5 Takeaways From Extreme Rules 2018

This is my series, simply known as "5 Takeaways", where I will share my personal main talking points coming out of Raw and SmackdownLive.

This is a pay-per-view edition, so we will be discussing my top 5 takeaways from the Extreme Rules show.

These are all my opinion, so I may miss a nugget or two. If you have something to add to my list, or a list of your own, feel free to share in the comment section below!

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In a quick (almost Eddie Guerrero-like) match, Nakamura hit a low blow on Jeff Hardy while the referee's back was turned, and followed up with a Kinshasa for the win in mere seconds.

This was followed up with the return of former United States champion Randy Orton, who set his sights on a downed Hardy, and added an extra stomp to his injured nuts in order to make his mark.

It's obvious that now we will see an Orton/Hardy feud. The question is will Shinsuke and the US title be involved as well...

Braun Strowman has been destroying Kevin Owens every week (for who knows what reason), and last night was no different. Inside a steel cage, Owens had nowhere to go, and eventually found himself with Strowman on top of the steel structure, before being thrown off, and through the announce table, actually winning the match before being carted off on a stretcher.

Owens did win the match, so at least he gets something out of this rivalry. Hopefully this won't be enough for KO to not be taken seriously anymore, and he can eventually work his way back into the Universal title picture.

This guy. So Kurt Angle finally addressed part-time Universal champion, Brock Lesnar. The Raw GM gave him two options: either come out and announce when he will next defend his title, or force Angle to strip him of the belt.

Personally, I was afraid Lesnar would keep the belt through his next UFC fight, to try and have the Universal champion beat the UFC champion, but I was pleasantly surprised.

I think this was a good decision (albeit one that should have been made months ago), as it will finally get the title back on television, in one way or another. Hopefully WWE will do what's best for business, and have Braun Strowman cash in tonight and win the title.

In a surprisingly solid match, with the biggest upset result (the other big one was Carmella defeating Asuka), Bobby Lashley pinned THE BIG DOG!!!!! Roman Reigns (IN HIS YARD!!!!!). This unexpected result definitely has potential for storylines coming out of this event, as Reigns could be mentally off his game.

What was a great touch was the way the match ended. Lashley hit Reigns with a spear ("THAT'S WHAT ROMAN DOES!") as Roman was looking to nail the spear himself. To be honest, I'm not much of a fan of either man's spear, but in Bobby Lashley's case, it's a hell of a lot better than that stalling vertical suplex.

In a somewhat disappointing main event (Styles/Rusev for the WWE championship should have absolutely ended the show), Dolph Ziggler defeated Seth Rollins in sudden death after the pair were tied at four wins apiece when the 30 minute time limit was up. Having McIntyre play such a major role in this match was kind of predictable, but a smart move nonetheless.

This has to be the end of this feud though, right? The only way I can see it continuing is if Dean Ambrose returns tonight and sides with Rollins. I'm actually predicting that Ziggler will want to look like a better champion than the Architect and throw out his own open challenge, which would be answered by none other than his buddy (WWE apparently LOVES that word, if you haven't noticed), Drew McIntyre.

For a pay-per-view main event, the match was good. As far as potential storylines coming out of it, the result of this match was... phenomenal (I'm still bitter about that).