#LET BAYLEY MAIN EVENT MANIA YOU COWARDS

[mjfass]

Wait, let me say this:

Let Bayley win the Royal Rumble and also let Bayley main event Wrestlemania

[fightthumperfight-blog]

Extreme Rules Pre-Analysis

Another Sunday, another PPV. Extreme Rules has a lot of build up, and a lot to go through, especially seeing that Raw PPVs have been lacking as of late. The most important issue, I feel, is the lack of a Universal Championship match at Payback, and now at Extreme Rules. I foresaw this happening back at Fastlane when Goldberg initially took the title from Kevin Owens. It didn’t matter who won at ‘Mania at that point, because it meant that a part-timer would be holding the belt. Regardless, though, a stacked main event, and an abundance of compelling mid-card storylines give me high hopes for this one. So let’s get right into the matches!

Noam Dar and Alicia Fox vs. Rich Swann and Sasha Banks: First off, the chemistry between Rich Swann and Sasha Banks both in and out of the ring is unreal. They are respectively two of the strongest performers on Raw/205 Live separately, and they shine even brighter together. The team is also balanced in the fact that Swann is a high flyer coupled with The Boss’ FANTASTIC submission finisher, the Banks Statement. At the same time, though, Dar has more than proven himself as a proficient technical grappler, and Foxy does have an impressive win over Sasha. Taking that into account, though, I’ve got to go with Team Face on this one. No one’s got the edge over my girl Sasha. Not since Charlotte was traded to Smackdown, at least.

Neville (C) vs. Austin Aries for the Cruiserweight Championship: Let’s be real, friends, Neville’s time is up. In his last two championship bouts with Aries, he has had to pull some desperate moves and I don’t believe there’s any way he could have won without them. The self-proclaimed “King of the Cruiserweights” has turned from a vicious and indomitable champion, to a sniveling coward who cheats and uses chumps like TJP to do his dirty work. Austin Aries’ submission victory over Neville on Raw is proof enough that he can get the job done tomorrow. 

Dean Ambrose (C) vs. The Miz for the Intercontinental Championship: This one, however, is a lot harder to call. I think we all know that in a straight-up fight, Ambrose will win every single time. But a match with The Miz is never straightforward, and I expect to see Maryse and Miz’s propensity for cheating effectively to be huge factors in any of his matches. The stipulation for this match (If Ambrose gets disqualified, he drops the title) makes it a little more interesting, but I could see that backfiring hard on Miz. But if he can unlock The Lunatic Fringe’s most violent instincts, we may have ourselves a new Intercontinental Champion.

Alexa Bliss (C) vs. Bayley for the Raw Women’s Championship: I am literally in love with Alexa Bliss as Raw Women’s Champion. The way she handles the crowd during promos, and her opportunistic in-ring style has given her a well deserved spot as one of the best in either Women’s Division. The question for this absurdly titled “Kendo Stick on a Pole Match” has been whether or not Bayley will be able to get vicious enough to win such a match. What we really need to be asking ourselves, though, is whether Bayley will be quick and mindful enough to seize the kendo stick in the first place. My gut tells me not. You had better believe that stick is going to be in the very front of Alexa Bliss’ mind from the second the bell rings, and I just know she’s going to be the one to get it. From there, it’s all about whether Bayley can overcome Alexa Fucking Bliss with a Giant Fucking Stick at her disposal. Judging by that sentence, I’m sure you can puzzle out how I think that’s going to go. 

The Hardy Boyz (C) vs. Sheamus and Cesaro for the Raw Tag Team Championship: When Matt and Jeff appeared at Wrestlemania the night after their spectacular match against The Young Bucks at Supercard of Honor, I lost my shit. When they climbed the ladder and claimed the Raw Tag Team Championships, I jumped up and down and screamed like a 12-year-old. The Hardys(z?) will go down as one of the greatest tag teams in professional wrestling history, and rightfully so. But as far as the match on Sunday goes, I think we need to look at plain statistics. The fact is that both Sheamus and Cesaro have struggled throughout this month to defeat either Hardy in their individual matches. Maybe as a unit they will have the ability to get the job done, but I also believe that a steel cage match benefits Jeff Hardy specifically the most, and I predict a Swanton from the top of the cage will put this one in the bag. 

Last, but not least, we have the main event: A Fatal 5-Way between Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, Samoa Joe, Finn Balor, and Bray Wyatt to determine who will face Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship. This match puts on display front and center how amazingly stacked the Raw roster is now. The return of Finn Balor and the addition of Samoa Joe and Bray Wyatt have done wonders for a show that, let’s be real, we were only watching out of habit. Any of these 5 men have the capability to take out Lesnar, and I’m sure that whoever wins tomorrow will be our next Universal Champion. For this one, I’m going to just go into each individual competitor, since there’s a lot to unpack here.

Bray Wyatt: I will start with who I WANT to win (which is often very different from who I think will win). The Eater of Worlds is my personal favorite wrestler, and extremely underrated by the WWE top brass. What we have seen since the Shake-Up and his feud with Randy Orton is a new, and even more impressive Bray Wyatt. He’s been on fire lately, and he truly believes it’s up to him to stop the Beast. God help me, but I think he’s right.

Seth Rollins: I would never discount The Architect, though. Coming off two impressive victories against Triple H and Samoa Joe, Rollins might just have enough momentum going to take this one. The two factors working against him are the fact that Samoa Joe wants to end his career, and he can’t seem to get one up on Roman Reigns. Look for those forces working against him to be his undoing. 

Samoa Joe: On the flipside, Samoa Joe has to worry about the same thing from Rollins. And having been defeated by Seth already, I think the animosity between these two (who would normally be shoo-ins) will ruin the chances for both of them.

Roman Reigns: Always a solid choice. Having retired the Undertaker, and shelved Braun Strowman, the only logical next step for Roman is the Universal Title. This match is perhaps most important for Reigns because his whole claim of Raw being “his yard” is moot if he can’t even take the World Championship. I expect to see a strong showing from The Big Dog, if not a victory.

Finn Balor: And now we come to who I think will win. Finn Balor was the first to hold the Universal Title, and has never lost it. Not only that, but does Balor even lose matches anymore? The Demon King has decimated nearly every opponent he has come across since making his return from a nearly career ending shoulder injury. I wasn’t really around for his Bullet Club days, his time on NXT, or the beginning of the brand split, so I’m a little late to the Balor Club. I have since gone back and watched a lot of his best matches from before and become a card carrying member. Finn Balor never ceases to amaze me with his talent, and tomorrow should be no different. I firmly believe Finn Balor will be the next Universal Champion.