Samoa Joe reigns at Extreme Rules, earns Universal title shot

Samoa Joe emerged as the number one contender for the WWE Universal Championship at Extreme Rules. Photo by WWE.com

Samoa Joe choked the life out of Finn Balor to emerge victorious in the fatal-5-way main event at Extreme Rules Sunday (Monday Manila time) in Baltimore, Maryland.

The Destroyer outlasted the Demon King, as well as Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, and Bray Wyatt to become the number one contender for the WWE Universal Championship in the chaotic main event.

Balor nailed Reigns with a Sling Blade and connected with a Coup de Grace, but Joe took the opportunity to come from behind and lock in his dreaded submission hold to knock his former NXT foe unconscious.

Joe will now face Brock Lesnar for the title in next month’s WWE Great Balls of Fire.

In the night’s other matches, The Miz became a seven-time Intercontinental Champion to dethrone Dean Ambrose.

The A-Lister used a variety of distractions including scheming his wife Maryse to slap him while also pushing the Lunatic Fringe to the referee to force disqualification. The confusion did him well, though, as he sneaked from behind to hit the Skull Crushing Finale for the pinfall victory.

Sheamus and Cesaro also reclaimed their Raw Tag Team Championships as they edged the Hardy Boyz in a photo finish in their Steel Cage match.

Alexa Bliss retained her Raw Women’s Championship as she shoved Bayley to a kendo stick on the turnbuckle before nailing the DDT.

Neville continued to frustrate Austin Aries as he successfully defended his WWE Cruiserweight Championship in their submission match.

The King of the Cruiserweights hit his rival with a Red Arrow to the back before following it up with a Rings of Saturn for the verbal tap-out.

Rich Swann and Sasha Banks beat Noam Dar and Alicia Fox after Dar suffered a double knee drop from Banks at ringside followed by a Phoenix Splash from Swann.

In the kickoff show, Kalisto capitalized on Titus O’Neil’s distraction from ringside as he hit Apollo Crews with the Salida del Sol for the three-count.