Well, at least the company had the decency to announce the Diva's championship match before the show, right?
WWE.com brings word that Nikki Bella will defend her newly won Diva's title against Beth Phoenix at the Extreme Rules pay-per-view (PPV) set to go down this Sun., April 29, 2012, in Chicago, Illinois, in a rematch of their bout from Monday Night Raw this past week.
In that match, Bella won the belt after a worked injury angle led to Phoenix messing up her ankle. This led every dirtsheet on the planet to reveal that the plan all along was for Bella to win the title only to get squashed by a returning Kharma which would lead to what would be one of the biggest matches in the Divas division in years.
Obviously, it appears this is no longer the plan. Unless, of course, Nikki Bella is put over at the PPV just to see her get squashed on Raw the next night. But that would mean continuing the injury angle with Phoenix and making her look weak, relatively, or creating a new injury.
None of this seems to make sense when considering the fact that the Bella's are still reportedly set to leave the company by the end of the month.
And so, with my complete lack of sources, I would assume WWE is planning on putting the belt back on Phoenix (maybe just to avoid her breaking the record for the longest reign?) and just going straight into the Kharma feud. If that happens, expect quite a few dirtsheets to explain it away by saying something along the lines of, "the plans changed" or "once we broke the plan, they changed it to swerve everyone."
Really, the nature of the pro wrestling business is to pass on everything because it could be true but believe nothing because you're likely being worked. That's just the game we're in, Cagesiders.
As for Extreme Rules, get a look at the complete match card after the jump.
WWE EXTREME RULES 2012 MATCH CARD:
-- Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena (Extreme Rules)
-- CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho (Chicago Street Fight for the WWE Championship)
-- Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan (2 out of 3 Falls for the World Heavyweight Championship)
-- Randy Orton vs. Kane (Falls Count Anywhere)
-- Big Show vs. Cody Rhodes (For the Intercontinental Championship)
-- Nikki Bella vs. Beth Phoenix (For the Diva's Championship)