WWE Reveals Which Brand Will Host ‘Extreme Rules’
When the brand split occurred in July, many speculated about what would happen to certain pay-per-views. WWE revealed that they would be having brand-exclusive pay-per-views, meaning that aside from the Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series, each pay-per-view would feature only one brand’s roster. Raw hosted Clash of Champions, Hell in a Cell, Roadblock: End of the Line, and Fastlane, whereas SmackDown got its hands on Backlash, No Mercy, Tables, Ladders, and Chairs, and Elimination Chamber. WWE seems to be continuing the brand-exclusive trend, and they have revealed that Extreme Rules in June will be Raw-exclusive.
“WWE’s Extreme Rules pay-per-view event is coming to Baltimore’s Royal Farms Arena for the first time in seven years and you don’t want to miss your opportunity to witness the chaos live and in person.
“WWE Extreme Rules 2017 takes place Sunday, June 4, and you can purchase tickets to sports-entertainment’s most extreme night of the year right now.
“Tickets start at $25 and are available at www.ticketmaster.com.
“This year’s extreme event will feature Raw Superstars battling it out under unruly conditions and hardcore stipulations. At last year’s Extreme Rules, Roman Reigns and AJ Styles clashed for the World Championship in an epic Extreme Rules Match and Dean Ambrose fought Chris Jericho in a barbaric Asylum Match. What can the WWE Universe anticipate at this year’s event?
“Expect the unexpected at WWE Extreme Rules 2017 as one of the craziest nights of the year goes down on Sunday, June 4, at the Royal Farms Arena in Charm City.”
Extreme Rules will be held on June 4 at the Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore. Extreme Rules is a spiritual successor to the One Night Stand, and is famous for its hardcore stipulations where anything goes. Several famous matches have been contested at Extreme Rules: in 2016 AJ Styles took on Roman Reigns for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in 2016, and Dean Ambrose fought Chris Jericho in the first ever “Asylum” match. Last year’s event saw Roman Reigns beat Big Show in a “Last Man Standing” match and John Cena retained his United States Championship against Rusev in a “Russian Chain” match.
In 2014, Daniel Bryan defended the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Kane in an “Extreme Rules” match, and a year earlier, Alberto Del Rio fought Jack Swagger in an “I Quit” match, and John Cena fought Ryback in a “Last Man Standing” match.
Extreme Rules in 2016 was also when former WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins made his return after suffering a knee injury in November of 2015. He ambushed Roman Reigns after the latter retained his title against AJ Styles.
Since Raw is getting Extreme Rules on June 4, and SmackDown will host Money in the Bank on June 18, there will most likely be two or more pay-per-views after WrestleMania 33, which is being held on April 2. Even if WWE only hosts WrestleMania 33 in April, that leaves May with two pay-per-views, as both Raw and SmackDown will get an event each month, with the exception of January, April, August, and November. It is highly speculated that Payback, which is taking place after WrestleMania 33, will be a Raw event.
This leads many to think that either Backlash will be moved to May, or an entirely new pay-per-view will be hosted by the SmackDown brand. Either way, changes will be made to WWE’s schedule.
The glut of pay-per-view events is something many often complain about, as they feel the product is being overexposed, or that the superstars on the roster are being overworked. This was the main complaint when WWE re-introduced brand exclusive pay-per-views. Still, WWE seems insistent on continuing with the current trend, and we will have to see how far they plan to go with it.
[Featured Image by WWE]
