Previewing The Extreme Rules 2017 Undercard Matches

This will be the third try for Austin Aries against Neville for the Cruiserweight Championship. There are some feuds where a great chase to the title would be nice. I felt AJ Styles should have had a chase to his first WWE Championship. TNA had Mickie James take three tries to finally win her first KO title, and her hair was on the line in that match. They raised the bar and made it interesting there, although I wouldn't have waited so long in that situation. Austin Aries is not someone I feel should be chasing after the title like he has. The WWE has shot the Cruiserweight title all over the place since last year. Having Neville hold it for so long is an improvement, but he should be feuding with fresh people, if Austin Aries is not meant to get the title right now.

Who wins this submissions match? I have seen some fans scratching their heads at the cruiserweights doing submissions. Even before this match, a lot of them were busting out submissions. That is not what cruiserweights are known for. High-flying moves are what they are known for. If they are going to wrestle like a lot of other guys on the regular roster, there is nothing special about them. I hear everyone talking about 205 Live not doing well and the cruiserweights frequently getting poor reactions. If they are just normal guys that have not been properly introduced to the main audience, they are going to get poor reactions. I digress. I'll say Austin Aries finally wins the title.

The tag team titles will be defended in a match that is a little more extreme. The Hardys vs. Sheamus & Cesaro inside a steel cage. How have The Hardys been doing? Like a lot of things, they are losing some of their luster. They pretty much need the "Broken" gimmick to appease certain fans. I see fans pointing out Matt Hardy just does not look good in the ring. To them, the "Broken" gimmick at least gives an excuse for his sloppiness that some fans are critical of.

I doubt the title reign ends here for The Hardys. Sheamus and Cesaro are a team that can do fine even if they break up. They do not need another run with the tag titles. They are likely just killing time until The Revival is good to go. I will say The Hardys retain.

I had said that some matches on this card are a little lackluster if you are looking forward to "extreme" matches. For the Intercontinental Championship match, if Dean Ambrose is disqualified, he loses the title to Miz. Not too impressive. Moreover, these two were feuding on Smackdown over the title just a few months ago. They come to Raw and are still feuding for the title. Fresh matches would be nice. And it would be nice if actual midcarders might get in the picture.

Who wins? It seems like a situation where it would be easy for Miz to win. A lot of smarks loved him on Smackdown. But he has lost his luster on Raw. Is there a reason to give him back the title, again? I will say Ambrose retains.

Previewing The Payback 2017 Undercard Matches

Even though this Raw PPV is missing the Universal Championship, there are still a lot of big matches on it. I am going to talk about the undercard today.

Enzo & Cass will take on Anderson & Gallows. Ideally, the tag titles would have been involved in this feud, whether it was Enzo & Cass defending the titles or finally winning them here. That isn't happening. The faces should at least win this match. Throw them a bone.

The tag titles will be defended when The Hardys face Sheamus & Cesaro. The Hardys just won the tag titles earlier this month. Is there a good reason for Sheamus & Cesaro to get another run? It might just be time for those two to split. The Hardys retain.

Moving out of the tag division, let's go to the cruiserweight division. Neville once again defends against Austin Aries. The WWE has been tossing this title all over the place since it was created last year. Austin Aries seems like someone likely to get it. Might as well happen here.

Chris Jericho vs. Kevin Owens is an interesting match. Not only is the United States Championship on the line, but these two will be switching brands if the title change happens. Will it? Probably not. Owens has a feud brewing with AJ Styles already. Jericho won't be here much longer. Owens wins.

Wrestlemania 33 Preview: Part 2

I will be talking about the Raw matches today. Goldberg vs. Lesnar will be saved for Friday.

Neville defends the Cruiserweight Championship against Austin Aries. Austin Aries can be seen as TNA's answer to CM Punk. He was definitely a poor man's CM Punk. He knows how to wrestle. In the WWE, he currently finds himself in the cruiserweight division. Even though I dislike too many multi-man matches, I wouldn't have minded a few more cruiserweights in this match. It just seems too soon to push Austin Aries. And yet, the WWE has shown that they will push men in this division too quickly, then pull the rug out from under them. Let's say the tradition continues. I'll say Austin Aries wins.

There will be a multi-man match for the tag titles. Anderson & Gallows defend against Sheamus & Cesaro and Enzo & Cass. Enzo & Cass should have won the titles since last year. This is the stage for them to do it. I will say they win.

The United States Championship match will not be a multi-man match. This is a personal feud. Chris Jericho vs. Kevin Owens has arguably been developed better than any other feud. It does not feel rushed. The development has not been inconsistent. Injuries have not screwed it over. This is what I had hoped for with the Jericho vs. Styles feud from last year. Owens and Jericho were friends for a good while. They both held titles at the same time, although not the tag titles. There were a few great elaborate segments. They just developed things well, building up to the obvious split and match coming up.

Who wins? It just seems obvious that Kevin Owens will win. Jericho doesn't need the title anymore. Moreover, he already got a Wrestlemania win he did not need last year against AJ Styles. No need for two in a row. I have seen some fans say Jericho will retain here and lose it to Samoa Joe after Wrestlemania, likely due to Owens interference. There is also the point of Owens eventually going back after the Universal Championship. But that will probably happen down the line. Right now, let Owens get his Wrestlemania moment. This feud is fit for a title change.

Roman Reigns vs. The Undertaker was another feud that just felt thrown together in the weeks leading up to Wrestlemania. That might be because it was just thrown together in the weeks leading up to Wrestlemania. And it has been a pretty lame feud. The WWE is once again selling it like this can be Taker's last Wrestlemania. They did the same thing last year to try to draw in more fans. There are also dirtsheet rumors about it. As I have seen other fans point out, if this is Undertaker's last Wrestlemania, the WWE has done a terrible job making this feud feel more special. I do not think The Undertaker's career ends here. The WWE has been pretty mediocre with a ton of things these days, but I doubt they treat the end of The Undertaker's career with such mediocrity. A feud over whose yard it is? Passing the torch to Roman Reigns? No, I would expect something bigger. Then again, that feud leading to Lesnar ending Taker's Wrestlemania streak was also pretty mediocre.

Who wins? Reigns winning this could very well make him hated. Would they then turn him heel? I don't know if he can even carry beating The Undertaker, and possibly retiring him, like Lesnar could carry ending The Streak. I don't know how much that rub would do for him. But I will still say he wins. This can build up to Undertaker's last match next year.

Triple H faces Seth Rollins in an unsanctioned match. On paper, this should have been the best feud this Wrestlemania season. You can say it was years in the making. Triple H chooses Seth Rollins to be the next big star. Seth Rollins fails to deliver. Triple H betrays him. Wrestlemania match. But the WWE just did such a terrible job after Triple H screwed Seth Rollins last year. Triple H never showed up. Seth Rollins lost his edge. There was even a span where it seemed Seth Rollins had forgotten Triple H. What was the story? Triple H didn't want to fight Seth Rollins? If you don't want to fight him, why screw him out of the title? Because you don't want him as Champion? Okay, so why didn't you try to screw him those other times he got title shots? And you are still going to fight him now? They just took what could have been an amazing feud and ruined it, and for lame reasons. Seth Rollins getting injured also hurt things, but you can argue that it added some value back into the feud.

What can you expect in this match? Samoa Joe will likely get involved. He doesn't have anything else to do. Stephanie McMahon will also likely be around. She might take a bump, like she has at Wrestlemania recently. Mick Foley might even show up to stick a sock in her mouth. As for the winner, part of me believes Triple H should win here and this feud should continue to Summerslam, where Seth defeats his former mentor. But I'll go against that and say the WWE has Seth Rollins overcome the odds to win it.