WWE

Things WWE Could Learn from AEW: The Opening

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At this point we can’t really refer to AEW as fledging competition to WWE’s multi-decade ownership of wrestling in the United States. AEW might still be the smaller company, but it is quickly building up its roster with a mix of world talent and former WWE Superstars. WWE may still be number one, however, there are things WWE could learn from AEW which is starting to outperform big brother in several ways.

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WWE Extreme Rules 2021

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  • Title: WWE Extreme Rules 2021
  • wiki: link

Extreme Rules is one of the WWE’s gimmick PPVs created to highlight specific kinds of matches on that night. What makes the 2021 edition so perplexing is only one of the seven matches on the night’s card is actually an extreme rules match. Instead, the card is filled with relatively forgettable matches such as the opening six-man tag involving the New Day defeating Bobby Lashley, AJ Styles, and Omos more fitting Raw or Smackdown.

The night is mostly memorable for some odd endings ruining the night’s two best matches. First, Charlotte Flair defeated Alexa Bliss (at one time a dream match-up for WWE fans) in a match that couldn’t ever figure out what do do with Bliss’ current witchy persona. The match would be immediately overshadowed by the extended bizarre post-match mourning by Bliss for the loss of her doll Lily which was destroyed by Flair after a rushed end to an otherwise solid, if uneven, match. Then there’s the incredibly awkward ending to the main event involving the ring malfunction allowing Roman Reigns to successfully defeat Finn Balor. While both matches had their moments, it’s hard not to look at each as missed opportunities that WWE really botched in the end.

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SummerSlam (2021)

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  • Title: SummerSlam (2021)
  • wiki: link

One of cornerstone PPV events of WWE, 2021’s SummerSlam had some memorable moments, but not much in terms of memorable matches. Both main events showcased champions battling over-the-hill wrestlers coming out of retirement as Roman Reigns beat down the 44 year-old John Cena (who hasn’t wrestled full-time for five years) for the Universal Championship and Bobby Lashley defeated the 54 year-old Goldberg to retain the WWE Championship.

The biggest moment of the night, and only real surprise, came in the shake-up for the SmackDown Women’s Championship as Becky Lynch made an unexpected return and defeated Bianca Belair in under a minute in what can’t really be referred to as a match. A contender for match of the night, in the Raw Women’s Championship triple-threat match Charlotte Flair (as expected) defeated Nikki A.S.H. and Rhea Ripley to win another title and continue her run as the most decorated women’s champion in WWE history.

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WWE Elimination Chamber 2021

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  • Title: WWE Elimination Chamber 2021
  • wiki: link

WWE Elimination Chamber 2021 DVD reviewReleased on DVD, WWE Elimination Chamber 2021 includes all seven of the matches from this year’s Elimination Chamber PPV (although it’s stretching things to refer to two of them as matches) plus the Fatal 4-Way Match which was part of the kick-off show is included as an extra. Most of the matches are short (under 10 minutes each) and the PPV featured no woman’s Elimination Chamber Match for the first time since 2017.

The two Elimination Chamber Matches featured Daniel Bryan defeating Cesaro, Jey Uso, Kevin Owens, Baron Corbin, and Sami Zayn to earn a Universal Championship opportunity (and promptly get squashed by Roman Reigns) and Drew McIntyre successfully defended his title by defeating AJ Styles, Jeff Hardy, Kofi Kingston, Randy Orton, and Sheamus to retain his World Heavyweight Championship before being attacked by Bobby Lashley (who had lost the WWE United States Championship earlier in the evening) and then losing his title when the Miz cashed-in his Money in the Bank contract.

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