Friday 29 June 2018 07:35, UK
Extreme Rules is right around the corner and this week Kurt Angle revealed the previously announced multi-man match for the event was now cancelled and there are rumours Kevin Owens could face Braun Strowman instead.
A number of other matches were made for the one night of the year that WWE goes extreme over the past few days but as well as there being many highs, there were also a number of lows for many stars.
Good week
Bayley (Raw)
Finally, after weeks of a heel turn being teased, Bayley turned on her long-time friend and fellow NXT alum Sasha Banks this week after the duo lost their match against The Riott Squad when The Boss took the pin. The Hugger brutally attacked her former friend and team-mate as she finally let out the frustration she has been feeling ever since the duo worked together in developmental.
Banks and Bayley already brawled backstage earlier this month, but this confrontation saw Bayley take it a step further as she threw Banks around and into the steel steps without the former champion fighting back. This could finally be the start of a meaningful storyline for Bayley after months of her being overlooked on the Raw roster.
Kane (SmackDown)
Daniel Bryan has had a number of issues with The Bludgeon Brothers in recent weeks, but this week when the tag team champions tried to use their numbers advantage against the former world champion once again, but his former partner Kane was the one who made the save to even the odds.
Kane has not been seen on WWE TV in a number of months after he stepped into a political career but despite this being a success so far, The Big Red Machine returned to the ring once again this week and did not miss a beat as he helped Bryan against Luke Harper and Erick Rowan and was rewarded with a title shot at Extreme Rules.
Candice LeRae (NXT)
The wife of Johnny Gargano finally turned her attention to her own in-ring career this week when she took on 'The Lady of NXT' Lacey Evans. It was another fantastic match from the high-flyer and even though Evans worked the arm throughout the match, LaRae was able to deliver the springboard moonsault to record a pivotal win in her NXT career.
Following the match, LeRae was vocal about the fact that she was going after the NXT women's championship, so it appears Shayna Baszler has been put on notice.
Bad week
Matt Hardy (Raw)
Matt Hardy may be a Raw tag team champion but this week he was part of a match against Curtis Axel where many of the WWE Universe questioned whether or not the finish was supposed to happen.
Hardy made his way to the top rope to meet Axel with a superplex but Axel was able to reverse into a crossbody and then pinned the champion off the impact.
Hardy was not too upset by the loss and called it "wonderful" but it does not look great for the current tag champions since it was announced the duo would defend their titles at Extreme Rules next month against The B Team, who are interestingly still undefeated.
Sonya Deville (SmackDown)
Sonya Deville was part of the women's Royal Rumble and the women's battle royal at WrestleMania whilst she was on the Raw brand, but since she has become a SmackDown superstar, she has not been given the same kinds of opportunities. Shockingly, she was not included in the women's Money in the Bank ladder match last weekend, and this week on SmackDown she continued her downward spiral when she was defeated by Becky Lynch.
Interestingly, it was her former Absolution team-mate Mandy Rose who cost Deville her win over the former SmackDown women's champion this week when the two stars seemingly got in each other's way, which could be planting seeds for a feud in the coming months, so all hope is not lost for Deville just yet.
Undisputed Era (NXT)
The Undisputed Era was able to retain their NXT tag team championships in Chicago, but as part of their recent trip over to the UK, Moustache Mountain was able to dethrone the Champions at The Royal Albert Hall and to make matters worse, Ricochet interrupted their chance to regain their titles this week on NXT.
Even though Undisputed Era ended up picking up the win in the six-man tag match that ensued, it was the team of Moustache Mountain and Ricochet who looked great coming out of this week's NXT.
Kyle O'Reilly and Roderick Strong may be looking for a way to recapture their titles, but 'The One And Only' is edging closer to a match for that North American Championship and Adam Cole needs to ensure that he's prepared.
