Predicting the Champions After Extreme Rules

At Extreme Rules, seven different championships will be defended. It sounds like a lot, and it is a lot. Surely there will be some new champions crowned. Who they’ll be, we don’t know yet. Still, it doesn’t hurt to speculate.

Who’ll be leaving Pittsburgh as a champion?

alexa bliss

At Money in the Bank last month, the world was both shocked and at the same time not really surprised when Alexa Bliss won the Money in the Bank contract. She would later cash in on Nia Jax that night and become Raw Women’s Champion for a third time. Whoop de doo.

I’ve written before about Bliss’ stranglehold on the title scene, but I guess that’s what happens when you only have one credible heel in the division. These things happen.

I expect Ronda Rousey to want to get her revenge on Bliss, but since Rousey’s suspended, she’ll have to wait until Summerslam for a rematch. The money match is against Bliss, so I believe Bliss retains against Nia Jax at Extreme Rules, either due to Rousey’s interference (which could lead to a triple threat between the three), or simply because Bliss punches really hard.

asuka

I believe that Carmella’s reign as Smackdown Women’s Champion comes to an end at Extreme Rules. I’m not going to write about how Asuka’s been “ruined” or whatever. I’m of the mind that there’s nothing some decent booking can’t fix. If it was decided that Curt Hawkins would become the new Intercontinental Champion, he’d just need to pick up a few wins and bam, he’s credible. Losing is not the end of the world.

I know that Carmella just got James Ellsworth back by her side, but I highly doubt that she retains. It could happen, mind you. I just don’t think it will.

Besides, if Carmella is vanquished, we can get Asuka v. Becky Lynch for the Smackdown Women’s Championship. Cool.

bray wyatt and matt hardy

Honestly, guys, this tag title reign has been all sorts of lackluster. I mean, the match at Extreme Rules (which may not even take place thanks to Bray rear-ending another car and hurting his head). I don’t see the problem facing the B-Team. Good on them for switching up the tag title scene. The issue is that this is Matt and Bray’s first televised defense since winning the titles three months ago. That’s around two months of doing absolutely nothing. Talk about an abysmal tag team division.

I don’t see the B-Team winning the titles, honestly. Their run so far has been great, but there is no way that they beat Hardy and Wyatt.

If we didn’t have the Authors of Pain waiting in the shadows to absolutely destroy the tag team division, then maybe the B-Team would win. But the money match is between the Authors of Pain and Bray Wyatt and Matt Hardy.

the bludgeon brothers

Everyone was very pleasantly surprised when Kane returned to reunite Team Hell No. After all, those mean and nasty Bludgeon Brothers were about to murder Daniel Bryan, and as far as Kane is concerned, he’s the only one who gets to do that. It’s a brotherly bond.

This promises to be an entertaining match if nothing else, but when all is said and done, I believe Harper and Rowan retain their titles at Extreme Rules. It’s not because I think that “WWE is wasting Daniel Bryan’s star power by putting him in the midcard” or “Bryan hasn’t signed a new contract yet” or anything like that.

It’s because of Kane. He won the Republican nomination to be the mayor of Knox County, Tennessee, and Tennessee is a very republican state, so Kane is pretty much a lock for the mayor position. It’s hard to be a mayor when you’re chokeslamming dudes and defending the tag team titles. Likewise, it’s hard to be a defending champion when you’re busy doing what mayors do (I’ve honestly no clue what mayors do other than “run the city/town).

dolph ziggler

At Extreme Rules, Dolph Ziggler will go to war against Seth Rollins in an Iron Man match. When all is said and done, Ziggler needs to still be in possession of the Intercontinental Championship. There’s a whole bunch of reasons.

Seth Rollins needs to make his way up to the Universal Championship scene, and Ziggler needs to advance his story with Drew McIntyre. I can only assume this ends with McIntyre holding the white and gold, but we shall see. Assuming that Roman Reigns v. Bobby Lashley is a number one contender’s match and not just a dick-measuring contest, then that means Rollins can make his way into the Universal Championship scene soon.

Lastly, people are caring about Ziggler again, so to have him lose so quickly will be like that time when he won it at No Mercy in 2016 after putting his career on the line and then having him lose it back to the Miz. Not cool.

SHinsuke nakamura

I’ve written before about how Shinsuke Nakamura could benefit from a run with the United States Championship. After all, he did reinvent himself as a dick-punching menace. Nakamura was riding a whole lot of momentum before losing his feud to AJ Styles, and a victory over Jeff Hardy at Extreme Rules would be a good way to salvage what’s left.

Hardy’s run wasn’t spectacular at the start, but his recent open challenges have been good. But now I believe it is Nakamura’s time. He could be a great heel champion fending off all challengers by punching them in the dick. We’ll never know how good he could be unless WWE tries it.

aj styles

Let me start off by saying that I’m so stoked for Rusev to get a one-on-one match for the WWE Championship. That’s pretty cool. This match could be one of the best matches of the night if it’s booked properly.

But AJ Styles has been on an absolute tear lately. He is one of the longest reigning WWE Champions of the modern era. I feel that such a reign needs to end on a bigger stage, such as Summerslam. Who he drops it to then, I’ve no clue. It could still be Rusev, for all we know. But right now, I’d bet a small amount of money on Styles retaining at Extreme Rules.