The Judgment Day VS The LWO, Braun Strowman and Ricochet VS The Viking Raiders
The opening match of the night saw Rey Mysterio and Santos Escobar of the LWO take on Damian Priest and Finn Balor of the Judgment Day. This match was alright, everyone involved looked decent and it’s just nice to see the Judgment Day being booked so strongly. Both Rey and Santos are very quick performers so they were always able to keep themselves in the match whilst Finn Balor tried to work them down. However, it was Damian Priest who proved to be the x-factor in this contest as he made the blind tag before he hit Escobar with South of Heaven to get the victory. Again, I really like the way WWE are booking Damian Priest right now.
Grade: C+
Zelina Vega spoke to Adam Pearce backstage and said she’s challenging Rhea Ripley to a match for the SmackDown Women’s Championship at BackLash. I’m always a fan of talent getting to wrestle in their hometown/country so Vega getting a match against Rhea in Puerto Rico is pretty cool. We then got a cool video highlighting Shinsuke Nakamura’s striking ability before Karrion Kross cut his own cool promo where he said he’s going to take honour from the King of Strong Style. Braun Strowman and Ricochet then made their way down to the ring as they were about to take on the Viking Raiders in tag team action. This match never felt right, the timing was just a bit off and Braun Strowman was all over the place. Thankfully, Ricochet is a tremendous professional wrestler so he was able to save the contest a bit. It very much looked like the Viking Raiders were going to get the win after we saw “Air Ivar”, but the Monster of all Monsters kicked out and in the end, Ricochet picked up the victory after diving off of Braun’s back. I would personally quite like to see their tag team split up in the draft and when it comes to the Raiders, all of their credibility is completely gone now that they’ve lost another contest.
Grade: C
WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships: Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez VS Chelsea Green and Sonya Deville, Intercontinental Championship: Gunther VS Xavier Woods
It was then time for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships to be on the line as Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez tackled their first challengers in the form of Chelsea Green and Sonya Deville. Before the match, Chelsea Green threw more water at Liv Morgan and what followed wasn’t much better. The action wasn’t terrible, it was at the level that most of these Women’s Tag Team matches have been for the past 4 years, but what I didn’t like was the ending. Liv Morgan decided to throw water back in Chelsea’s face before she rolled up her opponent whilst Raquel assisted her meaning Morgan and Rodriguez retained their titles. This doesn’t at all make them feel like babyfaces and if the argument is that they’re getting payback for what’s been done to them, that story arc should really be used when they’re facing credible opponents that win nearly all of their matches. Also, how did the referee not notice that Green was soaking wet, it makes no sense!
Grade: C-
Matt Riddle spoke to Kayla Braxton backstage and the Original Bro said he was fired up for his main event match with Solo Sikoa before Gunther came out to defend his Intercontinental Championship against Xavier Woods. This was definitely the best thing on this show as the plucky underdog tried to pull off an upset against the dominant champion. Xavier Woods has always been my favourite member of the New Day so this was really nice to see him being put in this role whilst Gunther has been one of WWE’s best since his days in NXT UK. Despite Woods coming close to picking up the win a few times, it was Gunther who kept hold of his Intercontinental Championship when he made the host of Up Up Down Down pass out in a sleeper hold. Realistically, Gunther should be one of the first picks in this year’s WWE Draft.
Grade: B-
Solo Sikoa VS Matt Riddle: No Disqualification Match
The Usos came out to cut an annoying promo where they stated that they’re going to win back their Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championships next week. That really should not happen. This led into the main event as Solo Sikoa took on Matt Riddle in a No Disqualification match. The match itself was fine, both men put a lot on the line, but it’s so hard to be interested in this story right now as I’ve seen these guys go back and forth way too often now. The Usos also showed up at one point to get involved, but to be fair to Riddle, he was able to take them both out of the equation. However, the Enforcer of the Bloodline was still able to pick up the victory after he hit the Original Bro with the Samoan Spike. After the match, the Usos sent Riddle crashing through a table after delivering the 1D. BackLash has to be the end of this feud.
