Raw Women’s Championship: Bianca Belair VS Iyo Sky
Backlash kicked off with the Raw Women’s Championship on the line as Bianca Belair looked to become the longest reigning main roster Women’s Champion in history by defeating Iyo Sky. Interestingly, the crowd were fully behind Iyo Sky and were booing the Raw Women’s Champion which was really surprising. I thought the match itself was really good, both women got the time they needed to show why they are two of the best female competitors in the world. It was one of those matches where you knew that one finisher would do it and then Bayley and Dakota Kai arrived to try and help Iyo. In the end, though, Bianca Belair was able to hit the K.O.D. to get the victory and retain her title. It’s safe to say that the crowd wasn’t best pleased.
Grade: B
Seth “Freakin” Rollins VS Omos
The second match of the night saw Seth “Freakin” Rollins take on the Nigerian Giant Omos. Whilst Seth Rollins was basking in the ovation of the crowd, Omos booted Rollins in the back of the head before the match got underway. Seth Rollins used his experience to fight back against Omos, but the Giant’s size and power made it difficult for the Visionary to hit his normal offense. The best part of the match came when Omos managed to kick out of back-to-back Stomps. Seth Rollins then went to the top rope and delivered a “Super Stomp” to finally pick up the victory. Rollins did a good job making Omos look good, but the match still felt a bit pointless.
Grade: C+
United States Championship: Austin Theory VS Bobby Lashley VS Bronson Reed
The United States Championship was then on the line as Austin Theory looked to defend against both Bobby Lashley and Bronson Reed. Bobby Lashley hit a Spear on Theory early on, but Bronson Reed managed to pull Lashley out of the ring whilst Reed came close to picking up the victory after hitting the Tsunami. The ending saw Bobby Lashley wreck Bronson Reed with a Spear before Austin Theory chucked Lashley out of the ring and stole the pinfall victory to retain his United States Championship. Theory winning was the right call, but the match, similar to the feud, wasn’t nearly as good as it could’ve been.
Grade: C+
SmackDown Women’s Championship: Rhea Ripley VS Zelina Vega
Rhea Ripley put her SmackDown Women’s Championship on the line against the home favourite Zelina Vega. Zelina came out with a Puerto Rican flag which looked awesome and she was clearly emotional as the crowd cheered her on. The match itself was decent, it wasn’t the longest match, but I thought both Ripley and Vega did a decent job. Rhea Ripley obviously retained her title after hitting the Riptide which was definitely the right decision, but after the match, the crowd continued to cheer on Vega which was awesome.
Grade: C+
San Juan Street Fight: Bad Bunny VS Damian Priest
In what WWE was billing as one of two main events for Backlash, Bad Bunny battled his former friend Damian Priest in a San Juan Street Fight. Damian Priest wore the jacket that he wore at WrestleMania 37 for his entrance which was really cool whilst Bad Bunny had the Puerto Rico crowd singing his song. Damian Priest dominated early on and he could’ve won as he hit the South of Heaven. However, Priest pulled Bunny up at 2 which was genius. Bad Bunny started to get back into the match by using lots of different weapons before the “Number 1 streamed artist in the world” went on a run of just hitting Damian Priest moves which was also great. The two then brawled into the crowd before Damian Priest sent Bad Bunny crashing through a table with the Broken Arrow. Priest then hurt his leg which Bunny continued to target before Finn Balor and Dominik Mysterio arrived to help their Judgment Day brother. However, Rey Mysterio arrived before Carlito showed up to take out the heels. Savio Vega then showed up before he dropped Finn Balor after the LWO dealt with Dom. Meanwhile, back in the ring, Priest was able to kick out of a brilliant move by Bad Bunny, but in the end, the music sensation hit the Bunny destroyer to win the “battle of the hometown heroes”. This match was absolutely fantastic and deserved to close the show, particularly given the massive ovation that the San Juan crowd gave the over-babyfaces.
Grade: A-
Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn and Matt Riddle VS The Bloodline
The Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn teamed up with Matt Riddle to take on the Bloodline in six-man tag team action. The action in the ring was good, but what I really liked was the storytelling, particularly from Jey Uso and Solo Sikoa. Earlier on in the match, Solo Sikoa clearly wasn’t happy with his older brother and he continued to tag himself in. When he did this for the third time, Jey Uso tagged himself back in and after everyone hit their moves on one another, Solo Sikoa nearly hit the Samoan Spike onto his brother. Brilliantly, Jey said the line “I’m your brother, not his”. In the end, Solo Sikoa picked up the victory after delivering the Samoan Spike on Riddle. Great storytelling.
Grade: B+
Brock Lesnar VS Cody Rhodes
The Main Event of WWE Backlash saw Brock Lesnar take on Cody Rhodes. Cody attacked Brock during the Beast’s entrance and when the match got underway, Lesnar started to take control. Early in the match, the turnbuckle padding got taken off and when Lesnar got chucked into it, he completely cut his head open and he was bleeding everywhere. In the end, Cody Rhodes managed to counter Lesnar’s Kimura lock into a pinfall to pick up the victory. Rhodes winning was the right call, but I really don’t get why this match main evented the show over the Priest-Bunny match.
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