Extreme Rules 2015 took place on April 26, 2015 and was held at Allstate Arena in Chicago, Illinois.  Michael Cole, JBL and Jerry Lawler were the commentators for this show. 

Kickoff Match: Bad News Barrett vs. Neville - This match took place during the Kickoff Show for this event which was streamed on WWE Network prior to the start of the pay-per-view.  Bad News Barrett was originally scheduled to fight Intercontinental Champion Daniel Bryan at this show but an injury to the champion caused that match to be canceled.


  Barrett was able to hit the rookie with the Winds of Change and the Wasteland but couldn't pin the man.  Barrett went for the Bull Hammer on two occasions but couldn't connect on either occasions.  After missing the move for a second time, Neville kicked Barrett in the head and then hit the Red Arrow to get the win.  Winner: Neville

Chicago Street Fight: Dean Ambrose vs. Luke Harper - The only rule in this match was that the winning pin fall or submission must take place inside of the ring.  The action in this one went to the back the arena where Luke Harper got in a sports utility vehicle and tried to drive away.  Ambrose dove into the car and both men left the arena.  Due to the stipulations of the match, it was still going on as the show continued.  Winner: ???

Kiss Me Arse Match: Dolph Ziggler vs. Sheamus - As the name of this match implies, the loser of this match had to kiss the winner's back side.  Sheamus was in control of the match when he went for a suplex.  Out of nowhere, Ziggler was able to roll up Sheamus in a small package to get the win.

  Sheamus reluctantly dropped to his knees but instead of puckering up he hit Ziggler with a low blow.  Sheamus then rubbed his bare backside into the face of Ziggler.  Winner: Dolph Ziggler

WWE Tag Team Championship: Champions Tyson Kidd & Cesaro  vs. The New Day (Kofi Kingston & Big E) - Natalya was in the corner of the champions while Xavier Woods was in the corner of the challengers.  The champions were able to hit Kofi Kingston with the Swing and Stop but the referee never made a pin fall count because he was distracted by Xavier Woods.  Due to all the confusion he created, Kofi Kingston was able to roll up a distracted Cesaro and with the aid of a handful of tights was able to get the win for his team.  Winners and New Champions: The New Day

- While New Day was being interviewed in the back, the SUV containing Dean Ambrose and Luke Harper made its way back into the arena.  Before reentering the ring, bot men filled the ring up with steel chairs.  Harper power bombed Ambrose on one of the chairs but was only able to get a 2-count.  He then buried Ambrose under a stack of chairs and went to the top rope.  Before he was able to do anything, Ambrose grabbed him and tossed him onto the pile of chairs.  Ambrose then hit him with the Dirty Deeds on top of the chairs to get the win.  Winner: Dean Ambrose

Russian Chain Match for the United States Championship: Champion John Cena vs. Rusev - The two combatants were connected to each other via a chain on their wrists.  The only way to win this match is to touch the four corners of the ring  without your momentum being broken.  Lana was in the corner of Rusev.  During the match, the fans started a "We Want Lana" chant and she got on the ring apron in acknowledgement of the chants.  Her actions infuriated Rusev who ordered her back to the locker room.  Rusev applied the Accolade which Cena broke out of by smashing Rusev into two corners.  When Rusev went for the fourth corner, Cena hit the Attitude Adjustment.  Both men got up and walked in different directions which allowed them to each to hit three corners.  When they both went for the same corner, they had a slight tug of war which ended with Cena hitting Rusev with another Attitude Adjustment.  Since his forward momentum was never stopped, Cena touched the fourth corner to get the win.  Winner: John Cena

Divas Championship: Champion Nikki Bella vs. Naomi - Brie Bella was in the corner of her sister.  Early in the match, Naomi hit Brie with a cheap shot when the action spilled out to the floor.  Later in the match, Brie got her revenge when Naomi's head was handing out of the ring.  While the referee tried to pull Nikki off the challenger, Brie kicker her in the head.  That allowed Nikki to hit the Rack Attack and get the win.  Winner: Nikki Bella

Last Man Standing Match: Big Show vs. Roman Reigns - This match can only end when one wrestler is so incapacitated that he can not reach his feet by the time the referee counts to ten.  The two men destroyed the ringside area with the highlight being when Roman Reigns gave Big Show a spear from the top of the English announcer's table and through the Spanish announcer's table.  Roman Reigns then put the English announcer's table on top of Big Show and proceeded to stand on it which prevented Big Show from getting up.  Winner: Roman Reigns

- Bo Dallas came out to the ring and proceeded to insult the Chicago crowd.  Ryback came out and beat him up.

Steel Cage Match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship: Champion Seth Rollins vs. Randy Orton - The ring was surrounded by a 15-foot high steel cage.  The only ways to win this match are via pin fall, submission, or escape.  In addition, the RKO was banned in this match.  To ensure there is no outside interference, Kane, the Director of Operations was the gatekeeper.  During the match, J&J Security tried to enter the ring but Kane wouldn't let them.  Later in the match, Kane refused to open the cage when Orton tried to escape.  Rollins tried for a cheap shot on Orton but wound up causing the cage door to smash into Kane.  Kane went nuts and proceeded to slam the door on both competitors head and then entered the ring.  He gave a double choke slam to J&J Security who had followed him into the ring.  When it appeared that he was going to give a choke slam to Rollins, he gave one to Orton instead.  The champion then thought he had the match won and tried to escape the cage.  However, Kane grabbed Rollins and gave him a choke slam.  Showing his allegiance to The Authority, he placed Rollins on top of Orton.  When the referee only made a count of two, Kane grabbed Orton again.  Orton was able to hit Kane with an RKO.  However, after Orton hit that move, Seth Rollins delivered an RKO of his own.  Rollins then crawled out of the ring to get the win.  Winner: Seth Rollins 

Overall Thoughts

Stipulations are a tricky thing as there is a fine line between them enhancing a match and detracting from the action.  In this case,  I think they took away from the action.  Using the two rematches from WrestleMania 31 as an example (Orton-Rollins and Cena-Rusev), I enjoyed the two matches at WrestleMania better.  The United States Championship Match was hindered by a ludicrous stipulatlion.  This was the first time a Russian Chain Match was televised in WWE history and I think this will also be the last time. 

The main event was filled with so many rules and sub-plots that it made it impossible to get into the action early on as it was obvious that Kane was going to get involved in some manner.  The match became more about what and when would Kane do something as opposed to caring about the action that took place inside of the ring.  Even the announcers didn't understand all the rules of the match as the show ended with all three announcers arguing with one another about the ending of the main event. 

While this show had a few bright spots and some OMG moments, they were too few and far apart to give this event a positive review.  If you missed this show, there is no reason to go out of your way to see it.

Match Results

• Kiss Me Arse Match: Dolph Ziggler beat Sheamus
• WWE Tag Team Championship: The New Day (Kofi KIngston & Big E) won the titles fro Tyson Kidd & Cesaro
• Chicago Street Fight: Dean Ambrose beat Luke Harper
• Russian Chain Match for the United States Championship: Champion John Cena beat Rusev
• Divas Championship: Champion Nikki Bella beat Naomi
• Last Man Standing Match: Roman Reigns beat Big Show
• Steel Cage Match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship: Champion Seth Rollins beat Randy Orton