Picture: WWE
Two more matches have been added to the card of WWE’s next Premium Live Event Extreme Rules, while the potential return of a former superstar has been teased heavily for the past week.
Welcome to the WWE Weekly Round-up, where The Inner Sanctum will take you through this week’s most pivotal moments on WWE television and preview what shapes to be a huge week ahead.
Lashley retains, Riddle vs Rollins announced for Extreme Rules
In a fun match with a predictable ending, Bobby Lashley retained his United States Championship over Seth Rollins with the assistance of Matt Riddle. The contest between the Almighty and Visionary kicked off Monday Night Raw and the crowd was highly invested.
Rollins had been pleading for weeks that he has not held championship gold for a long time and looked to finally change that on Raw. However, he had also been feuding with the Original Bro at the same time and was desperate to put that rivalry to bed.
Riddle has been demanding for a rematch after his loss to the Visionary at Clash at the Castle, but Rollins had always refused prior to Raw.
He wanted to focus on more important matters and it angered the Original Bro to the point where he ended up costing Rollins the United States Title.
Although Lashley’s victory was unsurprising, Rollins seemed to have the match won when he hit his opponent with a low blow while the referee was not looking. Riddle then ensured his bitter rival would not take advantage of the situation, storming to the ring to catch Rollins’ attention.
Later that night, the Visionary blindsided Riddle in his tag team match before the two brawled backstage. They both then agreed to a match at Extreme Rules to finally conclude their lengthy rivalry, which would be contested in a fight pit.
Drew McIntyre challenges Karrion Kross to strap match, Kross accepts
Ever since Karrion Kross made his return to WWE, he has been continuously antagonising Drew McIntyre and it all came to a head on Friday Night Smackdown. The Scottish Warrior came down to the ring with a strap in hand and laid down the challenge for Extreme Rules, as he demanded to face Kross in a strap match.
The wife of Kross, Scarlett Bordeaux then came out and distracted McIntyre before Kross attacked the Scottish Warrior from behind. However, McIntyre withstood the assault and savagely beat his rival with the strap.
Bordeaux then had to enter the fray as a result and block Kross from being hit once again, before delivering a fireball and low blow to the Scottish Warrior.
Kross then took advantage of a vulnerable McIntyre and applied a kross jacket to suffocate the Scotsman, a move that Drew has become very familiar with in recent weeks.
The Extreme Rules card looks to be building nicely with the strap match and Riddle vs Rollins both taking place at the show. Liv Morgan will also be defending her Smackdown Women’s Championship against Ronda Rousey in an extreme rules match.
Every contest on the card so far has a stipulation involved, which is how this type of event should be structured each year despite the old administration going against that model.
MORE SPORTING NEWS:
NBL23 Season Preview: Cairns Taipans
Jimmy and Jey still reigning Tag Team Champions after assistance from Imperium
In the much anticipated main event of Smackdown, The Usos defended their Undisputed Tag Team Championships against Butch and Ridge Holland of the Brawling Brutes. Despite the latter nearly achieving victory, everybody knew that Jimmy and Jey were never going to lose.
What is prominent in the Bloodline’s matches though, is that there is generally an outside interference that favours them. In this instance, it was Imperium that cost the Brawling Brutes their chance at championship glory.
The Honourary Uce of the Bloodline, Sami Zayn grabbed a steel chair and attempted to give it to the Usos, before Sheamus stopped him in his tracks. While the Celtic Warrior was occupied with Zayn, Gunther, Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci attacked him and it distracted Butch and Holland.
Before the challengers could fend off their bitter rivals, The Usos seized and superkicked their opponents. Butch was then pinned for Jimmy and Jey to retain their championships.
It was a great main event and the crowd was firmly behind Butch and Holland to dethrone the Usos’ near-500-day reign as Undisputed Tag Team Champions. However, The Brawling Brutes will get another chance at gold in two weeks through Sheamus, when he will collide against Gunther a second time for the Intercontinental Championship.
‘White rabbit’ speculation continues to be the talk of WWE
For the last week, Jefferson Airplanes’ ‘white rabbit’ has been mysteriously played during commercial breaks of Raw and Smackdown, as well as at house shows. QR codes have also randomly appeared on television, which has led to games like hangman that feature a white rabbit.
Everyone, including fans and even the WWE superstars think it is all leading to the return of Bray Wyatt. The game of hangman that came from the QR code fans spotted on Raw had the numbers ‘9.23’ appear at the end, indicating a potential appearance from Wyatt on this week’s Smackdown.
However, that wasn’t to be the case and fans will have to wait even longer to find out what this is all leading to. If one thing is for certain, Triple H is one to keep the WWE Universe guessing.
Wyatt has not been seen in WWE for over a year, as he was released from the company in July of 2021. His last match was against Randy Orton at WrestleMania 37, in which he lost.
Subscribe to our newsletter!
About Author
