WWE Backlash: The Little PPV That DID!

A week ago, watching Smackdown Live and staying current on my twitter feed, I noticed there was little to no interest in this pay per view. Aside from the main event and possibly the tag team title match, (which everyone was sure the Uso’s would win and ruin), no one even wanted to watch this show. I was even a little skeptical on the quality that such a thin roster could produce. Boy was I wrong…
On the pre-show, we saw Baron Corbin vs. Apollo Crews. Now, I can honestly say I am not very high on Crews. He is very talented, insanely strong, and incredibly agile, but he has the personality of a raisin in my opinion. Baron Corbin, on the other hand, has been misused since his days in NXT. He does have mic skills, hes good in the ring, but has never gotten the proper push or chance to showcase how good he really is. Tonight, they put on an amazing clinic. Both men showed why they were called up, and gave hope that this night could be redeeming for the blue brand.
The first match, a six pack elimination challenge to crown the new women’s champion unfortuantely was one of two low points for the night (second one to follow). This match had everything to be an amazing showcase for the Smackdown women’s roster, but the writing seemed thrown together and clunky. There were too many times where pinfalls were broken up despite it being an elimiation match, and then half the match was one woman after another just throwing her opponents out of the ring. Thankfully, Becky Lynch won the title in the end in a very deserving manner. While I was personally bummed Alexa Bliss was eliminated so early, I am very happy the WWE made the right call and gave the fans what they wanted in Becky Lynch as champion.
Next up, the Uso’s fighting the Hype Bros for the chance to face Rhyno and Slater for the first ever Smackdown Tag Team Championship. This match surprised me, I am a huge Ryder fan, (not so much for Mojo, but oh well.) and hoped they would pull off the upset. Alas, I knew that the Uso’s woudl not lose due to their heel turn on Smackdown, and I was right. Despite a fairly good match, it was nothing too special, and the Uso’s moved on to challenge for the tag team titles.
Dolph Ziggler is quickly setting a record for most undeserved title matches as well as almost being most hated face in the WWE. If they keep pushing him like this, he may even surpass Roman Reigns. The Miz owned this match, his speech before with GM Daniel Bryan as well as mocking Bryan throughout the match had me convinced Bryan would interfere in someway. Part of me hoped that a swerve would happen and Bryan would turn heel, helping the Miz retain his title, but we still got an amazing match. The Miz impresses me more and more every match, he has stepped up his game and shown why he has been around as long as he has. The only disappointment to this match, and I understand it had to happen to keep Miz’s heel role in tact, was the ending where Maryse sprayed Dolph’s face with some sort of perfume or something, allowing her husband to pick up the win. Undoubtedly, this feud isn’t over, and even though they put on a stellar match tonight, I seriously doubt they can ride that momentum onto another PPV match. I have been wrong before though.
I couldn’t help but be a little excited for the Orton/Wyatt matchup, and like many others, was really disappointed when I learned he wasn’t wrestling tonight. The setup to take Orton out of the match worked for me, and I thought maybe it would be a good setup for some sort of return (Kurt Angle anyone? They made enough references tonight!). Unfortunately, I knew what they were going to do. As I watched Bray get his 10 count to win over Orton, I knew there would be another match. When they announced that they had an opponent for Wyatt, I found myself, fingers crossed, chanting “please don’t be Kane, please don’t be Kane!” What did we get? Kane… This match was a disaster from minute one. Announcing it was a no holds barred match couldn’t even save this match. The one good point of this was Bray’s senton bomb through the announce table on Kane. This spot was simply beautiful! Unfortunately, Kane still managed the win, and we are all left wondering “what exactly did Bray Wyatt do to piss of the higher ups?” Where does Wyatt go from here? Hopefully he can win the Orton match next month. Lord knows he’s earned it. If he does, this would be a perfect chance to turn AJ face (or Wyatt for that matter) and have him challenge for the World title. Wyatt’s time has come, and he should break out of jobber status from here on out. This should be his last loss.
The feel good moment of the year easily has to be Heath Slater’s free agent run. I heard rumors of this storyline a couple months ago and just assumed it would be another ridiculous comedy story, boy was I wrong. I don’t know how people like Heath Slater with his never ending family or “Broken” Matt Hardy get over and Roman Reigns can’t no matter what, but it happens. Heath Slater and Rhyno are the strangest, most awesome tag team in recent memory. While I was hoping American Alpha would get the titles and Slater would find another way to get a contract, I am so pleased with this outcome. This team has been so fantastic and Slater and Rhyno have amazing chemistry together. I look forward to their run and seeing what they can do. The Uso’s are definitley more interesting in their heel role, one their cousin could embrace and possibly have similar success, but I still can’t get behind them. I believe their upcoming feud with American Alpha will be make or break for them as heels, we will get to see what they are made of. As for Slater and Rhyno, the sky is the limit for this underdog team. Crowds love the underdog, but look for a heartbreaking defeat sooner rather than later.
A.J. Styles, the new face the runs the place, facing Dean Ambrose for the WWE World Title, (or is it World Heavyweight title? I forget.). It interests me that for so long people have been shouting at the rooftops: “make Ambrose champ! He would be better than Rollins and Reigns combined!” When he finally was however, the crowd turned on him. This has been a growing trend lately, and I do not understand it. Regardless, this match was a fun one. Back and forth, both men putting on a really good show. Reversals, near falls, it really did have everything, even a spot in the crowd! Ultimately, we finally saw AJ winning the WWE title! having followed him through the years, it is so fantastic to see him finally succeed in the WWE. This guy has won titles in every major organization for years, and now the casual audience will see how great he is as a champ.I hope he survives Ambrose’s rematch at No Mercy (which he will defintely get) and go on to feud with some other people and have a successful and lengthy reign. He definely deserves this and can get the attention of the fans as a face or a heel. Time will tell what happens.
For a PPV that had little to no hype surrounding it, it was extremely enjoyable. Sure, it had its low points, but what show doesn’t? Seeing new champs that the people genuinely wanted and one that everyone wants to stick around, the writers really made this one for the fans. It’s like they knew a bad debut for the split roster’s PPV’s would set a very bad tone for the rest of the year, so they upped their game and I was not disappointed. I hope Raw can compete with it and have a decent show with Clash of Champions. As for Smackdown, they have four weeks to adequately build their next PPV, No Mercy. If done correctly, we could see an amazing night again. We know already that we’re most likely going to have an Ambrose vs. Styles 2, an American Alpha vs. The Uso’s, and Orton vs.Wyatt for matches at No Mercy. Those three alone could sell a PPV, plus we will see more Slater/Rhyno, which everyone loves.