By Tony Donofrio, Torch specialist

-- 6/7 WWE Extreme Rules PPV Hits & Misses

PPV HITS

Kofi Kingston vs. William Regal vs. Matt Hardy vs. MVP (U.S. Title): This match was a good start to a PPV. The crowd seemed to be into it as it was well paced and entertaining. I only have one complaint about this match but not really with the match itself (see below, thanks). Some people see Kofi Kingston as a flash in the pan but I think he is in WWE to stay as he seems to be over big time with the fans and can back it up in the ring. (Ken Kennedy, take notes.) All four of these guys can work in the ring and that showed tonight. It's a shame that the best guys in the ring for Raw are all on the undercard. Kudos to WWE for starting off the past few PPVs with good opening matches.

Rey Mysterio vs. Chris Jericho (Intercontinental Title): Here's a match that could headline a PPV and it was the second best match of the night. First of all, Chris Jericho continues to deliver both in the ring and on the mic. I'll be ready for criticism on this next comment, so fire away. ... Chris Jericho is developing into this generation's Ric Flair. Both guys put on a hell of a match that you could watch over and over again and not really get tired of watching. The finish was obviously the high point and done tremendously. How Jericho managed to pull off Mysterio's mask in the middle of Mysterio trying to execute the 619 was amazing. The only issue I had was how quickly Mysterio disappeared after the match ended. There was no attempt by the camera to capture him without the mask or explanation of how or where he escaped to. I assume this leads to at least one more match where Jericho wants to go Mask for Title. I think they could get a few more matches out of these two, including what would probably be a great ladder match. I don't think WWE will want to put on another ladder match so soon though and kill its significance like it has with the Steel Cage in recent years.

Guerreros/Goldust/Edge backstage: I am rewarding these segments with a "hit" because I believe the end product of them will lead somewhere. Edge divorcing Vickie, I believe, is going to help start his face turn. That's a big part of this being a "hit." The skits of Chavo and Vickie Guerrero training backstage did have some comic value and it wasn't overkill. Also, Goldust telling Vicki that she "smells like shit...shitake mushrooms" was pretty damn funny, if not stating the obvious considering the match she'd just been a part of. Again, it wasn't overkill.

C.M. Punk vs. Umaga: I will give this a "hit" because the match wasn't as bad as I expected it to be. The one complaint I had was the little graphic in the corner that almost served as a "scoreboard" to keep track of if the corners were touched in succession. The match itself wasn't terrific, as I said, but it wasn't boring either. But, it's not one I'd bring back anytime soon and probably the reason we haven't seen a Strap Match in such a long time. However, it was nice to see C.M. Punk show some power and that he can deal with heavyweights by hitting the GTS on a much larger wrestler than himself (even though we did see it two nights earlier on Smackdown). I don't think this is the last time I'll be mentioning "C.M. Punk" and "heavyweight" in the same breath during this column (see below, thanks).

Edge vs. Jeff Hardy (World Heavyweight Title): These two going at it in a ladder match was probably marked as a "hit" by most wrestling fans before it even started and it definitely lived up to that. There probably isn't anything that these guys (especially Jeff Hardy) won't try to do with a ladder. I did think that there might be a few too many "high risk" spots, but nonetheless, the match still came off quite well. Edge and Jeff going off of one ladder only to go through another and Jeff's "Twist of Fate" reversing Edge's attempt at a spear from one ladder to the next were probably a tie in terms of the best spots in the match. The finish was great as it saw Edge having to watch Jeff literally take away his World Title because he was stuck in the other side of the ladder. This match was definitely the match of the night and it was exciting from start to finish. It was also a great way to end the PPV until ...

C.M. Punk cashes in Money in the Bank to win the World Heavyweight Title: This came as a shock to everyone I was around as they were saying their goodbyes and ready to head for the door! I loved Jim Ross being in the ring to interview Jeff Hardy immediately after the match concluded. It was a nice touch and, in a way, made the "cashing in" seem more spontaneous. At first, I liked how Hardy kicked out of the GTS, but the more I thought about it, now I don't. I understand that it made Hardy look strong but he also just went through hell during his ladder match. One GTS would have done just fine. This is a big "hit" though based on the shock value and because I'm ASSUMING this is a huge heel turn for C.M. Punk. What better way to start out his run as a heel against Jeff Hardy. The "Straight Edge Superstar" vs. a wrestler who has been twice suspended because of his well documented "Wellness Policy Violations" due to drug use. His first WWE heel promo should strongly state that this was his reason for "cashing in" at Jeff's expense. Why would a straight edge heel want to see a "drug abuser" as the company's World Champion? Here's hoping that the ball is not dropped on this one!

PPV MISSES

Christian vs. Tommy Dreamer vs. Jack Swagger (ECW Title): I'll prepare for more criticism on this one as I can't believe that they'd put the ECW Title on a guy like Tommy Dreamer at this stage in his career! Dreamer is not capable of regularly putting on the quality matches that a champion needs to put on right now (see Mick Foley). The match itself was the most "extreme" of the night, other than the ladder match, so I have no complaints there. The match also wasn't really bad enough to be a "miss" either but the outcome reeked of awfulness (yes, pun intended). Here's hoping that Dreamer drops the title this Tuesday night on ECW. The sad part of that statement is that's not the only belt I'm going to say that about this evening (see below, thanks).

Santina vs. Vickie & Chavo Guerrero (Miss WrestleMania Crown): The fact that this was made a handicapped match at least put two legitimate wrestlers in it, but that's where the positives end, unfortunately. Jerry Lawler's pre-match introduction was obviously taken from Vince McMahon's book of jokes. The match itself was just what you'd expect ... crap, both literally and figuratively! It looks like this storyline with Vickie and Santina has run it's course now as Vickie has more important things to deal with (Edge), so that's a good thing. Did the match make me smile and chuckle a little? Sure. However, it's probably something that could have been saved for Raw. If there was one positive that comes out of this match (in its own funny way), it is that it looks like it will lead to the Edge and Vickie divorce storyline.

Randy Orton vs. Batista (WWE Title): I wonder if Raw will start tomorrow with a funeral ceremony commemorating the career of Randy Orton? Batista won this match in just seven minutes, cleanly. How is Orton supposed to be a strong heel when he loses in a cage match in less than ten minutes? This is only a few minutes longer than Cody Rhodes lasted this past Monday on Raw. So, while we're at it, let's just hold that funeral ceremony for all of Legacy. Rumor has it that Batista will be undergoing surgery on Tuesday for a torn bicep. Yes, if that's true, another Batista injury. So why in the blue hell did we see this title change hands, not to mention cleanly in such a short time? So again, as I said with the ECW Title, here's hoping Batista drops the title on Raw. But, to who? Orton's credibility has been shot, in my opinion. If Triple H returns tomorrow night to win the title, I'd be shocked, but not pleasantly. I guess it could be put on John Cena, but I think myself (along with most others) would like to see him without the title for a while. Right now, the title situation is a mess (not to mention Orton's credibility), if the Batista rumor is true.

Big Show vs. John Cena: So, are we catching a trend here? Every Raw match was a "miss" with the exception of the U.S. Title match. This match went about 19 minutes, which was about ten more minutes than it should have gone. I'd say that most people believed that Cena was going to win this match since they were hyping up the fact that he hasn't been able to put the STF on The Big Show for the past three weeks now. I did like how Cena used the ropes to apply the STF for the win, but that's about all that I liked about the match. It looks like this feud will probably now come to an end unless they decide to push this another three weeks until "The Bash."

Extreme Rules? Extreme BS!: The name of this PPV shouldn't have been "Extreme Rules," it should have been "Extreme PG." That's not to say that the show was awful because it wasn't. However, on a night where "all of the WWE goes extreme," it really didn’t. The Fatal Four-way for the U.S. Title was not "extreme." Hell, it didn’t even have a stipulation. The Intercontinental Title match was barely "extreme." Don't get me wrong, those two matches were two of the better ones, but they weren't what I'd call "extreme." The submission match was not "extreme." Not an ounce of blood was shed for this "extreme" PPV. I think I've made my point here, so let's move on, shall we?

FINAL SYNOPSIS

If you caught the pattern, the show pretty much started off strong, had a big lull in the middle, then finished with a big bang. If Raw was not under the WWE banner, the show would be on life support. Smackdown (and ECW for the most part, despite their role on this PPV) continues to shine, week in and week out, and "Extreme Rules" was just more proof of that. My grade for the show was a "C." If this were strictly a Smackdown brand PPV, it would have been an "A." If it was a Raw brand PPV, it would have received a "D-minus." It's still hard to believe right now that Raw and Smackdown are ran by the same company. Tonight's PPV was a perfect example of how strong one show is and, conversely, how weak the other is.

Tony Donofrio is a new Hits & Misses Specialist covering WWE PPVs and TV shows during the week. Contact Tony at PWTorchTD@gmail.com

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