Ahead of Sunday’s WWE Extreme Rules show at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, here are some predictions on what to expect from the action.
Roman Reigns to retain the WWE World Heavyweight title against AJ Styles in an Extreme Rules match
This has been a good feud, and a wise one for the WWE to put Reigns in so early into what should be a long period with the belt.
Styles has been a great foil for him and his ring work has been sensational, and the WWE do appear to be replicating what they did when they first gave John Cena the WWE title in 2005.
Back then his feuds for that year after he moved to Raw were with Christian, Chris Jericho, Kurt Angle and Shawn Michaels - all guys who could go in the ring and the match quality could cover up shortcomings in the Cena character.
Styles has helped settle the Reigns character, who has evolved into a tough guy tweener, rather than a simple babyface.
Reigns retains on Sunday after another good match. This is a feud-ender so I think we see Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson turn on Styles, revealing they are associated with someone else.
I had expected that to happen last month at Payback, but I think the WWE are taking their time, possibly to the detriment of Gallows and Anderson, but I think a brutal beatdown of Styles will reestablish their heat.
I do not think we will find out who is the man, or men, leading Gallows and Anderson yet - intrigue is always good, and Seth Rollins, Randy Orton or Finn Balor from NXT are all viable options.
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The Miz to retain the Intercontinental title against Cesaro, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn
This has the potential to be match of the night with four very good workers in the ring.
Owens and Zayn are in the middle of their rivalry and do not need the title, so I do not think either walks out with the belt, despite Owens being the MVP of this build-up with his outstanding work on the microphone and on commentary.
I see the Money in the Bank briefcase in Owens’s future too, so he does not need the IC title at present.
That leaves Miz and Cesaro, and I do think Cesaro wins the title, but not for at least another month, as Miz is doing a tremendous job as the antagonist, with his wife Maryse alongside him, and it would be a shame to end their run with the title that early.
Miz steals the pin fall after Cesaro has the match won, to set up another singles match between the pair, with Owens and Zayn heading off to fight over the Money in the Bank briefcase next month.
Charlotte to retain the Women’s title in a submission match against Natalya
Charlotte has been tremendous as the champion in the women’s division, and that will not end here.
The deck has been stacked against her without her father, Ric Flair, at ringside, but she will get the victory, possibly through her own nefarious tactics.
This will set her up to be even more egotistical, even towards Ric, as she proves she can do it herself, and her title reign will go from strength to strength as fans hope for her comeuppance, with Sasha Banks still the person most likely to dethrone her, though not for a few months yet.
Dean Ambrose to beat Chris Jericho in an Asylum match
This pairing, on paper, should have been great, but this has just not gelled. Last month’s match at Payback felt flat, and using pot plants and the destruction of Jericho’s expensive jacket has not really added much more to the story.
I am more hopeful for Sunday, as this is essentially a cage match with weapons.
It is Ambrose’s match in the storyline, and the idea of this pairing was surely to trying and get heat back into Ambrose after his one-sided loss to Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania, and defeats to Roman Reigns and Triple H in recent months.
Unless Jericho is staying even longer and they want to drag this out another month, Ambrose has to win this if his character is to be seen as anything other than a mid-carder.
Vaudevillains beat New Day to win the tag team titles
New Day continually to be great fun, although they not hitting the mark quite as consistently with their humour as faces as they were when they heels.
They have been champions since SummerSlam last August and it does feel like a shake-up is needed.
Vaudevillains are fairly new on the roster after coming up from NXT, and while this maybe a little early, it will give their men out of time gimmick more play if they are champions, meaning the crowd have to take them more seriously, while New Day become the hunters rather than the hunted, which could be a lot of fun.
Rusev to beat Kalisto to win the United States title
Kalisto, through no fault of his own, has been a flop as US champion. He has been poorly booked and his character has hardly been developed.
The WWE have badly misused Rusev over the past year since he lost the US title to John Cena at WrestleMania 31, but this could be the start of his re-emergence.
Rusev wins here, but what happens next will be interesting. Hopefully he gets the chance to have a run as a monster champion, but there is a scenario where he has been given the belt simply to lose it to the returning Cena, when the 15-time WWE champion returns from injury on May 30.
Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows to beat Jimmy and Jay Uso in a Tornado tag match
A late addition to the card, this has to be a win for newly titled The Club.
Gallows and Anderson have lost their mystique since coming in and are in danger of just becoming another couple of guys on the roster.
This needs to be a big night before them, and beating the Usos in a tag match, before turning on AJ Styles in the main event, should achieve that.
Baron Corbin to beat Dolph Ziggler in a nov disqualification match
The most baffling booking decision at Payback was Ziggler going over Corbin, even if it was seen as a lucky roll-up.
Corbin is a new talent from NXT and as a big guy, who can wrestle, could be a good future opponent for Reigns given his size.
Yes, he got his win back on Raw, but first impressions count, and losing to Ziggler, whose main event lustre is pretty much dead after so many mis-steps, was not good.
Corbin must win this rubber match, and win it convincingly, to give his character some more gravitas with the WWE audience.
WWE Extreme Rules will be televised on the WWE Network, which is available through OSN, on Monday morning in the UAE from 3am.
gcaygill@thenational.ae