Intercontinental Championship Match

BIG E. (C) vs. BAD NEWS BARRETT

“Big E. is “winning” this, even if it would be remarkable if he leaves Extreme Rules with the title.“

Like many of the matches on this card, the ending of this match was so predictable it seemed unlikely. Bad News Barrett, who has been on the type of upswing that ends in World Title reigns, looked every bit as good as he has against the likes of Sheamus in the past few weeks, and was unsurprisingly met at every turn by the extremely gifted Big E. Of course, Big E didn’t really “win” the match, but it has at the very least set him up going forward to not be a total goober while they try to create a character for him that has the emotional resonance — read: really great catchphrase/mic work — that Barrett has with his Bad News.

This match may not have been anything to write home about, but it was certainly a solid match on a solid card that managed to both get people behind Big E and make it feel like they made the right decision by putting Barrett over in an attempt to build up the Intercontinental title to somewhere higher than “kryptonite”.

Match +.45 | Overall 1.45

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