Five Stories to Follow into WWE's Extreme Rules

Extreme Battle for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship

Last month, Roman Reigns and AJ Styles battled for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at Payback, the first pay per view since Reigns won the WWE's biggest championship at Wrestlemania 32. Over the course of the match, Styles beat Reigns twice by disqualification. However, WWE rules dictate that a belt can only change hands by pinfall or submission, so Reigns technically remained championship. After the newly minted "co-runners" of the WWE, Shane and Stephanie McMahon, restarted the match a third time, Reigns hit Styles with a spear tackle and pinned him, thus retaining his title.

As Styles technically beat Reigns twice at Payback, the McMahon siblings agreed that he should face Reigns in an "Extreme Rules" match at Extreme Rules. An Extreme Rules match basically means there are no rules, so Reigns (or Styles) can't be disqualified for any reason. Weapons, low blows, and even assistance from other wrestlers are legal in an Extreme Rules match, and Reigns and Styles both have plenty of reasons to pull out all the stops in the match.

The other angle to the feud are the presence of Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, two of Styles' former associates during his time wrestling in Japan. Styles, Gallows and Anderson were all members of the Bullet Club, an immensely popular Japanese wrestling cabal, and Gallows and Anderson resurrected "the Club" when they signed with the WWE. Gallows and Anderson have attacked Reigns and his cousins the Usos several times over the last few months, and Reigns has accused Styles of being the mastermind behind the attack. While Styles is certainly friendly with Gallows and Anderson, Styles denies having any involvement and says he wants to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship on his own. Gallows and Anderson seem to be building to a bigger storyline, and we could see what their plans are this Sunday.

Fatal Four Way for the Intercontinental Championship

One of the most exciting matches of the evening is a Fatal Four Way match for the Intercontinental Championship, the WWE's second most prestigious title. A wrestler can win a Fatal Four Way by pinning or submitting any of the other three wrestlers in the match, meaning that the defending champion can lose his/her belt even if they aren't the one getting pinned.

The participants in the Fatal Four Way are defending Intercontinental Champion the Miz, the Swiss Superman Cesaro, and blood rivals Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. Owens and Zayn have feuded for over a decade in various promotions, and the two finally had their first match against each other in the WWE last month at Payback. Owens beat Zayn cleanly and then declared that he was going to stay to watch Cesaro's match against the Miz with the hopes of challenging the winner for the Intercontinental title. However, Zayn attacked Owens and their fight spilled into the ring, causing a distraction and giving the Miz the opportunity to pin Cesaro and retain his title.

It's tough to pick a winner for this match. Owens, one of the WWE's top heels despite being a fan favorite, is a two time Intercontinental Champion already and could be in the Main Event picture soon. Owens' mortal enemy (and real life best friend) Zayn is also a fan favorite, but he works best as an underdog so a Championship run might not fit his character so soon after he was added to the main roster. If it's not going to be Zayn or Owens, most fans would prefer Cesaro over the Miz, but it might make the most sense to keep the Miz Intercontinental Champion a bit longer because he's such a slimy heel and the longer he stays champion, the more satisfying it will be when he finally loses.

Chris Jericho Enters the Ambrose Asylum

The Chris Jericho/Dean Ambrose feud is the epitome of what makes wrestling so ridiculous and fun to watch. Ambrose beat Jericho at Payback to retain the rights to host the "Ambrose Asylum", an in ring talk show that replaced Jericho's "Highlight Reel" show. The following night, Stephanie McMahon cancelled the Ambrose Asylum anyways, and Jericho got his revenge on Ambrose by breaking the Asylum's sole set piece, a potted plant named Mitch, over Ambrose's head. Ambrose then got HIS revenge on Jericho by ambushing him the following week and stealing Jericho's famed light-up jacket and ripping it to pieces in the middle of the ring. The week after that, Jericho ambushed Ambrose and put him in a straitjacket before beating him up.

Unfortunately for Jericho, the straitjacket gave Ambrose an idea. Last Monday, Ambrose challenged Jericho to the first ever "Asylum" match, a cage match where participants can use weapons hanging over the cage against their opponent. The weapons range from a bucket and mop, to a nunchuk, to a potted plant (which has already been named Son of Mitch by the WWE announcing team). Jericho accepted, and so now we have a hardcore weapons match in a cage all because of a jacket and a plant.

Ambrose got his start in wrestling as a hardcore wrestler, so a weapon/cage match is definitely up his alley. After his planned hardcore match against Brock Lesnar flopped at Wrestlemania, everyone is hoping that Ambrose will get a bit more time to shine in his very own speciality match this weekend.

Submissions Match for the Women's Championship

Last month, Charlotte and Natalya squared off in a match for the newly minted WWE Women's Championship. Charlotte had retained the WWE Women's title and its predecessor the Divas Championship, with the cheating assistance of her father, the two time WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair. At Payback, Natalya brought her uncle Bret "the Hitman" Hart to keep Flair from interfering, but the match ended with a repeat of the Montreal Screwjob, an infamous match involving Bret Hart losing a match despite not tapping out.

As Flair had interfered in Charlotte's matches for months and was suspected to be behind the screwy finish against Natalya, the McMahon siblings announced that Natalya would have an opportunity for a rematch at Extreme Rules, with the stipulation that Flair wouldn't be allowed to be ringside. In addition, the match will be a "Submission" match, meaning the only way to win is to force the other wrestler to submit. Both Charlotte and Natalya use submission moves made famous by their families, so it's likely they would have used a submission move against their opponent anyways, but it will be nice to see if Charlotte can win on her own for once without the help of her father.

The Best of the Rest

Extreme Rules will feature three other matches, two of which are for various WWE titles. The New Day will face the Vaudevillains in a standard tag team match for the WWE Tag Team Titles. The New Day don't really have a good opponent to fight right now and don't really need the titles since they're one of the most popular acts in the WWE, so don't be surprised if the Vaudevillains win to help boost their profile.

Also on the card is a match between United States Champion Kalisto and Rusev. Rusev rose to fame because of the US Title, and it would be nice to see him reestablished as a monster heel. Although Kalisto has been US Champion for months, his career hasn't really taken off since winning the title, and he hasn't really had an engaging match defending the title. If Rusev wins the US title, it could hint at who John Cena could face when he returns to wrestling later this month. If Kalisto wins...well, it means that they still don't know what to do with the United States Championship.

The final match on the card is a Tornado Tag Team match between the Usos and "the Club". A Tornado Tag Team match means that both team members can be in the ring at the same time, so expect lots of brawling and tandem moves by both teams. Since this is a spinoff of the Reigns/Styles main event, expect this match to be used as a way to set up the main event later that evening.