Vince McMahon is away for one night and Triple H books a PPV main event with a title that hasn't been used in that spot for seventeen years.
The dust has well and truly settled following WWE Extreme Rules 2018 and the PPV has been getting mixed reviews. Heading into the event, it was anyone's guess which match was going to close out proceedings on Sunday night. That's why the match order was all important. For the most part, whoever was in charge of that side of things did a terrific job.
The cherry on the cake? Dolph Ziggler and Seth Rollins' terrific Ironman match in the main event slot. It's the first time an Intercontinental Title match has been in the last match on a PPV since 2001. Even more impressive, the last time the IC title was the focus in a PPV main event was when Bret Hart and British Bulldog fought for it at Wembley in the closing match of SummerSlam 1992.
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So what exactly prompted WWE to make history in this way? Well, it would appear that it was Triple H's decision to make. According to What Culture, Vince McMahon wasn't even in the building on Sunday night. Instead, the chairman left the show in the more than capable hands of his son-in-law. The apparent decision behind The Game's reason to close the night with Rollins versus Ziggler? Because he thought it would make the show better. As simple as that.
Most fans are of the belief that Mr. McMahon will not let anyone make any important decisions in WWE until he is gone from the company. Clearly, that is not the case. It is becoming more and more evident that McMahon has great faith in Triple H. First via NXT, then 205 Live, and now by letting him take the reigns on PPVs. Perhaps we could start seeing some bigger changes sooner than we thought.
Rather than what did main event Extreme Rules, perhaps the more notable thing is what didn't. Roman Reigns versus Bobby Lashley was expected to close the show and if it had, the fans would not have been happy about it. Without McMahon making the decisions, the fans were given a great match that they actually wanted to see come the end of the night. Judging by Raw the following night, however, The Big Dog's push is still far from over.