Brand(s) Raw
SmackDown Date April 25, 2010 | Sponsor(s) KFC Attendance 12,278 | |
Theme
song(s) "Time to Shine" by Saliva Promotion World Wrestling Entertainment | ||
Extreme Rules (2010) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and presented by KFC, which took place on April 25, 2010, at the 1st Mariner Arena in Baltimore, Maryland. It was the second event promoted under the Extreme Rules name. There were eight matches scheduled on the event's card, all of which featured an extreme stipulation, with no regular singles matches on the card. The event received 182,000 pay-per-view buys, the same as the figure achieved by the 2009 Backlash event.
Contents
Background
Extreme Rules featured professional wrestling matches involving different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and storylines which were played out on World Wrestling Entertainment's (WWE) television programs and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. Wrestlers portrayed either a villainous or heroic character.
At WrestleMania XXVI, where John Cena defeated Batista to win the championship. This feud had begun many months ago and been a feature of many events, including WrestleMania. The next night on Raw, Batista attacked Cena after a match. It was announced that Batista would get his rematch in a Last Man Standing match at Extreme Rules.
World Heavyweight Champion Jack Swagger from SmackDown was scheduled to face Raw wrestler Randy Orton. Swagger won the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania, earning a contract for a guaranteed championship match at the time and place of his choosing. He used the contract on the April 2 episode of SmackDown, defeating Chris Jericho to win the World Heavyweight Championship. After a number one contender's match between Jericho and Edge ended in a double count-out, Raw guest host David Hasselhoff announced that Swagger would face Orton, who had beaten Swagger on two occasions, in an Extreme Rules match.
Chris Jericho and Edge also had a scheduled match on the card. Edge returned from injury at the Royal Rumble, winning the Royal Rumble match, and earning a match for a championship of his choosing at WrestleMania. Edge elected to wrestle the World Heavyweight Champion Jericho, but lost. On the following episode of SmackDown, Edge attacked Jericho, allowing Jack Swagger to cash in his Money in the Bank contract and win the championship. After a number one contender's match between Jericho and Edge went to a double count-out, it was announced that they would face each other in a steel cage match.
The secondary rivalry from the Raw brand heading into Extreme Rules was between Triple H and Sheamus. Sheamus felt that Triple H was responsible for him losing the WWE Championship at Elimination Chamber pay-per-view, and so challenged him at WrestleMania, but lost. As a result, the following night on Raw, Sheamus attacked Triple H with a lead pipe, and it was announced that the two would meet in a Street Fight at Extreme Rules.
CM Punk and Rey Mysterio had been feuding for several months prior to Extreme Rules, which included Punk tormenting Mysterio in front of his wife and children. They wrestled at WrestleMania, with Mysterio winning, allowing him to avoid being forced to join Punk's stable, The Straight Edge Society. When inducting members into The Straight Edge Society, Punk shaved their hair while retaining long hair himself; as a result, Mysterio challenged him to a match at Extreme Rules with a stipulation that if Punk lost, he would have his head shaved.
Also announced for the card was a match for the Women's Championship between the champion, Michelle McCool, and Beth Phoenix. The feud began when Phoenix objected to SmackDown Consultant Vickie Guerrero aligning with Team Lay-Cool (McCool and Layla) and refusing to grant Phoenix a title match. After earning her championship match, Phoenix was attacked on the April 23 episode of SmackDown by Team Lay-Cool, who hit her with an ironing board and drew on her with lipstick to set up an Extreme Makeover match.
The final match on the card was between former tag team partners, Shad Gaspard and JTG. After Cryme Tyme lost a tag team match on the April 2 episode of SmackDown, Gaspard turned on JTG and attacked him, setting up a strap match between the two.
Event
The event started with Sheamus attacking Triple H with a pipe.
Following the attack, Unified WWE Tag Team Champions ShoMiz (Big Show and United States Champion The Miz) came to the ring and complained about not having a match for the night, prompting SmackDown general manager Theodore Long to make a tag team gauntlet match for them. ShoMiz would have to face 3 teams in succession, and the winner would earn a future tag team championship match. The first team was John Morrison and R-Truth, which lost when Morrison got his team disqualified. The next team was Montel Vontavious Porter and Mark Henry, which also lost after Miz pinned MVP following a KO Punch from BIg Show. The final team was The Hart Dynasty, which won after Kidd pinned The Miz after a Hart Attack.
The next match was CM Punk versus Rey Mysterio, where if Punk lost he would have his head shaved bald. During the match, Luke Gallows and Serena attacked Mysterio on the outside and were banned from ringside. At the conclusion of the match, a masked man attacked Mysterio, which allowed Punk to perform a Go To Sleep on Mysterio and pin him.
The following match was JTG vs. Shad in a Strap match, where the objective was to touch all four turnbuckles while connected to the opponent. Shad used his size advantage to overpower JTG for most of the match. The conclusion of the match came when Shad had JTG on his back and began to tag corners, unaware that JTG was doing the same. After touching the third corner, JTG performed aBox Cutter on Shad on and touched the final corner to win the match.
The fourth match was Jack Swagger defending the World Heavyweight Championship against Randy Orton in an Extreme Rules match. At the conclusion of the match, Orton brought a chair in the ring. When Orton was going to perform an RKO on Swagger on the chair, Swagger countered and threw Orton on the chair. Swagger then performed a Gutwrench Powerbomb on Orton and pinned him to retain the World Heavyweight championship. After the match, Orton performed an RKO on Swagger on the floor.
When Orton was leaving the ring, Sheamus came out carrying a pipe for his street fight with Triple H. The match started with Triple H going after Sheamus. The fight went to the outside with Triple H hitting Sheamus around. Back in the ring, Triple H executed the spinebuster and attempted the pedigree, but Sheamus countered and started to build momentum. After dominating in the ring Sheamus delivered a neckbreaker on the floor to Triple H. Back in the ring Triple H countered with a DDT, and Sheamus executed an Irish Curse Backbreaker. Outside again, Triple H attacked Sheamus with a Kendo stick. Triple H attempted a pedigree but Sheamus countered and delivered a Brogue Kick. Back in the ring, Sheamus executed another Brogue Kick. As the referee checked on Triple H, he pushed him aside and in a final act of defiance performed the famous "crotch chop", taunting Sheamus. Sheamus executed two more Brogue Kicks, following which he pinned Triple H. After this he posed on top of the knocked out Triple H before leaving as the decisive winner. After, the officials tried to help Triple H backstage, but Sheamus came out again and executed a fifth Brogue Kick. Triple H was carried out on a stretcher and not seen again for almost 10 months.
The next match was Michelle McCool defending the Women's Championship against Beth Phoenix in an Extreme Makeover match. At the conclusion of the match, Phoenix performed a Glam Slam on McCool and pinned her to become the new Women's Champion.
The next match was a Steel Cage match between Edge and Chris Jericho. When Jericho was going to bring a chair in, Edge stopped him but Jericho slammed the steel cage door on him. Jericho then grabbed a chair and swung at Edge, but Edge ducked and performed a Spear on Jericho for a near-fall. Jericho then performed a Codebreaker on Edge for a near-fall. At the conclusion of the match, Edge performed another Spear on Jericho and pinned Jericho to win the match.
The main event saw John Cena defend the WWE Championship in a Last Man Standing match against Batista. At the end of the match, Cena incapacitated Batista by tying Batista's feet to the ring post with duct tape. Batista was unable to answer the 10 count, allowing Cena to retain the WWE Championship to end the pay per view.
Aftermath
Because The Hart Dynasty defeated ShoMiz at Extreme Rules, they received a tag team championship match the next night on Raw, which they won. After the match Big Show turned face and attacked The Miz. Big Show moved to the SmackDown brand and became number one contender for the World Heavyweight championship at Over the Limit.
The feud between CM Punk and Rey Mysterio continued after Extreme Rules. A match combining the stipulations of their matches from Extreme Rules and WrestleMania XXVI was announced for Over the Limit in which if Mysterio lost he would have to join the Straight Edge Society and if Punk lost he would have to shave his head. At Over The Limit, Mysterio defeated Punk and forced Punk to shave his head.
After Extreme Rules, Randy Orton started a feud with Edge. A match was set up between the two at Over The Limit, ending in a double countout.
Jack Swagger entered into a program with the Big Show, against whom Swagger defended the World Heavyweight Championship at Over The Limit. At Over the Limit Swagger lost via disqualification, retaining the title.
Triple H was sidelined for the rest of the year and came back in February 2011 to confront Undertaker. A week later when he returned, he attacked Sheamus to end the feud.
The feud between Batista and John Cena continued after Extreme Rules. Batista earned a rematch for the WWE Championship at Over the Limit by defeating Randy Orton and Sheamus in a number one contender's match, but Cena defeated Batista at the event in an "I Quit" Match. The next night, Raw general manager Bret Hart told Batista he had to qualify for the WWE Championship Fatal-4-Way at the eponymous pay-per-view, but he refused and lost to Randy Orton by forfeit. Batista then quit WWE.
After capturing the WWE Women's Championship, Beth Phoenix tore her ACL on the May 6 edition of Superstars during a singles match against the Rosa Mendes, which Phoenix won with a roll-up. Phoenix eventually dropped the WWE Women's Championship to Layla in a 2-on-1 handicap match on the May 14 edition of SmackDown.
Reception
The event received mixed reviews from critics. In a mixed review, The Sun praised the quality of the matches but was disappointed in the lack of weapon use, stating that "the event failed to live up to its name". Overall they awarded the event a 6.5 out of 10.
In August 2010, WWE reported that the event had received 182,000 pay-per-view buys, down on what last year had.