Sigh…
So to put Backlash into perspective, if you watched The Miz vs. Seth Rollins, got drunk, got laid, got high, saw Styles vs. Nakamura, fell asleep before the finish, got slapped by the girl (or guy) you just had sex with in time for the beginning of Joe vs. Reigns, then went break dancing in the street because you’re high and drunk as a kite, then came back in for the last five minutes of Joe/Reigns; then you saw a fantastic show!
If you didn’t, this show wasn’t good. The Miz vs. Seth Rollins was hands down the match of the night. This was a strong opener and I enjoyed this more than the WrestleMania triple threat. Check it out for sure. This is not a match of the year candidate, but it was damn good.
Now for the disappointment.
Big Cass/Daniel Bryan was fine. So was Orton/Hardy. The problem was more so time here than the actual matches themselves. Apparently, people dancing (like jackasses) and singing was more important tonight.
I’m going to quickly speak on the crap segment involving Elias and No Way Jose (there were others, but I don’t care). This was a waste of time on a pay-per-view that didn’t need to be 3+ hours. I don’t like No Way Jose. Sorry. I hate wrestlers who seem to care about dancing or being silly over winning matches and gaining championships. These are simply characters I just can’t invest in. To be clear, the man playing Jose is solid and has nice charisma, but his gimmick is not doing him favors.
Both women’s matches were not good.
I like the story of the Jax/Bliss feud, but the psychology of their matches is all wrong. I can’t take Bliss seriously because she’s been portrayed as a chickenshit heel for too long. When the hell did she all of the sudden grow a pair of balls (or vagina? I don’t know the protocol for this) and become a threat to Jax?
Jax just doesn’t come across believable as a sympathetic babyface. She doesn’t seem comfortable in this role and that post match promo was bad. I guess that’s why Bobby Lashley and Braun Strowman didn’t listen and decided to bully Owens and Zayn. Jax should be an ass kicker. That’s why she was getting cheered in the first place.
Carmella was just not good. The match was less than ten minutes but felt like it was nearly thirty. The Princess of Staten Island is a great talker, but she’s not ready to hang with the likes of Charlotte, Lynch, or Asuka.
Styles/Nakamura was a good match until the horrid finish. Nakamura should have won the title. Don’t get me wrong, AJ Styles is phenomenal; however, this heel turn for Nakamura has done wonders for his WWE career and he’s hot at the moment. He should’ve won here.
Also, I find it a bit annoying in matches of personal feuds where wrestlers decide to wrestle the same style as every other WWE style match. This should have been a fight between the two top stars on Smackdown. It conveys the emotion of the feud, sending home the message that these two hate each other. The finish was stupid, lazy, and made me not want to see these two wrestle again. Both men lose via count out after a double low blow? I just want this to be over with.
Strowman/Lashley vs. Owens/Zayn was a contrived mess that deeply buried the heels and made Lashley and Strowman look like bullies in the end. And that's just some of the issues. It baffles me how cold Lashley’s return has been. Is Vince Russo secretly booking again?
Reigns/Samoa Joe was awesome for the first few minutes then they decided to take a long trip to rest hold city. The last few minutes of the match were great; however, this match was below their previous encounters.
Long story short, don’t see Backlash. The pay-per-view feels like a waste of time. The only match worth seeing is The Miz/Seth Rollins. Other than that, Backlash will not get you excited for RAW and Smackdown Live in the upcoming weeks.
So what do you think? Feel free to comment below. Follow me at
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