A fatal five-way will take place in the main event of ‘Extreme Rules’ 2017. (WWE.com)
Extreme Rules, the latest WWE pay-per-view, is now just days away. In the main event, there will be a fatal five-way to determine who will become the number one contender for the WWE Universal Championship. So who is going to win the match? What are some of the spoilers that have emerged about Extreme Rules?
It seems that the most likely winners of the Extreme Rules match are Seth Rollins and Finn Balor. Brock Lesnar was originally going to fight Braun Strowman for his first title defense, but those plans had to be changed when Strowman was legitimately injured. After Strowman’s injury, the Wrestling Observer reported that the two most likely opponents for Lesnar instead of Strowman were Seth Rollins and Finn Balor. The fact that both of these superstars were subsequently placed in a number one contender match fits with this reporting.
Of course, a feud between Finn Balor and Brock Lesnar essentially writes itself, and the WWE has been setting this up in recent weeks. On the May 22nd episode of Monday Night Raw, for instance, Finn Balor had a promo segment with Paul Heyman, during which Heyman said that he was scouting victims for Brock Lesnar. During this segment, Finn Balor said that he’s going to win the fatal five-way and come after the Universal Championship which he never lost. None of the other competitors in the fatal five-way were given a segment with Paul Heyman, suggesting that the WWE is leaning towards giving Balor the victory.
Seth Rollins winning would also make sense, especially given the typical WWE formula of having a champion lose ahead of their big match. This past week on Raw, Seth Rollins was defeated by Roman Reigns, setting him up to score a comeback and emerge victorious in the fatal five-way. This storyline would likely be pitched as Seth Rollins moving on from slaying The Game in order to go after the next big thing, The Beast.
Either way, the winner of this number one contender’s match is expected to lose to Brock Lesnar at Great Balls of Fire. The Wrestling Observer has been reporting that the long-term plan is to have Brock Lesnar face Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 34, likely with the Universal Championship on the line, and so Lesnar will evidently be hanging on to the title until April 2018.
Great Balls of Fire, Brock Lesnar’s first title defense, will air on July 9th, 2017.