WWE Extreme Rules has a solid card. The first match of the evening was for the Intercontinental Championship. It pitted Dean Ambrose, the champ, against The Miz. Ambrose would be without the champion’s advantage, as he would lose the title if he were to be disqualified.
As always, Miz would be accompanied to the ring by his wife, Maryse. Given the Miz likes to use underhanded tactics, going in it was clear he would try to do anything to send Ambrose over the edge. If he could get into the head of Dean, he could get the title just by sending the champ off the deep end.
The stipulation fit the match perfectly given the two participants. Ambrose is often described as unhinged and unpredictable. The Miz was certainly placed in a solid position headed into the match. Even though I was pulling for Dean, I knew a DQ finish would make plenty of sense.
The bell rang and the two went at it, trading shot for shot. As expected, Miz tried his best. He would slap Dean a few times, which resulted in a flurry of blows by the IC title holder in the corner. This would result in the ref getting to four on his count multiple times. But The Miz was not done.
The two would end up on the outside of the ring, where Miz would trash talk enough to make Ambrose pick up a steal chair. He once again restrained himself, reluctantly. Then when the ref had his back turned, Miz picked up the chair. Ambrose was able to get the chair, but then needed to be restrained by the ref from using it.
The Miz would also untie one of the top turnbuckle pads, hoping Dean would send him flying into it. But luckily for Ambrose, he noticed just in time.
Then we got to the moment I had been waiting for. While the ref was looking at Ambrose, Miz asked his wife to slap him. This made a ton of sense. Given The Miz often hides behind his wife, using her to get Ambrose DQ’ed is exactly the finish I was expecting going into the match. It made the most sense, given the circumstances.
But the ref was too smart for Maryse and her husband’s trickery. He knew what they were up to, and sent Maryse packing. While Maryse stomped off, she was not moving fast enough. As a result, the referee found himself facing the stage, with both wrestlers to his back. And this is where a very solid match went south.
Miz pushed Ambrose so he would knock the ref out of the ring. The referee got up and saw the champ, and began to yell at him, “Did you push me?”. As the ref held his head and stormed towards the ring keeper’s area, the champ pleaded with him not to call for the DQ.
Now, if the disqualification was called right away, I would have been fine with it. The ref catching the Maryse trick only to DQ Ambrose a few minutes later would have been a good way to swerve the audience a bit. But instead, they dragged things on. Ambrose would plead and plead with the man in black and white. Then all of a sudden, Miz snuck up behind him and rolled him up for the pin.
Really?
It was a finish that simply had too many theatrics. If Ambrose was going to lose the title, it should have been done via the Miz’s underhanded tactics getting the titleholder DQ’ed. Instead, we got two false finishes with the DQ, only to have Ambrose lose anyway.
A match that I would have given an A for, based on the wrestling and storytelling, fell to a grade of about a C. The match itself was still great. But the finish was simply not the right call. Ambrose losing makes sense. But how he lost, does not.
What do you think? Did you enjoy the finish to the Dean Ambrose vs Miz match at WWE Extreme Rules? Tell us in the comments!