WWE Backlash 2018

WWE Backlash 2018

Newark, New Jersey - May 2018

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into this co-branded show, Brock Lesnar is the reigning WWE Universal Champion while AJ Styles holds the WWE World Championship. The United States Champion is Jeff Hardy while Seth Rollins holds the Intercontinental Championship. The RAW Tag Team Championships are held by Matt Hardy and formerly foe Bray Wyatt, while the SmackDown Tag Team Championships are held by The Bludgeon Brothers. The RAW Women's Champion is Nia Jax and Carmella is the SmackDown Women's Champion. Last (and, yeah, its least), the Cruiserweight Champion is Cedric Alexander.

COMMENTATORS (RAW): Michael Cole, Corey Graves, and Jonathan Coachman

COMMENTATORS (SD): Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton, and Corey Graves

The show kicked off with The Miz taking on Seth Rollins for Rollins' Intercontinental Championship. The crowd was actually somewhat split, with The Miz getting his fair share of cheers. The commentators really played up the idea of Rollins needing some time to "find his groove" and return to the level he was at when he was the WWE Champion, really trying to sell Rollins' relevancy to a TV audience that, like me, probably forgot that this guy was supposed to be a big deal. Miz controlled early, but this was a fairly even match. These two let the big spots breathe, which helped sell the intensity of the match, but also helped them draw bigger reactions for the cut-offs and transitions, keeping the crowd on the hook well past the 10-minute mark. I didn't like seeing Rollins kick out of the Skull-Crushing Finale twice, a move that was (wisely) protected for a long time, but I understand the intention. The WWE wants Rollins to be regarded as a main event-level guy on the same tier as a Reigns or Cena and this is the "Superman" booking that the WWE, rightly or wrongly, believes will get him there. The execution throughout this match was strong, but I'm not a big enough fan of Rollins to ever want to really see a match like this go longer than 15 minutes. (3/5)

The RAW Women's Championship was on the line next with a rematch from WrestleMania: Nia Jax now defending the title agains the former champion, Alexa Bliss. These two have great chemistry, which isn't too shocking when you consider that they're supposedly close buddies outside of the ring. There were some imperfect moments - a little telegraphing early, a deadly-stiff clothesline that looked unnecessarily dangerous, Bliss not really struggling to escape the fireman's position - but there was much more right in this match than wrong. Jax is one-dimensional, but she knows how to work in that dimension and Bliss knows how to be her foil. I didn't love the finishing stretch too as, throughout the course of the match, repeatedly, Jax was working to get Bliss into the corner for what was likely to be a fireman's carry off the ropes, but instead of giving us that payoff, Jax eventually won with just a basic version. Repeating sequences is only a sin when you don't do it to benefit the story of the match. Here, the repetitions exposed the limitations of Jax and Bliss as creative constructors of a match instead of demonstrating their gifts as storytellers. I'm also not sure what to make of the post-match interview at all as it was a longer, less emotionally truthful promo than the one we got at Mania. Aside from plugging the Be A Star campaign, what was the point of ti? To get people to boo Nia Jax? A good enough match to be considered better than average, but lacked the clear story and big moments of their bout last month. (3/5)

Randy Orton challenged Jeff Hardy for the United States Title in SmackDown's first spotlight match of the night. Orton is so much more tolerable when raises the heel level up even the slightest bit (which he did here) and when he's in the ring with someone energetic enough to provide some much needed urgency to his matches (something that ultra-methodical Roode and ultra-generic Jinder Mahal couldn't do). I don't mind Orton doing the strategic/methodical stuff, which he certainly did in this match (including a typical extended headlock segment), but context matters and, in this match, when your strategy needs to be keep Hardy grounded and close so that he can't drill you with Air Sabus and high-flying, it comes off much better than when he's using that same approach to wear out Jinder Mahal. Unfortunately, the crowd just didn't seem to care about this - which isn't that hard to believe when both guys seem just out of place and irrelevant in 2018. Even the commentators couldn't help but note that the last time they fought was ten years ago, a note that they probably thought would make this seem like a dream match we forgot we wanted, but really just dated both men. I didn't love the finish as it was too clean and felt a little bit under-deserved, but if the goal is to cement Jeff Hardy as a viable option to be a top SmackDown babyface - someone maybe capable of challenging for the WWE Championship this summer - it was an important victory. I liked this considerably more than the fans in attendance (who chanted "Rusev Day!" at one point) and most of the reviewers I've read on line, but I wouldn't call this a hidden gem or anything. (3/5)

Elias conducted a mini-concert next, getting in some great lines around New Jersey hero Bruce Springsteen. He was interrupted by The New Day and the segment, which had already been 4-5 minutes, continued on even longer as Aiden English showed up as well to welcome Rusev into the mix. Rusev was super over with the crowd (unsurprisingly), but even he wasn't the last guest as No Way Jose showed up with a conga line in tow featuring Titus Enterprises, Breezango, and a whole bunch of other RAW scrubs. Was this not the same thing that Adam Rose was doing a couple years back? Elias atempted one last time to sick his song, only for Bobby Roode to spike him with a DDT and lay him out. Very long segment that, to me, grew a bit tiresome by the end as I was much more interested in the wrestling aspect of this show. 

Daniel Bryan vs. Big Cass was next, the build-up to the match reviewed with a video package. A "We Want Enzo" chant started up, which is a bit disheartening considering we've got Daniel friggin' Bryan wrestling again. Bryan looked as good as ever, hitting Cass with his Yes Kicks and a, to steal a line from Michael Cole, vintage dropkick early on. Cass quickly cut him off, though, and started using his size and strength advantage to maintain control. Cass will need to develop more schtick than just raising his fist to the sky every time he wants heel heat, but at least he knows to do that much in his new heel role. I've read some fans complaints about how it feels wrong to watch Daniel Bryan take so many hard-hitting bumps when his health was enough of a concern to keep him benched for over a year, but I trust him enough that I'm not clutching my pearls every time he took a shot to the noggin. The right man won this and he did it the right way too, Big Cass undeserving of the rub at this point but still getting to maintain some his heat via the post-match attack. There will likely be all sorts of belly-aching online about how Bryan deserves a bigger "name" to be feuding with, but I'm not too concerned - the WWE knows there's money in matches against Styles and Nakamura and The Miz and others, but there's not necessarily a reason (storyline or otherwise) to rush those programs when the rest of the brand, especially newcomers like Cass, are in desperate need of the shine that working with him brings. The best Big Cass singles match ever? I'd have to see something noticeably better to be convinced otherwise, but then again, I could probably count on one hand the number of Big Cass singles matches I've even seen. No worse than your average TV match even if Cass looked like he needed reminders to get him through it. (2.5/5)

I haven't watched much of any WWE TV since Mania so I had not seen Carmella steal the SmackDown Women's Championship from Charlotte (with help from the Iconic Duo, who are now going by the name The IIconics for some reason or other). Carmella is not a smooth worker, but I actually thought her headlock looked legitimately vicious (it helped that Charlotte seemed to sell it by holding her breath till her face turned purple) and her incessant screaming was so annoying that I really did want to see her get face beaten in. That's good heel work. What wasn't good was all the tongue-to-the-top-lip stuff - once or twice is fine, but I like some variety in my villain expressions. Also, not to bring up the non-stop shrieking again but if she works like that every night, she's going to permanently damage her vocal cords by SummerSlam - just ask Axl Rose. As for the ring work, I found it to be uniformly strong and often devastating-looking. My only gripe would be that I've either missed the storyline or they never bothered telling it regarding Carmella's sudden competence as an in-ring threat. She needed help to hold onto her briefcase and this feels like her first spotlight PPV match, so it just seemed a bit odd how easily she held her own against Charlotte, the company ace. I liked this match more than nearly every review of it I read. People seem a bit harsh to me. (2.5/5)

Here we go - Shinsuke Nakamura challenging AJ Styles for the WWE World Championship. This one starts off with an easy half-point bonus for Nakamura's new theme song, which kicks so much ass. Writing about this match after the finish is tough because there's no denying the taste it left in my mouth (and the mouth of the fans in attendance) was putrid. That being said, the rest of the match was as hard-hitting as they get and Nakamura worked wonderfully in his new role. Even before the unfortunate conclusion, though, I did question booking this match as No DQ as the audience clearly wanted to see more weaponry (chanting "We Want Tables" at one point). The addition of the chair (and the unintended color) added a ton to this match, but we've seen plenty of title matches - especially in the Attitude Era - involve all sorts of shenanigans that the ref "missed" or chose to ignore (with the commentators telling the viewers at home that the "stakes are too high" for the ref to make the DQ call). I enjoyed the "meat" of this match more than their WrestleMania match, but its impossible to call this "great" when the ending is such a disappointment. At least we know there next match has the potential to be tremendous. (3.5/5)

Braun Strowman teamed with Bobby Lashley to take on Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn next. Again, questionable booking reared its ugly head during this one as Bobby Lashley, a super heavyweight with legit wrestling credentials, played face-in-peril after an initial shine segment. Zayn and Owens did a great job of playing up their fear of Strowman, but it made Lashley, a highly touted signee, look average in comparison. The final minutes took a comedic tone as Owens and Zayn put each other in danger, but again, I'm just not 100% sold on anyone involved in this match benefitting from this kind of positioning. I can maybe count on one hand how many times Brock Lesnar has been featured in such a way and even a guy like Samoa Joe has wisely steered clear of playing anything for laughs, but these four are slipping into dangerous territory, especially Strowman, who is at serious risk of becoming this generation's Big Show rather than a serious, credible monster like The Undertaker or Yokozuna or Vader at their respective peaks. This was not my cup of tea, but it had less to do than the action and more to do with with the set-up as a whole. (2.5/5)

Main event time - Roman Reigns vs. Samoa Joe. I'd heard that the SmackDown title match was penned in to close the show, but when you consider what the finish of that bout was, it makes total sense that they'd put this one on in its place. Joe was the favorite with at least 40% of the crowd and his initial flurry of violence against Reigns got a strongly positive reaction. I'm not sure why they played the whole "The Match Hasn't Even Started" card as nothing Joe did was disqualifiable. Cole called Joe's before-the-bell attack a "cheap shot," but I feel like a third of matches start that way. After a solid opening, Joe applied a chin lock and kept it locked in for quite a bit of time and then went back to even more submissions over the next few minutes, really trolling the audience between the bigger spots. I'm not sure if the marching orders were to go out and work multiple submissions to prevent Joe from outshining Reigns, but you could clearly make out slight "CM Punk" and "Boring" chants at specific points of this bout. Whenever Joe and Reigns weren't purposefully tanking the match and angering the audience, the action was terrific - these guys have great chemistry, hit hard, and even without real stakes, this match still felt like they had enough history to warrant a main event spot. Unfortunately, the layout ended up delivering the right things at the wrong times. The pre-match table spot was the most hardcore moment of the match, starting the match with chaos that was then halted dead in its tracks with Joe drawing "boring" chants with his submissions. Things picked back up, and there were even some inventive moments (Joe turning a Drive-by attempt into a Kokina Clutch), but the match segments seemed to lack cohesion and during one lull in the action, a "Rusev Day" chant started up, the crowd just not focused on the back-and-forth at all (until Joe nearly tapped Reigns with his debilitating finisher). The ending was underwhelming and, for many of us, disappointing as Reigns scored a clean, definitive victory. On a house show, this would've been considered good or even really good - but as a pay-per-view main event, it was just okay. (2.5/5)


Should we be calling this the "Everything's Good - Nothing's Great" Era? At this point, the WWE's roster is so stacked that practically everybody is able to put on a good match despite bad booking or an uncaring crowd. Tonight's show was proof of it. There was no match I'd call sub-average, but nearly every match suffered because of a thin story or poor layout and miscast talent. Bobby Lashley in his first return to PPV is going to play face-in-peril? What were the marching orders for the main event? "Don't hurt yourself out there?" The opener has been cited by most as the match of the night, but I'm still largely indifferent to Seth Rollins, who might be the most successful guy to never have a definable character whatsoever. I never thought I'd say this after how little I liked Dean Ambrose in 2016 or most of 2017, but I'm kinda craving the Lunatic Fringe to lend the RAW brand a character or two as Lashley, Rollins, and, sadly, now Reigns and even Owens and Zayn just seem to be floating around aimlessly with no clear motivations. Only The Miz, inspired by the birth of his first child, seems to have any clear reason to be showing up for work these days. SmackDown had the better matches of the night and, even if Styles/Nakamura featured an unfortunate non-ending, I'll admit to craving to want to see a rematch (which is kind of the point of episodic wrestling anyway). The right man won the Bryan/Cass match and I'd say the same about the Orton/Hardy match, though I do wish they'd have just made that one a Money In The Bank Qualifier or a Number One Contender's match because the US Title has been tossed around so frequently that I almost forgot it was even on the line. A Kwang Score of 2.69-out-of-5 should denote an above-average show, but because this show lacked any match that I'd eagerly rewatch (save for maybe AJ/Nakamura), its hard to recommend.

FINAL RATING - High Risk Maneuever