches kind of made this felt like any other regular PPV. Also easy to see just how divided WWE was in 2009 when you noticed the Raw matches being awful but the Smackdown/ECW matches at least being above average.
Score - 6 out of 10: Decent
0 = Terrible : 1 = Bad/Lackluster : 2 = Decent : 3 = Good : 4 = Awesome : 5 = One of the Best of all Time :
1. Kofi Kingston vs. MVP vs. Matt Hardy vs. William Regal: WWE United States Championship - 2.5/5
2. Chris Jericho vs. Rey Mysterio: WWE Intercontinental Championship (No Holds Barred) - 4/5
3. CM Punk vs. Umaga (Samoan Strap Match) - 2/5
4. Christian vs. Tommy Dreamer vs. Jack Swagger: ECW Championship - 3/5
5. Chavo & Vickie Guerrero vs. Santina Marella (Hog Pen Match) - 0/5
6. Batista vs. Randy Orton: WWE Championship (Steel Cage) - 1.5/5
7. John Cena vs. Big Show (Submission Match) - 1/5
8. Jeff Hardy vs. Edge: World Heavyweight Championship (Ladder Match) - 4.5/5
9. Jeff Hardy vs. CM Punk: World Heavyweight Championship - Not Worth It
Best Match - Jeff Hardy vs. Edge
Worst Match - Chavo Guerrero & Vickie Guerrero vs. Santina Marella. Dreadful
Most Memorable Moment - CM Punk's cash in
Top 5 Performers
1. Jeff Hardy - Outstanding Performance
2. Edge - Outstanding Performance
3. Chris Jericho - Great Performance
4. Rey Mysterio - Great Performance
5. CM Punk - Career Highlight.
Extreme Rules 2009 was the first ever Extreme Rules PPV event produced by the WWE. It took place on June 7, 2009, at the New Orleans Arena in New Orleans, Louisiana. Attendance was at 9,124 (what you expect in a small arena) and buyrate from home was 213,000. This show was a continuation of the concept of every match being hardcore that was of the former PPV, One Night Stand. Though viewed hy some as a successor of One Night Stand 2008, WWE has noted this to be an inaugural PPV. This was also the last appearance of Umaga as Edward Smith Fatu was released following this event for violation of the Wellness Policy and passed away in December that year.
8 matches were set for the card with an additional match later added at the end of the night (an angle actually). Most hyped up was of course the main event between long time rivals Jeff Hardy & Edge who were in a ladder match for the World Heavyweight Championship. The two were having a tremendous feud leading up to this show and at the time Smackdown was the must watch show for the WWE. We also had another great feud representing Smackdown which was Chris Jericho vs. Rey Mysterio for the Intercontinental Championship that saw a heel Y2J ranting on the legacy of Rey Mysterio and his lucha style wrestling. Major feuds on the Raw side included Batista vs. Randy Orton for the WWE Championship in a Steel Cage and John Cena vs. Big Show in a Submission Match. The ECW brand featured a Triple Threat hardcore match for the ECW Championship.
The Good - The ladder match was a spectacular match as expected. It was a little bit of a spot fest but it still was enjoyable and told another story in the feud and in both men's careers. But boy the aftermath was such a harsh move (in a good way) to book CM Punk to cash in the briefcase right after Hardy's victory. I'll admit when seeing it again on my favorite wrestler as an adult still hurts a little but it was a brilliant way to build up Punk's future heel turn who was pretty much a tweener after this. The No Holds Barred match was excellent too as Y2J and Rey Mysterio had one of the best Intercontinental Championship feuds in years. I think they had a better match a PPV earlier but this was still good. I also enjoyed the Triple Threat match for the ECW title. I almost forgot how Christian made ECW worth watching when he joined in. Him and Dreamer who won the belt would go on to have a great face-feud in the future. Only drag was that ECW commentary was awful.
The Meh - Opening for the US title was fine. It was really just a generic fatel four way match and not much else. I felt bad though for 2 stars in that match (Matt Hardy & MVP) who both kind of regressed after being drafted to the Raw brand a month in a half earlier. CM Punk vs. Umaga was okay but I wasn't much of a fan of the stipulation.
The Bad - The Raw brand as a whole looked embarrassing with the matches represented on this show. First I won't get into that stupid comedy match of Vickie & Chavo vs. Santina (Santino) which was more embarrassing rather than funny but Batista vs. Randy Orton had potential to be a great and brutal match but it ended up being a short and wasted match. 90% of the match is either Orton & Batista beating each other up or Orton trying to escape the cage but out of nowhere Batista wins by a pinfall just like that in 7 minutes. The pinfall was what I feel hurt the match a lot and it does for a lot of Steel Cage matches actually. Cage matches don't even feel special anymore when booked like that. Cena vs. Big Show was way too long and a snoozed fest. It's unfortunate a botch finish was noticeable to the point where even the camera hidding couldn't fool anyone.
Overall - EXTREME.... Not really. I think this concept was a bit hurt by wrestling being PG now. I mean no blood and lack of weapons for most matches kind of made this felt like any other regular PPV. Also easy to see just how divided WWE was in 2009 when you noticed the Raw matches being awful but the Smackdown/ECW matches at least being above average.
Score - 6 out of 10: Decent
0 = Terrible : 1 = Bad/Lackluster : 2 = Decent : 3 = Good : 4 = Awesome : 5 = One of the Best of all Time :
1. Kofi Kingston vs. MVP vs. Matt Hardy vs. William Regal: WWE United States Championship - 2.5/5
2. Chris Jericho vs. Rey Mysterio: WWE Intercontinental Championship (No Holds Barred) - 4/5
3. CM Punk vs. Umaga (Samoan Strap Match) - 2/5
4. Christian vs. Tommy Dreamer vs. Jack Swagger: ECW Championship - 3/5
5. Chavo & Vickie Guerrero vs. Santina Marella (Hog Pen Match) - 0/5
6. Batista vs. Randy Orton: WWE Championship (Steel Cage) - 1.5/5
7. John Cena vs. Big Show (Submission Match) - 1/5
8. Jeff Hardy vs. Edge: World Heavyweight Championship (Ladder Match) - 4.5/5
9. Jeff Hardy vs. CM Punk: World Heavyweight Championship - Not Worth It
Best Match - Jeff Hardy vs. Edge
Worst Match - Chavo Guerrero & Vickie Guerrero vs. Santina Marella. Dreadful
Most Memorable Moment - CM Punk's cash in
Top 5 Performers
1. Jeff Hardy - Outstanding Performance
2. Edge - Outstanding Performance
3. Chris Jericho - Great Performance
4. Rey Mysterio - Great Performance
5. CM Punk - Career Highlight.