Follow along with our live review of WWE Extreme Rules 2018. Will it be a happy Rusev Day? Who is Raw’s Iron Man? All that and more awaits the WWE Universe in Pittsburgh. Team Hell No reunite for WWE Extreme Rules 2018. Photo Source: WWE.com WWE Extreme Rules 2018 is upon us at last. The superstars of Raw and SmackDown get a chance to go wild in Pittsburgh without so many cumbersome regulations. There’s a dozen matches set for the night — you can check out the full card and how to watch the show here. Sure to be one of the highlights of the night is the WWE Championship match. Rusev finally gets a shot at the top prize in the company at Extreme Rules; he’ll face AJ Styles for the title. The Lion of Bulgaria has already promised it to be the happiest of Rusev Days. But will Styles prove to be too phenomenal? How about the 30-Minute Iron Man Match for the Intercontinental Championship? Dolph Ziggler surprised everyone when he defeated Seth Rollins for the title a month ago. And thanks to Drew McIntyre, he managed to retain in a fantastic rematch. At WWE Extreme Rules 2018, one flukey fall won’t be enough. Who’s got the endurance and will to survive this match? It wouldn’t be “Extreme Rules” if at least one match featured that stipulation. This year, it’s the Raw Women’s Championship match, pitting champ Alexa Bliss against challenger Nia Jax. Bliss cashed in her Money in the Bank contract on the night she won it to become champ yet again, earning the ire of both Jax and Ronda Rousey. While Rousey has been suspended for how she responded to the situation, she’ll be at ringside as a “fan” for this big rematch. And finally, Roman Reigns faces Bobby Lashley. Be sure to join us at Daily DDT right here once the show gets underway. WWE Extreme Rules 2018 begins at 7 p.m. ET on the WWE Network, with a one hour Kickoff Show at 6 p.m. ET.<doc-sep>0 of 7 Credit: WWE.com Before the roster can have the biggest party of the summer on August 19 with SummerSlam, they have to suffer through the danger of the Extreme Rules 2018 pay-per-view. All but two titles were scheduled to be on the line, with five gimmick matches to spice things up. Even a rather bland feud like Roman Reigns vs. Bobby Lashley was at least advertised as having a lot of hype, with WWE promising that there was major potential behind it. As always, any WWE event has the ability to be great, awful or any mix of the sort, no matter what the build was. Now that Extreme Rules 2018 is in the bag, it's time for us to look back on what transpired and assess the top highlights and most unfortunate low points of Sunday night from PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh. Presented in order of appearance, here are the segments that stood out as the biggest pros and cons of WWE's latest pay-per-view.<doc-sep>Welcome to Ringside News’ coverage of Extreme Rules 2018, which kicks-off at 6 PM ET, and the main card commences at 7 PM. Tonight’s Extreme Rules card is a hefty one but maybe it’s more flash than substance. Considering the PPV theme, there’s actually only four matches with stipulation – five if you count James Ellsworth in a shark cage. I guess that’s down to most of the feuds lacking any real intensity. however one feud that did escalate this past week was Bobby Lashley and Roman Reigns. That feud was a shoe-in to fit the hardcore match type but instead, WWE gave that to Alexa Bliss and Nia Jax for no reason whatsoever. Lashley and Reigns could have a decent match but had weapons been involved fans would have been far more interested. Perhaps we’ll get a stipulation on the kick-off show. One of the most anticipated matches on tonight’s card is that of Dolph Ziggler Vs. Seth Rollins for the Intercontinental Championship, under Iron Man rules. This match should be amazing and McIntyre in Dolph’s corner will only make it more so. Rollins is awesome but Dolph should retain here and keep surging up the card. Another exciting match is Rusev Vs. AJ Styles for the WWE Championship. Finally fans are getting to see Rusev in a prominent position, even if it is a hold-over until SummerSlam. These two will have a great match and hopefully management give more to Rusev down the line. Elsewhere tonight, Team Hell No reunite to face the Bludgeon Brothers for the Tag Team Titles, Asuka battles Carmella with Ellsworth suspended above the ring in a cage, Jeff Hardy faces Shinsuke Nakamura for the U.S Championship, and Kevin Owens will be trapped within a steel cage against Braun Strowman. It’s a good card but the matches really need to deliver after a few sloppy months of TV. The pre-show starts at six and features two matches, including a tables match between The New Day and Sanity. Are you excited for the show? Let us know in the comments or download the Ringside Talk app, and remember to follow us on Instagram! Enjoy the show! Kick-Off Show The pre-show begins with the panel of Renee Young, David Otunga, Sam Roberts, and Booker T. The quartet run down the entire card for tonight. We see Charly Caruso backstage and she mentions that Hulk Hogan is here and has been reinstated to the WWE Hall of Fame. That must lead to some awkward meetings. Finn Balor joins the panel and says he doesn’t envy Kevin Owens being in the cage with Braun Strowman tonight. The panel say Owens’ best bet at survival is to try and escape right away. Young asks Balor how he feels about his match against Baron Corbin. Balor says he has been dealing with bullies like Corbin his whole career and tonight will be no different. Roberts says Corbin is Stephanie McMahon’s right hand man, so beating may make her an enemy. Balor says he wants to be in the title picture and if that means making an enemy of Stephanie then so be it. Sin Cara Vs. Andrade ‘Cien’ Almas W/ Zelina Vega Sin Cara sets the pace early with two headscissor takedowns, followed by flipping Almas over the top rope. Cara looks for a suicide dive but Almas sidesteps and he crashes into the barricade. Almas throws him back inside the ring as we see replays. Almas then slows things down, stomping on Cara and taunting. Almas hangs Cara in the ropes and hits a neckbreaker for a two count. Sin Cara starts a comeback but eats a nasty back-elbow from Almas. Cara rolls from the ring and Almas follows-up with Tranquilo – laying on the ropes – and Zelina Vega does the same beneath him. The broadcast goes split-screen, to show a commercial for Extreme Rules, meanwhile Almas has Cara grounded via an armbar. Sin Cara starts fighting back with some chops, then a springboard crossbody, followed by a springboard moonsault. Sin Cara tosses Almas to the corner and lands an impressive reverse frankensteiner for a two count. Almas takes to the top rope but Cara hits an enziguiri. Cara goes to the apron and meets Almas on the top rope. Almas knocks Cara down to the tree of woe, looking for the double foot stomp, but Cara drops down and tosses Almas off, who lands on his back on the apron. Almas climbs to his feet and Sin Cara leaps off with a hurricanrana to the floor! Sin Cara gets him back inside and lands a frog splash but Vega gets on the apron to distract the referee. In the meantime, Almas hits Cara with a dropkick into the corner, followed by the double knees. Almas hits Cara with the hammerlock DDT for the win. Winner: Andrade ‘Cien’ Almas A solid match that featured just one botch by Cara. They have good chemistry but Almas and Vega should be main eventers not on the kick-off. Back with the panel, they talk the United States Championship match between Shinsuke Nakamura and Jeff Hardy. Renee interviews Nakamura with some fan questions. She asks how he is but he doesn’t answer. Renee asks how dangerous Jeff Hardy is but Nakamura just smiles, doesn’t say anything. She asks if he can hear and he says yes. Sam Roberts asks a question about the match and Nakamura says he’s a clown, like Hardy. Booker then asks how he feels to face a legend like Jeff, to which Shinsuke says he respects him but he will take away his style. We see a video package for the Ronda Rousey/Nia Jax/Alexa Bliss feud. They discuss the match and the fact that Ronda will be there live at ringside. Booker says if she’s smart, Ronda won’t do anything tonight, just analyse the match. During the discussion, Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre walk-up and take over. Ziggler says people wanna talk about him. Booker T says Ziggler is like a new man since coming back to Raw. Dolph says he’s so good at what he does. He has made a career of turning no chances into success stories. He says he took the chance from Seth Rollins and won the IC title. He says having the fans like Rollins does can be very helpful in a night, but in the long run they hinder you and turn on you. McIntyre reminds us he beat Rollins won the match last week. Otunga asks if McIntyre plays into the game-plan, and Ziggler says yes. Ziggler says that Rollins has all these people behind him, but he has a giant psycho in his corner, which is all that really matters. Ziggler says he is the best and with McIntyre in his corner he may never lose again. The panel make their predictions and Rollins takes the majority. TORNADO Tables Match The New Day Vs. Sanity The bell rings and all six men start brawling. Everyone gets cleared from the ring as New Day take charge. New Day set-up a table at ringside but then get jumped by Young, Dain and Wolfe. Inside the ring, Wolfe and Young beat on Big E. Young accidentally hits Wolfe, then E knocks them to the apron. He looks for a suicide dive through both of them but they get their knees up and clobber Big E. Young moves the table around at ringside while Wolfe kicks E inside the ring. We get another split-screen commercial for Extreme Rules. Kofi, Woods and Dain just disappeared from this match. Wolfe and Young really slow things down and beat E all over the ring. They lift him up and attempt to throw him over the ropes through the table but Kofi and Woods appear on the opposite apron. Wolfe and Young get baited over the top rope to the floor, the Kofi and Woods hits flips over the top rope. Killian Dain returns and he hits a suicide dive onto Woods and Kofi. Sanity stack two tables, one upside down and Wolfe looks to suplex Kofi from the top rope to the floor but New Day make the save.<doc-sep>
WWE Extreme Rules Kickoff: July 15, 2018Catch all of the late-breaking news, rivalry analysis from a panel of experts, and kickoff matches before the action unfolds at WWE Extreme Rules! More ACTION on WWE NETWORK : wwenetwork.com Subscribe to WWE on YouTube: bit.ly/1i64OdT Must-See WWE videos on YouTube: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqIVmFaHA8BoBQx9qX1C6vCwhybDLjC52 Visit WWE.com: bit.ly/visitwwe 2018-07-15T23:08:35.000Z Here’s my final thoughts on Raw and SmackDown Live’s WWE Extreme Rules 2018! Sin Cara vs. Andrade “Cien” Almas Sin Cara sends Andrade "Cien" Almas flying from the top rope: WWE Extreme Rules 2018 Kickoff MatchAction gets underway during the WWE Extreme Rules 2018 Kickoff with a clash between Sin Cara and Andrade "Cien" Almas. Get your first month of WWE Network for FREE: wwenetwork.com Subscribe to WWE on YouTube: bit.ly/1i64OdT Visit WWE.com: goo.gl/akf0J4 Must-See WWE videos on YouTube: goo.gl/QmhBof 2018-07-15T23:16:53.000Z Reactions: Almas and Cara have developed quite the in-ring chemistry with each other. Both men have added a bit of freshness to the roster with their lucha Libre infused matches. This rematch had the added benefit of more time added to it and some smart counters. Watching Cara dodge Almas’ double foot stomp was a nice touch. The action was decent enough (had to knock off a point for that botched Hurricanrana from Cara to Almas on the ring apron, though). Almas picked up another win on his way to (hopefully) something more beneficial for his main roster run. Zelina Vega reveals what's next for Andrade "Cien" Almas: Exclusive, July 15, 2018After a win over Sin Cara at WWE Extreme Rules 2018, Andrade "Cien" Almas lays out his plans for the future. Get your first month of WWE Network for FREE: wwenetwork.com Subscribe to WWE on YouTube: bit.ly/1i64OdT Visit WWE.com: goo.gl/akf0J4 Must-See WWE videos on YouTube: goo.gl/QmhBof 2018-07-15T23:46:11.000Z Rating: 2 out of 5 Stars The New Day (Kofi Kingston, Big E and Xavier Woods) vs. SAnitY (Eric Young, Alexander Wolfe and Killian Dain) (Tables Match) Pandemonium erupts between New Day and SAnitY: WWE Extreme Rules 2018 Kickoff MatchFrom the sound of the opening bell, The New Day and SAnitY fight tooth-and-nail in a vicious Tables Match. Get your first month of WWE Network for FREE: wwenetwork.com Subscribe to WWE on YouTube: bit.ly/1i64OdT Visit WWE.com: goo.gl/akf0J4 Must-See WWE videos on YouTube: goo.gl/QmhBof 2018-07-15T23:38:33.000Z Reactions: Here’s a case of a match making its way towards being great…and ending right at that sweet spot. All six men put on a fast-paced contest full of innovative spots, especially The New Day’s Double Powerbomb/Double Foot Stomp moment. I enjoyed all the wild action taking place all the while. I figured this one was going to get even crazier and end up taking early Match of the Night honors…then it just ended on a flat note. SAnitY finally managed to get a big win during the early stages of their main roster run. It’s just disappointing to see them get that victory from a match that ended before it really got going. Rating: 2 & a Half out of 5 Stars “Woken” Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt (c) vs. The B-Team (Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel) (WWE Raw Tag Team Championship) "Woken" Matt Hardy looks to delete one-half of The B-Team: WWE Extreme Rules 2018 (WWE Network)A fired up "Woken" Matt Hardy unloads on Curtis Axel while defending the Raw Tag Team Championship: Courtesy of the award-winning WWE Network. Get your first month of WWE Network for FREE: wwenetwork.com Subscribe to WWE on YouTube: bit.ly/1i64OdT Visit WWE.com: goo.gl/akf0J4 Must-See WWE videos on YouTube: goo.gl/QmhBof 2018-07-16T00:24:54.000Z Reactions: What a shocking result! I figured there was more gas left in the tank for the odd couple tag team champions. But in reality, I should have seen this big win coming from a mile away. They’ve been enjoying their most successful push these past few weeks, so it made all the sense in the world for them to cap it off with a tag team title win. Behind the scenes of The B-Team's championship photo shoot: Exclusive, July 15, 2018The B-Team are all smiles as they celebrate with their Raw Tag Team Titles after defeating "Woken" Matt Hardy & Bray Wyatt at WWE Extreme Rules 2018. Get your first month of WWE Network for FREE: wwenetwork.com Subscribe to WWE on YouTube: bit.ly/1i64OdT Visit WWE.com: goo.gl/akf0J4 Must-See WWE videos on YouTube: goo.gl/QmhBof 2018-07-16T00:54:04.000Z As for the match itself, it was your standard Monday Night Raw tag team match fare. There was nothing extraordinarily bad about this match, but it wasn’t amazing by any means either.