Another WWE pay-per-view has come and gone. Extreme Rules managed to deliver a decent, if not, slightly underwhelming event. It was a night of good matches and contrived endings. There were some highlights and many things to keep in mind from this year’s Extreme Rules.

The Asylum Should Be One and Done

The new match type debuted tonight in the Chris Jericho and Dean Ambrose feud. The Asylum Match featured weapons hung on top of a steel cage. It was supposed to be a place where crazy things would happen and, indeed, they did. The match provided some of the most extreme spots of the night. A dive off the top by Ambrose and Jericho being slammed on dozens of tacks.

Despite the highlights from the match itself, the asylum should be put to rest. It really provided nothing extra for fans watching or the wrestlers who were competing inside of it. Everything, short of the cage dive, could have been done in a simple Extreme Rules Match. The asylum seemed cartoon like and at no point in the match did it seem like it needed to be there. That is the greatest sin this gimmick committed, it provided nothing. It was extra, a prop, that had nothing to add to a good match. It didn’t do enough to earn a spot in the WWE match rotation, and, because of that, it doesn’t deserve to stay around.

The Timing Felt Off

The entire Extreme Rules event felt a bit off. Matches that were for championships were not given the time that they needed to tell a complete story nor hit their peaks before ending. Both the women and the tag teams got less than ten minutes to try and tell a compelling story for the audience. Both of those matches did well with what they had to work with but neither felt like a pay-per-view caliber match.

The blow-off for these feuds felt like nothing special. On top of that, the Ambrose and Jericho match felt like it had too much time. Though it was given time to tell a methodical story, it felt like a story that could have been accomplished in a shorter period of time. The rumor going around was that a segment was cut so the Asylum Match had to go longer than planned but that still doesn’t explain why title matches felt rushed. They are supposed to be important, but if the wrestlers can’t go out there with enough time to tell a complete story, how does the WWE expect fans to care about the product?

Extreme Doesn't Mean What it Used to

The word extreme has lost its potency if the WWE is to be believed. The word conjures up images of blood and bodies strewn about the ring. Times have changed, and WWE can’t be that graphic but some of the tameness that was offered up by Extreme Rules tonight is really stretching the word extreme.

Besides the tacks that were put into Jericho’s back, what on this card really felt extreme? Chair shots and announce tables breaking take place on RAW’s main event some weeks. By providing these images on their free show, WWE has accustomed its viewers to not be excited by them anymore. Chair shots, if not meaningful, are commonplace. Why is it that much cooler if it is done on an extreme pay-per-view than if it is done on RAW? This is not someone advocating for a bloodier show but, rather, a look at whether or not extreme still has a place in WWE’s wrestling right now. If it can’t be done right with the blood and guts that the word deserves, does it really make sense to give viewers a diet version of that violence?

Reigns is Unstoppable

In an outcome that fans saw since the bell rang at Payback, Reigns retained the title and beat AJ Styles in spectacular fashion. He took lots of punishment and dealt some of his own. Despite the hate he receives, Reigns put on another great match tonight with AJ Styles. He has quietly gotten pretty good in-ring and he showed it tonight as he and AJ beat each other up. The spear through the air was one of the best moves Reigns has done since he got to the main roster. He looked unbeatable yet again as he took everything that AJ gave him and was still able to get the clean pin for a win.

With this win and the return after the match, it becomes clear the direction that Reigns will be going. What is less clear, is the position that AJ finds himself in. Two clean losses to the champ almost guarantee that he will be on the outside of the title picture looking in for the near future. The next program that he finds himself in will be a way of telling how much faith the WWE have in the wrestler and just how much they think he can make them.

Rollins Returns

The Architect is back. Seth Rollins returned to cheers as he caught the champ with a Pedigree following the conclusion of the title match. With Rollins healed from his ACL tear, it looks like his first program back will be in the main event facing the man who got his title while he was rehabbing his knee.

With the in-ring style that Rollins has and the wrestling chops that Roman has been picking up in his absence, this should be an incredible feud. Add to that the fact that it is believable that Roman could lose the belt to Rollins and this should be a program that will absolutely print money. With Rollins back, there is some fresh blood back in the title picture and it should make for an interesting battle at the top as long as the Authority and Shane stay out of it. For all of the fans who dislike Reigns as champion, Extreme Rules was a return of the hope that he isn’t unbeatable. If anyone can take him down, it will be his old Shield brother, Seth Rollins.