So backlash was last night, and it was a weird show. Some of the highlights were stellar, but the low points were bad and the audience was, to my mind, absolutely shitty. And, yeah. You can blame the booking for that to a great degree, and the response certainly made the name "Backlash" seem like a super ironic choice. But also, I got beef with the crowd for other reasons. So let's get into it.
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Pre Show
Apart from the usual talking - which I'll admit I didn't pay much attention to, but did include a stellar cameo by The Iconics - the pre show also had a match between Ruby Riott and Bayley. Both of these women are very good, so the match was fine, but it was overshadowed by the looming Bayley/Sasha feud, with multiple shots of Sasha watching from the back and the commentators trying to figure out her reactions.
The Show
Seth Rollins vs. The Miz for the IC Title
The PPV itself began super hot, as one would expect from both of these guys. Rollins is just making magic in the ring right now, bringing out the best in everyone he works with. And Miz is always capable, and will work up to the level of his opponent when faced with someone great. This was easily the match of the night, and it was super fun.
Nia Jax vs. Alexa Bliss for the Raw Women's Title
So my reaction to this has three parts. First, there's the build up. If you read my rasslin' posts, you know how much I hated the body shaming and bullying aspects of it. It was gross, and benefited no one. Then there's the match. They managed to make Alexa dominating much of the match seem almost convincing, which is impressive given how tiny she is, and the fact her offense is somewhat limited. So it was an okay match, and Nia won, and this terrible feud is finally over. Yay!
And then came the third part, where Nia wrapped up the feud with a message of body positivity and how it's better to be extraordinary than ordinary. And it wasn't the best written speech, or the perfect delivery, but it was fine. And the audience booed it. This was the point where I realized that this audience, or at least a significant segment of it, hates goodness. It would get worse.
Jeff Hardy vs. Randy Orton for the US Title
Well, I needed to get some refreshment, so this was well timed for me! Nothing I saw of this match made me regret the decision to use the time on other things. Can't Orton go away? He usually takes time off every year, but it seems like he's been around a WHILE. At least he lost.
The Elias Segment
Okay, so this was the best thing. Viewers are used to the shtick by now. Elias talks some this, and then starts to sing a song denigrating the city or the state, and someone interrupts him and Graves is happy and Cole is sad. And that is... kinda what happened? Except everyone interrupted him. The New Day, and then Rusev Day, and then No Way Jose with Titus Worldwide and Breezango. And it was funny and delightful and he kept trying to restart the song because no one was coming to the ring to beat him up. And then Bobby Roode showed up and gave him a Glorious DDT and danced on the ramp. Which... I know some of the readers of this recaps don't watch wrestling, but Bobby Roode dancing is just not a thing one ever expects to see, and it was a delight. This was a long segment, but it didn't drag, it built. And I'm just gonna guess that every good writer on the show was put on this assignment, because that would explain most of the rest of the show.
Big Cass vs. Daniel Bryan
And then this happened. Bryan and Cass are a study in opposites. One is small, the other is huge. One is good at wrestling, the other is not. One can be a bit of an asshole, but is overall a good person, the other is not. I dislike Cass. Everyone dislikes Cass. And this match was as bad as a Daniel Bryan match can be.
All of which doesn't justify the audience chanting "We want Enzo!" multiple times. For those who don't know, Enzo was Cass' tag team partner, who Cass turned on when he turned heel. Enzo is also under investigation for rape, about which he didn't tell the company, for which (the latter, sadly, not the former) he got fired. Cass isn't a great guy. Enzo is a terrible person. Even before the rape allegations came out, he was already entirely socially ostracized in the locker room for being a dick. So the crowd chanting "we want Enzo!" to get to Cass is fucking gross. I was already turned off by them, but this is when I started to hate them. Daniel won, Cass attacked him from behind after, and this bad feud continues. Blech.
Carmella vs. Charlotte Flair for the SD Women's Title
This was a difficult match to book. Carmella is a great heel and deserves her championship run. But while she's much better than real life ex-boyfriend Cass in the ring, she still isn't great. And Charlotte is amazing. Just a terrific performer from all aspects. And... they had Carmella winning, so this took work. And they did it, because Charlotte is great and Carmella is competent, but it certainly wasn't up to par with most of Charlotte's matches, and certainly not her PPV outings.
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. AJ Styles for the WWE Title
Here's the problem with building up to a no disqualifications match with a bunch of nutshots: When you then put that match in front of the worst people, they only want the nutshots. And tables. Because WWE fans have a table fetish that is inexplicable to me. Here were two of the best in the world doing excellent work in an intense match, and the atmosphere was crap because the audience only came alive when they hit each other in the balls. Which... you can't go very far after the nutshots. It's hard to build from that. Though AJ and Shinsuke did build from that, with a simultaneous double nut kick. Which ended the match, because neither could continue. Which is just weird booking, because this is the point in the story where the former good guy turned bad guy because he couldn't beat the other good guy actually does beat the good guy. Which eventually leads to the good guy beating him and reclaiming the title. Having two non-finishes in a row in this feud makes it stale. Makes it too much like the other top title feud, the one that wasn't getting any progress on Backlash because Brock Lesnar doesn't work the lower level PPVs.
Bobby Lashley and Braun Strowman vs. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn
I love three of these four performers, and have no real beef with the fourth. But this was not great. The only good part was KO and Zayn arguing about whether to leave, and both shoving each other into the ring to get mauled by Braun. Braun running down Sami to attack him post match makes no sense, because he's a good guy now, and KO and Sami didn't really wrong him in any meaningful way. Bobby Lashley was also there.
Samoa Joe vs. Roman Reigns
And then came the main event. Why was this the main event instead of the World Title match? Because Roman is The Guy, and because he's from Raw and the World Title is a SmackDown title. But with Roman's booking already being terrible, and even perfectly good crowds booing him, putting him in a main event match against beloved villain Samoa Joe was a terrible idea. Both guys worked hard. Both guys are terrific performers who have great chemistry. And the crowd didn't care. At all. When Roman finally won, some in the crowd cheered, and they all got on their feet. But they didn't get up to cheer and support the performers. Oh, no. They got up to leave.
Final thoughts
Despite a stellar opening match and a terrific comedy segment, this PPV was a dud. Booking and the crowd both share the blame, but those who will take the brunt are the workers, and most of them don't deserve this. WWE's roster right now is quite possibly the best it's ever been. Top to bottom, they have incredible talent. But so much of the time, it seems like they have zero idea what to do with them. I wonder if this is because it's a transitional stage. Vince McMahon should hand over control to his daughter and son in law. They're ready, and he's 72 years old and is wrapped up in starting the XFL again. But letting go of control is HARD, so he's clearly hanging on. And the backstage conflict is affecting the product. Move on, Vince. Please.
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