Extreme Rules | |||
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Promotion | WWE | ||
Date | May 4, 2014 | ||
City | East Rutherford, New Jersey | ||
Venue | Izod Center | ||
Attendance | 15,907 | ||
Buy rate | 108,000 [1] (excluding WWE Network views) | ||
WWE Network event chronology | |||
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Extreme Rules chronology | |||
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The 2014 Extreme Rules was the sixth annual Extreme Rules professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It took place on May 4, 2014, at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey, and was the first Extreme Rules event to livestream on the WWE Network, which launched in February. The concept of Extreme Rules is that the event features various hardcore-based matches.
Eight professional wrestling matches were contested at the event, including one on the Kickoff pre-show. Only three matches, including the pre-show match, were contested under a hardcore stipulation. In the main event, Daniel Bryan defeated Kane in an Extreme Rules match to retain the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. In another prominent match, The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, and Roman Reigns) defeated the reunited Evolution (Triple H, Randy Orton, and Batista) in a six-man tag team match.
The event received 108,000 buys (excluding WWE Network views), down from the previous year's 231,000 buys.
Extreme Rules is an annual gimmick pay-per-view (PPV) produced by WWE since 2009. The concept of the show is that the event features various matches that are contested under hardcore rules and generally features one Extreme Rules match. [2] The defunct Extreme Championship Wrestling promotion, which WWE acquired in 2003, originally used the "extreme rules" term to describe the regulations for all of its matches; WWE adopted the term and has since used it in place of "hardcore match" or "hardcore rules". The 2014 Extreme Rules event was the sixth Extreme Rules and took place on May 4, 2014, at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey. In addition to traditional PPV, it was also the first Extreme Rules to air on WWE's livestreaming service, the WWE Network, which launched in February. [3]
The event comprised eight matches, including one on the Kickoff pre-show, that resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed villains, heroes, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers, [4] [5] while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television whips, Monday Night Raw and SmackDown .
Fresh off his win at WrestleMania, John Cena continued to feud with Bray Wyatt of The Wyatt Family. Cena called Wyatt out for his inability to physically defend himself and his cryptic messages without Luke Harper and Erick Rowan by his side. To make Wyatt prove himself, Cena challenged him to a Steel Cage match, which Wyatt accepted. On the April 28, 2014 episode of Raw, Cena entered the steel cage to address Wyatt's evil message saying that it has begun to spread amongst the audience, only to be greeted by Wyatt and a children's choir singing "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" with many Wyatt Family supporters singing along. As the children surrounded the ring, the lights went out before coming back on, with the children now wearing sheep masks as Wyatt laughed maniacally with a child on his lap. [6]
On Raw the day after WrestleMania XXX, Triple H forced Daniel Bryan to defend his newly won WWE World Heavyweight Championship against him. However, Triple H's former bodyguards, The Shield, turned on him and attacked him, resulting in a no contest. [7] As a result, Triple H reformed Evolution with Batista and Randy Orton and attacked The Shield the following week on Raw. On the April 18 edition of SmackDown, Triple H scheduled a six-man tag team match between Evolution and The Shield for Extreme Rules. [8] On the Raw before Extreme Rules, Ric Flair, once part of Evolution, came out only to give his endorsement to the Shield, acknowledging them as the future of the WWE.
On the April 7 edition of Raw, AJ Lee was bragging about having defended her title against 13 other divas at WrestleMania XXX when NXT Women's Champion Paige came out to congratulate AJ on her title defense. AJ then slapped Paige and challenged her to a match for AJ's Divas Championship. The match itself was dominated by AJ until Paige escaped AJ's submission move, the Black Widow, and hit one of her finishing moves, the Paige Turner, to win her first WWE Divas Championship. On the April 15 episode of WWE Main Event , AJ's bodyguard, Tamina Snuka, won a battle royal to become number one contender to Paige's title, allowing her to wrestle Paige for the championship at Extreme Rules. [9]
On the Raw after WrestleMania XXX, Cesaro replaced his manager Zeb Colter with Paul Heyman. This started a rivalry between Heyman and Colter, and by extension between Cesaro and his former tag team partner, Jack Swagger, who was still managed by Colter. Both wrestlers were entered into the tournament to determine Big E's challenger. Prior to Cesaro's semi-final match against Rob Van Dam, Van Dam badmouthed Heyman and advised Cesaro to stay away from him. Van Dam beat Cesaro via count-out after interference from Swagger and Colter. The following week on Raw, Colter approached Van Dam and suggested that he and Swagger team up to take on a common enemy in Heyman, but Van Dam declined. Van Dam later lost the tournament final to Bad News Barrett after interference from Cesaro; Swagger then appeared, attacked Cesaro and attempted to attack Van Dam before being fought off. This set up a triple-threat match between Cesaro, Swagger and Van Dam at Extreme Rules.
On the April 21 episode of Raw, Bryan and Brie Bella were getting ready to celebrate their marriage when Stephanie McMahon came out and scheduled Bryan to defend his WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Kane at Extreme Rules. Kane then came out from the audience and attacked Bryan, giving him three Tombstone Piledrivers – the first on the floor, the second on the steel steps, and the third on the broadcast table, resulting in Bryan being stretchered out of the arena. One week later, during Brie Bella's match with Paige, Kane came up through a hole from underneath the ring and attempted to pull Brie down with him but she got away. [10]
Alexander Rusev made his main roster debut on April 7 and scored victories over various superstars, including R-Truth and Xavier Woods. He also attacked both competitors after their respective matches. This set up a 2-on-1 Handicap match with Rusev against R-Truth and Woods at the pay-per-view.
On May 2 edition of SmackDown, El Torito and Hornswoggle signed the contract for a WeeLC match - a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match featuring midget wrestlers, with reduced size tables, ladders, and chairs than a normal such match, for the Kickoff pre-show.
On the April 14 edition of Raw, a tournament was designed to determine who would challenge Big E for the WWE Intercontinental Championship at the event. The bracket is as listed below:
Quarterfinals ( Raw April 14th) | Semifinals ( Raw April 21st) | Finals ( Raw April 28th) | ||||||||||||
Mark Henry | Pin | |||||||||||||
Cesaro | 03:18 | |||||||||||||
Cesaro | Count Out | |||||||||||||
Rob Van Dam | 13:13 | |||||||||||||
Rob Van Dam | 10:35 | |||||||||||||
Alberto Del Rio | Pin | |||||||||||||
Rob Van Dam | Pin | |||||||||||||
Bad News Barrett | 11:24 | |||||||||||||
Sheamus | 06:55 | |||||||||||||
Jack Swagger | Pin | |||||||||||||
Sheamus | Pin | |||||||||||||
Bad News Barrett | 10:33 | |||||||||||||
Dolph Ziggler | Pin | |||||||||||||
Bad News Barrett | 12:12 |
Role: | Name: |
---|---|
English commentators | Michael Cole |
Jerry Lawler | |
John "Bradshaw" Layfield | |
Spanish commentators | Carlos Cabrera |
Marcelo Rodriguez | |
Ricardo Rodriguez | |
Interviewers | Byron Saxton |
Renee Young | |
Ring announcers | Lilian Garcia |
Justin Roberts | |
Referees | John Cone |
Rod Zapata | |
Marc Harris | |
Jason Ayers | |
Pre-Show panel | Josh Mathews |
Alex Riley | |
Booker T | |
Sheamus |
The English commentators were Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler and John "Bradshaw" Layfield while there were also Spanish and German commentators ringside. Lilian Garcia and Justin Roberts were ring announcers. The Kickoff pre-show was hosted by a panel of Booker T, Alex Riley, Josh Mathews and Sheamus.
During the Extreme Rules Kickoff pre-show, El Torito faced Hornswoggle in a WeeLC match, a special Little Person version of a TLC match (as 'wee' is a synonym for 'small' widely used in Scotland). The referee, ring announcer, timekeeper, and commentators were LP versions of regular personnel. Torito picked up the victory after a Springboard Seated Senton through a table. [11]
The actual pay-per-view opened with a Triple threat elimination match between Cesaro, Jack Swagger and Rob Van Dam. Van Dam pinned Swagger after a Five Star Frog Splash to eliminate Swagger. In the climax, Van Dam performed a Van Daminator into a trash can on Cesaro and attempted a Five Star Frog Splash but Cesaro avoided, causing Van Dam to crash into the trash can. Cesaro performed a Neutralizer onto the trash can on Van Dam to win the match. [3]
After that, Alexander Rusev took on R-Truth and Xavier Woods in a 2-on-1 Handicap match. Before the match, Rusev attacked Woods, thus taking Woods out of the match. Rusev forced R-Truth to submit to the Accolade to win the match. [3]
In the next match, Big E defended his WWE Intercontinental Championship against Bad News Barrett. The match ended when Barrett performed a Bull Hammer on Big E to win the title. [3]
In the fourth match, The Shield faced Evolution. During the match, Triple H Pedigreed Reigns and Batista pinned Reigns for a near-fall. Orton RKO'd Reigns but Rollins broke up a pinfall by Batista at a two count. Ambrose ran across the announce tables and leapt onto Triple H and Orton. Triple H, Orton, Ambrose and Rollins fought into the arena stands, where Triple H and Orton caused Ambrose to fall down a set of stairs. Triple H and Orton attacked Ambrose until Rollins dove off a balcony onto Triple H and Orton. The ending saw Batista perform a Spinebuster on Reigns and attempt a Batista Bomb on Reigns but Reigns countered and performed a Superman Punch on Batista. Reigns performed a Spear on Batista for the win. [3]
The fifth match was a Steel cage match between John Cena and Bray Wyatt. During the match, Harper attacked Cena atop the cage, resulting in Harper falling into the cage. Cena performed a Super Attitude Adjustment on Wyatt but Harper broke up the pinfall. Rowan attacked Cena atop the cage but Cena pulled Rowan's beard, causing Rowan to collide with the cage. In the end, Cena performed a Diving Leg Drop Bulldog on Harper and attempted to escape through the door but the arena lights went off. When the arena lights turned on, a demonic child appeared, singing "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands". Wyatt performed Sister Abigail on Cena and escaped through the door to win the match. [3]
In the penultimate match, Paige defended her WWE Divas Championship against Tamina Snuka. In the end, Tamina attempted a Superkick but Paige countered and forced Tamina to submit to the PTO, retaining the title. [3]
In the main event, Daniel Bryan defended the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Kane in an Extreme Rules match. During the match, Bryan and Kane fought backstage, where Bryan attacked Kane with a snow shovel. Bryan placed Kane on a forklift and drove the forklift into the arena, where Bryan performed a Diving Headbutt off the forklift on Kane for a near-fall. Kane performed a Chokeslam on Bryan for a near-fall. Kane attempted a Tombstone Piledriver onto a chair on Bryan but Bryan countered into a DDT on the chair for a near-fall. Bryan applied the Yes Lock using a kendo stick but Kane escaped the hold. Bryan attempted a Suicide Dive on Kane but Kane countered and performed a Chokeslam on Bryan through an announce table. Kane retrieved a table and set the table on fire using lighter fluid but Bryan pulled the ring ropes, causing Kane to fall through the table. Bryan performed a Running Knee on Kane to retain the title. [3]
At the start of Raw after Extreme Rules, Dean Ambrose was forced to defend his United States Championship in a 20-man Battle royal. Ambrose made it to the end with Sheamus, Sheamus eliminated Ambrose to win his second United States Championship, ending Ambrose's reign at 351 days. The Shield then fought The Wyatt Family later in the night; just as things turned in The Shield's favor, Evolution came out and distracted The Shield, allowing The Wyatt Family to win the match. Evolution then assaulted The Shield, and humiliated them by performing The Shield's signature Triple Powerbomb to Roman Reigns. This led to The Shield challenging Evolution to a rematch at Payback, which they accepted. The match was made a No Holds Barred Elimination match.
Cena's feud with Wyatt continued with a Last Man Standing match being set up for Payback. At the pay-per-view, Cena defeated Wyatt to win the match and end their feud. [12]
On the May 12 episode of Raw, Daniel Bryan announced that he would undergo neck surgery, and would be absent from WWE for an unspecified amount of time. That same night, Stephanie McMahon called Bryan to the ring, before Kane dragged him out into the entrance before being loaded onto a stretcher by medical personnel. [13] On May 15, Bryan underwent successful neck surgery, with a cervical foraminotomy to decompress the nerve root having been performed. [14] On the May 19 edition of Raw, Stephanie McMahon gave Bryan an ultimatum to surrender the WWE World Heavyweight Championship the following week on Raw. Bryan replied next week on Raw that he wouldn't surrender it. McMahon then retaliated saying that she would give until Payback to surrender the title. If he didn't surrender, his wife Brie Bella will be fired. At Payback, Brie would let Bryan keep the championship by quitting WWE, and finalized it by slapping McMahon across the face.
Elimination | Wrestler | Eliminated by | Method | Time |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Jack Swagger | Rob Van Dam | Pin | 06:25 |
2 | Rob Van Dam | Cesaro | Pin | 12:34 |
3 | Cesaro | Winner | ||
Randal Keith Orton is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand. With the tied-third most world championship reigns in history, and a career spanning over 20 years, Orton is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time.
WrestleMania XXX was the 30th annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It took place on April 6, 2014, at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana and was the first WWE event simultaneously broadcast live on PPV and livestreamed on WWE's subscription streaming service, the WWE Network, which launched in February. WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan served as the host of the event.
The Shield was a professional wrestling stable in WWE that consisted of Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns, and Seth Rollins. Their original characters were mercenaries for CM Punk; however, they quickly became mainstay main-event names. The group debuted on November 18, 2012 at the Survivor Series pay-per-view. The Shield was a dominant force in six-man tag team matches with an undefeated televised streak lasting from December 2012 to May 2013, during which they scored a victory at WrestleMania 29. In May 2013 at Extreme Rules, all three members of The Shield won a championship, with Ambrose winning the United States Championship while Rollins and Reigns captured the WWE Tag Team Championship. Rollins and Reigns were WWE Tag Team Champions until October 2013, and Ambrose was United States Champion until May 2014, which was a record reign for the WWE version of the championship. As a Shield member, Reigns gained prominence by setting and equaling elimination records at the 2013 Survivor Series and the 2014 Royal Rumble events.
The 2013 Hell in a Cell was the fifth annual Hell in a Cell professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by WWE. It took place on October 27, 2013, at the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida. The event received 212,000 buys, which was up from last year's event of 199,000.
The 2014 Royal Rumble was the 27th annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by WWE. It took place on January 26, 2014, at the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was the first Royal Rumble to be held in the city of Pittsburgh and the first WWE pay-per-view event held in the Consol Energy Center. The Royal Rumble match winner received a world championship match at that year's WrestleMania. For the 2014 event, the winner received a match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania XXX; this was the first time since 2002 in which there was only one eligible championship for the Royal Rumble winner to challenge for.
The 2014 SummerSlam was the 27th annual SummerSlam professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It took place on August 17, 2014, at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California for the sixth and final consecutive year. This was also the first SummerSlam event to air on WWE's livestreaming service, the WWE Network, which launched in February. It was also the first WWE pay-per-view to incorporate the new WWE logo but it would not be used on air and on the turnbuckle pads until the next night on Raw. This would also be the last WWE pay-per-view to feature the championships with the scratch logo as all were updated with the new logo also on the following night's Raw.
The 2014 Survivor Series was the 28th annual Survivor Series professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It took place on November 23, 2014, at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri, and was the first Survivor Series event to livestream on the WWE Network, which launched in February. The event was notable for the WWE debut appearance of former World Championship Wrestling (WCW) wrestler Sting and also the first Survivor Series since 2001 to not feature a world championship match.
The 2014 Elimination Chamber was the fifth Elimination Chamber professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by WWE. The event took place on February 23, 2014, at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was WWE's final PPV to air before the launch of their online streaming service, the WWE Network, on February 24; following its launch, the events began to be simultaneously broadcast on PPV and livestreamed on the WWE Network.
The 2013 Money in the Bank was the fourth annual Money in the Bank professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by WWE. The event took place on July 14, 2013, at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was final Money in the Bank event to be held in July until the 2021 event.
The Wyatt Family was an American professional wrestling stable in WWE originally composed of Bray Wyatt, Erick Rowan, and Luke Harper.
The 2014 Hell in a Cell was the sixth annual Hell in a Cell professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It took place on October 26, 2014, at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, and was the second Hell in a Cell at this venue after the 2010 event. This was the first Hell in a Cell event to livestream on the WWE Network, which launched in February.
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The Authority was a villainous professional wrestling stable in WWE, which originated due to Triple H helping Randy Orton win the WWE Championship from Daniel Bryan at the 2013 SummerSlam pay-per-view immediately after cashing in the Money in the Bank contract. The name of "The Authority" was introduced on October 7, 2013 on Monday Night Raw during a match between The Shield vs Cody Rhodes, Goldust and Daniel Bryan. Jerry Lawler first said "The Authority" during that match. The Authority initially referred to only Triple H and Stephanie McMahon as a power couple. The Authority shares similarities with The Corporation and The McMahon-Helmsley Faction, and also had ties to Triple H's previous stables D-Generation X (DX) and Evolution, the latter of which existed alongside The Authority for a brief period in 2014.
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The 2015 Payback was the third annual Payback professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It took place on May 17, 2015, at the Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore, Maryland and was the first Payback held outside of the Chicago suburb of Rosemont, Illinois. The theme of the event was wrestlers seeking payback against their opponents.
The 2015 Hell in a Cell was the seventh annual Hell in a Cell professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It took place on October 25, 2015, at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. This was the first WWE pay-per-view, other than SummerSlam, to be held in the city of Los Angeles since No Way Out in February 2007. This was also the last Hell in a Cell event to be held before the reintroduction of the brand extension in July 2016.
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