[2016-05-22-WWE-Extreme Rules] The Miz vs Cesaro vs Sami Zayn vs Kevin Owens

[GOTNW]

Hate to ruin the fun but this didn't do much for me. Still felt very much like a generic WWE four way just with a better workrate and the overreliance on cheap props to produce drama isn't really my thing in 2016. I liked the finish with Miz getting the pin out of nowhere but when you have stuff like Zayn rolling on the floor asking the ref if it was two instead of going for the pin himself after just breaking up someone else's finisher>pin, Cesaro just staring at Owens while he climbed on the rope and so on it's not the type of stuff I'm going to love. I've seen Cesaro drag Miz into the ring when she tried to save him before, I've seen the tower of doom spots, I've seen the triple suplexes, one guy running at every corner to hit his move three times and so on. Initially I don't even buy them as nearfalls but after a while having someone break up the pin or pull someone out of the ring just becomes tedious and repetitive. **1/2

[ElHijodeGorgeousGeorge]

I couldn't disagree more actually. For once this felt like it meant something and I was very impressed with the staging of the match. It didn't feel like a four way clusterfuck as much as it felt like a battle that each man was fighting towards becoming the champion. I loved the hot start with Owens being taken out of the equation for a while and Miz was just fantastic with his character work. I felt like the match was really solid and a low end MOTY for me. I get your criticisms though, a lot of the finish segment was congested and felt really overdone but so much more of the match worked for me.

[SAMS]

The triple suplexes, the tower of doom, the 'do-whatever-move-to-every-guy-in-each-corner' spots are why I can't go higher, but when this match was on it was really on. The interactions between Owens and Zayn were the best they'd been up to this point in their WWE run and conveyed a level of 'this is personal' that they completely whiffed on in their Payback match. Zayn just honing in on Owens and nailing him with that Helluva Kick got their feud over on the main roster to a greater extent than anything since the initial Owens turn in NXT. Cesaro took a backseat for the first half and then came out strong in the second, nailing one uppercut on Zayn in particular that had me thinking Zayn might have soiled himself. Also a big fan of Zayn seeing red at the end - too caught up in decimating Owens on the floor to realise that Miz was stealing the pin.

 

GREAT (3.75-4*)

[Cowboy Hats 4.0]

 

[Superstar Sleeze]

WWE Intercontinental Champion The Miz vs Cesaro vs Sami Zayn vs Kevin Owens - Extreme Rules 2016

Was at this live in Newark because of how good AJ vs Roman was at Payback and needed to the see the rematch live. My brother says this stole the show but I didn’t think so then and definitely dont think so now. The crowd heat was off the charts but this was a match that was better live and in my memories than on rewatch. It is a very good spot fest but not among the all-time greats. 
 

Cesaro looked like the Superstar of this match! His offense was firing on all cylinders and he just felt King Sized in this match. The Uppercut Train hell all the Uppercuts especially the one that stopped a Zayn Helluva Kick were insanely good. The Swing, Sharpshooter and Neutralizer all came off great. He looked like the Cant miss star of the match. The Bar was not a bad trajectory to go with him but they should have elevated him after. Kevin Owens played the role of spoiler well interrupting crowd pleasing spots like the Tower of Doom, first attempt at the Swing and a Helluva Kick. Owens went on to have his best year Kayfabe wise winning the Universal title and main eventing RAW against Rollins and Reigns. Zayn was sort of the afterthought of the match and his best work came reprising his great 2013 feuding with Cesaro. He had the biggest crowd support but they did the least with him in 2016. Finally the Miz was the opportunist hitting SCF when he could and when Owens/Zayn got too distracted beating each other up he swooped in and pinned Cesaro after a Helluva Kick. He would continue to have the best year of his career in the Dolph feud. 
 

Very good match but not emotionally stirring. Entertaining mindless fluff. *** 1/2