L. Anne Carrington  

Show Notes

• Archived Blog Post

  Date / Time: 3/25/2009 4:40 PM UTC

  Extreme Rules? Extreme Blah
  

  When I first heard about the Extreme Rules Match last week, (yes, I read the spoilers, so shame on me), my initial thought was this was going to be one outstanding match between two quality superstars to watch.
  
  Needless to say, when it aired on last Friday’s Smackdown episode, disappointed only began to describe my reaction.
  
  The whole thing was terrible and weak. Jeff Hardy’s entrance and even his exit was lame, not the energy fueled one he always has. 
  
  Jeff is a showman and he usually plays on his music to the crowd.  On this particular night, however, came out like he was bored by the whole thing.  No reaction, and totally emotionless. Just “let’s get this over with” vibe I managed to pick up from him.
  
  The Brian Kendrick didn't even get an entrance at all. None. Zero. Nada.
  
  Where was the goofy dancing, the cocky pose, the blown kisses we’d gotten other times? This past week, it was like a local jobber was in the ring instead of an established member of the roster.
  
  As for the match itself, that was a botch fest and it didn't take much to tell it was "arranged," to put it mildly. Jeff was sloppy and slow; all it took was a look at the Twist of Fate on the chair( botched), the reversed power bomb (botched again), and the dive on Ezekiel Jackson (botched yet again).
  
  This “extreme rules” match was a poor excuse of one; all that was used was a single chair. Jeff had control all of the match up, Kendrick didn't even get in much offense at all And the idea of Ezekiel getting taken out by a couple of chair shots after all this time of being the “tough scary bodyguard” was quite unrealistic.
  
  Come on, a guy that huge taken out by five chair shots by a guy Jeff’s size after Jackson’s all but killed other guys for months? I know this stuff is scripted and predetermined, but even that is bordering on the ridiculous.
  
  Granted, it was only four minutes out of a two hour show, but in any case, it could have been worked a little better instead of the “thrown together at the last minute” type of match.
  
  Personally, I would have liked to have seen the match given more time. I didn’t mind Jeff getting the win (right before WrestleMania, that’s pretty much a given anyway), but I would have liked to see Kendrick get a little offense in and used at least one weapon.
  
  Actually, I would have liked both contenders to have used more weapons besides a single chair. But I guess I come from the old school.
  
  I would have given this match at least a good ten minutes, allowing Kendrick to dominate for a while before Hardy came back with his signature moves and eventually won the match. It would have been a nice build up for WM25 with Matt, but instead, we’d gotten a watered down version. Both of these guys deserved better.
  
  Let’s hope the WrestleMania match is a far better one than the Smackdown one or even the Raw match this past Monday against Dolph Ziggler (which was a little better, but not much).
  
  For those who missed it, I located a video on YouTube at this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LfgHrrVgzw
  • Tags:
  • The Wrestling Babe
  • Wrestling
  • Smackdown
  • Extreme Rules Match
  • 3/20/09
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