BALTIMORE — At The Animal’s expense, it was WWE Champion John Cena who achieved the last laugh in a Last Man Standing Match at Extreme Rules. With a bound Batista riling at ringside, the sight of Cena defiantly taunting his trapped foe at the conclusion of this notoriously barbaric bout only emphasized the mantra most familiar to the WWE Universe: The Champ is here.
Cena’s reign – which commenced with his WrestleMania victory over The Animal – was heavily jeopardized heading into the one night of the year in which all of WWE goes to the extreme. The Champ stood opposed by a 6-foot-6 beast intent on both reclaiming WWE’s rich, lustrous prize and utterly annihilating its holder.
More harrowing, in this infamously vile bout designed for the most hardened warriors, the only way for one man to win was to ravage their opponent and incapacitate them so that they are unable to rise to their feet within a 10-count.
The supposed “fluke” win Cena notched against Batista on The Grandest Stage of Them All could not be repeated in a collision of this kind. Thus, there could be no protestation by The Animal if he were to lose in the Last Man Standing Match he personally requested.
Ultimately, however, Batista’s vigorous tapping out to Cena’s STF at WrestleMania would not be half as embarrassing as The Animal’s Extreme Rules loss.
The bout was perhaps the most physical of the entire night, as seemingly unparalleled levels of torture were administered on both ends. The sold-out scene of Baltimore’s 1st Mariner Arena all but exploded when Cena followed up an Attitude Adjustment onto a steel chair with yet another through the announce table just minutes later. Like The Animal, Cena too refused to stay horizontal once driven through a table with a spinebuster, then again after a Batista Bomb.
In addition to their usual high impact maneuvers, the combatants enhanced their repertoires by employing everything they could find at ringside, from tools to tables to the most crucial: Tape.
When it appeared neither man would ever possibly stay down, the WWE Champion decided to get resourceful. Cena pulled his nemesis’ legs around the ring post, then wrapped Batista by his ankles, disabling him from achieving a vertical position.
Snared by The Champ, an adhesive-averted Animal could not free his tied feet to answer the referee’s count. By two, the challenger began to writhe. At nine, Batista bucked wildly but to no avail. And with the final call of 10, Cena celebrated a successful title defense with some teasing mere feet away from the face of his outfoxed enemy.
Now, only the future lies ahead of The Champ and in his nearest future is the 2010 WWE Draft, which could potentially send Cena to a whole new world on Friday Night SmackDown. Wherever he stands by the conclusion of a landscape altering Raw, he will do so just as he had 24 hours earlier at Extreme Rules – with the gleaming WWE Championship slung proudly over his brawny shoulder.
Results:All-American victory
April 25, 2010
BALTIMORE – On the night when it counted most, Jack Swagger defeated Randy Orton to retain the World Heavyweight Championship. After a brutal Extreme Rules Match, “The All-American American” secured his World Title with a Gutwrench Powerbomb to The Viper, but it was Orton who got the last laugh with a post-match RKO to Swagger.
“The All-American American” has seized every opportunity to come his way, defeating nine Superstars to win Money in the Bank at WrestleMania, then cashing in against Chris Jericho to win the World Title on SmackDown. But since becoming champion, Swagger has been tormented by Orton, who was determined to stop his momentum on the way to Extreme Rules. The Viper struck twice with success, defeating Swagger with a pair of shocking RKOs. Swagger lost every non-title match on the road to Extreme Rules, but when it mattered most Sunday, he was victorious, retaining his title.
On an evening like no other in WWE, where every match is contested under Extreme Rules, “The All-American American” secured a win against his most dangerous predator. When WWE goes Extreme, the competitors can use any necessary means and anything is legal, from steel chairs, garbage cans and the World Title itself. In Swagger and Orton’s match, there were no count-outs, no disqualifications, and the win could come only by submission or pinfall, just as Swagger’s did.
But while “The All-American American” fended off the venomous strikes of his Extreme Rules opponent, it was Orton who stood tall before the WWE Universe hitting his opponent with a vicious RKO after the match. However, it was Swagger who left the 1st Mariner Arena with the most-coveted prize, the World Heavyweight Championship.
Results:Mystery beats Mysterio
April 25, 2010
BALTIMORE – Thanks to shocking interference from an unknown ally of The Straight Edge Society, CM Punk reigned supreme over Rey Mysterio at Extreme Rules. His victory, allowing The Second City Saint to keep his hair, makes a strong statement for Straight Edge “superiority.” Match photos
The high-powered intensity of the WrestleMania rematch between Mysterio and Punk – along with the WWE Universe’s extreme hatred for the SES – kept the capacity crowd glued to the edge of their seats from start to finish. Though the odds where stacked against Mysterio from the opening bell, it looked as if the playing field would be leveled when the official ejected Luke Gallows and Serena from ringside, suspecting outside interference. But, just when it seemed like Mysterio might dial up the 619, an unidentified “stranger” appeared, assaulting the unsuspecting Superstar, before disappearing under the ring. This set up Punk for the GTS and the victory that saved his hair.
Punk’s quest to overcome Mysterio was seeded in proclamations he made long before their Extreme Rules showdown. Weeks before, Punk had claimed that converting the masked Superstar to Straight Edge would be the ultimate victory for his society. It was this idea that acted as an explosive catalyst for their monumental battle at WrestleMania.
On The Grandest Stage of Them All, The Master of the 619 triumphed over his preaching adversary, defending his family’s honor while preventing his forced induction into The Straight Edge Society.
Punk continued his obsessive attempts to “save” the masked Superstar, proclaiming on SmackDown that if he was granted a rematch, he would put the “toxin-free” symbol of his Straight Edge leadership – his hair – on the line.
Mysterio accepted Punk’s challenge for a WrestleMania rematch one week later, vowing to take his hair and to put an end to The Straight Edge Society. However, The Ultimate Underdog had no way of knowing that his scheming adversary would have a mysterious ace up his sleeve.
What will the Straight Edge Society’s next big move be to convert someone into the Straight Edge lifestyle? And what part, if any, will Punk’s unknown accomplice play in the weeks to come?
Extreme Rules (2010)
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