The reformation of Evolution and apparent return of Kane as the masked “Devil’s Favorite Demon” are all a part of a creative shake-up that came about due to a leg injury sustained by Triple H during his WrestleMania 30 match with Daniel Bryan, we can exclusively reveal. HHH’s left leg was shown to be taped up during the main event segment of Monday Night Raw last week.
The initial plans for Extreme Rules were for Triple H to challenge Daniel Bryan for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship and for The Shield to face Randy Orton, Batista and “Corporate” Kane. While Hunter’s leg injury is not enough to keep him out of the ring full stop, the decision was made to limit his in-ring involvement at Extreme Rules. This lead to the reformation of Evolution (minus Ric Flair) and a probable 6-man Tag Team match with The Shield at Extreme Rules.
WWE felt that having Bryan face “corporate” Kane so soon after Bryan had picked up 3 clean wins over the character on TV in the build to WrestleMania was not a strong start for Bryan’s WWE World Heavyweight Championship reign, which is why Kane is expected to return to his masked character. WWE will play off Bryan’s past involvement with masked Kane as a part of Team Hell No, as well as Kane’s destructive past while wearing the mask, during the build to a WWE World Heavyweight Championship opportunity for Kane against Bryan at Extreme Rules.
Evolution vs The Shield will be in the main event spot of the card, with Bryan’s title defense against masked Kane taking place earlier in the night.
Some had speculated that Bryan may defend his Championship against Brock Lesnar at Extreme Rules, however it is not expected that Lesnar will work any more pay-per-view events until SummerSlam. While Lesnar has worked both Extreme Rules events since his return in 2012, he worked the 2014 Royal Rumble show this year instead of Extreme Rules.
There had also been speculation of a 4-on-4 War Games match taking place at Extreme Rules. Following the events of the main event segment on Raw last week, some had suggested a Triple H, Kane, Randy Orton & Batista vs Daniel Bryan & The Shield War Games match could take place. However, while Triple H remains an advocate backstage for the WCW War Games format to be used in WWE, Vince McMahon retains his belief that he bettered the War Games concept with the creation of the Elimination Chamber structure.
It remains to be seen how WWE get around Randy Orton’s rematch clause for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship after he wasn’t pinned or made to submit in the Triple Threat match at WrestleMania. With Orton now seemingly drifting away from the feud with Daniel Bryan and becoming firmly involved in Evolution’s match with The Shield, WWE may hold off on another round of Orton vs Bryan for the title until a future PPV or have the match as a TV main event in the build to Extreme Rules.
Wade “Bad News” Barrett is expected to win the Intercontinental Championship tournament and face Big E at the Extreme Rules PPV, with Cesaro facing former tag partner Jack Swagger. The recent TV victories for RyBaxel could also see them move into a Tag Team Championship feud with The Usos. Big Show vs Damien Sandow is also expected to feature, with Sandow seeking retribution for been knocked out by Show this past Monday on Raw.