WWE Backlash 2020 PPV Review

So I came in on this pay per view late kinda like I did the last one last month. I haven’t felt the need to rush and watch one of WWE’s PPV’s in a while, but I always do feel compelled to tune in at some point no matter what. I try not to miss the PPV’s even if I don't watch the weekly episodic shows, RAW and Smackdown on FOX or USA. With that being said, I came in well after the first match of the night. So I missed the first two matches of the night: Apollo Crews (winner and retainer of his WWE US Title) vs Andrade, and the Women’s Tag Team match for the Women’s Tag Team titles with Bayley and Sasha Banks (winners and retaining their championships) vs the IIconics vs Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross.

I ended up coming in on the middle of Jeff Hardy vs Sheamus. They were both already done wrestling much and were on to battering each other and hitting each other with pretty big spots. The thing that I noticed with this PPV immediately when I turned it on is that the WWE has brought an audience, in rookies and developmental talent, into the crowd with barricades and clear guards around them. Jeff and Sheamus both put on a good show but you can definitely tell that they were both tired and you can’t help but wonder if it’s because of age and body wear down. Sheamus prevailed over Jeff in an surprising upset as it did seem like Jeff had a chance to win.

The Women’s Championship was on the line next with Asuka, the champion, taking on Nia Jax, who is about twice her size. Being an older fan, I didn’t think for one second that Nia was going to win but I did want to see what sort of cop out that they would have to keep Asuka champion, as she should be anyway. I personally don’t feel like Nia should be Asuka’s next opponent. I honestly feel like she should be developed a little bit more as a character and as a wrestler. In my opinion, she should’ve had more of a build up after her return and more time for her to get better in the ring without causing injury or being blamed for injury consistently match after match. Her character to me could use an update and more work as to who she really is besides just being a bigger girl. She just needs a revamping and maybe a better gimmick to me. So of course, not wanting to take the belt off of Asuka so soon, they decided to have the ever so useful Double Countout, where the champion still retains, but neither wrestler wins or loses the match. Typical WWE ending to a match/feud that isn’t at its climax yet. Asuka did come out on top at the end at she gave Nia a good Hip Thrust off the apron to her on the floor. So that was pretty cool for her. Nothing really exciting about the match really to me. It was a bit sloppy if I’m being honest.

Next up on the card was Braun Strowman, the WWE Universal champion, vs the tag team of The Miz and John Morrison, with whoever of the tag team winning the championship solely instead of as a co-champion. The match began with a corny, but sometimes chuckle worthy song about Braun from Miz and Morrison. It just prolonged the match and made me almost bored to watch it as I figured it would possibly be the most exciting thing that I saw in the match. But when the match started, again, this was a match that I knew the title would not change hands because the champion JUST got the title and their reign has only just begun. What I was looking for out of this match was how Miz and Morrison could make Braun look good and how Braun could look strong! This match, though, was a bit lackluster. The Miz and John Morrison worked in the ring good and showed a lot of good teamwork and made you see why they do probably outside of their gimmick think they're one of the best, if not the best tag teams of all time. They are very good as a team and are exciting and can be funny, but both annoying, and that’s what they want to be so it works. Braun won the match, needless to say, and retained his championship.

The WWE Championship match was following match with the champ, Drew McIntyre vs Bobby Lashley. They are both heavyweights and both decent in the ring, so I was actually excited about this match. Lashley started out the gate by attacking McIntyre before he can even get his gear off. He puts him in a Full Nelson choker and almost takes him all the way out of the match, which I thought was stupid, because if he passed out, how would you get the title? You’d be better off just beating him up a little and then having the ref ringing the bell afterwards. But okay... beyond that, when the match started, it did get started and pick up! It was a good match of two of the body gods of WWE. WWE alumni MVP is also playing the role of Bobby Lashley’s manager so he added a sort of legitimacy and knowledge to the role of having someone at ringside with you rather than just a pretty face, like Lana (even though I love her as a person or character, I just wish they’d let her wrestle.) So it did turn out to be a heavy hitting match that I did want to see have a definitive ending, but it dawned on me halfway through that it wouldn’t. This match also contained a pretty big botch that wasn’t easily missed that made me laugh. And the ending Lana did end up coming out and ruining the match for Lashley (her kayfabe husband and who she formerly managed) by getting involved at ringside and causing a distraction for the ref and Lashley. McIntyre gets a Claymore Kick, his finisher, winning the match and retaining his WWE Championship!

The next match, if you could even call it that, was just a giant clusterfuck of things happening. The Viking Raiders took on the Street Profits for the Tag Team Championships in another cinematic match. Lol! No lie, it was just a lot going on! It reminded me of this year’s Money in the Bank match with Bray Wyatt vs John Cena. It seemed like a tv show, whereas this matchup seemed a lot like a tv show cartoon. It was trying to be funny, sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t. It was some wrestling, but a lot of funny sketches rather. It ranged from fights inside the building, outside the building, a lot of different shots and settings, talking, costumes and props and freaking ninjas with an appearance from Akira Tozawa. Phew! It was a lot. And it wasn’t really a match because it didn’t have a conclusion or a winner really. It was just... too much but enough at the same time.

Final match of the night was to be the “Greatest Wrestling Match of All Time” in the two WWE legends, Randy Orton vs Edge. This was a bitter rivalry starting from the beginning as it was meant to be extremely harsh from the jump. Randy has smashed Edge’s neck with a chair on RAW wks ago, so it was pretty deep from the start. The match was not the best wrestling match I’ve ever seen, but it was a damn good show! Edge should be proud of the work that he has done since his return from early retirement years ago. Both of the men put in a lot of work into the match, the spots, and trying to make sure that it was a good technical match. WWE, for some dumb reason, felt the need to insert an audience track into the match and IT. WAS. LOUD! It took over the match a lot more to me than the wrestling did at times. I saw people online wondering if it was from one of the WWE 2K Games and that made me laugh. You can still see that Edge and Orton have chemistry in the ring and both have something left to give. Overall, the match was something to be proud of but I don’t think it lived up to its actual name of being the best wrestling match ever.

The PPV as a whole was decent, but I don’t think that it was a great one. The matches were not amazing or noteworthy to me, but weren’t all terrible either. It was definitely just an in between PPV waiting on something else big to happen on one of the weekly shows or the next big PPV, which would be SummerSlam, I believe. It’s exactly what to be expected of one of the year’s smaller PPV’s.