The 2009 Extreme Rules was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was the inaugural Extreme Rules and took place on June 7, 2009, at the New Orleans Arena in New Orleans, Louisiana, held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw, SmackDown, and ECW brand divisions. The theme of the event was that it featured various hardcore-based matches.
The event was initially noted by WWE to be a direct continuation of the One Night Stand chronology and continued its theme of featuring hardcore-based matches; in 2010, however, WWE noted that Extreme Rules was its own chronology, separate from One Night Stand. This would be the only Extreme Rules to feature ECW and the ECW Championship as the brand was disbanded in February 2010, deactivating the championship along with it.
There were eight matches scheduled on the event's card, though nine actually took place, and there was one dark match that occurred before the live broadcast. Six of the televised matches were contested under a hardcore stipulation. The main event was a Ladder match for SmackDown's World Heavyweight Championship, which saw Jeff Hardy defeat Edge to win the title. After the match, CM Punk cashed in his Money in the Bank contract, which guaranteed him a title match at the time and place of his choosing, and defeated Hardy to win the title. There were also two other highly publicized matches; the first was a Steel Cage match for Raw's WWE Championship between the champion Randy Orton and Batista, as well as a submission match between Big Show and John Cena. Featured matches on the undercard included a triple threat Hardcore match for the ECW Championship, a No Holds Barred match between Rey Mysterio and Chris Jericho for SmackDown's Intercontinental Championship, and CM Punk versus Umaga in a Samoan Strap match. This was Umaga's last match in WWE, who was released from WWE in the following day. Then, Umaga died in December 2009
The event had 213,000 buys, up from the One Night Stand 2008 figure of 194,000 buys.
Production Background
From 2005 to 2008, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) ran a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event entitled One Night Stand. While the first two events were originally a reunion show for the defunct Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) promotion, the assets of which WWE acquired in 2003, the concept of One Night Stand was that the event featured various matches that were contested under hardcore rules. In 2009, Extreme Rules was established to replace One Night Stand and was initially noted by WWE to be a direct continuation of the One Night Stand chronology, with Extreme Rules continuing the concept of featuring hardcore-based matches.The Big Book of Wrestling (May 2009). "55 Great Moments in Pay Per View." WWE Magazine Special Issue. ECW 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". The inaugural Extreme Rules event took place on June 7, 2009, at the New Orleans Arena in New Orleans, Louisiana and featured wrestlers from the Raw, SmackDown, and ECW brands.
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, SmackDown, and ECW brands, while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw, Friday Night SmackDown, ECW on Sci Fi, and Superstars.
The primary rivalry heading into Extreme Rules from the Raw brand was between Randy Orton and Batista, who were feuding over the WWE Championship. At WWE's previous pay-per-view event, Judgment Day, Orton lost his match against Batista by getting himself intentionally disqualified for hitting the referee, but retained the WWE Championship. As a result, on the May 18 episode of Raw, Ric Flair, an associate of Batista, announced that the Raw general manager, Vickie Guerrero, had decided that Orton was to face Batista in a Steel Cage match at Extreme Rules, once again defending his WWE Championship.
Another rivalry from the Raw brand was between John Cena and Big Show. At WWE's April pay-per-view, Backlash, Big Show interfered in Cena's Last Man Standing match against Edge and chokeslammed him though a spotlight, causing Cena to lose the match and the World Heavyweight Championship to Edge; Cena exacted revenge at Judgment Day with a pinfall victory over Big Show. Then, on the May 18 episode of Raw, it was announced Big Show would have a rematch with Cena at Extreme Rules in a submission match.
The main rivalry heading into Extreme Rules from the SmackDown brand was between Edge and Jeff Hardy over the World Heavyweight Championship. After Edge retained the championship against Jeff Hardy at Judgment Day, Theodore Long, the SmackDown general manager, announced on the May 22 episode of SmackDown that, due to Matt Hardy's interference in the title match at Judgment Day, Jeff Hardy was to receive a rematch against Edge, to be contested at Extreme Rules, with the stipulation being chosen by winner of the match between the two later in the night; Hardy won the match, and chose a ladder match.
After defeating CM Punk at Judgment Day, Umaga continued to attack Punk, and interfered in Punk's match with Chris Jericho on the May 22 episode of SmackDown, assaulting him with a leather strap, and issuing a challenge to Punk for what he called a Samoan strap match at Extreme Rules.
The primary rivalry from the ECW brand was between Christian, Jack Swagger, and Tommy Dreamer, vying over Christian's ECW Championship. After Christian retained the ECW Championship against the former champion, Jack Swagger, at Judgment Day, Swagger attacked Christian on the following episode of ECW and pushed him off the entrance ramp. Two days later, on Superstars, Swagger interfered in a title match between Christian and Dreamer, resulting in the match being ruled a no contest. On the May 26 episode of ECW, Swagger announced that Christian would be defending the championship against him again at Extreme Rules, but the ECW general manager, Tiffany, stated that Dreamer had been added to the match, making it a triple threat hardcore match. As Dreamer's contract with the company expired one day before the show, it was announced that he had signed a one-day extension to give him a chance at winning the title; if Dreamer were to fail to win the title, he would no longer wrestle for ECW.
Event +Other on-screen personnelRole:Name:English commentatorsMichael Cole Jerry Lawler Jim Ross Todd Grisham Josh Mathews Matt Striker Spanish commentatorsCarlos CabreraHugo SavinovichInterviewersJosh MathewsRing announcersLilian Garcia Justin Roberts Tony Chimel Jerry Lawler RefereesCharles RobinsonMike ChiodaScott ArmstrongJack DoanMarty EliasChad Patton
Dark match Before the show aired live, the crowd in attendance witnessed an untelevised match between the team of Mickie James and Kelly Kelly against that of Beth Phoenix and her storyline intern, Rosa Mendes. The former team won the match after James pinned Mendes.
Preliminary matches The show started with a fatal four-way match for the WWE United States Championship pitting defending champion, Kofi Kingston against Matt Hardy, William Regal, and Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP). The match was fought at a quick pace that initially had Kingston and MVP work as a unit to eliminate the factor of their opponents. As the match progressed, Regal threw his opponents with exploder suplexes and heavy knee strikes before being countered by Kingston, who rebounded off the ropes, and retaliated against his opponent with Trouble in Paradise to get the pin to retain the title.
The following match was a No Holds Barred match between Rey Mysterio and Chris Jericho for the WWE Intercontinental Championship held by Mysterio. Prior to the match, Jericho entered through the crowd, insulting the fans and threatening those who touched him before being immediately assaulted by his opponent. The two fought outside of the ring on the floor of the arena with Mysterio diving over the top rope onto Jericho who was still out of the ring. Jericho gained an advantage by attempting to remove Mysterio's mask, only to fail and have Mysterio throw him out of the ring to dive through the ropes onto his prone opponent. As the action made its way back into the ring, Mysterio attempted another dive only to have Jericho counter it with a Codebreaker. Jericho left the ring to get a folding chair from the corner of the ring. When he attempted to hit Mysterio with it, Mysterio quickly kicked the chair into Jericho's face. After further attacks with the chair, Jericho halted Mysterio's momentum with his signature submission hold, the Walls of Jericho. Mysterio managed to obtain the chair in the ring, and deliver one last hit to Jericho's face to stop the hold before he attempted the 619; Jericho caught him and removed his mask before getting a quick cover to pin his opponent to win the Intercontinental title for the record setting 9th time.
CM Punk and Umaga then fought in the Samoan Strap match, which could only be won by touching all four corners of the ring in succession whilst tethered to each other by the wrist with a leather strap. Punk got an early advantage by quickly touching three corners only to have Umaga use the strap, and pull his opponent towards him and neutralized his attempt before making one of his own to similar results as Punk pulled him over the top rope with him onto the floor. After continued attempts for the win, Punk touched three corners again before being blocked by his opponent, which led to Punk delivering a Go To Sleep, and touching the fourth turnbuckle.
Next was the Triple Threat Hardcore Rules match for the ECW Championship between the champion Christian, Jack Swagger, and Tommy Dreamer. The stipulation is that if Dreamer failed to win the title, he would no longer wrestle for ECW. The match had several weapons in use from around the ring, which had Dreamer and Christian proceeded to hit Swagger repeatedly with kendo sticks and trash can lids. The action fell to the outside, which led to Dreamer obtain a trash can lid to put over his shoulders, and dove onto his two opponents with a senton flip. Once the three returned to the ring, Swagger positioned Dreamer onto the top rope, only to have Christian position himself under Swagger, and executed a powerbomb to Swagger as Swagger superplexed Dreamer. Dreamer delivered a DDT to Swagger to get the pinfall victory and the title.
The following match was a Hog Pen match between Raw general manager, Vickie Guerrero, and Santina Marella (Santino Marella, in reality, posing as his fictitious twin sister) for Guerrero's title of Miss WrestleMania. It was later announced Guerrero would have her nephew, Chavo Guerrero Jr., involved in the match on her behalf. Chavo and Marella brawled in a pen full of mud. The match ended after Marella knocked out Chavo, and pinned an incapacitated Vickie to win the title of Miss WrestleMania. As the Guerreros made their way back to their office, Vickie's storyline husband, Edge, was waiting for them; Edge and Vickie had a verbal confrontation, leading to Edge saying he was divorcing Vickie.
Main event matches The next match was Randy Orton defending the WWE Championship against Batista in a Steel Cage match. From the start, Orton made numerous attempts to escape the cage, only to be brought back into the ring by the challenger. Batista then attempted his finishing move, the Batista Bomb, only to have Orton escape, and attempted the RKO; once that effort was stopped by his opponent, Orton made another climb over the cage, only to have Batista deliver a Batista Bomb to get the pinfall, winning the WWE Championship for the first time.