After the brand split, WWE had two PPVs with Raw and Smackdown together – Battleground had the storyline that the matches were set before the extension while Summerslam had Smackdown and Raw matches because it was one of the big four. Now, it is time for the great experiment: Can the individual brands carry their own pay per views? It seems that after the brand split Raw got the lion’s share of the talent. However, Smackdown has been putting on a great show with the cards they’ve been dealt – in fact, because the programs of Smackdown are less padded, thus producing a better show. But filling a 2 hour television show is different from filling a major show, especially when trying to sell people on the idea that brand exclusive PPVs can work. So how did the great experiment work?
Baron Corbin vs. Apollo Crews – pre-show
This is one of the few times I’ve reviewed a pre-show match – because I rarely watch them. But this was a solid match. Both guys looked good, and proved that with a little more of a push, both of these guys have the potential to be stars – even if Apollo is a little personality challenged (and pushed from NXT to main roster too soon).
Overall rating: 3.25 Stars (Out of 5)
Becky Lynch vs. Natalya vs. Carmella vs. Naomi vs. Nikki Bella vs. Alexa Bliss – 6 Pack Challenge for the Inaugural Smackdown Women’s Championship
In the past, I would have called a match like this filler, but re-vamps to the women’s division made something like this anything but. All six women actually performed well. I was surprised at Naomi and Carmella giving good showings at Summerslam, but even Nikki Bella looked good in this match. The match format gave room for plenty of action. But it wasn’t a perfect match. The elimination format was structured a little too formulaic. The great news is that Becky Lynch FINALLY got her due. After years of this always a bridesmaid-never a bride push, the lass kicker finally won the women’s championship. It was a satisfying beginning to the show.
Overall Rating: 3.75 stars
The Hype Bros. vs. the Usos – Tag Championship Semi-Finals
This match was good but nothing special. It was something of a formulaic match, but both teams are talented enough that they could make a somewhat by-the-numbers match like this watch watchable.
Overall rating: 3 stars
The Miz vs. Dolph Ziggler – Intercontinental Championship
I was concerned that this match was gonna be a lose-lose situation. Either Miz would beat Ziggler, reaffirming Dolph didn’t belong in the main event or Ziggler would win the IC tittle, killing all of Miz’s well-deserved momentum. Boy, was I happy to be wrong. First, there was a promo before the match where Miz was demanding a contract negotiation right before his entrance. The match itself was excellent – It started a little slow with some submission holds early on, but builds to a nailbiter with plenty of back and forth action and some cool spots such as a powerbomb into the ropes. Miz got the duke when Maryse sprayed Dolph with some perfume.
Miz’s storyline is that he’s making the IC title relevant again, and he’s not kidding. Ziggler and Miz had a stellar near-20 minute match instead of some 5-minute filler match, making the title look like something worth fighting for. Plus, Ziggler went down fighting so he looked like a hero even in defeat.
Rating: 4.25 Stars
Bray Wyatt vs. Randy Or… er, Kane – No DQ Match
Randy Orton suffered a concussion (According to some sources, it was during his Summerslam match). So an impromptu match was created pitting Wyatt against Kane. Saying Bray attacked Orton at the show was a smart way of hiding Orton’s injury when he was injured right before the show. Also a good idea was Wyatt taunting Orton by claiming a moral victory by way of forfeit. Then came Kane.
Admittedly, the match was better than it had a right to be – Both men hit and kicked out of finishers. The no-DQ rule hid Kane’s limitations enough. There was an excellent table spot and some exciting reversals. But I can’t give this a glowing recommendation. First of all, it was a little clumsy in spots, especially the beginning. Also, Bray losing really put a damper on things. Bray seems to lose too many high profile matches, and losing to someone who’s been jobber to the stars for the longest time (even putting Wyatt over years ago at Summerslam) did him no favors. Granted, he lost because of an interference from Orton. Maybe as a build-up match on Smackdown, this would have been passable, but one of the company’s biggest draws just looked like a loser.
Overall rating: 3 stars (I’d bump this up at least a quarter of a star if Wyatt won.)
Heath Slater/Rhyno vs. The Usos – Tag Team Championship
This was another good but not great match. This one was a little more exciting because it had a little more story. Heath Slater’s job was on the line. A little drama can put a match like this over the edge. When the Usos are double-teaming Slater, they’re not just being cheap, they may be holding the man back from feeding his family. Heath Slater spent the longest time as a jobber, but keeping his job made a satisfying match.
Overall rating: 3.5 stars
Dean Ambrose vs. AJ Styles – WWE Championship
With these two, I expected a fairly solid match. After all, both are talented, creative and extremely over. These two delivered – AND HOW. Even the early portions of this match were exciting as these two hit some heavy offense early on. Dean and AJ’s styles (pun not intended but hard to avoid) gelled perfectly, with AJ being the guy who seems to know every hold in the book and Dean being the crazy like a fox oddball with just enough out of box thinking to avoid said offense. There were some wicked spots – Dean slingshotting AJ onto the post while standing on the apron. We’ve seen the rebound clothesline so often it’s one of Dean’s trademark moves in the video games, but seeing it as a rebound from the Pele kick was something else.
More than just moves, there was hardly a wasted moment in this match. The suspense was off the hook – it felt like either man could have won at either time. It felt like every time they exhausted their playbook they found a new trick to use. AJ Styles has proven himself as the best in the business (right now) but this may also be the match of Dean Ambrose’s career. Styles won, which is good and bad. On one hand, I think they should have saved that. On the other hand, I did mark out over Styles winning. Plus the company has to put these PPVs over. The message is clear “Miss brand exclusive PPVs, you could miss something like this.”
Overall rating: FIVE STARS
Overall, Backlash was a mixed bag. The show had three great matches and didn’t feel padded which Summerslam and Wrestlemania suffered from. The good stuff included a match of the year candidate, a B-title treated like an A-title and a talented lady finally getting what she deserves. The problem was that the rest of the show just didn’t feel PPV-worthy. Orton’s injury was not the company’s fault and they covered it decently enough but buried a top star for no good reason. This show demonstrated how badly Smackdown needs stars – Del Rio just quit (it’s debatable if he was gonna be a big deal anyway), Cena’s stance as a full-timer becoming borderline and Orton is injury-prone. So maybe Zayn or Neville could be traded to the blue brand. Or at least guys like Corbin could be pushed more.
Overall Backlash was a solid, albeit far from perfect show.
skatronixxx.wordpress.com 
Recent Comments