WWE WrestleMania: Backlash 2022

WWE WrestleMania: Backlash 2022WWE WrestleMania: Backlash 2022

By Big Red Machine
From May 08, 2022
Discussion

SETH ROLLINS vs. CODY RHODES - 8/10


This was a “big moves and finishers,” “WrestleMania kick-outs” style match (imagine Adam Page vs. Adam Cole, but slowed down), and it was very exciting, but I thought they really missed the boat on the story that “Rollins now has Cody scouted,” as that is the natural story to tell in this match, given the build. Instead, they didn’t do much with that and actually mismanaged it by having Rollins counter a signature move of Cody’s the second time Cody went for it, instead of the first (doing it the first would have better shown that Rollins was ready for it). Instead, it just felt like any other match. This, to me, is WWE’s biggest weakness in the ring: the inability to allow for a different type of story to be told when the situation calls for it.

I also HATED the finish, which saw Cody counter a roll-up and tights-pulling with his own roll up and illegal tights pulling to get the win. Did Seth cheat first? Yes. But cheating in the same way to win the match (especially when you’re not in immediate danger of losing) does not make Cody likeable to me.

BOBBY LASHLEY vs. OMOS (w/MVP) - 5/10


The story here was MVP interfering, which eventually allowed Omos to win. It kind of had to, or else both MVP and Omos would lose all credibility. This dragged on longer than was interesting, and it wasn’t even nine minutes. I also despised Lashley tying Omos in the ropes to beat on him. That felt heelish to me.

DAMIAN PRIEST IS BARRED FROM RINGSIDE:
Edge vs. AJ Styles - 7.75/10


This was an excellent match about a body-part being worked over. Then we got a finish where someone appeared at ringside and distracted AJ, allowing Edge to win. Sound familiar? Yup. They just re-did what they did a WrestleMania. You really want to avoid doing that on a show where you’re doing FOUR rematches from WrestleMania on a six-match card.

Making this even worse was that Damian Priest came down the ramp, but apparently that doesn’t count as “ringside.” I will give WWE a slight break because this is consistent with a ruling they had involving Sami Zayn in late 2017… but it was stupid then, and it’s still stupid now. Anyway, Finn Balor came out to take Priest out, but then a mystery person in a hood and mask came out from under the ring to cause the distraction. Said person was revealed to be Rhea Ripley.

I QUIT MATCH FOR THE WWE SMACKDOWN WOMEN’S TITLE:
Charlotte Flair(c) vs. Ronda Rousey - a PERFECT 10/10!


I thought this was absolutely f*cking OUTSTANDING! This was one of those that felt like a real fight for most of it, and MAJOR props are due to both women for their selling. They were SCREAMING in pain in a way that we almost never hear in wrestling. They also did an excellent job constantly topping what they had done before, and the real “false finishes” actually built on each other, so it really felt like a cohesive story rather than just one act of violence followed by another.

MADCAP MOSS vs. BARON CORBIN - 6.25/10


They had a fun brawl. Moss won with a roll-up.

KAYLA BRAXTON UPDATES UP ON CHARLOTTE FLAIR’S CONDITION - She has fractured radius.

DREW MCINTYRE, RANDY ORTON, & MATT RIDDLE vs. THE BLOODLINE (w/Paul Heyman) - 9/10


Six-man tag team awesomeness! This was your big indy six-man tag style, but with WWE pacing. I’m not really sure how Roman pinning Riddle cleanly advances any sort of story, but the match itself was tremendous.

Final Thoughts
This was an AWESOME show from WWE. It was three hours of fun, exciting, professional wrestling, with nothing that strained logic. I will say for that for a PPV- sorry, “premium live event”- it felt quite small. Four of the six matches were rematches from WrestleMania, there were no world title matches, only one title match of any kind (and not even in the main event), and the finishes of the first three matches- half of the show- were clearly designed to continue a story rather than finish it. Even with that, though, this was an excellent outing from WWE, with Ronda vs. Charlotte and the main event being matches you really should go out of your way to see.

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