The fifth annual WWE Extreme Rules came to you, live on pay-per-view, from the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, FL. Since the shocking announcement a couple of weeks ago that then World Heavyweight Champion Edge would be forced to retire from in-ring competition, forcing the eleven-time World Champion to vacate the title, SmackDown has been without a World Heavyweight Champion, but on the one night that the WWE goes extreme, Edge’s best friend, Christian, would look to rectify the situation as “Captain Charisma” would face “The Mexican Aristocrat” Alberto Del Rio in Christian’s specialty, a Ladder Match with the winner claiming the vacant World Heavyweight Title, but after the surprising reveal this past Monday night during the 2011 WWE Draft, Alberto Del Rio is now a member of the RAW roster, meaning that, if Del Rio wins the World Heavyweight Title, he will take the title with him to RAW, leaving SmackDown without a World Champion!
The WWE Championship would be up for grabs in extreme fashion at Extreme Rules as well as the self-proclaimed “Most Must-See Champion in WWE History” The Miz would defend the WWE Title against John Cena and the man who took the spot originally held by R-Truth in the match, “The Prince of Parkour” John Morrison as the three Superstars would battle in a Triple Threat Steel Cage Match where the only ways to win are by pinfall, submission, or escaping the cage with both feet touching the floor!
Despite his shocking draft to SmackDown via the 2011 WWE Draft, Randy Orton still has unfinished business with a RAW Superstar by the name of CM Punk as “The Viper” would face the leader of The New Nexus in a Last Man Standing Match where the only way to win is to incapacitate your opponent to the point where he cannot get to his feet by the referee’s count of ten!
While RAW lost Randy Orton, among others, in the 2011 Draft, RAW also gained some of SmackDown’s best, including the incomparable Rey Mysterio, but much like Randy Orton, Rey Mysterio has some unfinished business before he heads to Monday Nights as “The Ultimate Underdog” would be looking for revenge against the Superstar who defeated him by questionable means at WrestleMania, as well as repeatedly assaulted him over recent weeks, in Cody Rhodes as the two would square off in a Falls Count Anywhere Match where pinfall or submission can occur anywhere in the arena!
Ever since the anonymous General Manager of RAW ruled him the winner of his WrestleMania match by disqualification, the self-proclaimed “Voice of the WWE” Michael Cole has crowed about being “undefeated” at WrestleMania and has even had himself knighted as “Sir” Michael Cole, all the while aligning himself with “The All-American American” Jack Swagger to assault Jerry “The King” Lawler and Lawler’s legendary friend and colleague, “Good Ol’ J.R.” Jim Ross, but at Extreme Rules, the Hall of Fame team of Jim Ross & Jerry “The King” Lawler would be looking to shut Michael Cole once and for all as they would face the so-called “Sir” Michael Cole and his trainer, Jack Swagger, in a Country Whipping Match, a match that has a lot uncertainty regarding the rules, but one thing is known for certain, the match will feature a leather strap for the competitors to use against each other!
Since 2009, the team known as LayCool, Layla & Michelle McCool, has dominated the Divas division together, holding the Women’s and Divas Titles both together and individually as the team established a seemingly concrete friendship, but personal animosity has driven these former best friends apart and it has become apparent between the two accomplished Divas that there is only room for one of them in the WWE and, at Extreme Rules, the first British Women’s Champion in WWE history, Layla, will go one-on-one with the first Diva to win both the Women’s and Divas Titles, Michelle McCool, in a match with no disqualifications and no count-outs with the loser being forced out of the WWE as the career of one of these Divas will end in a Loser Leaves WWE Match!
Match Results
- Last Man Standing Match: The New Nexus Banned: Randy Orton def. CM Punk following the RKO off of the top rope.
- United States Championship: Tables Match: Kofi Kingston def. Sheamus (c) with a modified Boom Drop through a table to win the United States Title.
- Tag Team Country Whipping Match: Michael Cole & Jack Swagger def. Jim Ross & Jerry “The King” Lawler by Michael Cole rolling up Jim Ross.
- Falls Count Anywhere Match: Rey Mysterio def. Cody Rhodes by pin following the 619 and Splash in the ring.
- Loser Leaves WWE: No DQ & No Count-Outs: Layla def. Michelle McCool by roll-up to force Michelle McCool out of the WWE.
- World Heavyweight Championship: Ladder Match: Christian (with Edge) def. Alberto Del Rio (with Brodus Clay & Ricardo Rodriguez) to win the vacant World Heavyweight Title.
- WWE Tag Team Championship: Lumberjack Match: Kane & Big Show (c) def. Wade Barrett & Ezekiel Jackson by Big Show (c) pinning Wade Barrett following the chokeslam to retain.
- WWE Championship: Triple Threat Steel Cage Match: John Cena def. The Miz (c) & John Morrison by pinning The Miz (c) following the Attitude Adjustment off of the top rope to win the WWE Title.
Detailed Results
The show kicks off with one of the most vicious and extreme matches in the WWE as the biggest acquisition for SmackDown in the 2011 WWE Draft, “The Viper” Randy Orton has one piece of unfinished business before heading to SmackDown as Orton would face the leader of The New Nexus, CM Punk, in a Last Man Standing Match, where the only way to win is to incapacitate your opponent to the point where he cannot get to his feet by the referee’s count of ten and, as decreed just prior to the match by the anonymous RAW General Manager, The New Nexus is banned from ringside! It would not take long for the extreme to commence during the match as CM Punk would get a pair of kendo sticks from underneath the ring before wearing Orton out with several kendo stick shots before Orton would finally fight back with a kendo stick shot to the mid-section of CM Punk, but Punk would regain the advantage by catapulting Orton into the exposed steel turnbuckle! Punk would then continue his punishment of Orton and would set up a steel chair in the corner, but Orton would manage to fight back and would send Punk careening into the chair in the corner and all the way to the outside of the ring, where Orton would continue the assault!
After driving CM Punk into the ring apron and into the ringside barricade prior to a big powerslam on the arena floor, Randy Orton would look to put CM Punk away as Orton would expose the announce table at ringside, but Punk would fight back temporarily before Orton would regain the advantage over Punk as Orton would roll Punk into the ring and would look for the RKO, but Punk would dodge the move before successfully hitting the GTS on Orton, but Orton would just barely get to his feet in time as Orton would stop the referee’s count at nine! Punk would continue the assault on Orton with a back suplex on a steel chair, but Orton would utilize the ropes to get to his feet again! Punk would then look for a side Russian leg sweep on a folded out steel chair, but Orton would come out of nowhere with the RKO, but Punk would roll out of the ring to his feet at the count of nine! Orton would follow Punk to the outside where “The Viper” would set up for his signature DDT on the arena floor, but Punk would fight out of the move and would send Orton spine-first into the steel ring post before Punk would place the steel chair around the neck of Orton before sending Orton into the steel ring post with the steel chair compressing the neck of Orton, but still Orton would make it to his feet! Punk would then drag Orton to the announce table where Punk would set up for the GTS on top of the table, but Orton would fight out of it and strike with the RKO on Punk on an announce table that did not budge from the impact, but Punk was able to roll off of the table and land on his feet long enough to break the count!
After the RKO on the announce table did not get the job done, Randy Orton would go for the move that has gotten the job done so many times in the past for Orton as Orton would go for the career-jeopardizing punt to the skull, but CM Punk would dodge the move and would send Orton face-first into the steel steps! After Orton got to his feet again, Punk would roll Orton into the ring and would look to come off of the top rope on Orton, but Orton would recover and would deliver several kendo stick shots to Punk on the top rope before Orton would deliver a sinister RKO off of the top rope, which would finally keep CM Punk down for the ten count, earning the SmackDown-bound Randy Orton the extremely hard-fought victory!
Backstage, the new SmackDown acquisition, United States Champion Sheamus would confront his new boss, SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long as he would state that he does not “like it” and Long would assume that Sheamus means the bonus match that the GM made where Sheamus will defend the United States Title against the man he attacked on SmackDown, Kofi Kingston, in a Tables Match, but Sheamus protests that Kofi is not even from the United States and he demands to see a “birth certificate”, but Long tells Sheamus that he should worry about keeping the United States Title!
In a bonus match made by SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long, one of the newest additions to the SmackDown roster, Sheamus, would defend the United States Title against the man he attacked on SmackDown in new RAW acquisition, Kofi Kingston, in a Tables Match, where the only way to win is to put your opponent through a table! At one point in the match, Sheamus thought he had the match in hand as he would go for the Brogue Kick that would send Kofi Kingston through the table on the outside of the ring, but Kofi would land on the arena floor, avoiding the table! Shortly after this, Kofi would run into a similar problem as, with Sheamus on the ring apron, Kofi would hit Trouble in Paradise on Sheamus, only for Sheamus to land next to the table instead of through it! Then, with Sheamus using the table to get to his feet, Kofi would seize the positioning of Sheamus as Kofi would dive off of the top rope with a modified Boom Drop that would send Sheamus crashing through the table to win the United States Championship, bringing the title back to Monday Night RAW!
Backstage, R-Truth is being interviewed by Todd Grisham as he tells Grisham to “shut up” before claiming that him not even having a match at Extreme Rules is a “conspiracy”! Truth continues that he knows for a “fact” that neither The Miz or John Cena wanted him in the match and John Morrison “stole” the opportunity from him and, if there is one thing he cannot stand, it’s a “thief”!
Before he and Jack Swagger would face Jim Ross & Jerry “The King” Lawler in a Tag Team Country Whipping Match, the self-proclaimed “Voice of the WWE” Michael Cole would brag that he used to be a war correspondent, so he is not “scared” of facing the Hall of Famers in a Tag Team Country Whipping Match and calls Ross & Lawler “incontinent retirees”!
Then it was time for the Tag Team Country Whipping Match as the self-proclaimed “Voice of the WWE” Michael Cole, wrapped in bubble wrap for protection, would team with his trainer, “The All-American American” Jack Swagger to face Hall of Famers “Good Ol’ J.R.” Jim Ross & Jerry “The King” Lawler in a match where the four competitors would compete in the match like a normal tag team match, but both teams would be armed with their own leather straps! Shortly after entering the match for the first time, Michael Cole would dare Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler to hit the protected Cole with the straps and, with the straps not doing any damage to the bubble wrap covered Cole, Lawler would hit Cole with a right hand before taking the protective bubble wrap off of Cole! After being repeatedly assaulted by Michael Cole and Jack Swagger over recent weeks, Jim Ross would have payback on his mind as the Hall of Famer would whip Jack Swagger with the strap before locking in his own ankle lock, leading to Swagger making the tag to Cole! Jim Ross would then pick up where he left off on RAW as Ross would whip Cole repeatedly before locking in his ankle lock again, but a distraction by Swagger would allow Cole to get a roll-up on Ross to pick up the surprising win!
After being assaulted by Cody Rhodes time and time again over the inadvertent steel knee brace to the face that left Rhodes in need of reconstructive surgery, Rey Mysterio would be looking for revenge before heading to his new home on RAW as “The Ultimate Underdog” would face Cody Rhodes in a Falls Count Anywhere Match, where pinfalls count anywhere in the arena with no disqualifications and no count-outs! After fighting around the ring, through the crowd and in the backstage area, the match would conclude in the middle of the ring as Rey Mysterio would spew a green mist into the eyes of Cody Rhodes, which would allow Rey to hit the 619 and follow it up with a splash to pick up the win!
Backstage, Layla confronts the RAW and SmackDown Divas and apologizes for all she has done to the Divas before Kelly Kelly tells Layla that they don’t like Layla, but they like Michelle McCool even “less” before wishing Layla luck in her match!
After their partnership and friendship completely fell apart over recent weeks, one member of the team known as LayCool would be forced out of the WWE as the former friends would square off as Layla would go one-on-one with Michelle McCool in a Loser Leaves WWE Match with no disqualifications and no count-outs! At one point in the match, Layla would look to have the match won after hitting the Lay Out, but Michelle McCool would manage to get her foot on the rope, allowing the match to continue! Shortly after this, Michelle McCool would hit the Faith Breaker on Layla, but a weakened McCool would be unable to go for the cover right away, which would allow Layla enough time to recover and counter a pinfall attempt by McCool into a roll-up to pick up the win, preserving her career and forcing Michelle McCool out of the WWE!
Things would then go from bad to horrible for Michelle McCool as, with McCool crying in the ring over being forced out of the WWE, Kharma would come for Michelle McCool as the gargantuan Kharma would march to the ring to confront a fearful McCool as the gigantic and unbalanced woman would get her hands on the former Women’s & Divas Champion as Kharma would drill McCool with a double underhook facebuster before laughing maniacally as the rest of the Divas watch what could be their future from the backstage area! Can any Diva stop this unreal threat to the Divas division? Who will Kharma target next?
After Edge was forced to relinquish the World Heavyweight Championship a few weeks ago due to his retirement, SmackDown has been without a World Heavyweight Champion, but that all could change as Edge’s best friend, Christian, would compete in his specialty, a Ladder Match, against the biggest acquisition for RAW in the 2011 WWE Draft in “The Mexican Aristocrat” Alberto Del Rio and, if Del Rio wins the vacant World Heavyweight Title, he will take the title with him to RAW! After going to war with countless ladder shots and failed attempts to claim the World Heavyweight Title, Alberto Del Rio would look to finally finish Christian off with Christian lying prone on a ladder bridged from the ring apron to the announce table as Del Rio would dive off of the top rope, but Christian would move out of the way, resulting in Alberto Del Rio going crashing into the steel ladder! With Alberto Del Rio down on the outside, Christian would look to finally claim the World Heavyweight Title belt, but Del Rio’s protégé, Brodus Clay, would come out and would try and take Christian out, but Christian would use a steel step ladder on Clay, taking Clay out of the equation! Having recovered from his spill to the outside, Alberto Del Rio would re-enter the ring and would use the steel step ladder to add extra torque to the arm of Christian with the cross armbreaker! With Christian down, Del Rio would look to claim the World Heavyweight Title, but with the title belt moments from being in his grasp, a car horn would blare throughout the arena as former World Heavyweight Champion Edge would roll in in a Jeep as the horn would distract Alberto Del Rio long enough for Christian to knock Del Rio off of the ladder on top of Brodus Clay and Ricardo Rodriguez as Edge rushes down to ringside to cheer his best friend on as Christian would ascend the ladder and finally grasp the World Heavyweight Title belt to achieve his lifelong dream to become the World Heavyweight Champion, prompting a celebration between friends as Edge congratulates the new World Heavyweight Champion, Christian!
With Superstars and NXT Rookies, including former champions and Corre members Heath Slater & Justin Gabriel, surrounding the ring, Corre members Intercontinental Champion Wade Barrett & Ezekiel Jackson would be looking to do what Slater & Gabriel could not as Barrett & Ezekiel would challenge Kane & Big Show for the WWE Tag Team Titles in a Lumberjack Match! During the match, Ezekiel Jackson would look to have things well in hand for his team after managing to hoist Big Show up and deliver a scoop slam, but Wade Barrett would opt to tag himself in and would look to outdo Ezekiel by attempting to hoist Big Show up for Wasteland, but Barrett would not be able to lift “The World’s Largest Athlete” and Big Show would deliver a chokeslam to Barrett and, as Ezekiel watched, Big Show would pin Barrett to successfully retain the WWE Tag Team Titles for himself and Kane! After the match, all hell would break loose as all of the lumberjacks would brawl in and out of the ring with Heath Slater & Justin Gabriel finding themselves in the ring with Kane & Big Show as the WWE Tag Team Champions would plant the Corre members with dual chokeslams!
Then it was time for the main event as the self-proclaimed “most must-see champion in WWE history” The Miz would defend the WWE Title against former WWE Champion John Cena and “The Prince of Parkour” John Morrison in a Triple Threat Steel Cage Match, where the match can end by pinfall, submission, or escaping the cage with both feet touching the floor! During the match, John Cena would look to have the match in hand after locking in the STF on The Miz, but Miz would use the bottom rope to choke Cena, forcing Cena to release the hold as Miz attempts to escape through the cage door, but Cena would prevent the escape! Shortly after this, John Cena and John Morrison would battle on top of the cage and, after Morrison would kick the steel cage door into the face of Miz to prevent another escape, Cena would knock Morrison off balance, leaving Morrison split on the steel door before Miz would drag Morrison back into the cage! Later on in the match, John Morrison would start to escape the cage, but with Cena and Miz getting to their feet below, Morrison would opt to dive off of the top of the cage with Starship Pain to both men and, with all three Superstars down, Morrison would slowly climb to escape the cage through the door, but R-Truth would rush out would deliver a knee to the skull of Morrison, compacting Morrison’s head between his knee and the steel steps! Truth would then enter the cage and would pummel John Morrison in the corner before the unbalanced R-Truth would even deliver the Axe Kick to John Cena! Truth would then turn his attention back to Morrison as Truth would plant Morrison with the What’s Up before symbolically climbing over the top of the cage and dropping to the outside! With both of the challengers down, The Miz would climb the cage, looking to escape and retain the WWE Title, but John Cena would meet Miz towards the top of the cage and Cena would fight his way out of an attempted Skull Crushing Finale off of the top rope by Miz and would deliver the Attitude Adjustment off of the top rope en route to pinning The Miz to finally win the WWE Championship for the first time in almost a year!
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