Pro Wrestling

Recapping Backlash

Posted on Author Jeremy Laracuente Comment(0)

Backlash is the first of the new (Non-Big Four PPV) Co-Branded PPV since the initial Superstar Shakeup.

This special WWE event is going to be the first step in the new era of WWE, as their new tv deal is coming up soon and WWE is looking to draw in new fans to the product.

Kick-Off

Bayley vs. Ruby Riott

Laracuente Ledger Rating: 🌟1/2

This match kicked off the “Kick-Off” show, and it was a tough match to watch. The pacing and transitions in this match were not the smoothest for either lady, and that’s what made this match feel choppy and inconsistent.

Main Card

Intercontinental Championship: The Miz vs. Seth Rollins

Laracuente Ledger Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

With these two superstars, you would expect nothing less than a top level quality match. And both The Miz and Seth Rollins delivered.

Raw Women’s Championship: Alexa Bliss vs. Nia Jax

Laracuente Ledger Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

The build to this match was perfectly done. A mixture of reality and the storytelling aspect that pro wrestling brings forth. These two real-life best friends have excellent chemistry in the ring and work well together.

United States Championship: Randy Orton vs. Jeff Hardy

Laracuente Ledger Rating: 🌟🌟🌟

A solid match between two veteran guys in WWE, both men are “Grand Slam Champions” (WWE, Intercontinental, US, Tag Team).

Musical Interlude: 🌟🌟🌟

A nice little mental intermission for an otherwise serious show.

David vs. Goliath Grudge Match: Daniel Bryan vs. Big Cass

Laracuente Ledger Rating: 🌟🌟🌟1/2

This match is the classic build of the big man versus the little guy. The classic story of jealousy and making a statement. Cass and Bryan were both coming off serious injuries and that setup and natural, ready-made rivalry. This match was a nice intro back to just who Daniel Bryan is. Including the crossface strikes before the submission victory. The post-match attack means a continued feud for these two.

Smackdown Live Women’s Championship: Charlotte Flair vs. Carmella

Laracuente Ledger Rating: 🌟

This match had an eerie and uncomfortable feel to it, not sure why this match felt that way. But the weirdness also attached its way to the announce team, and they went silent during the middle of this matchup. Though this match had two very athletic and talented women, the bout felt clunky.

WWE Championship: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. AJ Styles

Laracuente Ledger Rating:🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Let’s be clear with these two competitors not much has to be said. They are incredibly talented and work well with one another. This match was the best of the night even with the awful ending. A definite must see!

*Side Bar*

Now I need to go off on a quick tangent very quickly, and this has nothing to do with the specific WWE Championship match just with the WWE Championship itself. As Peter Griffin would say…

When the WWE Championship, the most prestigious title in the wrestling business, gets made to play second fiddle to a belt that shows up maybe ten times a year. How Vince McMahon and the WWE can let the WWE Championship be seen as a secondary title, I will never understand. This is the championship that the late great Bruno Sammartino held, the Championship that Stone Cold Steve Austin held, the Championship that the “Best In The World” CM Punk held. The fact that the WWE Championship is not given the proper respect that it deserves in favor of a belt with a childish name based on a gimmick marketing tool is downright blasphemous in my opinion to the great history of the WWE Championship.

Thank you for indulging me in my rant, and back to your originally scheduled recap.

Braun Strowman & Bobby Lashley vs. Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn

Laracuente Ledger Rating: 🌟🌟

This tag team contest felt like a reset button between Styles Nakamura (which should have been the main event) and the (no title in sight) main event match. Strowman and Lashley looked dominant as one would expect, and WWE planted the seeds of discourse between Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens; signaling of their impending breakup as a tag team unit.

Samoa Joe vs. Roman Reigns

Laracuente Ledger Rating: 🌟🌟🌟

It was as advertised with these two combatants as it was a genuinely hard-hitting bout. Both men were given the opportunity to close out an impromptu feud as Samoa Joe will be heading back to Smackdown Live and Reigns to Monday Night RAW. A slow, methodical pace was had throughout much of the match, then as the match speed up so did Reigns. Ultimately this was just a placeholder bout as Brock Lesnar was going nowhere near this event. As he worked Wrestlemania and the Greatest Royal Rumble events and with his newfound contract “Pay by Appearance” we are about to see even less of the “WWE Universal” Champion.

Final Verdict

Laracuente Ledger Overall Rating: 🌟🌟🌟

Overall, it was an ok show. Not much to highlight as coming off of what felt like a PPV every week it will be nice having the break until the “Money in the Bank” in June. The WWE needs to refocus on building real stories that interest the fans and that they can relate to and feel. And for the love of all things WWE, please Mr. McMahon move on from Roman Reigns. We all understand that he is what you envision when you dream at night over what a WWE Superstar should be, however, he isn’t what we the paying fans envision. Please listen to the people

Jeremy Laracuente

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