Extreme Rules provided a heartbreaking end to a mostly head-scratching night for WWE.

Seth Rollins and Dolph Ziggler delivered the compelling action you expected from their 30-minute iron-man match for the Intercontinental championship at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh on Sunday.

The first seven of the match’s nine falls came in the opening 15 minutes as Ziggler — with help from buddy Drew McIntyre — rallied from 0-3 down to take a 4-3 lead. It left Rollins chasing a fall with big move after big move. He earned a pin thanks to a rollup with a little more than three minutes remaining. It set up a late scramble that saw Rollins run out of time after hitting a super kick and the Curb Stomp with eight seconds remaining. He covered Ziggler as the clock struck zero.

Raw general manager Kurt Angle sent the match to sudden-death overtime to the delight of the crowd. But it wasn’t long until McIntyre — who had been previously tossed from ringside — returned to distract Rollins. Ziggler hit the Zig Zag and pinned Rollins to retain his title, silencing the crowd. Rollins likely will be chasing the belt into SummerSlam at Barclays Center on Aug. 19.

Like Rollins and Ziggler, A.J. Styles again delivered a match with a clear story and action that made you care about what was going on. Rusev, in his first WWE championship match, gave you reason to believe he has a future near the top of the card thanks to his selling ability and crowd support. Also, Aiden English removing the turnbuckle cover costing Rusev could be a seed that grows into the pair eventually breaking up. An effective piece of business all around.

While those were the top matches, Braun Strowman and Kevin Owens delivered the only true “extreme” moment of the night. Strowman throwing Owens from the top of the steel cage into the announcers’ table is what you would expect from a show named, “Extreme Rules.” Kudos to Owens — who sells maybe better than anyone in the company right now — for taking that bump. He continues to shine in a program made to push Strowman.

Even Bobby Lashley beating Roman Reigns was better than expected. The crowd was engaged in the match, which properly told the story of two guys who want to prove they are the man on “Monday Night Raw.” The two traded power move after power move until Lashley countered Reigns’ spear with one of his own for the victory.

Lashley legitimized himself with the win and the performance, coming off a feud with Sami Zayn that missed the mark. He is officially in the running for the Universal championship, which could be stripped from Brock Lesnar if he doesn’t show up to Raw on Monday night or agree to a title defense.

Lesnar, however, was the least of WWE’s problems Sunday night. None of the positives from the top of the card could save this pay-per-view from its head-shaking misses.

WWE decided basically to scrap one of the few matches that could steal the show in order for Randy Orton to return, and he didn’t even deliver an RKO.

Orton emerged after Shinsuke Nakamura won his first belt in the WWE thanks to a low blow before the bell on United State champion Jeff Hardy, hitting him with the Kinshasa just after the bell to claim the honor. It just feels wrong that someone as good as Nakamura in-ring should win a championship that way.

Hardy has been battling a back injury lately, which could have played a factor. It will be interesting to see what happens with their rematch on “SmackDown Live” on Tuesday. It should make the extent of the injury clearer.

Not even the women could provide a bright spot. The two women’s matches did nothing to make you feel good about the state of the women’s revolution other than the reaction “fan” Ronda Rousey got when she left her seat and jumped the barricade to enter the fray. How do you not add to Rousey’s 30-day suspension after she left and got involved in the match? This explanation should be interesting.

The Raw women’s championship match was a chaotic mess, and the one for the SmackDown title was filled with gimmick after gimmick to make up for Carmella’s deficient in-ring ability. Asuka spent more time beating up James Ellsworth, who started the match suspended in a cage.

Alexa Bliss pinned Nia Jax — with help from Mickie James — to retain her Raw title, but it felt like a semi-tag match with no disqualification and James and Natalya at ringside. All the garbage cans, chairs and kendo stick couldn’t save this match from that faulty premise.

Speaking of making your champion look weak, Carmella needed to jump Asuka from behind to win. Asuka was focused on WWE staff trying to put Ellsworth, hanging by his foot, back into the cage.

I understand Carmella gets a good heel reaction from the crowd, but to have to watch this when the likes of Becky Lynch and Naomi sit on the sidelines just seems like a waste of your talent.

Much like most of Extreme Rules was.

Other matches:

The B-Team over Bray Wyatt and Matt Hardy (c.) for the Raw tag-team championship

The B-Team remained unbeaten and became tag champs to keep the story going. It could mean a potential date at the Hardy Compound. Still, having the pin happen after the first break the B-Team got, and for the celebration to not be something Alex Ovechkin or J.R. Smith would be proud of, left this win a little flat.

The Bludgeon Brothers (c.) over Team Hell No for the SmackDown Live tag team championships

This calamity this match became — Kane wrestling in a walking boot after a backstage attack — could get a pass because the Big Red Machine could have a legitimate foot injury, according to PWInsider. Bryan as an underdog — in what was a handicap match early — still had the crowd behind it.

Finn Balor over Baron Corbin

It’s a shame Balor is being made to take part in these filler matches that have very little meaning. These two did the best they could with this. Please bring back Balor’s demon persona.

Sanity over The New Day (Pre-show)

Stop putting New Day on the pre-show. Their and Sanity’s work in this table match deserves better.

Andrade “Cien” Almas over Sin Cara (Pre-show)

Almas and manager Zelina Vega can be stars. The more lucha style made for a fun match.

Biggest winner: Bobby Lashley

Biggest loser: Jeff Hardy

Match of the night: Seth Rollins vs. Dolph Ziggler

Grade: C