Roundtable: Extreme Rules 2018

Which match are you most looking forward to?

John Corrigan: Shinsuke Nakamura finally winning some gold as he tears the house down with Jeff Hardy.

Chad Gelfand: I’m looking forward to the Dolph Ziggler-Seth Rollins 30-minute Iron Man match for the Intercontinental Championship. I think that they’ve built up the story for this match pretty well and if the match that Rollins and Ziggler had on Raw a few weeks ago is any indication, then this is going to be a great match.

Anthony Mahalis: Have to go with the Dolph Ziggler vs. Seth Rollins 30-minute Iron Man match. There is not a close second. This card does have potential for some good matches, so hopefully they don’t drop the ball here.

Steven Jackson: I haven’t actually been following WWE for a while so I’m not really looking forward to any of the matches. Looking at the card though, I’d say AJ Styles vs. Rusev is the match that appeals to me the most on paper.

Jack Goodwillie: I’m definitely most looking forward to the 30-minute Iron Man match, though if I had it my way, I would make that match a 60-minute Iron Man, put it in the main event, cut the Raw Tag Team Championship match (especially after Kurt Angle rendered tag team wrestling meaningless on Twitter), and halve the time of Lashley vs. Reigns (because you know they’re looking at a solid 20 minutes). I just think that matches tend to run long these days anyway, so if you’re going to do the Iron Man stipulation, I’d really like to see them commit to it. Benoit and Triple H did 60 minutes on Raw back in 2004 and there were no flies on that one.

How do you feel about the Team Hell No reunion?

Corrigan: Total waste of Daniel Bryan’s time. The guy is on a miracle run and instead of matches with Samoa Joe, Rollins, Miz, Styles, Nakamura, Lesnar, Roman, etc. etc. etc., we’ve turned back the clock five years for a reunion with the mayor of Knox County.

Gelfand: I’m enjoying it so far. I liked Team Hell No’s first run a lot, and I think that they can get a couple of months out of this reunion. I wouldn’t want it to go any longer than that because I want to see Daniel Bryan on to bigger and better things back in the main event scene.

Mahalis: Tremendous waste of Daniel Bryan’s time. Give him a legitimate feud for crying out loud. No more Cass, no more tag matches, give him Miz, Joe or Shinsuke.

Jackson: I’m excited to see what will happen with Team Hell No. I thought they were a great tag team five years ago, and they always have good matches. It is a reunion I am interested in for once!

Goodwillie: I like it, but I like nostalgia. I’m also intrigued for their match on Sunday, but my only hope is that it’s just a way to hold Daniel Bryan over until later in the year when he kicks off the long-awaited Miz feud.

Yay or Nay: Constable Corbin?

Corrigan: Yay. It’s been a quick way to insert him into the main event scene after destroying his momentum with the failed cash-in.

Gelfand: Yay. It’s better than what he was doing before, and Corbin has been entertaining in the role. The ceiling for the character is probably upper mid-card, although that’s probably Corbin’s ceiling in general.

Mahalis: Surprisingly, I’m going yay. I like the character so far, just stop wrestling in dress clothes.

Jackson: I have never been a fan of Baron Corbin and I do not have any idea what “Constable Corbin” is. Nay as it sounds like a second rate “Big Boss Man” gimmick.

Goodwillie: Check back with me in a month. So far: yay.

Has Bobby Lashley already washed off the stench from the Sami Zayn feud?

Corrigan: Surprisingly yes. It was as if WWE did immediate damage control the night after Money in the Bank by having Lashley get involved with the Big Dog.

Gelfand: I think we all need one of those memory-erasing pens from “Men in Black” in order to forget that abomination of a feud, but I still think that Lashley’s character is pretty stale right now and could use some seasoning. In-ring wise though, Lashley is still capable of delivering a great match, and if the crowd gives them a chance (which they most likely won’t), Roman Reigns and Lashley could put on a very good to great match.

Mahalis: I will give him the benefit of the doubt here. He has rebounded pretty well from that garbage.

Jackson: I don’t think Lashley ever will. I am surprised he even came back to WWE as he hasn’t done anything of any relevance. He should have stayed in Impact Wrestling.

Goodwillie: Not yet, but feuding with Roman Reigns is one way to really establish yourself as a babyface. And he certainly has. A WWE.com poll asking fans if Roman Reigns is a noble warrior or an egomaniac yielded a 2:1 result in favor of the egomaniac. Lashley can obviously go in the ring, especially given the right opponent, so Sami Zayn feud aside, fans would be over the moon to see him beat Roman and go on to face Brock at SummerSlam.

Who wins: AJ Styles or Rusev?

Corrigan: Despite it going down on Rusev Day, AJ Styles will leave Extreme Rules with the title.

Gelfand: I’m a big fan of Rusev, but I think that WWE is probably going to want AJ Styles as the WWE Champion heading into SummerSlam. A WWE Title match of AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe is also an intriguing idea, so I’m going to have to go with Styles picking up the win at Extreme Rules.

Mahalis: If Rusev wins, I will be pretty surprised, and pretty disgusted. You had many chances to legitimize Shinsuke and give him the championship and did not do so, so Rusev absolutely should not win. I, along with many people, assume this is just a filler feud for Styles until he gets Samoa Joe at SummerSlam.

Jackson: This is a tough question. I want AJ Styles to have a long run much like Kazuchika Okada’s IWGP Title reign. But, Rusev has been over for years and deserves the title. As I think he may never get a chance like this again, Rusev for the win!

Goodwillie: WWE was late to the trigger on Rusev Day. If this match took place inside the six-month window stemming from November up to WrestleMania, I’d be more willing to take my chances on Rusev. But AJ Styles, the Shawn Michaels of his generation, figures to hang on to the belt for quite a while longer, though he’ll get a hell of a match out of Rusev.