Cageside Community Star Ratings results for Extreme Rules 2017

Last week the community at Cageside Seats was asked to assign star ratings for all 7 matches that took place at Extreme Rules 2017.

The votes have all been tabulated, and for every match I will include these summary statistics:

• Votes: Total number of votes cast for a given match.
• AVG: The weighted average of every vote.
• Q1: First quartile, which is the value that roughly 25% of the votes fall at or below.
• Q2: Second quartile (aka median), which is the value that roughly 50% of the votes fall at or below.
• Q3: Third quartile, which is the value that roughly 75% of the votes fall at or below.
• Meltzer: Dave Meltzer’s star rating for a given match.
• Meltz Gap: The magnitude of the difference between Meltzer and AVG.
• Cain: My own personal star rating for the match.
• 5-stars: The percentage of votes for 5 stars.
• 4-stars or more: The percentage of votes for at least 4 stars.
• 2.25 to 3.75 stars: The percentage of votes for more than 2 stars but less than 4 stars.
• 2-stars or less: The percentage of votes that did not surpass 2 stars.
• 0-stars: The percentage of votes for 0 stars.

The following sortable table includes all the results of the Cageside Community Star Ratings for Extreme Rules 2017.

Here is a graphical summary of some of the numbers from the table. For any given match, the bottom of the blue rectangle is Q1 and the top of the blue rectangle is Q3. In most cases the blue rectangle includes the values where roughly the middle 50% of the votes were cast for that match. The thin line above the blue rectangle shows where roughly the highest 25% of the votes were cast, and the thin blue line below the rectangle shows where roughly the lowest 25% of the votes were cast. The matches are displayed left to right, sorted by AVG in descending order:

Analysis

I normally start this section with the highest community AVG scores and work my way down, but this time I feel compelled to start with the lowest AVG.

Bayley’s “Kendo Stick on a Pole” match bombed with the community and scored an AVG of 1.68 stars, while also achieving the highest voter turnout (566 votes). The community has voted on every PPV match since Survivor Series 2016, and the only one with a lower AVG is Owens versus Goldberg from Fastlane 2017.

16.96% of the votes were for 0 stars (no other match reached 3% there) and 71.38% of the votes came in at 2 stars or less. 12.54% of the votes were for 4 stars or more; that might sound like a lot, but every other match at Extreme Rules 2017 reached at least 28.77% for that category.

Swann’s mixed tag match came in next with an AVG of 2.98 stars. This match stands out for having 17.12% of its votes go for 5 stars, which was the highest result of the night in that category. That support at the highest level just wasn’t enough to get this match up to an AVG of 3 stars; 26.71% of the votes were for 2 stars or less, and that was the 2nd worst performance of the night out of all matches for that category. Perhaps a few folks noticed the unusually high top-end support and decided to reign it back in.

Kalisto versus Crews finished with an AVG of 3.28 stars and was received well for a pre-show match. This match only had 95 total votes, which fell just short of the voting total for Neville’s match (98 votes) for lowest voter turnout.

The next 3 matches all had pretty similar AVG values: Miz/Ambrose scored 3.46 stars, the tag team cage match scored 3.51 stars, and Neville/Aries scored 3.57 stars.

Out of those three matches, Ambrose’s match was the most polarizing. It had the most support for 5 stars (11.15%) and 4 stars or more (47.77%), but it also saw 15.92% of its votes go for 2 stars or less. Neville’s match and the cage match both scored under 7.50% in that latter category. The cage match had no votes for 0 stars and had the highest percentage of the night (57.63%) in the range from 2.25 stars to 3.75 stars.

You can see from the chart above that the bottom of Neville’s blue box is slightly higher than Cesaro’s; this happened because Neville’s match performed better within the upper portion of the “2.25 to 3.75 stars” spectrum than Cesaro’s match.

Finally, the Fatal 5-Way match was recognized by the community as the easy choice for best match of the night, with an AVG of 4.13 stars. 77.38% of the votes were for 4 stars or more; no other match broke 50% in that category. Only 2.80% of the votes were for 2 stars or less. 14.58% of the votes landed at 5 stars. This match blew away the field at Extreme Rules 2017.

Dave Meltzer agreed with the community that the main event (4.5 stars) was the best match of the night, while Sasha’s match (2.5 stars) and Bayley’s match (0 stars) were the worst of the night. He handed out a grade of 3.25 stars to all other matches.

The biggest Meltz Gap of the night was with Bayley’s match, because even though the community here hated it, the community AVG still scored 1.68 stars higher than Meltzer’s 0 star rating.

The Meltz Gap value for all remaining 6 matches came in at under 0.50 stars, so it doesn’t seem like there was major disagreement between Meltzer and the community at Extreme Rules 2017.

Community Feedback

Finally, here are some thoughts on these matches from various Cagesiders:

Balor vs. Rollins vs. Reigns vs. Wyatt vs. Joe

Comment from: TheFuzzyOne

4.5 from me

I’d maybe have gone to 4 if it were just ringwork, but there was a lot of psychology about everyone’s relationship with every other guy in the ring throughout it, and they didn’t go with the cliche "Heels fall out then lose" route either. Some great spots, Reigns looked like an absolute titan in that ring tonight, Rollins got a lot of his mojo back, Balor showing his aggression at last was glorious to behold and we got an unexpected but very good winner out of it too.

Also, that Seth/Reigns moment was magic. When you could hear the crowd finally starting to break through the "Roman sucks" with the "Lets go Seth!" chants, you know it’s moving into good territory.

Neville vs. Austin Aries

Comment from: MeltzerMark

3.75 leaning towards 4

the situation with the miscommunication of rules and the fact that this match wasn’t as tight as the two previous it felt a little rushed and sloppy

Hardy Boyz vs. Cesaro & Sheamus

Comment from: Kyle Decker

2.5

I’ll admit there were fun parts of the match. But most cage matches for me are going to be low because of all the belief that needs to be suspended when there’s a door. I can shout "Go through the door!" like 50 times during a match.

I felt in this match, with the special stipulation of both members having to escape to win, that was more obvious and it drove me nuts. Cole reminding me the better part of a thousand times the stipulation of the match hurt it for me too.

The end was fun still with Matt having to drag his lifeless brother out of the ring after Jeff put his body on the line to save Matt. Sure Cesaro and Sheamus had to hang on much longer than necessary before dropping to make it more suspenseful, but the ending was a fun bit.

Dean Ambrose vs. The Miz

Comment from: CortezSobelberg

3.25

While thoroughly entertained, they told the wrong story here in so many ways. Why didn’t the Miz have Maryse slap him the minute the bell rang? As we’ve seen before he’s not above that sort of scumbaggery. Then eliminate Maryse from the situation early, pinning the odds against Miz. Secondly, Dean, WTF ARE YOU DOING SWINGING A DAMN CHAIR?!?! He should have been DQ’d just for that alone. Last but certainly not least, referee John Cone. In a night where officiating and rules were questionable, Cone’s lack of decision making at the end made this tough to swallow. When Ambrose got tossed into Cone, he should have made a decision immediately. I personally think that it would have been more effective to have Miz win with a DQ. It fits his overall character.

Kalisto vs. Apollo Crews

Comment from: muellermilch245

3.75

Really enjoyed this match, they gave them plenty of time to work with and show what they can do. More of this for lower/midcarders please!

Banks & Swann vs. Fox & Dar

Comment from: phlash74

I'll give it 2.75

That’s pretty much my max for what is essentially a throwaway match – but it was fun, and it was nice to see a performer go over in their hometown for once. Swann’s Phoenix Splash is a thing of beauty, and I loved the dancing he and Sasha did afterwards.

Alexa Bliss vs. Bayley

Comment from: Kevin H

This was the epitome of a 0-star match

Poor ring work, nonsensical storytelling that doesn’t fit the characters, and head scratching booking. I understand they’re trying to tell a longer story, but I have zero confidence in the Raw writers to be able to pay off that story. It was a dud match with two performers who are too talented to have a dud match for no good reason.

Those are the results for the Cageside Community Star Ratings for Extreme Rules 2017. Thanks to everyone who participated!

Which number stands out to you the most?