More and more over the years, the PPV after WrestleMania, instead of being about new beginnings, has been where a large number of WWE feuds have actually been properly laid to rest. This year’s Extreme Rules was no different, although its main event was something we hadn’t seen since 2002 – John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar.

Extreme Rules has always been a fun event, even with the action having been dialled back a bit due to the PG Era. It’s touted as “The one night of the year WWE goes extreme.” I guess they don’t remember about the TLC and Hell in a Cell events until later in the year.

We start with Randy Orton vs Kane, in one of the many WrestleMania rematches. It’s Falls Count Anywhere and while it’s perfectly adequate, and a step up from their previous affair, it’s not the most exciting match to kick off the show with. Cody Rhodes and Big Show have their rematch too, this time in a Tables match, which was a fun match with an inventive ending that nobody saw coming.  

The two crown jewels of the WrestleMania rematches are the two main title matches. Sheamus and Bryan get the chance to show how good a bout they could have had a month earlier, with a 2 out of 3 Falls match. It’s a strong showing that went a long way to getting Sheamus his momentum back, after fans turned on the 18 second victory in Miami. And CM Punk, in his native Chicago, turned in a heck of a Street Fight against nemesis Chris Jericho. This match had the entire crowd standing through its second-half and it still holds up as a massively entertaining contest.

We also saw the return of Layla, defeating Nikki Bella for the Divas title, in a match that suffered from its placement on the card – as well as people hoping Kharma was returning instead. This was also in the middle of our duelling squash matches, where Brodus Clay took out Dolph Ziggler, and Ryback took out a pair of local talent. They were exactly what you’d expect from them.

The main event saw the much anticipated return of Brock Lesnar. This was a brutal affair, as he bloodied up Cena early on. The entire match had a very real feel to it, with Lesnar playing the bully role so perfectly, you’d swear Cena had no say in the matter. The ending of that match, and the PPV, are interesting choices and they didn’t seem to get followed up on TV going forward.

The Extreme Rules PPV was an excellent event, much better than the ol’ Showcase of the Immortals that preceded it, and it also marks the last highpoint for WWE so far this year. Without a doubt, if you were going to buy one PPV DVD from this year so far, I’d pick Extreme Rules. It’s head and shoulders above the rest, providing solid action and a few surprises to boot.



WWE Extreme Rules 2012 is available from Shock Entertainment on DVD.