Predicting the match order at Extreme Rules 2020

It’s one thing to predict the winners and losers at Extreme Rules 2020, but how about taking a guess at the match order on that card?

WWE has announced seven different segments for the main card of The Horror Show at Extreme Rules.

Here is my subjective view of how important each of these seven segments rank, ordered from most important to least important.

1. Rey Mysterio vs. Seth Rollins
2. Asuka vs. Sasha Banks
3. Braun Strowman vs. Bray Wyatt
4. Drew McIntyre vs. Dolph Ziggler
5. New Day vs. Cesaro & Nakamura
6. Bayley vs. Nikki Cross
7. Apollo Crews vs. MVP

It is important to come up with a list like this to get an idea of which matches are going to be placed in the key spots on the card or take up the most time, and which matches might end up in the cool-down spots or be given the least amount of time.

Someone’s eye will be extracted in Mysterio’s match. That seems like a higher stakes situation than anything else going on at The Horror Show.

After that, Asuka’s match has been presented as a big deal, and I’m putting it ahead of Strowman because the latter is not a championship match.

McIntyre is defending the WWE championship, but it’s against Dolph Ziggler, so that knocks it down a few pegs.

Those four matches are the main attractions at this event. Nikki Cross hasn’t been presented as much of a threat to Bayley, so I’m putting New Day atop the remaining three matches.

Main event

Every now and then WWE books a pay-per-view where there are several main event choices, and here we have a show with four possible main event matches. It’s going to be either Mysterio, Strowman, Asuka, or McIntyre.

I’m going to rule out Asuka because her match doesn’t have a stipulation, which violates the spirit of the Extreme Rules concept. I’m also going to rule out McIntyre, because his match has Dolph Ziggler.

So will WWE end the night with an eye extraction or a Swamp Fight? Ending the show with a man getting his eye pulled out seems pretty awkward, but I’m also not sure how you follow that up.

I’ll stick with the Swamp Fight for the main event. Like with the Boneyard match at WrestleMania 36, I can see WWE going off site from the Performance Center and then off the air.

Opening match

The opening match of the night is usually one of the mid-level attractions with good work rate that doesn’t require a dedicated video package ahead of time to hype it up.

The main candidates here are New Day, Bayley, or perhaps even McIntyre.

The safest bet seems to be New Day; their Tables match with Cesaro and Nakamura has a stipulation to fit the theme for the night, and it should deliver in the ring as well.

That gives me the following card:

Segment 1: New Day vs. Cesaro & Nakamura
Segment 2:
Segment 3:
Segment 4:
Segment 5:
Segment 6:
Segment 7: Braun Strowman vs. Bray Wyatt

Segment 2 and Segment 6

I’m not really sure how to place a match where someone’s eye is pulled out. I guess you can do that right before heading out to a swamp? I believe that Mysterio’s match has been taped ahead of time, so I think WWE will end the night with the two matches that are already filmed. That means Mysterio goes in Segment 6.

Segment 2 goes to one of the least important matches of the night, so that’s either Bayley or Apollo Crews. I want to create some distance between Bayley and Sasha’s matches, so I’ll put Bayley in Segment 2.

That gives me the following card:

Segment 1: New Day vs. Cesaro & Nakamura
Segment 2: Bayley vs. Nikki Cross
Segment 3:
Segment 4:
Segment 5:
Segment 6: Rey Mysterio vs. Seth Rollins
Segment 7: Braun Strowman vs. Bray Wyatt

Everything else

Segment 5 should go to whichever remaining match is the most important, so that’s Asuka.

I don’t really see MVP being placed later than McIntyre unless McIntyre is in the opener. Therefore I’ll stick Drew in Segment 4, and MVP in Segment 3.

Finalized card

So here is my final prediction for the match order at Extreme Rules, along with guesses on the bell-to-bell match times:

Segment 1: New Day vs. Cesaro & Nakamura (12 minutes)
Segment 2: Bayley vs. Nikki Cross (10)
Segment 3: Apollo Crews vs. MVP (8)
Segment 4: Drew McIntyre vs. Dolph Ziggler (13)
Segment 5: Asuka vs. Sasha Banks (15)
Segment 6: Rey Mysterio vs. Seth Rollins (16)
Segment 7: Braun Strowman vs. Bray Wyatt (17)

That’s my prediction for the match order at Extreme Rules 2020. What’s yours?