Extreme Rules (2017)

Promotional poster featuring The Hardy Boyz (Jeff Hardy and Matt Hardy)

**Extreme Rules (2017)** was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event and WWE Network event, produced by WWE for the Raw brand. It took place on June 4, 2017, at the Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore, Maryland. It was the ninth event under the Extreme Rules chronology.

## Background

The card will include matches resulting from scripted storylines and have results predetermined by WWE on the Raw brand. Storylines are produced on WWE's weekly television shows *Monday Night Raw* and *205 Live*, the latter of which is cruiserweight-exclusive.

At Payback, Braun Strowman defeated Roman Reigns. After their match, Strowman continued to attack Reigns with the steel steps. On *Raw Talk* immediately after, as Reigns was about to be taken to a medical facility, Strowman appeared and attempted to attack Reigns. However, Reigns retaliated by slamming an ambulance door against Strowman's arm multiple times. The next night on *Raw*, General Manager Kurt Angle addressed the conditions of the two and said that both were injured, but were not finished with each other. The following week, Strowman, in an arm sling, said that after he was finished with Reigns, he wanted Universal Champion Brock Lesnar. Later that night during Strowman's match against Kalisto, Reigns came out and attacked Strowman, targeting his arm with a steel chair. The following week, it was revealed that Strowman required surgery on his injured arm, and would be inactive for up to six months. Also at Payback, Seth Rollins defeated Samoa Joe, giving Joe his first loss since debuting on the main roster. The following night on *Raw*, Rollins said that his business with Joe was done. He then turned his attention to Lesnar, however, Finn Bálor came out and stated that he should be the next person to face Lesnar as Bálor was the inaugural champion and never lost the title. The two then participated in an Intercontinental Championship number one contender's triple threat match, also including The Miz, who won. During the match, Joe attacked Rollins and Bray Wyatt attacked Bálor. On the May 15 episode, due to Strowman's situation, Angle scheduled a Universal Championship #1 contender's extreme rules fatal five-way match for Extreme Rules between Reigns, Rollins, Joe, Bálor, and Wyatt. Later on *Raw*, Reigns defeated Bálor and Rollins defeated Wyatt by disqualification after Joe attacked Rollins. The following week, Wyatt opened the show, stating that he would be the one to defeat Lesnar. Reigns came out, followed by Angle, who scheduled a match between the two that Reigns won by disqualification when Joe interfered and attacked Reigns. Rollins then came out and attacked Joe. Angle then scheduled Reigns and Rollins to face Wyatt and Joe in the main event, which Wyatt and Joe won. Also in the show, Bálor's in-ring promo was interrupted by Lesnar's advocate Paul Heyman, who said that he wanted to see Bálor face Lesnar. For the final *Raw* before Extreme Rules, Angle scheduled a triple threat match between Bálor, Joe, and Wyatt, and a singles match between Reigns and Rollins. Joe won the triple threat match and Reigns defeated Rollins.

On the May 1 episode of *Raw*, Intercontinental Champion Dean Ambrose interrupted an argument between Seth Rollins and Finn Bálor over who should face Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship. Ambrose criticized Lesnar for not appearing and wrestling often and claimed the Intercontinental Championship to be the top title of the Raw brand. The Miz then came out and said that he should be the one to face Ambrose for the title. A #1 contender's match was scheduled between Rollins, Bálor, and Miz. During the match, Samoa Joe attacked Rollins, taking Rollins out of the match, and Bray Wyatt attacked Bálor with *Sister Abigail*, allowing Miz to score the pinfall. On the May 15 episode of *Raw*, Miz faced Ambrose for the title. At the climax of the match, Miz attempted a low blow on Ambrose, but Ambrose countered and performed a low blow on Miz, who won by disqualification. Later, Ambrose was scheduled to defend his Intercontinental Championship against Miz at Extreme Rules with the stipulation being that if Ambrose were disqualified, he would lose the title. The following week, The Miz interfered in Ambrose's match against Elias Samson, who was having his Raw in-ring debut. Instead of attacking Ambrose, Miz attacked Samson, making Ambrose lose by disqualification. Ambrose chased after Miz, but Samson attacked Ambrose with a *Rolling Cutter*.

At Payback, The Hardy Boyz (Jeff and Matt Hardy) retained the Raw Tag Team Championship against Cesaro and Sheamus. After the match, Cesaro and Sheamus attacked The Hardys, turning heel. The next night on *Raw*, Cesaro and Sheamus explained their reasoning for attacking The Hardy Boyz by calling them a novelty act and criticized the fans for living in the past instead of appreciating the present and claimed that The Hardys stole their moment at WrestleMania 33. The Hardys then appeared and ran Cesaro and Sheamus out of the ring. The following week, Cesaro and Sheamus won a number one contender's tag team turmoil match, which included Enzo Amore and Big Cass, Heath Slater and Rhyno, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, and The Golden Truth (Goldust and R-Truth), for another title opportunity. After the final match of the tag team turmoil, Cesaro and Sheamus continued to attack The Golden Truth, but The Hardy Boyz came out for the save and Cesaro and Sheamus retreated. The following week, the tag team title match was scheduled for Extreme Rules and Jeff defeated Sheamus. On the May 22 episode, Matt faced Sheamus in a match where the winner chose the stipulation for their Extreme Rules tag team championship bout. Matt won and decided on a steel cage match.

At Payback, Alexa Bliss defeated Bayley to win her first Raw Women's Championship, as well as becoming the first woman to win both the Raw Women's Championship and SmackDown Women's Championship. The following night on *Raw*, Bliss had a coronation for both accomplishments. The other seven female wrestlers on the Raw roster were also in the ring. She insulted Mickie James, Sasha Banks, and Bayley before a brawl broke out that resulted in an eight woman tag team match where the team of Bliss, Nia Jax, Emma, and Alicia Fox defeated the team of Bayley, Banks, James, and Dana Brooke. The following week, Bliss aligned with Jax and defeated James. After the match, Bliss continued to attack James. Bayley came out for the save and chased Bliss backstage. Jax then attacked James. On the May 15 episode, Bayley confronted Bliss and invoked her championship rematch for Extreme Rules. A brawl ensued and Bliss found a kendo stick under the ring and attacked Bayley with it. Later, their Raw Women's Championship match at Extreme Rules was made a Kendo Stick-on-a-Pole match. The following week, after Bliss defeated James, Bliss retrieved a kendo stick from under the ring and attacked James with it. Bayley came out for the save, but Bliss retreated. On the final *Raw* before Extreme Rules, Bliss did a controversial "This Is Your Life" segment for Bayley in an attempt to embarrass her by interviewing people from Bayley's past, including her school teacher, her school friend, and her ex-boyfriend. Bayley came out and attacked Bliss, but Bliss retaliated with a kendo stick.

At Payback, Austin Aries defeated WWE Cruiserweight Champion Neville by disqualification, but Neville kept the title. The following night on *Raw*, T.J. Perkins, now going by TJP, was defeated by Aries, but after the match, TJP attacked Aries and attempted to injure his leg. The following week, TJP defeated The Gentleman Jack Gallagher. After the match, TJP continued to attack Gallagher, who was saved by Aries. The following night on *205 Live*, Neville said that TJP was deserving of a title shot for his attack on Aries, but TJP did not defeat Aries. The next week on *Raw*, it was announced that Aries would have another title opportunity against Neville at Extreme Rules. Neville and TJP then defeated Aries and Gallagher in a tag team match. On the following *205 Live*, Aries defeated TJP by submission. It was then revealed that Aries and Neville's WWE Cruiserweight Championship bout at Extreme Rules would be a submission match. On the May 29 episode of *Raw*, Aries and Gallagher faced Neville and TJP where Aries made Neville submit, the first time Neville ever submitted. The following night on *205 Live*, Aries said he would make Neville submit again at Extreme Rules. He was then attacked from behind by TJP and Neville applied the *Rings of Saturn* on Aries while TJP continued to attack Aries' leg and Aries passed out.

Also in the cruiserweight division, Noam Dar had been dating Alicia Fox. Fox then began receiving gifts from an anonymous sender on *205 Live*. Rich Swann revealed that he was the one sending the gifts, but Dar tried to claim credit, including the final gift, which ended up exploding powder in Fox's face. Fox then split from Dar, which was Swann's intention as Fox had previously dated Swann's friend Cedric Alexander and split from him. However, Dar and Fox reunited after Dar defeated Swann on the May 2 episode of *205 Live*. On the May 8 episode of *Raw*, Sasha Banks began a feud with Fox, where the two traded wins over the next couple of weeks. After Banks defeated Fox on the May 22 episode of *Raw*, Dar confronted Banks, who attacked him, but Fox attacked Banks with a scissors kick. A mixed tag team match featuring Swann and Banks against Dar and Fox was scheduled for Extreme Rules. Banks then appeared for the first time on *205 Live* on May 30, where she accompanied Swann for his match against Dar, which Dar won.

After being drafted to *Raw* in the Superstar Shake-up, Apollo Crews caught the attention of Titus O'Neill, who offered to become his manager as part of "The Titus Brand". Crews accepted and started displaying attitude and cockiness, which caused his friend Kalisto to confront him. The two had a match, where Kalisto defeated Crews. On June 4, a rematch between the two was scheduled for the Extreme Rules pre-show.

## Event

### Pre-Show

During the Pre-Show, Kalisto faced Apollo Crews, who was accompanied by Titus O'Neil. In the climax, as Crews argued with O'Neil, Kalisto performed *Salida Del Sol* on Crews to win the match.

### Preliminary matches

The actual pay-per-view opened with Dean Ambrose defending the Intercontinental Championship against The Miz, with the stipulation that if Ambrose was disqualified, he would lose the title. During the match, Maryse slapped Miz in front of the referee in an attempt to get Ambrose disqualified, however, the referee knew Maryse's actions and opted not to disqualify Ambrose and in the process, Maryse was evicted from ringside. In the end, Miz shoved Ambrose into the referee, who considered disqualifying Ambrose. Whilst Ambrose was distracted, Miz performed a *Skull Crushing Finale* on Ambrose to win the title for the seventh time.

Next, Rich Swann and Sasha Banks faced Noam Dar and Alicia Fox in a mixed tag team match. The match ended when Swann performed a *Phoenix Splash* on Dar for the win.

After that, Alexa Bliss defended the Raw Women's Championship against Bayley in a Kendo Stick on a Pole match. In the end, Bliss performed a Snap DDT on Bayley to retain the title.

Later, The Hardy Boyz defended the Raw Tag Team Championship against Cesaro and Sheamus in a Steel Cage match, which could only be won if both members of a team escaped the cage. In the end, Jeff performed *Whisper in the Wind* off the cage on both Cesaro and Sheamus. As Matt attempted to pull Jeff through the cage door, Cesaro and Sheamus climbed and narrowly escaped the cage before The Hardys to regain the title for a second time. This was also The Hardy Boyz first loss since their return at WrestleMania 33.

In the penultimate match, Neville defended the WWE Cruiserweight Championship against Austin Aries. In the end, Neville performed a *Red Arrow* to Aries' back and forced Aries to submit to the *Rings of Saturn* to retain the title.

### Main event

In the main event, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Bray Wyatt, Finn Bálor, and Samoa Joe competed in a fatal five-way extreme rules match to determine the number one contender against Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship at Great Balls of Fire. After Wyatt and Joe attacked Reigns and Rollins with the steel steps, Wyatt performed a DDT on Rollins onto the steel steps. Joe applied the *Coquina Clutch* on Bálor, who escaped. Wyatt performed a Side Slam on Reigns onto an announce table. Joe applied the *Coquina Clutch* on Wyatt, but Bálor struck Joe with a chair. Reigns performed a Spear through the barricade on Bálor and Joe. Rollins performed a *Frog Splash* on Wyatt through an announce table. Bálor performed a *Coup De Grace* on Reigns, but as Bálor attempted a pin, Joe applied the *Coquina Clutch* on Bálor, who passed out, giving Joe the win by technical submission and becoming the number one contender for the Universal Championship.

## Aftermath

The following night on *Raw*, Samoa Joe confronted Brock Lesnar's advocate Paul Heyman. Joe said that unlike many others, he does not fear Lesnar and wants to face him. Joe then applied the *Coquina Clutch* on Heyman to send a message to Lesnar, who is scheduled to appear on the next episode. Also in the show, the four who did not win were scheduled to face each other in singles matches. Roman Reigns defeated Bray Wyatt and Seth Rollins was scheduled to face Finn Bálor, but General Manager Kurt Angle instead had Rollins face Joe due to Joe's actions against Heyman. During the match, Wyatt's music played and distracted Rollins, giving Joe the win.

Dean Ambrose attacked Elias Samson during his segment and demanded a rematch against The Miz, who appeared on the TitanTron and said that Ambrose would not be getting a rematch as Miz was having a celebration. Samson then attacked Ambrose. Later, The Miz had his celebration on becoming a seven-time Intercontinental Champion, which was crashed by Ambrose, who delivered *Dirty Deeds* to Miz.

After defeating Heath Slater and Rhyno, new Raw Tag Team Champions Cesaro and Sheamus taunted The Hardy Boyz for picking a stipulation that they thought would give them the advantage.

TJP confronted WWE Cruiserweight Champion Neville about their agreement, and Neville said that TJP deserved a title shot. Later, after TJP defeated Mustafa Ali, Neville attacked TJP and said he would get his title shot the next night on *205 Live*, where Neville retained.

After retaining her Raw Women's Championship, General Manager Kurt Angle scheduled Alexa Bliss to defend her title against Nia Jax, as she had promised Jax a title shot after she defeated Bayley. The match ended in a disqualification win for Bliss after she intentionally got Mickie James and Dana Brooke, who were at ringside, to attack her.

Titus O'Neil, accompanied by Apollo Crews, decided to face Kalisto himself, but was defeated.

## See also

* List of WWE Network events
* List of WWE pay-per-view events

## References

1. ↑ WWE.com Staff (March 4, 2017). "Get WWE Extreme Rules 2017 tickets". *WWE*. Retrieved May 9, 2017.
2. ↑ Grabianowski, Ed. "How Pro Wrestling Works". *howstuffworks.com*. Discovery Communications. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
3. ↑ "Live & Televised Entertainment". *webcitation.com*. WWE. Retrieved 21 March 2012.
4. ↑ Steinberg, Brian (2016-05-25). "WWE's 'Smackdown' Will Move To Live Broadcast On USA (EXCLUSIVE)". *Variety*en-US. Retrieved 2016-05-25.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Powell, Jason. "4/30 Powell’s WWE Payback Live Review: Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman, Kevin Owens vs. Chris Jericho for the U.S. Championship, Samoa Joe vs. Seth Rollins, Randy Orton vs. Bray Wyatt in a House of Horrors match". *Pro Wreslting Dot Net*. Retrieved April 30, 2017.
6. ↑ "Roman Reigns is assaulted backstage by Braun Strowman: Raw Talk, April 30, 2017 (WWE Network Exclusive)". *WWE*. April 30, 2017. Retrieved May 3, 2017.
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 Keller, Wade (May 1, 2017). "KELLER’S WWE RAW REPORT 5/1: Coverage of live post-Payback event including latest with Alexa, Braun, Reigns". *Pro Wrestling Torch*. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 Keller, Wade (May 8, 2017). "KELLER’S WWE RAW REPORT 5/8: Tag Team Turmoil, Dean and Miz run Raw together in Angle’s absence, Seth vs. Joe, more". *Pro Wrestling Torch*. Retrieved May 9, 2017.
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 Keller, Wade. "KELLER’S WWE RAW REPORT 5/15: Ongoing coverage including Miz vs. Dean Ambrose, latest on Strowman-Reigns, Sheamus & Cesaro". *Pro Wrestling Torch*. Retrieved May 15, 2017.
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 Keller, Wade (May 22, 2017). "KELLER’S WWE RAW REPORT 5/22: Extreme Rules hype, Fatal Five-Way developments, Bray asks crowd to stand for their one true savior". *Pro Wrestling Torch*. Retrieved May 23, 2017.
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Keller, Wade (May 29, 2017). "KELLER’S WWE RAW REPORT 5/29: Reigns vs. Rollins, Balor vs. Joe vs. Bray, Miz TV, Extreme Rules stage set". *Pro Wrestling Torch*. Retrieved May 31, 2017.
12. ↑ Galizia, Joey (May 10, 2017). "5/9 WWE 205 LIVE REPORT: Kendrick vs. Tozawa, Nese vs. Ali, TJP attack Aries, Daivari yells, Cedric update". *Pro Wrestling Torch*. Retrieved May 24, 2017.
13. ↑ Galizia, Joey (May 17, 2017). "5/16 WWE 205 LIVE REPORT: Austin Aries vs. T.J. Perkins, Gran Metalik vs. Noam Dar, plus Kendrick, Neville, Fox, Nese, Mustafa Ali". *Pro Wrestling Torch*. Retrieved May 24, 2017.
14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Galizia, Joey (May 31, 2017). "5/30 WWE 205 LIVE REPORT: Sasha Banks joins Rich Swann for his match vs. Noam Dar, Mustafa Ali vs. Drew Gulak, Cedric". *Pro Wrestling Torch*. Retrieved June 1, 2017.
15. ↑ Galizia, Joey (April 12, 2017). "4/11 WWE 205 LIVE REPORT: Perkins vs. Gallagher, Rich Swann vs. Ocean, Kendrick vs. Ali, Alicia Fox". *Pro Wrestling Torch*. Retrieved June 1, 2017.
16. ↑ Galizia, Joey (April 19, 2017). "4/18 205 LIVE REPORT: One of the worst episodes yet, headlined by sloppy TJP vs. Aries match, plus Nese vs. Tozawa, Ali vs. Daivari". *Pro Wrestling Torch*. Retrieved June 1, 2017.
17. ↑ Keller, Wade (May 3, 2017). "5/2 WWE 205 LIVE REPORT: TJP vs. Dorado, Gulak vs. Mustafa Ali, Swan vs. Noam Dar". *Pro Wrestling Torch*. Retrieved June 1, 2017.
18. ↑ Keller, Wade (April 17, 2017). "KELLER’S WWE RAW REPORT 4/17: Post-Superstar Shake-up edition including follow-up on Roman-Braun beatdown angle". *Pro Wrestling Torch*. Retrieved April 17, 2017.
19. ↑ "WWE announces an Extreme Rules Kickoff Show match". *Pro Wreslting Dot Net*. Retrieved June 4, 2017.
20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Powell, Jason. "6/4 Powell’s WWE Extreme Rules Kickoff Show coverage". *Pro Wreslting Dot Net*. Retrieved June 4, 2017.
21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 21.3 21.4 21.5 21.6 Powell, Jason. "6/4 Powell’s WWE Extreme Rules Live Review: Finn Balor vs. Samoa Joe vs. Bray Wyatt vs. Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins in a five-way to become No. 1 contender to the WWE Universal Championship, The Hardys vs. Sheamus and Cesaro in a cage match for the Raw Tag Titles". *Pro Wreslting Dot Net*. Retrieved June 4, 2017.
22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 22.3 22.4 22.5 Keller, Wade (June 5, 2017). "KELLER’S WWE RAW REPORT 6/5: Extreme Rules fallout including Samoa Joe’s win, plus Enzo and Angle mysteries". *Pro Wrestling Torch*. Retrieved June 6, 2017.
23. ↑ Laboon, Jeff. "Kalisto def. Apollo Crews (Kickoff Match)". *WWE*. Retrieved June 4, 2017.
24. ↑ Burdick, Michael. "The Miz def. Dean Ambrose to become the new Intercontinental Champion". *WWE*. Retrieved June 4, 2017.
25. ↑ Laboon, Jeff. "Rich Swann & Sasha Banks def. Noam Dar & Alicia Fox". *WWE*. Retrieved June 4, 2017.
26. ↑ Laboon, Jeff. "Raw Women's Champion Alexa Bliss def. Bayley". *WWE*. Retrieved June 4, 2017.
27. ↑ Wortman, James. "Cesaro & Sheamus def. The Hardy Boyz to become the new Raw Tag Team Champions (Steel Cage Match)". *WWE*. Retrieved June 4, 2017.
28. ↑ Wortman, James. "WWE Cruiserweight Champion Neville def. Austin Aries (Submission Match)". *WWE*. Retrieved June 4, 2017.
29. ↑ Laboon, Jeff. "Samoa Joe won the Extreme Rules Fatal 5-Way Match to become No. 1 contender to the Universal Title". *WWE*. Retrieved June 4, 2017.

## External links

* Extreme Rules Official Website

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