Extreme Rules
Promotional poster featuringJohn Cena
Promotion	WWE
Brand(s)	Raw SmackDown
Date	May 1, 2011
City	Tampa, Florida
Venue	St. Pete Times Forum
Attendance	10,000[1]
Buy rate	209,000[2]
Pay-per-view chronology
← Previous WrestleMania XXVII Next → Over the Limit
Extreme Rules chronology
← Previous 2010 Next → 2012

The 2011Extreme Rules was aprofessional wrestlingpay-per-view (PPV)event produced byWWE. It was the third annualExtreme Rules and took place on May 1, 2011, at theSt. Pete Times Forum inTampa, Florida. The event featured wrestlers from the promotion'sRaw andSmackDownbrand divisions. It was the first WWE PPV event to be held in Tampa sinceSurvivor Series in 2000. This was the last Extreme Rules held under the first brand extension, which ended in August but was reinstated in July 2016. It was also the company's first PPV to be promoted under its shortenedtrade name of WWE, as followingWrestleMania XXVII the previous month, the company ceased using its full name of World Wrestling Entertainment, although it is still the legal name of the company.

The concept of Extreme Rules is that the event features varioushardcore-based matches. The event's card consisted of eight matches, seven of which were contested under a hardcore stipulation, and there was also onedark match that occurred before thelive broadcast. The main event sawJohn Cena defeat defending championThe Miz andJohn Morrison in aTriple Threat Steel Cage match to win Raw'sWWE Championship. In the other main promoted matches,Christian defeatedAlberto Del Rio in aladder match to win SmackDown's vacantWorld Heavyweight Championship,Kofi Kingston defeatedSheamus in atables match to win SmackDown'sUnited States Championship, and in the opening bout,Randy Orton defeatedCM Punk in aLast Man Standing match. This was also the second Extreme Rules event to not feature the titularExtreme Rules match after theinaugural 2009 event. It was also notable for the WWE debut ofKharma, formerly known as Awesome Kong inTotal Nonstop Action Wrestling.

The event received 209,000 pay-per-view buys, up fromlast year's event of 182,000 buys.

Extreme Rules was an annualprofessional wrestlingpay-per-view (PPV) produced byWWE since2009—in April 2011, the promotion ceased going by its full name of World Wrestling Entertainment, with "WWE" becoming anorphaned initialism.^[3] Theconcept of the event was that it featured various matches that were contested underhardcore rules and generally featured oneExtreme Rules match.^[4] The defunctExtreme Championship Wrestling promotion, which WWE acquired in 2003, originally used the "extreme rules" term to describe the regulations for all of its matches; WWE adopted the term, using it in place of "hardcore match" or "hardcore rules". The 2011 Extreme Rules event was the third Extreme Rules and featured wrestlers from theRaw andSmackDownbrands. It took place on May 1, 2011, at theSt. Pete Times Forum inTampa, Florida. Tickets went on sale on December 18.^[5][6]

Theprofessional wrestling matches at Extreme Rules involved professional wrestlers performing ascharacters inscripted events pre-determined by the hostingpromotion, WWE. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw and SmackDown brands,^[7][8] while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows,Monday Night Raw andSmackDown.^[9]

Edge was originally scheduled to defend hisWorld Heavyweight Championship againstAlberto Del Rio in aladder match. However, Edge retired on the April 11 episode ofRaw due to acervical spinal stenosis stemming from his neck injury.^[10] The match was scrapped^[11] and the title was vacated on the April 15 episode ofSmackDown. Later, Edge's best friend,Christian, won a 20-manbattle royal to face Del Rio in the ladder match for the title.^[12] In the interim, Del Rio was drafted to Raw in the2011 WWE Draft.

On the April 11 episode ofRaw,John Cena,Randy Orton,John Morrison,Dolph Ziggler, andR-Truth fought in agauntlet match to determine the number one contender forThe Miz'sWWE Championship. Cena and Truth became the last two men remaining, but were attacked by The Miz and his protégéAlex Riley, resulting in a double disqualification. Afterwards, theanonymous Raw general manager announced that The Miz would defend his title against Cena and Truth at Extreme Rules,^[10] with the match later scheduled to be contested in asteel cage. The following week, Morrison (who had been eliminated by Truth in the gauntlet match) confronted Truth about his capability of competing in the match and challenged him to a match for his spot, which Truth accepted. Morrison won, thus replacing Truth at Extreme Rules. Truth then turnedheel by viciously attacking Morrison afterwards, then lighting a cigarette and blowing smoke into Morrison's face.^[13]

An ongoing feud involvedRaw commentatorsMichael Cole andJerry Lawler. AtWrestleMania XXVII, Lawler had made Cole submit to the ankle lock, but theanonymous Raw General Manager reversed the decision, thus making Cole the winner via disqualification.^[14] On the April 11 episode ofRaw, Lawler defeated Cole's trainer,Jack Swagger, allowing him to team up with his former broadcast partner,Jim Ross, to face Cole and Swagger at Extreme Rules.^[10] Two weeks later, the Raw General Manager decided that the match would be aCountry Whipping match.^[15]

Another feud pitted the members ofLayCool against each other. Dissension betweenLayla andMichelle McCool started on the April 8 episode ofSmackDown when Michelle refused to tag Layla in a tag team match againstBeth Phoenix andKelly Kelly. Also, tension grew since they failed to get back theWWE Divas Championship several times and lost a six-person tag-team match at WrestleMania XXVII againstTrish Stratus,John Morrison, andSnooki fromJersey Shore.^[14] The following two weeks, the two attended couple's therapy sessions, but the latter session ended with McCool attacking Layla, solidifying their break up. During the 2011 WWE Draft, after Layla lost her match againstEve, she attacked McCool for distracting her. On the April 29 episode ofSmackDown, after fighting to a double count-out in their match, Layla and McCool agreed to have a No Count-out, No Disqualification match at Extreme Rules with the loser leaving WWE.

Another feud involvedRey Mysterio andCody Rhodes. At WrestleMania XXVII, Cody Rhodes had defeated Rey Mysterio by using his protective face mask, followed by Cross Rhodes.^[14] On the April 22 episode ofSmackDown, Rhodes and Mysterio would have a rematch; however, Mysterio defeated Rhodes. After the match, Rhodes attacked Mysterio from behind, performed a Cross Rhodes on a concrete floor, and put a paper bag on Mysterio. AFalls Count Anywhere match between the two was scheduled for Extreme Rules.

Two matches were added to the card during the event. SmackDown General ManagerTheodore Long added a match betweenSheamus andKofi Kingston for theWWE United States Championship. Also alumberjack match pitting theWWE Tag Team Champions,Big ShowandKane, againstWade Barrett andEzekiel Jackson was added.

Before the event went on air,Sin Cara defeatedTyson Kidd in a non-televiseddark match.^[16]

The first televised match sawCM Punk taking onRandy Orton in aLast Man Standing match. While Punk made his way to the ring with the members ofThe New Nexus, theAnonymous Raw General Manager declared that the members of The New Nexus were banned from ringside. After a back and forth match for quite some time, Punk brought in kendo sticks and the two proceeded to beat one another with them. After both men abandoned the use of the kendo sticks, Punk threw Orton into the exposed metal turnbuckle. The match then spilled to the matted area around the ring where Orton performed asnap scoop powerslam. At approximately ten minutes into the match, Punk executed aGTS on Orton, who barely managed to stand. The match was moved back into the ring where Punk performed ascoop slam to Orton on top of a chair. Orton executed theRKO on Punk, but Punk managed to stand. After going outside of the ring again, Punk put a chair around Orton's neck and drove him into the ring post. Orton then delivered an RKO on the broadcast table to Punk, with Punk again managing to stand. Punk then executed a variation of the GTS on Orton on the steel steps. Back in the ring, Punk ascended to the top rope only to be caught by Orton, who repeatedly hit him with a kendo stick. After abandoning the kendo stick, Orton managed to execute an RKO from the top rope on Punk. Punk could not answer the count and the referee declared Orton the winner.^[17]

Before the second match, in a backstage segment, SmackDown general managerTheodore Long informed Sheamus that he would be defending the WWE United States Championship against Kofi Kingston in atables match. Sheamus executed theBrogue Kick and Kingston delivered theTrouble in Paradise but they both managed to not go through the tables. Kingston put Sheamus through a table with aBoom Drop off the top rope, winning his second United States Championship and returning the title back to Raw.^[17]

The following match was atag teamCountry Whipping match pittingMichael Cole andJack Swagger againstWWE Hall of Famers,Jerry Lawler andJim Ross. Swagger and Cole dominated the match early on until Lawler made the hot tag to Ross. After taking Cole down, Ross applied theAnCole lock, but Swagger entered the ring and pulled Ross off of Cole. Ross used a leather strap to deliver alow blow to Swagger, but was then pinned with aschoolboy by Cole for the win.^[17]

The next match pitted Cody Rhodes and Rey Mysterio against one another in a Falls Count Anywhere match. Mysterio ran off the entrance ramp and executed aseated senton on Rhodes. The brawl then headed backstage where Mysterio tackled Rhodes into a stand. The finish came when Mysterio spitmist into Rhodes' face, delivered the619 and aspringboardsplash for the pin.^[17]

After that, Layla fought Michelle McCool in ano disqualification, no countout,Loser Leaves WWE match. The match started with McCool attacking Layla during her entrance routine. McCool was then able to deliver theFaith Breaker, but her pin was reversed by Layla into acrucifix for the win. After the match, the debutingKharma attacked McCool with anImplant Buster.^[17]

The vacant World Heavyweight Championship was contested between Christian and Alberto Del Rio in a ladder match. During the match, Christianbackdropped Del Rio onto a ladder. Del Rio was able to perform anenzuigiri on Christian, knocking him off the top rope. Del Rio then attempted to free the championship, but was unsuccessful. About sixteen minutes into the match, Christian used aspear on Del Rio as a tribute to Edge. After Christian was about to unhook the championship,Brodus Clay ran down to ringside, preventing Christian from winning the match. Clay began to bleed after taking a shot from a ladder and then thrown to the outside by Christian. After this, Del Rio applied thecross armbreaker on Christian and began scaling the ladder. However, Del Rio was distracted by a car horn coming from a jeep driven by Edge. Christian took advantage of this and knocked Del Rio off the ladder onto Brodus Clay andRicardo Rodriguez at ringside. Christian went on to retrieve the World Heavyweight Championship. Edge then celebrated with Christian in the ring.^[17]

Next, Kane and Big Show defended the WWE Tag Team Championship against Wade Barrett and Ezekiel Jackson in a lumberjack match. In the end, Barrett tagged himself in once Jackson had Big Show down but was caught by Big Show and then suffered achokeslam for the win.^[17]

In the last match of the pay-per-view, The Miz defended the WWE Championship against John Cena and John Morrison in a steel cagetriple threat match. The match started with Morrison and Cena teaming up against The Miz. Cena executed adiving bulldog on the Miz from the top rope, while Morrison tried to escape the cage, only to be stopped by Cena. As Morrison made another attempt to escape, The Miz stopped him. Cena performed theFive Knuckle Shuffle on Morrison, but Miz delivered theSkull Crushing Finale to Cena. The Miz tried to climb the cage but was, again, teamed up on by Morrison and Cena as they performed adouble suplex from the top of the cage on Miz. Morrison then tried a variation of theFlyingChuck using the cage wall instead of the ropes, aiming for Cena, but hit The Miz instead. Morrison executed astanding moonsault side slam on Cena, but waspowerbombed into the steel cage wall by The Miz. Cena then applied theSTF on The Miz as he tried exiting the ring by the door, but Morrison climbed the cage and shut the door, which hit The Miz. Cena then pushed Morrison who landed on the door on his groin. Back in the ring, The Miz executed aDDT on Cena, and executed abig boot. As Morrison tried to escape the cage, both Cena and The Miz tried to stop him, but Morrison performed theStarship Pain from the top of the cage. Later in the match, Morrison was about to escape the cage to win the WWE Championship, whenR-Truth came to ringside and attacked Morrison. He then took Morrison back into the ring and began repeatedly attacking him, finally ending the assault with theWhat's Up. R-Truth went on to deliver aTruthAxe on Cena before climbing over the cage. The match ended as Cena executed anAttitude Adjustment on The Miz from the top rope for the pinfall victory, winning his eighth WWE Championship.^[17]

Extreme Rules 2011 received extremely positive reviews. In his review forThe Sun, Rob McNichol reported that the event was "a stunning return to form by WWE". CM Punk and Randy Orton's opening Last Man Standing Match was deemed a very strong opening bout. The Country Whipping match was described as "unsatisfying and slow" while Rey Mysterio vs Cody Rhodes was hailed as "a high quality wrestling match". Kharma's debut was heralded as a special moment sorely lacking from recent WWE PPVs. The SmackDown main event Ladder Match between Alberto Del Rio and Christian for the vacant World Heavyweight Championship was given praise, "The crowd's genuine elation and the celebration with his [Edge] former partner and best friend made it a very special moment. Both were great and Christian's title win was something that should have happened a long time ago". John Morrison's performance was praised as "stunning". "The high-risk moves and Starship Pain of the top of the cage proves why Morrison is a future star in WWE." The Sun gave praise in some matches calling them outstanding and "Extreme", McNichol said that the event lived up to its name, the Last Man Standing match was rated 9 out of 10, the World Championship Ladder match a 9.5 out of 10 and the WWE Championship Steel Cage was rated 9 out of 10, and rated the show 9.5 out of 10 overall.^[18]

The president has just announced that we have caught, and compromised to a permanent end, Osama bin Laden.
–John Cena

Following the conclusion of Extreme Rules, news was breaking worldwide thatOsama bin Laden had beenkilled by U.S. troops. WWE Champion John Cena addressed the live audience at the event with a speech about the events and American pride.^[19] Cena's announcement was replayed the next evening onRaw in Miami, whereLilian Garcia performed the national anthem in the beginning of the show.Dwayne Johnson also addressed the issue prior to his birthday celebration and led the crowd in a recitation of thePledge of Allegiance.

After attacking Michelle McCool at the event, Kharma would attack female wrestlers on both the Raw and SmackDown brands with Layla fleeing. Meanwhile, Michelle McCool retired after this event.

The night after Extreme Rules, The Miz invoked his rematch clause the following night onRaw. He originally won the match by hitting Cena with the WWE Championship belt due to outside interference from Alex Riley, but after refereeMike Chioda saw The Miz drop the WWE Championship belt in the ring, Chioda told ring announcerJustin Roberts to reverse the decision that The Miz was disqualified and Cena retained the championship via disqualification. On the May 9 episode ofRaw, The Miz defeated Rey Mysterio andAlberto Del Rio to earn another shot at the WWE Championship. After the match, Cena announced that their match would be an"I Quit" match. 13 days later atOver the Limit, Cena defended the WWE Championship against and defeated The Miz in an "I Quit" match after the match was restarted due to the referee noticing interference from Alex Riley.

This was the final Extreme Rules held under the first brand split, which ended in August,^[20] but was reinstated in July 2016.^[21]

• Official Extreme Rules website

• WWE Extreme Rules
• 2011 in professional wrestling in Florida
• Professional wrestling shows in the Tampa Bay area
• 2011 WWE pay-per-view events
• May 2011 in the United States

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