Extreme Rules (2010)

The 2010 Extreme Rules was the second annual Extreme Rules professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The event took place on April 25, 2010, at the 1st Mariner Arena in Baltimore, Maryland. It replaced Backlash as the post-WrestleMania pay-per-view and was the first Extreme Rules event to feature the titular Extreme Rules match.

The concept of Extreme Rules is that the event features various hardcore-based matches. There were eight matches scheduled on the event's card, all of which were contested under a hardcore stipulation. There was also one dark match that occurred before the live broadcast. In the main event, John Cena defeated Batista in a Last Man Standing match to retain Raw's WWE Championship. In SmackDown's main match, which was an interpromotional match, Jack Swagger defeated Raw's Randy Orton in an Extreme Rules match to retain the World Heavyweight Championship. The event received 182,000 pay-per-view buys, the same as the figure achieved by the 2009 Backlash event.

Production

Background

In 2009, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) established Extreme Rules as a gimmick pay-per-view (PPV), replacing One Night Stand. Just like One Night Stand, the concept of the show was that the event featured various matches that were contested under hardcore rules. The defunct Extreme Championship Wrestling promotion, which WWE acquired in 2003, originally used the "extreme rules" term to describe the regulations for all of its matches; WWE adopted the term and has since used it in place of "hardcore match" or "hardcore rules". While the inaugural 2009 event had originally been described as a continuation of the One Night Stand chronology, the 2010 Extreme Rules event was noted by WWE to be only the second event under a new chronology, thus establishing Extreme Rules as its own annual event. Although the second event in the Extreme Rules chronology, it was the first to feature the titular Extreme Rules match, among other hardcore-based matches. The event took place on April 25, 2010, at the 1st Mariner Arena in Baltimore, Maryland and featured wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown brands. Extreme Rules 2010 also replaced Backlash as the post-WrestleMania pay-per-view.

Storylines

The professional wrestling matches at Extreme Rules involved professional wrestlers performing as characters in scripted events pre-determined by the hosting promotion, WWE. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw and SmackDown brands, while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, ''Monday Night Raw'' and ''SmackDown''.

The main storyline from the Raw brand featured John Cena and Batista feuding over the WWE Championship. The feud had begun several months previously and been a feature of several pay-per-views, including WrestleMania XXVI, where Cena defeated Batista to win the championship. Following WrestleMania, on the April 5 episode of ''Raw'', Batista attacked Cena after a match. It was announced that Batista would receive his rematch in a Last Man Standing match at Extreme Rules.

World Heavyweight Champion Jack Swagger from the SmackDown brand was scheduled to face Raw wrestler Randy Orton. Swagger won the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania, earning a contract for a guaranteed championship match at the time and place of his choosing. He used the contract on the April 2 episode of ''SmackDown'', defeating Chris Jericho to win the World Heavyweight Championship after Jericho had been attacked by Edge. After a number one contender's match between Jericho and Edge ended in a double count-out, Raw guest host David Hasselhoff announced that Swagger would face Orton, who had beaten Swagger on two occasions, in an Extreme Rules match.

Chris Jericho and Edge also had a scheduled match on the card. Edge returned from injury at the Royal Rumble, winning the Royal Rumble match, and earning a match for a championship of his choosing at WrestleMania. Edge elected to wrestle then-World Heavyweight Champion Jericho, but lost. On the following episode of ''SmackDown'', after being refused a rematch, Edge attacked Jericho, allowing Jack Swagger to cash in his Money in the Bank contract and win the championship. After a number one contender's match between Jericho and Edge went to a double count-out, it was announced that they would face each other in a steel cage match.

The secondary rivalry from the Raw brand heading into Extreme Rules was between Triple H and Sheamus. Sheamus felt that Triple H was responsible for him losing the WWE Championship at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view, and so challenged him to a match at WrestleMania, but lost. As a result, the following night on ''Raw'', Sheamus attacked Triple H with a lead pipe, and it was announced that the two would meet in a Street Fight at Extreme Rules.

CM Punk and Rey Mysterio had been feuding for several months prior to Extreme Rules, which included Punk tormenting Mysterio in front of his wife and children. They wrestled at WrestleMania, with Mysterio winning, allowing him to avoid being forced to join Punk's stable, The Straight Edge Society. When inducting members into The Straight Edge Society, Punk shaved their hair while retaining long hair himself; as a result, Mysterio challenged him to a match at Extreme Rules with a stipulation that if Punk lost, he would have his head shaved.

Also announced for the card was a match for the Women's Championship between the champion, Michelle McCool, and Beth Phoenix. The feud began when Phoenix objected to SmackDown Consultant Vickie Guerrero aligning with Team Lay-Cool (McCool and Layla) and refusing to grant Phoenix a title match. After earning her championship match, Phoenix was attacked and humiliated on the April 23 episode of ''SmackDown'' by Team Lay-Cool, who hit her with an ironing board and drew on her while unconscious with lipstick to set up an Extreme Makeover match.

The final match on the card was between former tag team partners, Shad Gaspard and JTG. After Cryme Tyme lost a tag team match on the April 2 episode of ''SmackDown'', Gaspard turned on JTG and attacked him, setting up a strap match between the two.

Event

Preliminary matches

The pay-per-view opened with Sheamus attacking Triple H with a pipe.

Following the attack, Unified WWE Tag Team Champions ShoMiz (Big Show and United States Champion The Miz) came to the ring and complained about not having a match for the night, prompting SmackDown general manager Theodore Long to make a tag team gauntlet match for them against three other teams, with the winners earning a future tag team championship match. The first team was John Morrison and R-Truth, who lost when Morrison was disqualified for refusing to release a hold on Big Show by a five count. The next team was Montel Vontavious Porter and Mark Henry, who also lost after Miz pinned MVP following a KO Punch from Big Show. The final team was The Hart Dynasty, who won after Kidd pinned Miz following a Hart Attack.

Next, CM Punk faced Rey Mysterio, where if Punk lost he would have his head shaved bald. During the match, Luke Gallows and Serena attacked Mysterio on the outside and were banned from ringside. At the conclusion of the match, a masked man attacked Mysterio with a Fallaway Powerbomb on the floor, which allowed Punk to perform a Go To Sleep on Mysterio and pin him.

After that, JTG wrestled Shad

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