Fans of pro wrestling are used to wacky gimmicks such as “Dog Collar match” or “casket match,” but a gimmick for Sunday’s latest WWE pay-per-view, “Extreme Rules: Horror Show” was one for the books: “Eye for an Eye match.”
The match, pitting Rey Mysterio vs. Seth Rollins was billed as ending only when one competitor successfully pulled out the other competitor’s eye. And, since a gimmick match is usually used to increase interest in a PPV, it worked, as a lot of fans were wondering how they were going to successfully pull this off. We’ll see soon whether it caused more people to order WWE network and watch the match, which is the ultimate goal.
On Sunday, Rollins defeated Mysterio when he used the corner of the ring steps to pop Mysterio’s right eye out of its socket. Now, relax Mysterio fans. They showed only a brief glimpse of the eye, which didn’t look too real, and then cut to Rollins a few feet away, throwing up.
The result had been expected as Mysterio had been working the last several weeks without a contract.
The match leading up to the ending was good, even though all the spots where one man tried to pry out the other man’s eye got a little boring. Well, as boring as it can get watching one man try to blind another.
In other matches Sunday,
Kevin Owens defeated Buddy Murphy with a stunner.
Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro won the Smackdown tag team titles in a tables match against the New Day. The finish came when Cesaro and Nakamura gave Kofi Kingston a power bomb off the top turnbuckle through two tables.
Smackdwon women’s champion Bayley defeated Nikki Cross to retain the title. The finish came when Sasha Banks, at ringside to support Bayley, distracted the ref and handed Bayley some brass knux. Bayley hit Cross and pinned her. Solid match with Cross in control most of the way.
Sasha Banks apparently defeated Asuka to win the Raw women’s title. The finish came when the referee was put out of commission when Asuka accidentally spewed green mist in his face. Bayley, at ringside to support Banks, threw the title belt to Banks, who hit Asuka and covered her for the pin. With no ref, Bayley grabbed a ref’s shirt, put it on and counted the pinfall. Banks celebrated, but expect this decision to be overturned Monday on “Monday Night Raw.”
WWE champion Drew McIntyre defeated Dolph Ziggler with the Claymore kick.
Bray Wyatt defeated Universal champion Braun Strowman. At least I think he won. This was one of those cinematic matches WWE has become known for since the pandemic shutdown began. This match defied description, but it was entertaining. It appeared Strowman had drowned Wyatt in a swamp, but Wyatt suddenly emerged from the water, locked on a mandible claw and dragged Strowman deeper into the swam. They both submerged and the water turned red. Then The Fiend jumped up and laughed. Show over.