Smark Out Moment

Welcome to another edition of Triple Threat from Smark Out Moment, where three of us get together to discuss three questions based on one big topic going down in the week of professional wrestling.

This week, Dallas Allsopp, Ben Williams and Bodeen Green will be reviewing Extreme Rules 2020, which this year had the tag of 'The Horror Show at Extreme Rules'.

Extreme Rules was a particularly disappointing show, which is a real shame considering how much promise the card had. The weight of expectation may have resulted in some terrible matches, but some of the booking decisions that accompanied the matches were just simply nonsensical. Was the return of The Fiend enough to save the show? Is Rey Mysterio left with no choice but to retire? And just what was with the finish to Asuka vs Sasha Banks?


ALLSOPP: It was terrible, and I say that as Bray Wyatt's biggest fan. It had none of the charm of the Firefly Fun House match, with Braun Strowman failing to truly convince me that he was dealing with a terrifying opponent. Wyatt's monologuing was perfect, but other than that, I felt very underwhelmed. At this point I just want The Fiend to turn up at SummerSlam, pin Strowman with ease and disappear with the WWE Universal Championship.

WILLIAMS: Is it bad that I'd rather just not see The Fiend vs Braun Strowman whatsoever? This entire feud has been nothing special, whilst Braun Strowman as WWE Universal Champion has been uninspired to say the least. The smart move is to go for a standard match with cinematic elements, as too many wacky matches so close together will only weaken the strength of these cinematic matches in the long run. Either way, that title needs to come off Strowman as soon as possible because as a performer, he’s possibly the worst title holder on the main roster currently, which isn’t helpful when he’s by default the leader of the SmackDown roster.

GREEN: Bray Wyatt's incredible promo skill was the saving grace of this match. Wyatt saved what could have been a horrible match and turned it into a somewhat interesting and entertaining concept. This being said, there were still a fair few negatives. The biggest negative had to be the pacing, as it just felt awkward and all over the place. At least the Firefly Fun House match was cut into clear sections, making it interesting to watch. This just felt all over the place and struggled to tell the story effectively. I feel we'll get a somewhat normal match between The Fiend and Braun Strowman at SummerSlam, though I wouldn't be surprised if it was no disqualification or another weapon based match type. It is hard to pick who would win. Whilst The Fiend is one of the best characters at the moment, he does not need a title. At the same time, a loss would mean two consecutive losses for The Fiend, excluding his Firefly Fun House match.


WILLIAMS: Without the strange stipulation, this was a great in ring performance from both men, however the stipulation meant it was very bizarre to watch. Rey Mysterio retiring over a fake eye spot seems like a huge insult to the career that he’s carved out in WWE, so I would hope that’s not the angle WWE are going for here. Overall, the match will forever be remembered for the finish, which means everything these guys did before that will just get lost in the shuffle of Performance Center pay-per-view matches.

GREEN: This was a great match that was hindered by the over the top stipulation. I'm honestly not sure how I feel about the finish. Whilst I was disappointed by the lack of drama in the finish, I was also partially glad that WWE didn't go way too overboard with it. Time will tell if this is the last we will see of Rey Mysterio in WWE. Whilst it does look like he will probably leave, I would not be surprised if we see him stay, especially as WWE did make it seem like his eye will recover.

ALLSOPP: The match was not what I expected, but again it was an underwhelming contest. The finish was awful as we didn't even get a camp finish with awful CGI or make up. I believe Rey Mysterio will leave WWE again, perhaps turning up in AEW for a brief stint with MJF, Jungle Boy and Orange Cassidy. He deserves to go out his own way, and the fact he is out of contract suggests he will leave WWE.


GREEN: At first I wanted to wait to see where this angle would go, but at the moment it just feels like WWE are trying to fill time until SummerSlam. Whilst I'm not going to deny the talent of both women, Sasha Banks and Bayley have driven me insane with their storyline in addition to the constant near break ups. This story feels like it has dragged on forever. Rant aside, the match itself at Extreme Rules was great, but like the Eye for an Eye match, it was hurt by the finish. Neither Asuka or Banks looked strong, whilst Bayley just looked stupid as she could have easily done anything else to ensure Banks won.

ALLSOPP: In keeping with how bad Extreme Rules was, the finish to this match was nonsensical bullshit. The action preceding this was actually of a high quality, but Vince McMahon loves his stupid finishes. If Sasha Banks was meant to win, a clean finish would have sold her as an absolute badass, yet here she looked stupid for accepting what was clearly an illegal win. At least we have next week on Raw to look forward to rid the mouth of such an awful taste. This finish is actually my most hated match finish of 2020.

WILLIAMS: The finish to the match was convoluted and far too overbooked, however the match that preceded it was the best women’s match I’ve seen since Becky Lynch vs Sasha Banks at Hell In A Cell 2019! The chemistry these two women have is unmatched, and I could gladly watch them wrestle all day long everyday and probably never get tired of it. The finish is divisive and has certainly split opinions within the WWE universe, but knowing that it will lead to more Banks vs Asuka square offs and likely a decisive win for Asuka, plus the eventual Bayley/Banks feud, it is enough to keep me satisfied with the direction they went in at Extreme Rules.