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The WWE continued to shake things up at Extreme Rules 2011. Three new champions were crowned at Extreme Rules with both major WWE titles winding up with new owners. Christian started a very short era as champion, whereas RAW likely saw the birth of yet another era of John Cena as world champion.

It is interesting to think that while no WWE titles changed hands on the biggest WWE show of the year WrestleMania 27, three titles moved around a month later at Extreme Rules. The changes come a week after the WWE 2011 Draft and were a result of talent being moved around and new plans on the table for each brand, as well as the sudden retirement of Edge.

I want to apologize for the late report but hey, better late than never right? I just had a chance to watch the replay and overall this was a really fun show. I can’t imagine that WWE fans could ask for a better show coming off such a WrestleMania 27 that disappointed the majority of the fan base. Extreme Rules like most of its predecessors was action from start to finish with exciting results, and intensity from opening bell to close. If there was one WWE pay per view you are going to buy for the rest of the year, this may be it.

Randy Orton defeated CM Punk in as Last Man Standing Match to open up the show. Anyone still not convinced that there is a contract impasse between CM Punk and the WWE? Not only did Punk lose for the third straight time to Orton, he was beaten here like a guy leaving the company. This was a great match, maybe the best out of Orton in a long time. If you old ECW fans like kendo stick shots, you’ll love this one. Tommy Dreamer was probably watching somewhere and asking himself, “Thank you may I have another.”

Kofi Kingston defeated Sheamus for the second time in two weeks in an unscheduled match on the show. The two wound up wrestling in a Tables Match for Sheamus’ United States championship. This was a fun match that could have used a little more time here in my opinion. The more I watch Kofi the more I wonder who he upset in the WWE offices because there is no good reason he is not a top dog at this point. Kofi won which takes the belt back to RAW.

Jack Swagger and Michael Cole defeated Jerry Lawler and Jim Ross in a Country Whipping Match. If you compare it to the Cole vs. Lawler WrestleMania match it was pretty good. If you compare it to your average WWE match it was pretty bad. Unfortunately this result likely means a third match between Lawler and Cole at some point.

Rey Mysterio will go to RAW a victor as he pinned Cody Rhodes in their Falls Count Anywhere Match. As expected, this one was pretty good but slightly disappointing. They went a little over 10 minutes here and for this kind of a match and I had no problem with that. This one featured a lot of brawling around the arena which always makes for a fun match in doses. Unfortunately it kind of slowed down a bit at the end but overall it was pretty good. I know a lot of people were hoping to see Cody go over in this one but I never expected Rey to lose the finale of the feud.

Christian finally ascended to the top of the WWE food chain, albeit for a few days when he defeated Alberto Del Rio in a fantastic Ladder Match. This was my favorite match of the night. These guys were just on and it was really a reminder of how talented Captain Charisma really is and how wasted he has been by the WWE since coming back in 2009.

Edge interfered to set up the finish here. Didn’t he give a 20 minute retirement speech on RAW a few weeks ago? I thought so, but the guy has been on television every week since. I can’t understand why you’d have the big speech before he actually goes away because at this point it is starting to get a bit annoying. Anyway, Edge drove into the arena in one of Alberto’s cars, distracting Del Rio and allowing Christian to climb the ladder and grab the gold in a great match.

I should also point out that Awesome Kong finally debuted live in her new character Kharma. Kharma attacked Michelle McCool after her loss to Layla. I know this is going to upset a lot of her fans but she really didn’t get over to the live crowd. They have a lot of work to do with her.

Here is the big problem with Kong or Kharma. The WWE have bastardized the WWE Divas division to the point that even a serious character like Kharma is going to have a big problem getting over. When you have Michael Cole mocking the division weekly on RAW, at some point the fans just aren’t going to care. Sure Kharma may be a cool character, but who is going to draw money with her? For everything that TNA does wrong, the one thing they actually get right is their Knockouts division. Unless the WWE attempt to turn around the entire division, Kharma is going to disappoint.

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John Cena regained the WWE championship defeating John Morrison and The Miz in a Steel Cage Match. John Morrison shined as expected here with big moves including a dive off of the top of the cage. At one point Morrison was set to walk through the door when R-Truth ran in and beat him down once again. I liked this and at this point it appears that R-Truth has become the number one heel in the WWE. If the WWE only allowed The Miz to get this aggressive early on he probably would have gotten a lot more over as champion.

Cena pinned The Miz at 19:53 to capture the WWE championship. Cena hit an Attitude Adjustment off of the top rope to score the pin. The move came as Cena reversed The Miz’s attempt at a Skull Crushing Finale. This was a pretty good match and definitely one of Cena’s better ones. Coming off a disappointing WrestleMania 27 main-event, Cena and Miz definitely got some redemption with their efforts in this one.

The win marks Cena’s eighth reign as WWE champion. Haters and critics can complain but the bottom line here is that Cena isn’t going anywhere and will continue to be at the top of the card for quite some time. Honestly and I don’t care for Cena, I have no problem with the result. With Cena vs. The Rock already scheduled for WrestleMania 28, you really need to keep him strong up until the big match. Although I’d expect him to drop the belt at some point because with Cena already booked for a match at WrestleMania 28, the Royal Rumble would seem futile at that point.

Full WWE 2011 Extreme Rules Results…
Randy Orton defeated CM Punk – Last Man Standing Match
Kofi Kingston defeated Sheamus – Tables match for the WWE United States Championship
Michael Cole and Jack Swagger defeated Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler – Country Whipping match
Rey Mysterio defeated Cody Rhodes – Falls Count Anywhere match
Layla defeated Michelle McCool – No Disqualifications, Loser Leaves WWE match
Christian defeated Alberto Del Rio – Ladder match for the vacant World Heavyweight Championship
Big Show and Kane defeated The Corre (Wade Barrett and Ezekiel Jackson) – Lumberjack Match for the WWE Tag Team Championship
John Cena defeated The Miz and John Morrison Steel Cage Triple Threat match for the WWE Championship

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