The 2012 Extreme Rules was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by WWE. It was the fourth annual Extreme Rules event and took place on April 29, 2012, at the Allstate Arena in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont, Illinois. The theme of the event was that it featured various hardcore-based matches. This edition was noteworthy as it included Brock Lesnar's first WWE in-ring match since WrestleMania XX in 2004.
Eight professional wrestling matches were scheduled on the event's card and one pre-show match was livestreamed on YouTube. Only four of the main card's matches were contested under a hardcore stipulation. In the main event, John Cena defeated Brock Lesnar in an Extreme Rules match. Elsewhere on the card, CM Punk defeated Chris Jericho in a Chicago Street Fight to retain the WWE Championship and Sheamus defeated Daniel Bryan in a two out of three falls match to retain the World Heavyweight Championship.
The pay-per-view received universally positive reviews, with the main event and two world championship matches drawing high praise from critics and fans. The event received 263,000 pay-per-view buys, up 25.8% from the 209,000 buys for the previous year's event, whereas the next year's event received 231,000 buys, a drop of 12.1%. This was the only WWE pay-per-view event to receive a rating of TV-14 since WWE's transition to TV-PG in July 2008 and has been ranked as one of WWE's best events ever. It was also the first Extreme Rules event held since the end of the first brand extension in August 2011.
Production Background
Extreme Rules was an annual professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by WWE since 2009. The concept of the event was that it featured various matches that were contested under hardcore rules and generally featured one Extreme Rules match. 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, using it in place of "hardcore match" or "hardcore rules". The fourth Extreme Rules event was scheduled for April 29, 2012, at the Allstate Arena in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont, Illinois. Tickets went on sale on February 4 via Ticketmaster. It was the first Extreme Rules event held since the end of the first brand split in August 2011.
Storylines The professional wrestling matches at Extreme Rules comprised professional wrestlers performing as characters in scripted events pre-determined by the hosting promotion, WWE. Storylines between the characters were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw and SmackDown.
On the April 2 episode of Raw, John Cena spoke about his loss to The Rock the previous night at WrestleMania XXVIII, which was dubbed a once-in-a-lifetime match and the most important battle of Cena's career. Cena asked for the Rock to come out so that Cena could offer his congratulations. Instead, Brock Lesnar came into the ring, making his first WWE appearance since 2004. Lesnar offered to shake hands with Cena but instead executed the F-5, dropping Cena onto the mat. The next week, General Manager John Laurinaitis revealed that he signed Lesnar to bring "legitimacy" and for Lesnar to become the "new face of the WWE"; Laurinaitis also scheduled Lesnar to face Cena at Extreme Rules. On April 16, the match was made into an Extreme Rules match.
On the January 2 Raw, Chris Jericho returned to WWE. He made it clear that he wanted to reclaim his title as the "best wrestler in the world", which CM Punk had claimed to be since 2011. Punk defeated Jericho at WrestleMania XXVIII. In the weeks following the event, Jericho attacked Punk several times, once pouring a bottle of Jack Daniel's over him — a pointed insult to the straight edge Punk, and vowed to lead Punk "down the path to alcoholism just like his father." On the April 16 Raw, Jericho challenged Punk to a Chicago Street Fight at Extreme Rules for the WWE Championship.
At WWE's Royal Rumble pay-per-view event on January 29, Sheamus won the Royal Rumble match to earn the opportunity to face either WWE Champion CM Punk or World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan for their respective titles at WrestleMania XXVIII. Sheamus elected to wrestle Bryan and defeated him in 18 seconds to win the championship. On the April 10 episode of SmackDown, Bryan invoked his rematch clause for Extreme Rules. Bryan chose a two out of three falls format to prevent Sheamus from scoring another quick victory.
Another rivalry heading into Extreme Rules was between Randy Orton and Kane. In July 2011, Kane lost in a Street Fight to Orton, and the two shook hands after the match as a sign of respect. In 2012, a newly re-masked Kane viewed the handshake as a sign of weakness, hence Kane started a feud with Orton and defeated him at WrestleMania XXVIII. Yet, on the April 6 episode of SmackDown, Orton defeated Kane in a No Disqualification match. On the April 10 episode of SmackDown, Kane attacked Orton and his father "Cowboy" Bob Orton. On the April 20 episode of SmackDown, a Falls Count Anywhere match between Kane and Orton was scheduled for Extreme Rules.
On April 23, a rematch for the WWE Intercontinental Championship was scheduled between defending champion Big Show and Cody Rhodes. Big Show had won the title from Rhodes at WrestleMania XXVIII.
Later that same day, a title defense by United States Champion Santino Marella against The Miz was scheduled for the pre-show.
Also that same day, Nikki Bella defeated Beth Phoenix to capture the Divas Championship. Phoenix was slated to receive a rematch for the title at Extreme Rules, but was not medically cleared to compete due to a (storyline) sprained left ankle, and was replaced by Layla. This was Layla's first WWE appearance since the May 13, 2011, episode of SmackDown. Layla had injured her knee at the previous year's event and had subsequently been attacked by Kharma.
Event + Other on-screen personnelRole:Name:English CommentatorsMichael ColeBooker TJerry LawlerMatt Striker Spanish CommentatorsCarlos CabreraMarcelo RodriguezBackstage interviewerMatt StrikerRing announcersLilian Garcia Justin Roberts RefereesMike ChiodaCharles Robinson John ConeJustin KingScott ArmstrongChad Patton
Pre-show On the pre-show, The Miz challenged Santino Marella in a singles match for the United States Championship. Before the match, Miz complained about being in the pre-show after he was in the main event at last years' event. The title match ended with Marella pinning Miz after performing the Cobra on Miz. After the match, the stipulation for the Intercontinental Championship match between champion Big Show and Cody Rhodes was determined by a wheel spin which was revealed as a tables match.
Preliminary matches The actual pay-per-view opened with Randy Orton facing Kane in a Falls Count Anywhere match. The match started with Kane and Orton brawling into the crowd and then backstage, where Zack Ryder made an appearance to attack Kane and allow Orton to deliver an inverted headlock backbreaker for a two count. Orton and Kane eventually headed back into the ring, where Orton was unable to beat Kane despite multiple pin attempts after repeated chair shots, an elevated DDT off a broadcast table onto the arena floor and a superplex. In the end, Orton performed an RKO on Kane on a steel chair to win the match.
Next, Brodus Clay (accompanied by Hornswoggle and his background dancers, Cameron and Naomi) faced Dolph Ziggler (accompanied by Jack Swagger and Vickie Guerrero). Interference from Ziggler's tag team partner, Swagger, at ringside led to Ziggler seizing an early advantage with a leg drop bulldog and a sleeper hold. Clay then mounted a comeback; his headbutt floored an onrushing Ziggler, and Clay delivered a running splash to win the match.
After that, Big Show defended the Intercontinental Championship against Cody Rhodes in a tables match. Big Show had the upper hand early on, but Rhodes managed to escape being thrown into a table propped up in the ring corner by running up and pushing off it to deliver the Beautiful Disaster. Big Show then re-established the advantage with superior size and strength, but Rhodes later dropkicked his leg as he attempted to re-enter the ring from the outside. To regain his balance, Big Show stepped on and broke a table at ringside, thus Rhodes was declared the winner and regained the title as Big Show had gone through a table with his foot. An irate Big Show attacked Rhodes after the match.
In the fourth match, Sheamus defended the World Heavyweight Championship against Daniel Bryan in a two out of three falls match. Sheamus held the early advantage, putting Bryan in a Texas Cloverleaf and countering Bryan's flying knee off the apron by catching and tackling Bryan back-first into the barricade. Bryan then began to target Sheamus' left arm and shoulder with a hammerlock, and he repeatedly went for the "Yes" Lock, but Sheamus was able to shake him off. Bryan then sent Sheamus shoulder-first into the corner ring post, and continued to ram Sheamus into the ring post shoulder-first while outside the ring. Back in the ring, Bryan repeatedly kicked Sheamus' left arm while it was in the ropes and refused to stop at the referee's five count. The referee disqualified Bryan and awarded the first fall to Sheamus. Bryan, who intentionally disqualified himself to hurt Sheamus, immediately rushed to put the "Yes!" Lock on Sheamus, targeting the injured arm as soon the match was restarted. Sheamus soon passed out due to the "Yes!" Lock and the referee awarded the second fall to Bryan. WWE officials then tended to a dazed Sheamus, who insisted that he could continue the match, as Bryan started shouting "Yes!", prompting his fans to chant with him and his detractors in the crowd to yell "No!". When the match restarted, Bryan rushed Sheamus in the corner, but Sheamus responded with a Brogue Kick. Sheamus was slow to cover Bryan, and Bryan kicked out at two. Bryan then peppered Sheamus with kicks, and a kick to Sheamus' head got a two count. However, Bryan missed a diving headbutt and a corner dropkick, allowing Sheamus to make a comeback with double axe handles and an Irish Curse backbreaker. Sheamus finished Bryan off with a Brogue Kick to score a pinfall and win 2 falls to 1. With this victory, Sheamus retained his World Heavyweight Championship.
The fifth match featured Ryback (the former Skip Sheffield from WWE NXT who recently debuted with this gimmick earlier in the month) against Aaron Relic and Jay Hatton, two local competitors, in a 2-on-1 handicap match. Ryback performed a powerslam on Hatton, then a clothesline and a stunner on Relic. Ryback then delivered his finisher on Hatton and pinned both opponents at the same time for the dominant victory.