The name of this pay-per-vi..err...Network Spec....um...Peacock Exclusive (?) is stupid. Anyway, the show kicked off with a video narrated by Dave Batista, who is promoting his role in the Netflix film Army of the Dead. According to reports, Netflix paid the WWE upwards of $1 million to promote the film and have zombies appear on this show.
The RAW Women's Championship threat match between Charlotte, Asuka, and Rhea Ripley was the opener. This was a weird match in that the only true babyface was Asuka, but she was also the least likely to win, which made it hard to really get behind her if you've been following this storyline. I like Ripley better as a cocky badass than as an ill-fitting babyface, but that's partially because, when she was a tough babyface, the WWE inexplicably cut off her momentum by having her to lose to Charlotte at WrestleMania last year. They seem to be trying to course correct by having her not only hang in there with two of the most decorated and credible women on the roster, but actually get the clean W too. Unfortunately, this ended with Ripley gloating and Charlotte promising revenge and I'm not sure who exactly I'm supposed to be cheering for. This is particularly dangerous for Ripley because Flair being a Flair has sometimes led to certain crowds, especially live in-person ones, giving her face reactions when she busts out chest chops or Woos or struts or even just goes berserk on her opponent (like she did against Ronda Rousey years ago). This wasn't a terrible match, but it wasn't as good as one might've expected considering the talent involved. Sadly, I feel like I've been writing that sentence alot these days... (3/5)
After some hype for tonight's Universal Championship match and a backstage segment involving The Miz and John Morrison, it was time for SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Dirty Dawgs (Bobby Roode and Dolph Ziggler) to drop the titles to Rey and Dominik Mysterio. I phrase it that way because The Dirty Dawgs' title reign has been "TV only" since January, the team having received barely any mention or acknowledgement on the bigger shows. Meanwhile, Rey and Dominik were looking to make history in this match by becoming the first father-and-son tag team (in WWE history, but not world history) to win the gold together. Dominik was attacked during the pre-show, which made this a 2-on-1 match for the bulk of its minutes. Of course, when your face-in-peril is Rey Mysterio Jr., arguably a top 5 all-time babyface, even if he's lost a step, you're still likely to get at least a handful of great moments. This wasn't a match I'd be eager to re-watch, but for what it was, it worked (even if Dominik rejoining the match late and getting the pin for his team was predictable). An extra half-point for Mysterio delivering an awesome baseball slide-into-a-sunset flip powerbomb on the floor that looked like it should've knocked Ziggler through the barricade wall. (3/5)
Backstage, John Morrison knocked on the door of tonight's special Lumberjacks to reveal...zombies. Yup. A tie-in to Army of the Dead.
Cut to to the arrival of Jimmy Uso, who got in the face of his brother Jey to remind him that they should be focused on their own goals - not Roman's. This is the best storyline going in the WWE and, arguably, the best storyline they've had since the Sasha/Bayley feud of 2020.
The Miz, accompanied by John Morrison, made his way down the aisle for his LumberZombie match against Damien Priest. Before the match began, the commentators reminded us - one more time - that this match was brought to us by Army of the Dead. This was a pseudo-rematch from WrestleMania, where Priest and Bad Bunny defeated Miz and JoMo but because it doesn't have Bad Bunny involved, it feels like a RAW match...until the zombies arrived. The commentators bailed out of fear and Miz slid into the ring as the Thunderdome transformed into somewhere out of Mortal Kombat II. I'll give some credit to Miz - and Priest too - for selling for the zombies and trying to have fun with this ludicrous set-up, including a moment when Miz and Priest teamed up to combat the zombies before continuing their match and a great post-match visual of the zombies descending upon The Miz (and Morrison on the outside), seemingly eating them alive. If this leads to Miz and Morrison eventually coming back as zombie-fied versions of themselves, that would be the kind of craziness that I actually like in my wrestling. Its hard to rate a match like this, but I'm going to go with "average" just because, even if the action was disjointed and not super smooth (there were certain spots that were noticeably telegraphed and felt like they are almost being executed in slo-mo), this match was different and bizarre and sometimes that's what a wrestling show needs. (2.5/5)
The SmackDown Women's Championship was on the line next as Bianca Belair defended her recently-won championship against the longest-reigning SmackDown Women's Champion in history: Bayley. Bayley had given an interview not too long before this show that she was a bit perturbed about not having a spotlight match at WrestleMania after the 2020 she had, but she more than made up for it in this match. I really liked the Banks/Belair match from WrestleMania, but this may have nearly topped it as there was a clear face/heel dynamic at play and Bayley has proven to be an incredible heel (note the brilliant detail by Bayley of shaving the phrase "Be-loser" into her hair for this match). An extra half-point for Bayley delivering an awesome front suplex on the steel steps, a move that will probably be aped four dozen times in the next 3 weeks of WWE TV but felt 100% fresh in this context because it was delivered by the right performer at the right time of a hard-fought high stakes match. I can see some viewers feeling like things were a bit too back-and-forth, but I thought the trading of momentum worked because Bayley's strategy seemed to be to grind things out with knee strikes and snap suplexes and the occasional submission, while Belair knew that her best chance of winning was to utilize her strength advantage and athleticism. The finish came after Bayley looked like she might steal the victory with an eye rake out and a genius braid-as-a-ripcord Belly-to-Bayley but Bianca somehow managed to kick out of (a decision that I wish they hadn't necessarily done because I do like finishers to be somewhat sacred game-enders). Bianca then got a not-so-great-looking pin using her braid to hook Bayley's legs to retain. Because Belair didn't quite hook Bayley's legs as tightly as she should've and Bayley looked like she kicked out (as the braid gave way), it was a messy ending to an otherwise very good match. I think I said it about the Mania match, but if this doesn't lead to a Hair vs. Hair match, I'm not sure what the WWE is thinking. (3.5/5)
The WWE Universal Champion Bobby Lashley defended his championship against Drew McIntyre and Braun Strowman in the next contest. The build-up for this felt like subtraction by addition to me, maybe something more fitting of a show entitled WrestleMania Backwash and not WrestleMania Backlash. Having beaten McIntyre at the biggest stage of the year (even if it was somewhat dirty), Lashley was due for a new challenger in my eyes, McIntyre might've been best served with a quick vacation or a move to the Blue Brand, and Braun Strowman practically needed a full rebuild after the lackluster Shane McMahon feud. It just feels like Lashley was cooled down by still working with two guys that are as cold as they are. Still, even if I wasn't sold on the background of this match, I gotta give credit where its due and say that these three men put together a strong match benefitted from non-stop action and power moves and never felt too gimmicky. Drew and Bobby hit a stalling vertical suplex on Braun that popped me (as did a Michinoku Driver on Braun by Drew later on). I miss the strong evil monster that Braun used to be and am hoping that that version of Braun Strowman comes back, but like with Big Show, once you've dumbed down the character and made him feel like just another guy, its hard to rebuild him with just a fresh coat of paint or by pairing him with a manager. Lashley was eventually taken out of the match when he was sent crashing through a stage wall, a spot that we've seen before, but still worked for me - especially as Lashley sold it for minutes on end and, back in the ring, it really did feel like McIntyre might get the sneaky win (which would've possibly been an interesting way to subtly shift McIntye into a more heel mode and Lashley into a babyface ass-kicker spot). Other reviewers have been less kind, fairly assessing this as your typical "monsters break furniture" match, but I think the pieces and parts all worked in this (though I wouldn't consider it at the same level of the Samoa Joe/Braun/Lesnar/Reigns match of a few summers ago). I enjoyed it. (3.5/5)
Main event time - Roman Reigns vs. Cesaro. Reigns has been absolutely killing it on TV since turning heel this past summer while Cesaro has been on a bit of a roll himself, finally getting a big World Championship on a major show (though one that was not held in front of a crowd and is one of the "lesser" annual events). As could be expected, this match was terrific, starting out with your standard "feeling eachother out" stuff before delving into a story built around Cesaro suffering arm damage that will prevent him from fully executing his strength-based offense. Reigns' targeting of Cesaro's arm was "old school" without feeling old hat and I think, had this been in front of a live crowd, Cesaro's hope spots and brief comebacks would've got major reactions. While the ending was never really in question, taking away much of the suspense that a great match would typically have, the performances by both men were so on-point that this will probably make my annual End-of-the-Year Top 10 List. (4/5)
After the match, Jey Uso showed up to hit Cesaro with an additional superkick and then Seth Rollins appeared to...further attack Cesaro. I'm not sure what the point of having Cesaro get destroyed after the match was supposed to accomplish aside from re-insert him into a feud with Rollins that never really ended but sorta did end at WrestleMania. I would've liked to see another babyface come out and make the save to position themselves as not only supportive of Cesaro, but a potential next challenger for Reigns. (For example, wouldn't this have been a great moment for Keith Lee to return? Or for someone like McIntyre to signal that they're coming to SmackDown?)
All in all, WrestleMania Backlash delivered the goods. The main event was fantastic. Belair/Bayley was very good, marred slightly by its botched finish. The SmackDown Tag Team Match was probably the most entertaining thing Bobby Roode has been involved in since his NXT days. The Universal Championship match was fun and, as silly as it was, the Zombiejack match was at least an attempt to offer something wholly different from what usually fills up the midcard. The most underwhelming match on the show was arguably the opener but even that was above-average. With a very solid Kwang Score of 3.25-out-of-5, I'd say...
FINAL RATING - Watch It
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