Following the criticism of the conclusion of the second night of Wrestlemania last month, the WWE was back on pay-per-view to present Backlash, an event held in St. Louis, Missouri, a region know for its extensive pro wrestling history through the territory that was under the direction of legendary promoter, Sam Muchnick. As we know, St. Louis is the hometown of Randy Orton, and before John Cena exits the sport, it made too much sense not to use their storied rivalry as a selling point for a major show. The crowd was energetic throughout the entire night, which definitely helped improve the perception and overall presentation of certain portions of the pay-per-view.
The show opened with the four-way bout for the US title, and while it was more or less obvious that Jacob Fatu wasn’t going to drop the belt just a month after winning it at Wrestlemania, this segment still delivered. This was action packed and everyone had a chance to shine at some point in the contest. The choke slam from Damien Priest to Drew McIntyre through the table on the outside of the ring looked brutal. Despite the solid action, I’d say the biggest takeaway from this particular segment is it highlighted the true depth that WWE has on its current roster. LA Knight is still popular, Drew is still one of the best overall workers in the entire company, Damien Priest always delivers a quality performance, and Fatu has the potential to be a major star. The bottom line is, all of these guys can go bell-to-bell and the quality of this segment proved it.
Former New Japan star, Jeff Cobb made his official WWE debut when he assisted Fatu with the victory to retain the championship, aligning himself with Solo Sikoa. I was somewhat surprised that Cobb was put in a stable with Solo, but that’s not to say that it was the wrong move, just not something that I would’ve guessed when it was initially reported that he planned to sign a WWE contract. That being said, given the rising popularity of Fatu because of how impressive he is in the ring and how his character has connected with the audience, it looks like the seeds could be planted for an eventual Cobb/Fatu feud, particularly based on Fatu’s reaction. It sounds almost trivial, but the addition of Cobb to the roster underscores how many quality performers are currently under the WWE banner. Of course, anything can happen, but it wouldn’t be shocking if Cobb has a very successful tenure in the WWE.
Becky Lynch vs. Lyra Valkyrie was a very solid match, and it was clear that the objective was to elevate the status of Valkyria, which was accomplished during this segment. The in-ring work was well done, but more than that, the way that Valkyria presented put her on a similar level to the bigger star. The structure of the contest added consistent drama before the conclusion, specifically when it looked like the turn buckle spot was going to allow Becky to steal the win, but Valkyria was able to get the roll up for the victory. Given the consistent quality of the women’s division right now, it might be difficult for someone to break through to find a top spot in the division so only time will tell if Lyra can truly become established as a star on her own, but this was definitely a strong push to help her get there. A side note, at one point, it looked like when Becky tried to work an eye poke, it seemed like Lyra legitimately got caught with a strike to be face, as she was holding her nose during the pin fall. The post-match attack sets up for the feud to continue, which makes sense because it will allow Becky’s star power to elevate her status in the future.
Dominik Mysterio vs. Penta for the Intercontinental title was a fun match. There’s not much to say about it outside of the fact that it was a 10-minute sprint that allowed for some entertaining lucha action, and more importantly, Dominik continues to evolve in his role. Chad Gable did a run-in to cause enough interference for Dominik to retain the belt. Considering that Rey Mysterio was injured and couldn’t compete against Gable at Wrestlemania, it will be interesting to see if the focus of the Gable feud shifts, especially if Rey is sidelined for an extended period of time.
I understand what they were going for with Pat McAfee vs. Gunther, and it wasn’t anything terrible, but it just seemed like it missed the mark for the narrative that they tried to target with this segment. While McAfee is too over the top in my opinion as an announcer, his immense popularity with the WWE audience is undeniable. That being said, some of his fire up spots just looked hokey rather than anything the crowd could truly rally behind. His selling was also a little wonky at times, and the overall presentation was clunky. I’m not sure someone of Gunther’s caliber with his level of authenticity and believabilty should be put in a situation where there were some clumsy exchanges. Speaking of exchanges, I honestly don’t think that regardless of McAfee’s background as a former punter in the NFL, he shouldn’t realistically be able to exchange forearms with the former world champion. Again, it dilutes the rare authenticity that Gunther brings to the table.
I understand that there were only five matches on the card, and trust me, I was more thrilled than Meltzer during a Tokyo Dome main event that this pay-per-view finished with the traditional runtime of two hours and 45 minutes, but I’d still say that the time given for the Gunther/McAfee segment should’ve been cut in half with another match added to the card. Gunther got the win, but I’m not sure that this segment did anything to benefit his character or his position on Raw.
As mentioned, the main event used the history between John Cena and Randy Orton to get a final main event between the two aging grapplers. With both of them being in the pro wrestling business for 25 years, the vast of it on a full-time basis, it wouldn’t be realistic to expect them to work the same match that they did 15 years ago. So, it’s understandable that this segment had all the smoke and mirrors of an overbooked main event as a way to camouflage that they are both much older than they were when the rivalry initially started. I’d still say that this match went a little too long and I’m not sure if even the history behind the feud justified a 30-minute segment to close the show. Between the extra time here and the few minutes that could’ve been trimmed off Gunther/McAfee, it definitely would’ve been possible to add another match to the card to help pace the show.
Don’t get me wrong, there wasn’t anything necessarily subpar about the main event, but they relied on kicking out of multiple finishers as somewhat of a substitute for building the drama in a more organic and compelling fashion. Furthermore, and this was probably the biggest issue, with the way that this stoyline is set up, it’s going to be extremely difficult to create a moment where it looks like there’s a realistic chance that Cena is going to lose the championship any time before the final match of his career. It’s an unavoidable aspect of the nature of the angle, and truthfully, there might not have been a way for this match to get to a point where it appeared that Cena might actually drop the title. Cena retained the championship and it will be interesting to see who his opponent will be at the next pay-per-view.
What do you think? Share your thoughts, opinions, feedback, and anything else that was raised on Twitter @PWMania and Facebook.com/PWMania.
Until next week
-Jim LaMotta
E mail [email protected] | You can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, & Threads @jimlamotta89
