WWE Backlash 2007

 WWE Backlash 2007

Atlanta, GA - April 2007

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into this show, the WWE Champion is John Cena, the World Heavyweight Champion was The Undertaker, and the ECW Champion was Bobby Lashley. The Intercontinental Champion was Santino Marella and the United States Champion was Chris Benoit. The World Tag Team Champions were Matt and Jeff Hardy, the WWE Tag Team Champions were Deuce and Domino, and the Women's Champion was Melina. Finally, the Cruiserweight Champion was Chavo Guerrero (he'd lose the title to Hornswoggle a few months after this, who would end up being the last Cruiserweight Champion for quite awhile). 

Kicking off the show we've got the very popular Hardys defending the World Tag Team Titles against Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch. Matt and Lance start things off with some good old fashioned wrestling, collar-and-elbows and whatnot. Jeff comes in and we get some classic Hardy double-teams and then a Whisper in the Wind. Hardy hits the Air Sabu off of Matt Hardy's back and onto the arena floor in a terrific spot. The heels eventually cut off the Hardys with a nifty spot that saw Hardy go for a baseball slide only to get pulled out of the ring and onto the arena floor by Cade. Cade slams Hardy down with a sit-out chokeslam-like maneuver and then drops Murdoch onto him with what I would call an Atomic Leg Drop. Its good stuff. Cade hits a rough short-arm clothesline for 2 before tagging Murdoch back in. The heels' heat segment maybe goes a touch too long - its not anything they do is particularly boring or poorly executed, its more that some of the match's momentum gets lost just watching Jeff Hardy take punishment. The hot tag to Matt Hardy still gets a sizable pop. The Hardys seem to botch another Air Sabu attempt, but it works in context because Cade pulls Murdoch out of the way anyway and it makes Hardy hitting the corner look even more vicious. Hardy almost gets the victory anyway, but Cade breaks it up. Murdoch almost gets the pin, but only gets 2. Murdoch brings Hardy up in a fireman's carry, but Matt counters it into a Twist of Fate. Jeff hits the Swanton off the top on Murdoch, though, and gets the 3 count! This match started off really hot, stayed warm for a long time, but kinda ended in a bit of a mess. A play with 2 good acts that ends in an unremarkable way. (3/5)

Mickie James challenged Melina for the Women's Championship next. While not a "must see" match, this is still a really strong match. Lawler's commentary is a bit odd; He makes comments early on that make it seem like he wants the audience to respect what they're getting - a physical, athletic contest between two undeniably good wrestlers - but always lets his inner horn dog ruin any gravitas this match would probably have if commentated by today's broadcast team. This match is loaded with "mirror spots," which didn't exactly fit the narrative of the build (if I remember correctly), but absolutely works as a way of showing that these two women are both ultra-talented wrestlers, not just models doing hair-tosses (though, that's not to say there isn't a hair-toss in this match). Like the opener, my biggest gripe was probably the finish, which seemed a bit tacked-on and not as clever as the rest of the match's high points. (3/5)

Chris Benoit defended his US Championship against Montel Vontavius Porter - aka MVP - in the next bout. Michael Cole mentions that these two had a barnburner at WrestleMania the month prior, but I was at that event and cannot honestly remember of it. That probably had much more to do with our seats being in the nosebleeds at Ford Field than anything, but I wasn't blown away by this match either. There are some great moments - any Chris Benoit match is bound to feature a few awesome sequences - and MVP shows off his mat wrestling ability too, but my issue with him was always that, for a guy whose gimmick was all about flash and panache, he was really more of an old school, roughneck, grind-your-face-in-the-mat technician. Reviewing a Benoit match in 2020 is different than it was in 2010 or in 2008 or even in May 2007 (before Benoit murdered his wife and child and then killed himself). At the time, there was certainly a sentiment that practically every Benoit match was a master class in wrestling, that Benoit was as good an in-ring worker as had ever lived. 13 years later, its clear to see that Benoit, like any worker, produced plenty of forgettable matches, that while his "average match' was still probably better than the average match of a Brian "Crush" Adam or *throwing up in my mouth* IRS era Mike Rotunda, Chris Benoit was a guy whose great matches tended to rely on an insane workrate - for example, delivering 5 consecutive German Suplexes like he does in this match. Now, that's not to say that Benoit's resume isn't loaded with some of the hardest-hitting, most intense and influential matches of the past 30 years. He was, at various times during his career, the best pure wrestler working in North America and maybe the whole world. But its also worth noting that now, 13 years removed from the Benoit tragedy, we can objectively look at his work as being a bit one-dimensional at times, at not always being "fun," as not always connecting with the live crowd. This is one such match. (2.5/5)

Bobby Lashley takes on Vince McMahon, Shane McMahon, and Umaga in a 3-on-1 match for the ECW Championship (with whoever scores the pinfall getting the title). Lashley and Shane-O start things off and the crowd seems to enjoy seeing McMahon take some punishment. Umaga comes in soon after and withstands a little punishment before cutting off Lashley with a foot to the face. Lashley rallies, though, and clotheslines Umaga out of the ring and then tosses Shane into the rail for good measure. Vince teases coming in, but Umaga and Shane distract Lashley long enough to make sure Vince doesn't have to. There's some smart sequences in this match - surely, as one would expect, the agents and producers wanted to make sure everyone was protected here and mapped this one out with quality, credible transitions. After Umaga puts the boots to the ECW Champion for awhile, clawing at his back and chest, Shane applies an armbar, showing off some of the MMA he loves so much. Lashley gets to a vertical base and powerbombs his way out of it, though. Lashley gets cut off again by an interfering Umaga and then the Samoan Bulldozer comes in and delivers a headbutt. Umaga applies a bearhug and the crowd breaks into a "Bobby!" chant. Lashley breaks free but gets Samoan Drop'd. Umaga tags Shane back in and he delivers an elbow and then knees to Lashley's back. Credit to Shane, he does a decent job targeting Lashley's lower back, eventually applying a camel clutch. Lashley fights out, though, and not only takes out Shane but also Umaga with a series of impressive power moves. Finally VInce comes in to break up a pinfall attempt and Lashley goes for a Dominator but falls prey to the numbers game once again. As the ref attempts to regain control, Shane strikes Lashley with the Championship belt and goes for the cov - no, he tags in Vince instead! Vince makes the cover but only gets 2. Lashley goes for the roll-up but Shane breaks up the count. Shane helps position Lashley for an Umaga splash and Vince comes back in. Vince again makes the cover but only gets 2. Umaga comes back in and delivers another big splash. He makes them look easy and painful. This time when Vince makes the cover, Lashley doesn't kick out and we've got a new ECW World Champion. Everyone got to shine and the story made sense. (3/5)

The World Heavyweight Championship is on the line next as The Undertaker defends against Batista in a Last Man Standing Match. I just watched their Chairs Match from 2009 (?) and was disappointed, noting that the stipulation itself was the biggest problem - these two don't need weapons to get their matches over, they just need to level each other with big power moves, spears, boots to the face, and maybe a couple table spots. This match feels like two monsters set on destroying each other and not needing to do anything fancy to accomplish it. At one point, Batista delivers a series of crushing spine busters to the Undertaker and it actually feels like that could end the match. Unlike the bloated epics of today, with their never-ending sequences of superkicks and finisher kickouts - the personalities in this match actually have weight and the moves they deliver have enough impact that you're not rolling your eyes every time someone barely makes the 10 count. And, in fact, because they don't rely too much on gimmicks and weaponry, neither guy is defying logic when they stagger up at 8 and the match resumes. Nowadays, we've seen guys kickout of chair shots and belts to the face and everything in between, while these guys get the Last Man Standing gimmick over mostly with straight-up power moves. When they finally do make their way up to the stage for the final spot - a spear off the side that leaves them both in a heap of wreckage - it doesn't feel cheap at all because they weren't miraculously recovering from 9 other moves just as damaging. I wouldn't call this a masterpiece because, ultimately, we're still talking about an indecisive finish to a Last Man Standing match (which kinda defeats the whole purpose) plus I'm not sure why its Taker who gets to basically come out of the wreckage first when, considering how much longer this feud progresses, it should be Batista who looks like he had Taker beat. Still, a really, really good, physical contest that deserves the accolades often heaped upon it. (4/5)

Main event time - a Fatal Fourway for John Cena's WWE Championship featuring the aforementioned Cena, Shawn Michaels, Edge, and Randy Orton. As JR and The King note on commentary, Cena comes into this with no advantage - any pin on anybody will end the match and potentially lead to the crowning of a new WWE Champion. I didn't necessarily come into this match with the highest of hopes, but I was pleasantly surprised at how good this was. I'm not sure I'd call it the best Fatal Fourway match ever - as one reviewer did - but I also can't really name a better one off the top of my head. Like the Last Man Standing match before it, this one doesn't over-rely on weapons, though there is a table spot and Edge does deliver a hell of a chair shot to Orton at one point, but it doesn't really need it with each guy having so many signature moves to pull out. I didn't dig Edge and Orton's weak-looking double Boston Crab and John Cena successfully applying the STFU onto 2-out-of-3 opponents was a bit cutesy, but there were also moments I really liked - a perfectly-executed double leg drop from the top rope by The Champ, a Tower of Doom spot that actually looked organic (and devastating), the aforementioned table spot and chair shots. Plus, the finish is one of the all-time great multi-man endings, expertly sold in the post-match too by Shawn Michaels. (4/5)

Backlash 2007 has a reputation for being one of the best WWE pay-per-views of all-time and, match-for-match, it earns that reputation - especially for its time, when consistency up and down the card was not the company's strong suit. This show, more than the pay-per-views of the brand split era that came before it and eventually came back around, highlighted the very best the WWE had to offer at the time - the revitalized Hardys, a women's division that was being taken seriously for a brief moment, fresh characters in Umaga and MVP, and two very, very good title matches in Batista/Undertaker and, in some people's opinions, the best Fatal Fourway match in company history. With a strong Kwang Score of 3.25-out-of-5 but not a single match that's overstays its welcome or flops, this one earns a...

FINAL RATING - Watch It All