Extreme Rules (2009) was a
professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV)
event produced by
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), which took place on June 7, 2009 at the
New Orleans Arena in
New Orleans, Louisiana. It was the first event promoted under the
Extreme Rules name and initially noted by WWE to be a direct continuation of the
One Night Stand chronology. However in 2010, all links to the latter's chronology as a direct continuation were removed. It featured talent from the
Raw,
SmackDown, and
ECW brands. There were eight matches scheduled on the event's
card, though nine actually took place.
The main event was a Ladder match for the World Heavyweight Championship, which saw Jeff Hardy defeat the reigning champion Edge to win the title. After the match, CM Punk cashed in his Money in the Bank contract, which guaranteed him a title match at the time and place of his choosing, and defeated Hardy for his newly-won title. There were also two other highly-publicized matches; the first was a steel cage match for the WWE Championship between the champion Randy Orton and Batista, as well as a submission match between The Big Show and John Cena. Featured matches on the undercard included a No Holds Barred match between Rey Mysterio and Chris Jericho for the WWE Intercontinental Championship, CM Punk versus Umaga in a Samoan Strap match and a Triple Threat Hardcore match for the ECW Championship.
The event had 213,000 buys, up from the One Night Stand 2008 figure of 194,000 buys.
Background
Extreme Rules featured
professional wrestling matches that were all contested under some type of
stipulation. It involved different wrestlers from pre-existing
scripted feuds,
plots, and
storylines that played out on
Raw,
Friday Night SmackDown,
ECW on Sci Fi and
WWE Superstars—
World Wrestling Entertainment's (WWE) television programs. Wrestlers portrayed a
villain or a
hero as they follow a series of events that build tension, and culminate into a wrestling match or series of matches. All wrestlers were from WWE's Raw, SmackDown, and ECW brands—a
storyline division in which WWE employees are assigned to a television program of the same name.
The primary rivalry heading into Extreme Rules from the Raw brand was between Randy Orton and Batista, who were feuding over the WWE Championship. At WWE's previous pay-per-view event, Judgment Day, Orton lost his match against Batista by getting himself intentionally disqualified for hitting the referee, but retained the WWE Championship. As a result, on the May 18 episode of Raw, Ric Flair, an associate of Batista, announced that the Raw general manager, Vickie Guerrero, had decided that Orton would face Batista in a steel cage match at Extreme Rules, once again defending his WWE Championship.
Another rivalry from the Raw brand would be between John Cena and The Big Show. At WWE's April pay-per-view, Backlash, Big Show interfered in Cena's Last Man Standing match against Edge and chokeslammed him though a spotlight, causing Cena to lose the match and the World Heavyweight Championship to Edge; Cena exacted revenge at Judgment Day with a pinfall victory over The Big Show. Then, on the May 18 episode of Raw, it was announced Big Show would have a rematch with Cena at Extreme Rules in a submission match, which can only be won by a wrestler forcing their opponent to submit.
After defeating CM Punk at Judgment Day, Umaga continued to attack Punk, and interfered in Punk's match with Chris Jericho on the May 22 episode of SmackDown, assaulting him with a leather strap, and issuing a challenge to Punk for what he called a Samoan strap match at Extreme Rules. Two days later, on Superstars, Swagger interfered in a title match between Christian and Dreamer, resulting in the match being ruled a no contest. On the May 26 episode of ECW on Sci Fi, Swagger announced that Christian would be defending the championship against him again at Extreme Rules, but the ECW general manager, Tiffany, stated that Dreamer had been added to the match, making it a triple threat hardcore match, a match with no disqualifications or countouts, and the first man to score a pinfall or submission would win. As Dreamer's contract with the company expired one day before the show, it was announced that he had signed a one-day extension to give him a chance at winning the title; if Dreamer were to fail to win the title, he would no longer wrestle for ECW.
Event
Dark match
{| class=wikitable style="font-size:90%; margin: 0.5em 0 0.5em 1em; float: right; clear: right;"
|+Other on-screen talent
|-
!style="background: #e3e3e3;"|Role:
!style="background: #e3e3e3;"|Name:
|-
|rowspan=6|Commentator
|
Michael Cole Raw
|-
|
Jerry Lawler Raw
|-
|
Jim Ross SmackDown
|-
|
Todd Grisham SmackDown
|-
|
Josh Mathews ECW
|-
|
Matt Striker ECW
|-
|Interviewer
|
Josh Mathews
|-
|rowspan=4|Ring announcer
|
Tony Chimel ECW
|-
|
Lilian Garcia Raw
|-
|
Justin Roberts SmackDown
|-
|Jerry Lawler Hog Pen Match
|-
|rowspan=6|Referees
|
Scott Armstrong
|-
|
Mike Chioda
|-
|
Jack Doan
|-
|Marty Elias
|-
|Chad Patton
|-
|
Charles Robinson
|}
Before the show aired live, the crowd in attendance witnessed an
untelevised match between the team of
Mickie James and
Kelly Kelly against that of
Beth Phoenix and her
storyline intern,
Rosa Mendes. The former team won the match after James pinned Mendes.
Preliminary matches
The show started with a
fatal four way match for the
WWE United States Championship pitting defending champion,
Kofi Kingston against
Matt Hardy,
William Regal, and
Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP). The match was fought at a quick pace that initially had Kingston and MVP work as a unit to eliminate the factor of their opponents. As the match progressed, Regal would throw his opponents with
exploder suplexes and heavy
knee strikes before being countered by Kingston, who rebounded off the ropes, and retaliated against his opponent with his
540 kick, known as the Trouble in Paradise to get the pin to retain the title.
The following match was a No Holds Barred match between Rey Mysterio and Chris Jericho for the WWE Intercontinental Championship held by Mysterio. Prior to the match, Jericho entered through the crowd, insulting the fans and threatening those who touched him before being immediately assaulted by his opponent. The two would proceed to fight outside of the ring on the floor of the arena with Mysterio diving over the top rope onto Jericho who was still out of the ring. Jericho gained an advantage by attempting to remove Mysterio's mask, only to fail and have Mysterio throw him out of the ring to dive through the ropes onto his prone opponent. As the action made its way back into the ring, Mysterio attempted another dive only to have Jericho counter it with a knee to the face, which Jericho had dubbed the Codebreaker. Jericho would then leave the ring to get a folding chair from the corner of the ring. When he attempted to hit Mysterio with it, the latter would quickly kick the chair in his hands right back at him into his face. After further attacks with the chair, Jericho halted the champion's momentum with his signature submission hold, the Walls of Jericho. Mysterio managed to obtain the chair in the ring, and deliver one last hit to Jericho's face to stop the hold before he threw his opponent into the ropes in an attempt to connect with his signature kick from the position, the 619; Jericho caught him and removed his mask before getting a quick cover to pin his opponent to win the title.
The following match featured John Cena versus The Big Show in a submission match. The match started at a slow pace as both men attempted apply submission holds. Big Show gained an early advantage by grounding his opponent with heavy punches, headbutts, and a full nelson. Cena would recover with some attempts of his own, only to have Big Show stop them, and proceed to apply more submission holds. The momentum shifted after Cena avoided an attempt at Big Show's chokeslam, and hoist him up onto his shoulders to hit a powerslam called the Attitude Adjustment. Cena went to apply a submission hold of his own, a riding toehold whilst applying a sleeper hold, called the STF, but was unable to apply due to Big Show's size. After he slid his opponent to the ropes to wrap his opponent's legs, so he could apply a sleeper hold. After struggling to escape, The Big Show eventually tapped out, thus ending the match. Triple H would make his return that night, attacking The Legacy, leading to a Fatal Four Way match between Orton, Triple H, John Cena, and The Big Show. Orton won the match, only to have Triple H be named number one contender after winning a 10-man battle royal.
Following CM Punk's World Heavyweight Championship win at Extreme Rules, Punk would be confronted by both Jeff Hardy and Edge over the circumstances in which he had won title. He would have his first title defense on the June 15 edition of Raw against both former champions in a successful effort before Theodore Long announced Punk would defend against Hardy at The Bash.
Reception
The show received mixed reviews from fans and critics.
Bryan Alvarez of the wrestling newsletter, Figure 4 Weekly, gave a live report of show, reporting on the action as it transpired; he expressed positives for the show including the Intercontinental title match, calling the end "the perfect finish", as well as expressing a favorable review of the ladder match. Assistant editor of the wrestling newsletter,
Pro Wrestling Torch, James Caldwell, referred to the ladder match as, "epic", saying both men told a great story, then commented on the intrigue of Punk's surprise title win. He also offered praise for the post-match celebration of Tommy Dreamer.
Results
{| class="wikitable sortable" border="1" style="font-size:85%; text-align:left;"
!style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3;" |
#
!style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3;" |
Matches
!style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3;" |
Stipulations
!style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3;" |
Times
|
Tag Team match
|Unknown
|-
|1
|
Kofi Kingston (c) defeated
Montel Vontavious Porter,
William Regal and
Matt Hardy
|
Fatal Four-Way match for the
WWE United States Championship
|06:42
|-
|2
|
Chris Jericho defeated
Rey Mysterio (c)
|
No Holds Barred match for the
WWE Intercontinental Championship
|14:39
|-
|3
|
CM Punk defeated
Umaga
|
Samoan Strap match
|08:59
|-
|4
|
Tommy Dreamer defeated
Christian (c) and
Jack Swagger
|
Triple Threat Hardcore match for the
ECW Championship If Dreamer had lost, he would have been released from the WWE.
|09:35
|-
|5
|
Santina Marella defeated
Vickie Guerrero (c) and
Chavo Guerrero
|
Handicap Hog Pen match for the title of "Miss
WrestleMania"
|02:43
|-
|6
|
Batista defeated
Randy Orton (c)
|
Steel Cage match for the
WWE Championship
|07:03
|-
|7
|
John Cena defeated
The Big Show
|
Submission match
|19:01
|-
|8
|
Jeff Hardy defeated
Edge (c)
|
Ladder match for the
World Heavyweight Championship
|20:07
|-
|9
|CM Punk defeated Jeff Hardy (c)
[
|Singles match for the World Heavyweight Championship
|01:01
|}
]
See also
WWE Extreme Rules
List of WWE pay-per-view events
References
External links
Official website
Extreme Rules
Category:Wrestling in New Orleans, Louisiana
Extreme Rules
Category:WWE One Night Stand
![WWE Extreme Rules 2009 Theme Song [HQ] Sick Puppies -](http://web.archive.org./web/20110901171452im_/http://i.ytimg.com/vi/vVdsHT9Gw30/0.jpg "WWE Extreme Rules 2009 Theme Song [HQ] Sick Puppies -")
