WWE Backlash 2017

WWE Backlash

Chicago, Illinois - May 2017

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into tonight's show, Randy Orton is the reigning WWE World Champion, the United States Title is held by Kevin Owens, the SmackDown Womens' Championship is held by Naomi, and the SmackDown Tag Team Champions are Jimmy and Jey Uso.

COMMENTARY: Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton, JBL

My biggest takeaway from the opening contest, Nakamura vs. Ziggler, was just how shockingly 50/50 this match was. Zayn/Nakamura from NXT wasn't a one-sided slaughter, but it felt like a debut match for Nakamura - this match surprisingly eemed to be more about Ziggler getting a bigger spotlight to show off his semi-new heel persona than about establishing Nakamura as an instant main event-caliber star. Now, that's not to say that either guy's work wasn't up to snuff (in fact, I found Nak's bumping here to be very spirited and "big time"), but I'm not sure I understand giving Ziggler what felt like 70% of the match, especially when we're talking about a guy who wasn't featured at all at last month's WrestleMania. I wasn't a fan of the Styles/Jericho feud that introduced AJ to the WWE Universe last year around this time, but Jericho is undoubtedly a bigger name, even in 2016-17, than Ziggler has ever been. Failing to deliver what it needed to, this was a solid match, but a below average debut. (2/5)

Breezango vs. The Usos was next. This one certainly didn't "feel" like a SmackDown Tag Team Championship match, but it was fun for what it was - though not as fun as some writers have posited, calling it "the best comedy match" in years. Nothing in the course of the match itself had me giggling more than the backstage vignettes Breezango did in the build which breathed much needed life into the team. The in-ring action was good, but not great - while the Brothers Uso have transitioned nicely into their heel status and Breezango is as over as a comedy team should be, this was nothing more than a good TV match that hit the notes it needed to but didn't wow me. (2.5/5)

Sami Zayn has been put in a box this year - the scrappy underdog who pushes himself to take on monster heels with no care for the odds of potential paralysis. He did it against Braun Strowman and now he's doing it against his opponent on this show, Baron Corbin. The difference here is that Corbin stands 6'8 and 300 pounds, not 6'8 feet and 385. Despite his NXT experience, Corbin has also been presented as much more beatable. Still, as JBL pointed on commentary, this was a one-sided affair for the most part. Fortunately, even if we've seen it all before, Zayn's selling is excellent (notice how his hand never leaves his injured back whether he's on offense or not) and the audience could feel every callous, cocky strike leveled against him. If he weren't so good at what he does, this match would've been a total bore or, at the very best, just a good retread of his Braun matches - but Zayn added enough nuance to his performance (and the finish certainly helped too) to make this feel fresh and have me excited about a potential rematch. I still expect Corbin to be challenging Orton for the strap sooner than later, but this detour looks like it could yield some quality matches in the meantime. (3/5)

The SmackDown Womens' Scene is a clunky mess right now and this match sort of proved it. On one side you have Carmella, Natalya, and Tamina - an odd assortment of heels of varying proficiency in-ring. On the other side, there was Charlotte, arguably RAW's top heel (male or female) in 2016 wrestling as a babyface for no reason beyond her friendship with teammate Becky Lynch (whose new hairdo is officially the first negative thing I've ever had to write about her) and reigning Womens' Champion, Naomi. What are these two sides fighting over? I haven't watched the show enough to know but as the title isn't involved and the brand's two most relevant talents, Lynch and Charlotte, didn't seem to have any sort of separate storyline going, I'm guessing that this is exactly what it appears to be - a holdover match while the writing team has time to figure out what direction they're actually interested in moving. From bell to bell, this wasn't a trainwreck (though, it was certainly no better than "decent" either), but previous SmackDown specials were more cleverly booked to not just throw all the SmackDown women into the ring together for no particular season (and, hey, didn't they get the same deal at WrestleMania last month?). On previous specials, the division was well-represented by a title defense and a grudge match (Bella/Carmella, for example). On this night we got neither and it weakened the card as a whole. (2/5)

Kevin Owens defended the United States Championship against AJ Styles in the next contest. Much like my impressions of the freshly-turned-face Charlotte, I was a bit underwhelmed by Styles in his new, more babyface-ish role. Part of the problem may be that Owens, as dastardly as he can be, has lost some steam over the past few months by taking a big loss to Goldberg and having to split wins with Chris Jericho. AJ, meanwhile, is in a unique spot in terms of fandom - part of the reason I cheered the guy against John Cena, even when he was a heel, was because against Cena, no matter how many times you may have beaten him in the past, you're always an underdog. Rooting for AJ meant more than rooting for the "anti-Cena" or for the "indie darling," it felt like you were rooting for the impossible to happen. I found this match to be pretty good but unremarkable until Owens started targeting Styles leg and we got some real "meat" to the match's story. From here on, AJ was terrific with his selling, but I would've liked to see Owens do even more to go after Styles' damaged limb. I absolutely adored the finish too, which was inventive and fresh and has me eager to see what these two will do in their next match now that there is something more personal going on between them. (3.5/5)

I like Luke Harper and have written a good deal about how impressed I've been with him as of late. I've also noted that, in terms of appearance, he looks to be in the best shape of his WWE run and should be rewarded for it with a decent push. If this was Step 1, a match against former ally Erick Rowan, it isn't a bad step, but it wasn't a thrilling one either. I expected these two to have a more physical slugfest, but this did not live up to my expectations. The right man won, but I didn't get the feeling like he gained much momentum from the victory because Rowan hadn't been built up to feel like a major obstacle in his way. Here's hoping they have some direction for Harper as his size, look, and dependable in-ring skills can't be found in every big man. (1.5/5)

Main event time - Randy Orton vs. Jinder Mahal for Orton's WWE World Championship. Orton looked to finish Mahal early, going after him before the bell to a huge pop. This was a smart move as, going into the match, there was definitely a feel that the Chicago crowd was going to shit on everything they tried. Somewhat surprisingly, it never really happened. For a few brief sequences there were dueling chants, but for the most part, Orton got cheered for his big offense and general dominance and if there were any "CM Punk" chants, they weren't loud enough or sustained enough to mar what was going on in the ring. I'm not a Mahal fan, but might be won over if he had any sort of remarkable offense or bumping ability. He's a serviceable worker, but aside from facial expressions right out of a Bugs Bunny cartoon, I don't see anything special about him. The best spots of the match were ones he wasn't even involved in - namely the double hanging DDT on both Singh Brothers and the table spot in which one of the Singh brothers did a cool flip into a crash landing. Here's hoping this leads to a handicap match because Orton vs. the Singhs sounds funner to me than another Orton/Mahal match. (2/5)


With a Kwang Score of just 2.37-out-of-5, I would recommend taking a pass on this show. Only Owens/AJ was truly worth seeing and I wouldn't even call that match a "must watch." Ziggler/Nakamura was a disappointment and Mahal/Orton is the type of match you gain nothing by seeing rather than just reading about - it was a 15 minute contest that could've been boiled down into a 6-word spoiler. The rest of the card was basically filler, though at least Zayn/Corbin seems to be pointing to a prolonged feud between the two but also, potentially, another reason for Zayn to challenge Mahal on TV down the line. The Womens' Division is in an unnecessarily standstill with Charlotte as a babyface and the tag division is equally hamster-wheeling until Kofi Kingston returns from injury and we get The New Day back (*yawn* from me on that).


FINAL RATING - DUDleyville