WWE Extreme Rules 2013 match card: John Cena vs. Ryback official

It's been clear for a couple weeks now this was the direction the promotion was headed but the match, WWE Champion John Cena defending his title against Ryback, was just made official for the Extreme Rules pay-per-view (PPV) event on Sun., May 19, 2013, at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missiouri.

From the WWE.com preview breaking the news:

John Cena persevered through a nearly 18-month title drought before reclaiming the WWE Championship at WrestleMania, but if Ryback has his way, Cena's 11th WWE Title reign will come to a quick and unceremonious end at Extreme Rules.

WWE.com has confirmed that the bald-headed shredder - arguably WWE's most dominate competitor of the last year - will receive first crack at the new WWE Champion at the May 19 pay-per-view. As exciting as this first-time singles contest would be under ordinary conditions, the title bout is made all the more intriguing by its personal overtones and Ryback's claim that he is looking to break out of The Champ's sizable shadow.

You can imagine what expectations are for the actual match. The feud has been underwhelming, though in fairness the storytelling has been better than what we usually get with WWE.

Still, the thought of Cena being asked to carry Ryback to a solid match at a PPV is downright scary, especially if it's going to be on the same card that CM Punk won't have a match on and the third match in the ongoing feud between Triple H and Brock Lesnar is being asked to carry the rest of the load.

Ouch.

Here's the current Extreme Rules match card:

- John Cena vs. Ryback
- Dolph Ziggler vs. Alberto Del Rio vs. Jack Swagger
- Triple H vs. Brock Lesnar*

*Not official