Ups and Downs From Extreme Rules

Last night, the eleventh edition of Extreme Rules took place live inside the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In my opinion, WWE delivered some good content on the show, but a decent part of the show was underwhelming.

At the event, Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch reigned supreme over the abominable challengers in Baron Corbin and Lacey Evans. It was a good match that had entertaining moments in it. However, it was the aftermath that left fans talking.

The Beast in the Bank, Brock Lesnar, stormed down into the ring and successfully cashed in his Money in the Bank contract to become the Universal Champion for the third time.

Undertaker and Roman Reigns defeated Shane McMahon and Drew McIntyre in a brutal affair. Braun Strowman finally dispatched Bobby Lashley, once and for all, in a Last Man Standing Match. AJ Styles won the United States Championship from Ricochet, cementing The Club and himself as a force to be reckoned with.

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The New Day became the SmackDown Tag-Team Champions again, winning the tag titles for a sixth time by defeating Heavy Machinery and the team of Daniel Bryan and Rowan. Kofi Kingston extended his WWE Championship reign as he vanquished Samoa Joe in a fine contest.

There were other key moments coming out of the event, such as Kevin Owens' convincing victory over Dolph Ziggler. Extreme Rules definitely set the tone for SummerSlam, but it is now time to look at the positives and negatives the show had.

Up: Shinsuke Nakamura is the new Intercontinental Champion

A little over 12 hours ago, none of us even knew that the Intercontinental Championship would be defended. WWE added this match to the show at the last minute. Even though I believed that WWE should have announced this match beforehand, I was satisfied with most of what went down in the match. Nakamura winning the title from Balor was definitely the most satisfying and comforting moment of the match and WWE couldn't have made a better decision.

For months, Nakamura had been directionless and was treading water in a stale tag division alongside Rusev. An Intercontinental title victory was all he needed to gain some momentum and get his career back on track. Things are looking bright for the new Intercontinental Champion - let's hope that he has a better reign than he did with the United States Championship last year.

Finn Balor was a good Intercontinental Champion, but he seemed to be lost most of the time. Nakamura's title victory allows Balor to move onto bigger and better things.

Down: The wrong matches were added to the Kickoff Show

The pre-show panel for the Extreme Rules Kickoff show

As good as it was to witness the dream match between Nakamura and Balor, it was as underwhelming and disappointing to watch it happen on the Kickoff. Nakamura and Balor are two established stars that have a huge fan-following.

It was wrong for WWE to put two such talented stars on the Kickoff. Moreover, the match was for the Intercontinental Championship. Last year, The IC title was defended in the main event of Extreme Rules, and it was relegated to the Kickoff this year.

It is extremely unfortunate that the Cruiserweights scarcely have the opportunity to compete on the main show. As expected, the Cruiserweight title match was relegated to the Kickoff. The two cruiserweights, Drew Gulak and Tony Nese, put on a clinic, but such matches should always take place on the main show.

The matches in the Kickoff were amazing and incredible, and they had no right to be on the Kickoff. WWE could have added Kevin Owens' match with Dolph Ziggler instead. Owens' promo could have taken place on the main show, but his match with Ziggler should have been on the Kickoff. The Raw Tag Team Championship match should have taken place on the Kickoff.

Up: AJ Styles wins the United States Championship

Well, Ricochet wasn't United States Champion for long. Although I firmly believe that Ricochet deserved to have a longer US title reign, I'm positive that crowning AJ Styles as US Champion was a commendable and admirable decision.

Styles turned heel a couple of weeks ago, and his heinous assault on Ricochet drew immense heat from the WWE Universe. His heel turn revived his character and led to a full-fledged reunion of the Club. WWE needed a way to keep Styles' momentum and heat going.

His US title victory established him as one of the top heels in WWE. Had Styles lost, his heel turn would have been rendered useless and all the hype surrounded him would have slowly died out.

Think about how great Styles could be as the US Champion. He puts on great matches and does great work as a heel. There is also a list of hungry and deserving challengers for the US title. Hence, Styles may have an excellent reign as US Champion.

Down: Samoa Joe loses on the big stage yet again

Granted, Kofi Kingston has been putting on fine matches as the WWE Champion and he deserves to be champion for a long time, but Samoa Joe is an athlete who is tailor-made to become world champion. Joe has tried for so long, yet he can't grab hold of the brass ring. He failed numerous times last year against Styles. The story was similar for Joe this year as he lost to Kofi in the WWE title match at Extreme Rules.

Joe established himself as the most credible and threatening challenger to Kofi, but he couldn't get the job done. Joe always comes close to winning the WWE title, but just can't seem to get hold of the title he has been chasing for two years now.

It was the most opportune time to crown Joe as the WWE Champion. He has lost on the big stage so many times now that fans don't believe him in anymore.

Up: Fans witnessed some thrilling and amazing in-ring action at Extreme Rules

Braun Strowman and Bobby Lashley tore each other apart

From an in-ring perspective, Extreme Rules hit the jackpot and delivered all of the goods. The event was loaded with great matches that earned the fans' praise. Some of the matches were so great that the fans were on the edge of their seats. The crowd was extremely passionate and pumped up throughout the night, and the high-quality matches were a huge reason why.

AJ Styles and Ricochet stole the show in a fantastic match where both stars were at their best. Braun Strowman and Bobby Lashley put each other through hell and the crowd loved every bit of it. The Undertaker and Roman Reigns had good chemistry together, and Taker was a part of a fun contest after a long time. The No Holds Barred tag-team match was filled with amazing moments and it really got the crowd hyped for the rest for the night.

There was little to complain about Extreme Rules from an in-ring perspective. The matches were mostly fun to watch.

Down: Brock Lesnar is on top of the mountain again

Just as we thought that the night was going to end on a high note, Brock Lesnar crashed the party. After a back and forth contest, Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch successfully defended their respective titles in the Winners Take All Extreme Rules match against Baron Corbin and Lacey Evans. When the Beast in the Bank raced to the ring, fans held their breath.

However, fans were displeased when Lesnar successfully cashed-in his Money in the Bank contract to become the new Universal Champion. It was a decision that raised many eyebrows. It took Rollins so long to finally slay the Beast only for the Beast to get his title back a few months later. It was so fascinating to see a Universal Champion compete on a weekly basis, but Lesnar's victory put an end to that.

The Universal Championship has yet another part-time holder, which is not what the title needs. Rollins and Lesnar will continue their feud after Extreme Rules, perhaps beyond SummerSlam. Although Rollins may win back the title, Lesnar shouldn't have won it in the first place.

Edited by Gabby Duran