Things That Definitely Need to Happen at Extreme Rules

Extreme Rules is a little over a week away, and it is shaping up to be an event. Matches will be had, and rules will be extreme. That’s all well and good, I suppose.

There’s so much that could happen. Maybe Shinsuke Nakamura wins the United States Championship. Maybe Carmella beats Asuka again. Who knows?

Out of the nearly infinite number of possibilities at Extreme Rules, these are the ones we need to see.

shinsuke nakamura wins the united states championship

This one doesn’t need to happen as much as the others on the list, but I’d like it to. I will admit that Jeff Hardy’s been on a roll lately, what with his open challenges. That said, I’d like to see Nakamura get a shot at being a champion. Despite lackluster booking and an overall lack of direction prior to his Royal Rumble win, Nakamura was still surprisingly over with the fans. His heel turn reinvigorated him and breathed new life into his character. Now instead of a smiley good guy, he was a dick-punching crazy dude.

Nakamura may have failed to capture the WWE Championship four times (six if you count his matches against Jinder Mahal), but I think he could do great as a champion. Of course, we won’t know that until we try.

Since Hardy is defending his star-spangled belt against Nakamura at Extreme Rules (hopefully in an Extreme Rules match), we may see Nakamura with the gold very soon.

dolph ziggler retains the intercontinental championship

Seth Rollins’ Intercontinental Championship reign was an absolute blast. He had great matches with everyone, from Mojo Rawley to the Miz. Unfortunately, that all came to an end thanks to a certain Dolph Ziggler..

Rollins and Ziggler are now headed towards a 30-Minute Iron Man match at Extreme Rules. It will no doubt be a great contest. Some are even saying that it will be the match of the night. Regardless of whether or not it will be good, the only thing that matters is that Ziggler retains.

If Ziggler retains (and decisively, I might add), that removes Rollins from the Intercontinental Championship picture and allows Ziggler to feud with Zack Ryder and No Way Jose. Meanwhile, Rollins will be free to enter the Universal Championship picture (assuming that this whole kerfuffle with Brock Lesnar is resolved by then).

A lot of people think that the Universal Championship is damaged goods right now. The best way to fix that is to have some quality matches over it, and Rollins could be the guy to restore the title.

rusev looks competitive

I think many of us were pleasantly surprised when Rusev won the gauntlet match and earned a WWE Championship match against AJ Styles at Extreme Rules. It seemed that WWE was finally acknowledging the reactions the Bulgarian was getting.

Rusev’s built some momentum for himself, and the match between him and Styles at Extreme Rules promises to be nothing short of great. Not many people are expecting Rusev to pick up the win and become WWE Champion, but that’s okay. What matters is that he doesn’t look like a loser.

Let Rusev and Styles go to war against each other for the WWE Championship. It will probably be an Extreme Rules match, which will be even better. Let this be a violent affair, and if Styles is going to win, it should be a hard fought victory. Having a competitive match with AJ Styles will do wonders for Rusev.

a number one contender for the universal championship must be crowned

Originally, there was supposed to be a multi-man match at Extreme Rules to determine who the next number one contender to the Universal Championship would be. I even wrote a whole article about it. Anyway, for reasons unknown, Kurt Angle scrapped the match, and instead, Roman Reigns and Bobby Lashley will face off in a one-on-one match. What fun.

Quite frankly, I do not really care at all who wins the match at this point. I just want the Universal Championship picture resolved. Since this match is pretty much a number one contender’s match, we’ll see who wins. Could it be Lashley? Could it be Reigns?

Like I said, I don’t really care. Jinder Mahal could interfere in the match and cause a no-contest, forcing a fatal four-way for all I care. I, like many of you, want the title off Lesnar, and even if it means having to endure another Reigns v. Lesnar match, so be it.