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Every year, WWE holds the Extreme Rules pay-per-view. It has become an annual tradition to dedicate one night to a whole host of varied match stipulations. Most of the matches, or all in a few cases, are contested under different match types. This is the one night every year in WWE where "Rules mean nothing". Therefore, they incorporate as many gimmick matches as they can to make it as extreme as ever. It helps to enhance feuds, or even end them. Extreme Rules has been a staple for almost a decade now.
Initially serving as the post-WrestleMania pay-per-view event, Extreme Rules used to end feuds with hardcore rematches from 'Mania. It served as a good purpose, but it then shifted to May, then June, and then July. But the one thing that remains is that every Extreme Rules event is sure to have a few match types, depending on the circumstances of the rivalries going on at the time. We have seen a ton of different stipulations across the nine Extreme Rules pay-per-views WWE has produced so far, some being more extreme than others.
There are a few match types which are basically the same thing under a different name. The likes of Street Fight, No Holds Barred, No Disqualification, Hardcore and Extreme Rules matches are basically the same thing. But for the purpose of this list, each of them will be classed as separate based on their name. Other match types are also similar in nature but, again, classed under different names. Anyway, here are the five most frequent gimmick match types in the history of the Extreme Rules pay-per-view.
#5 Submission Match (3 times)
Submission matches are not exactly common in WWE, but they do bust it out when in need of a stipulation. This match is not flexible because some wrestlers may not have any submission holds in their movesets. The rules are a bit confusing, as there were countouts during the said match between Neville and Austin Aries for the Cruiserweight Championship last year. These inconsistencies make Submission Matches feel a lot less extreme.
The first Submission Match at Extreme Rules was in 2009 between John Cena and The Big Show, probably the most predictable match ever. Charlotte Flair defended her WWE Women's Championship at the 2016 edition against Natalya in the same match. This was the one where Dana Brooke interfered as Ric Flair. WWE's booking of such matches has not been the best. However, there is a more extreme variation of this match.
There has been one 'I Quit' Match in Extreme Rules history. It came in 2013, as Alberto Del Rio and Jack Swagger faced off to become the number one contender for the World Heavyweight Championship. An 'I Quit' Match is basically an extreme Submission Match where one has to say the words "I Quit" instead of just tapping out. It is not limited to submission holds, as seen in various different matches of this kind over the years. However, it would not come under the bracket of Submission Matches.
#4 Strap Match (3 times)
This is a very weird stipulation. Both wrestlers are strapped to each other and must touch all four corners of the ring in succession to win. Hardly an extreme match. Nevertheless, WWE still likes using it from time to time. Perhaps the best match of its kind came in the 2009 Extreme Rules opener where Mr. Money in the Bank CM Punk ousted Umaga, almost three hours before he would win the World title from Jeff Hardy at the end of the night.
The following year, we saw JTG upset Shad Gaspard in the same match, as Cryme Tyme exploded. The Strap Match returned to Extreme Rules in 2013, when Sheamus beat Mark Henry. These were hardly the most exciting matches, as you could possibly tell. A common theme in these matches is that the smaller wrestler always won. Perhaps, this match is an effective way for the smaller guy to win without having the bigger guy actually lose. It still does not change the fact that Strap Matches are ridiculous and WWE should not bring it back.
Strap Matches and Submission Matches have had the same frequency at Extreme Rules and are basically similar in terms of having another match with a similar concept, but Strap Matches are ahead on this list because the concept actually returned to the Extreme Rules pay-per-view. John Cena faced Rusev at Extreme Rules 2015 in a Russian Chain Match, basically a Strap Match but with a chain instead of a strap.
#3 Last Man Standing (4 times)
Now we get to the better match types. Last Man Standing matches are generally fun if a little slow-paced. But that is understandable because of the referee counts when a wrestler is down. We have seen some excellent action in Last Man Standing matches at Extreme Rules. Some of them have truly lived up to the Extreme name. Roman Reigns and The Big Show certainly did in 2015, as they destroyed each other for close to twenty minutes. This was probably the best match in The Big Show's career.
The first one was the main event of the 2010 edition between John Cena and Batista. Cena retained his WWE Championship, following an absolute barnburner of a match, when he duct-taped Batista's legs to the ring post. 2011's edition opened with another Last Man Standing Match, this time between Randy Orton and Nexus leader CM Punk. The Viper won another solid match of its kind. However, the next Last Man Standing Match would not have a winner.
Both Ryback and John Cena could not answer the referee's ten-count in time as they were slammed through the electric part of the set at Extreme Rules 2013. The match was still a decent one, as this stipulation remained one of the most consistent ones in the history of the pay-per-view. All four of the Last Man Standing matches at Extreme Rules have delivered well. It's a shame we won't get one this year, as AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura just waged war in that exact match at Money in the Bank.
#2 Extreme Rules (6 times)
The match named after this event was always going to finish high on such a list. However, you cannot tell a difference between this match type and No Holds Barred, or a Street Fight. It does have a cooler name though. The name makes it sound like there is a lot on the line, and the competitors will lay it all in the ring in an extreme environment. More often than not, Extreme Rules matches have delivered but there were times where they failed to inspire. Randy Orton's Extreme bouts with Jack Swagger and The Big Show, in 2010 and 2013 respectively, are not exactly memorable.
The last two Extreme Rules pay-per-views were headlined by an Extreme Rules Match. 2016 saw Roman Reigns retain his WWE World title in an excellent brawl against AJ Styles, possibly the match which induced WWE officials to continue pushing The Phenomenal One as a main-event talent. Last year, there was a 5-way Extreme Rules match to determine Brock Lesnar's first opponent for the Universal Championship. Samoa Joe won a chaotic brawl, which may have been slightly less extreme than what everybody expected.
However, the two most Extreme matches in the history of this event must come down to the 2012 and 2014 main events. Brock Lesnar's first WWE match in eight years saw him make John Cena bleed the hard way in a brutal and surreal Extreme Rules match. Lesnar may have lost, but John Cena looked wounded after the bout. Extreme Rules 2014 came to a close with Daniel Bryan's last ever WWE Championship match, and what a match it was. He and Kane fought all the way to backstage and back, as we saw iron pipes, forklift trucks, and flaming tables. Here's to hoping we see similar Extreme Rules Matches in the future of this pay-per-view.
#1 Steel Cage (7 times)
This is the most used match type in the history of WWE Extreme Rules. Out of nine pay-per-views under this name, three of them were main-evented by a Steel Cage match. There were three WWE Championship matches contested inside the steel cage and three title changes in this match stipulation. It truly is incredible to see how often WWE uses the steel cage at Extreme Rules. Don't be surprised if it returns on July 15th for this year's edition as well.
All of the Steel Cage matches at this event were high profile ones. Batista won the WWE Championship from Randy Orton in 2009, Edge stood tall over Chris Jericho in 2010 and John Cena survived a triple threat to win his tenth World title in 2011. Brock Lesnar ended Triple H in 2013, a spooky kid cost John Cena against Bray Wyatt in 2014 and Seth Rollins escaped with his WWE Championship against Randy Orton in 2015. Along with these big moments, The Bar managed to capture the Raw Tag Team Championships from the Hardy Boyz last year.
The only Extreme Rules events without a Steel Cage Match are 2012 and 2016, which did have a variation of it called the Asylum Match. Dean Ambrose beat Chris Jericho in a lousy match which only got good once thumbtacks were introduced. This proves that the Steel Cage is one of WWE's most trusted gimmick matches and they will always rely on it to take things to the Extreme.
