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Post by Darkhawk on May 7, 2018 0:27:26 GMT -5
Damn I completely forgot about Backlash and I knew no one was losing their title tonight. Overall the draft, Lesnar being champion and rematches hurt this PPV.
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Post by FLUX on May 7, 2018 0:39:31 GMT -5
When one of the matches you were looking forward to the most turns out to be the worst match you've seen the entire year.
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Post by Jonathan Karate on May 7, 2018 0:41:32 GMT -5
Whoever booked that main event needs to be woke the up.
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Cameron Stone
Main Eventer
Joined on: Jan 16, 2013 18:16:15 GMT -5
Posts: 2,014
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Post by Cameron Stone on May 7, 2018 3:02:08 GMT -5
Which is a really sad statement about a card that features Seth Rollins, Daniel Bryan, AJ Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Samoa Joe. I never, ever defend Chip ever. I not only am going to defend his comments on crappy booking, I'll one up them. The Bryan ending was fine. Seth and Miz was MotN as expected. But good God. This show is GAB 2008 levels of bad. Not quite December to Dismember, but that's its own special circle of hell. Just finished. Bash 2008 was better lol. Edge/HHH was solid, Jericho/HBK was good, and Matt/Shelton was decent. The lows were worse on that show. But Miz/Rollins was the only good one on here. And even that really devalued Miz and his finisher. Nakamura and Styles was passable at best. Though this show was bad, it didn't bother me as much as Battleground last year. The Orton/Jinder Punjabi prison might legitimately be the worst WWE match of the last decade, and worst ppv main event for sure, and the Flag match was also one of the worst matches of the last while, arguably the worst match of Cena's main event career. Those two matches are so bad, whereas most of Backlash was just dull. Battleground 2017 is legitimately offensive
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Post by TurboEddie on May 7, 2018 3:39:45 GMT -5
Abysmal pay-per-view.
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Post by LK3 on May 7, 2018 3:40:02 GMT -5
I'm getting the short end of the stick on attending the "B" PPV's. I was at Battleground last year, and Backlash tonight. I guess the good comes with the bad tho, as Royal Rumble and Takeover Philly this year were super awesome.
I felt the show was extremely average, and then the main event brought it down. The crowd may have had a little blame too, as I've grown to be less of a fan of chanting things mid-match that have nothing to do with the match. I realize no one likes Reigns, I'm not a Reigns fan either, but everyone seems to enjoy Samoa Joe so much so why not chant FOR him? I guess it's just knowing that there's a 95% chance Reigns is winning. A lot of people got that glimmer of hope when it looked like Reigns was passing out to the Clutch, but that was about it. This match would have been better served switching places with the WWE Championship match, even with their double countout result. Fans wouldn't be leaving mid-match or chanting "beat the traffic" with 2 matches still to come. It is what it is tho. Seth Rollins vs. The Miz was a tremendous match, and that is what I'll remember from this show.
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Post by finnbalor1 on May 7, 2018 3:54:26 GMT -5
This show was rough to watch imo the only thing that was enjoyable to watch was Seth and Miz. The Ellis segment was awful and took way to long and the main event I dont have words for that but at least I got to see Alexa and Carmella so I guess that was something enjoyable to watch.
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Post by LK3 on May 7, 2018 4:11:10 GMT -5
The Elias segment was mostly enjoyable. Mainly due to getting to see Elias when not expecting to. It went downhill when Rusev came out, and then Jose.
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Post by Liv Is Life on May 7, 2018 4:12:57 GMT -5
It’s actually terribly sad that I opted for Boy Meets World marathon on Hulu and sleep over watching this ppv. Looks like I didn’t miss a thing of importance at least..
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E N I G M A
Main Eventer
Joined on: Jul 4, 2010 5:21:31 GMT -5
Posts: 2,632
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Post by E N I G M A on May 7, 2018 4:29:54 GMT -5
Miz/Rollins & Orton/Hardy where good. I fast forwarded through the women's matches and all I can say is that Nia/Bliss did AGAIN go for far too long. The Elias segment went on for FAR too long aswell. I really like Elias, but all the interruptions and re-boots just dragged A LOT! Then, we went to Dick-Kick City.....The match was good up to the point where they had the first 10 count. From that point on I knew there would be some stupid ending where they would both be counted out. I was hoping for Paige to come out and restart the match, but No. We didn't get a Phenomenal Forearm, we didn't get a Styles Clash, we didn't get a Kinshasa... Disapointing, to say the least. Tag Match was what it was, I would have preferred to see Woken Matt on the card, but hey. Also, Lashley's finisher is THE WORST finisher I have ever seen.
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Quazimoto
Superstar
Joined on: Feb 4, 2014 12:37:37 GMT -5
Posts: 993
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Post by Quazimoto on May 7, 2018 4:58:26 GMT -5
Some quick Backlash thoughts...
- Miz vs Rollins was great. Rollins has been killing it lately. Might have taken him a while to get back to form after the knee injury, but he's officially back to his old form. Perhaps even better than he's ever been. Why he's not the top babyface on RAW and positioned as THE guy is a mystery to me. Lot of the same sentiments for The Miz, who's been putting in top-level work for years now. Just a great match.
- Jax vs Bliss just went on too long. Nia Jax is much better when her matches are a bit shorter and filled with a bit more intensity. The match had some flashes of quality, but overall, just felt too drawn out. Not terrible, but not something I'd call real good either.
- The Elias segment was fun for what it was. Kinda surreal to see Fandango as part of No Way Jose's dancing train there.
- Bryan vs Cass was about as good as it could have been. Daniel Bryan hasn't missed a beat, but Cass just isn't good at all. He's decent at best and if he weren't seven foot tall, he'd have been released by now.
- Charlotte vs Carmella was SmackDown title match level quality. Good work by both ladies honestly, but it didn't feel special in the least.
- I actually really liked the WWE Championship match. No way should it have been on mid show like that though. Still, it was a real good match and I even actually liked the ending. Don't recall seeing that before, which is a plus for someone who's been watching wrestling for over thirty years. I get why people would hate it, but it was obviously done to further the feud and lead to a more decisive match conclusion down the road. In that regard, it worked perfectly.
- Don't know what to say about Strowman & Lashley vs Owens & Zayn expect that it seemed to be a collection of four guys who are apparently directionless.
- Joe vs Reigns... *Sigh* WWE just doesn't get it with Reigns. The match was bad, but that's not really the point anymore with Reigns matches. Backlash saw fans literally leaving the show during the main event featuring Samoa Joe vs Roman Reigns because they obvious knew what was coming as we've seen it in nearly every Roman Reigns and John Cena match for well over a decade now. The chosen one gets beat down and worn out for the whole match, then pops off a few super moves to the win. If watching your crowd literally turn their backs and leave doesn't get the message through to WWE that it's not working, nothing really will. There's at least half a dozen guys who get great ovations and have a natural following with the fans, yet it's still Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar being portrayed as the only two that really matter in WWE. It's a little sad honestly, but really nothing new (see CM Punk's WWE Championship run in 2012 and how it was overshadowed by whatever John Cena was doing).
- Overall, just not a good show. One great match and another very good one. The rest was just forgettable Raw or SmackDown quality at best.
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Deleted
Joined on: Jun 8, 2024 1:41:59 GMT -5
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on May 7, 2018 5:08:44 GMT -5
I genuinely cannot believe they are having reigns main event shows with no title or even a good storyline. Graves and Cole saying after the match we continue to be amazed by the resilience of Roman reigns and it's the heart of a champion. off.
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Post by PJ on May 7, 2018 5:52:52 GMT -5
The Elias segment was mostly enjoyable. Mainly due to getting to see Elias when not expecting to. It went downhill when Rusev came out, and then Jose. I cringed with every part of that segment. And I guess Jose’ entrance is the reboot of that stupid Russell Brand knockoff that had the bunny a couple years ago. Stupid then and stupider now. And what a way to turn Roode into a joke. I finally went to bed after the Styles match...which I probably should have done after the US Championship match.
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Post by blissfan4life on May 7, 2018 6:33:25 GMT -5
Nakamura absolutely should've been given the belt tonight. AJ Needs a heel turn as well. That wouldn't make any sense. actually it would, would freshen AJ's character up a lot.
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Post by blissfan4life on May 7, 2018 6:34:44 GMT -5
2/10 ppv for me. Of course Samoa Joe got sacrificed to the altar of Roman. off Roman
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Post by "The Visionary" Eldniw on May 7, 2018 7:12:07 GMT -5
I'm getting the short end of the stick on attending the "B" PPV's. I was at Battleground last year, and Backlash tonight. I guess the good comes with the bad tho, as Royal Rumble and Takeover Philly this year were super awesome. I felt the show was extremely average, and then the main event brought it down. The crowd may have had a little blame too, as I've grown to be less of a fan of chanting things mid-match that have nothing to do with the match. I realize no one likes Reigns, I'm not a Reigns fan either, but everyone seems to enjoy Samoa Joe so much so why not chant FOR him? I guess it's just knowing that there's a 95% chance Reigns is winning. A lot of people got that glimmer of hope when it looked like Reigns was passing out to the Clutch, but that was about it. This match would have been better served switching places with the WWE Championship match, even with their double countout result. Fans wouldn't be leaving mid-match or chanting "beat the traffic" with 2 matches still to come. It is what it is tho. Seth Rollins vs. The Miz was a tremendous match, and that is what I'll remember from this show. Hey. Battleground last year was good. I was there also and it was better than several other 'B' PPVs in 2017 or even so far in 2018. That said, I said it in a group chat, and I started late. Seth Vs. Miz was far and away, match of the night. And I said it before Cole said it. But if they didn't walk back through the curtain and brag to everyone else and say "GOod luck following that", then they missed a chance. Nothing else held a candle to it. And idk if it was for the story, but a report came out that Alexa got hurt in the match with Nia. If it's not kayfabe, then I'm noticing a trend. Nia legit hurt Bayley's shoulder too. She's gonna soon get a bad reputation in the ring if she doesn't get it together.
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ecwrhino
Mid-Carder
Joined on: Aug 20, 2016 1:45:33 GMT -5
Posts: 173
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Post by ecwrhino on May 7, 2018 7:18:15 GMT -5
Make the NXT takeovers replace the main roster PPVs and let main roster PPVs only happen four times a year please.
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Post by "The Visionary" Eldniw on May 7, 2018 7:19:48 GMT -5
Miz/Rollins & Orton/Hardy where good. I fast forwarded through the women's matches and all I can say is that Nia/Bliss did AGAIN go for far too long. The Elias segment went on for FAR too long aswell. I really like Elias, but all the interruptions and re-boots just dragged A LOT! Then, we went to Dick-Kick City.....The match was good up to the point where they had the first 10 count. From that point on I knew there would be some stupid ending where they would both be counted out. I was hoping for Paige to come out and restart the match, but No. We didn't get a Phenomenal Forearm, we didn't get a Styles Clash, we didn't get a Kinshasa... Disapointing, to say the least. Tag Match was what it was, I would have preferred to see Woken Matt on the card, but hey. Also, Lashley's finisher is THE WORST finisher I have ever seen. Where's that blasted HEART button for posts, already?
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Post by The Kevstaaa on May 7, 2018 7:54:23 GMT -5
WWE Backlash 2018 May 6th, 2018 | Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey | Attendance: 14,724
The WWE will now be running Pay-Per-Views with both brands. I’m not a fan, as I enjoyed the split PPVs. The roster is currently too loaded to join the PPVs. For example, people like Finn Balor, Ember Moon, Asuka, The Iiconics, Becky Lynch, Elias, Rusev Day, Usos, and many others weren’t booked.
Kickoff Match: Bayley vs. Ruby Riott w/ The Riott Squad When this was announced, I was hoping for something really good. Unfortunately, this peaked at solid. Bayley looked worse than she has in a long time. Like, when Alexa Bliss embarrassed her last year in the Kendo Stick match, Bayley was bad from a character standpoint. Here, she was in botch mode and looked weak as a wrestler. She did hit a nice hurricanrana to take out Sarah Logan at ringside at one point. A Liv Morgan distraction opened the door for Ruby to hit the Riott Kick and win in 10:06. It was okay, but could’ve done with a better performance from Bayley. The Riott Squad is a united front, while Bayley and Sasha Banks continue to have issues. I’m all for Ruby being the one to dethrone Nia Jax. [**½]
WWE Intercontinental Championship: Seth Rollins [c] vs. The Miz The Miz looks odd with no title or anyone by his side. Coming into this match, it was clear Seth Rollins was going to win. Miz is on Smackdown, which has the United States Title, so they didn’t need the IC Title. But, these two professionals went out there and made me completely believe in a Miz win on more than one occasion. Seth’s knee became the target, especially after he missed a knee strike and drove it right into the ring post. It was a great spot. Miz worked on it with a Figure Four and really wore down Seth. The roll through into the Skull Crushing Finale spot led to a fantastic near fall. It got bested when Seth went for the Falcon Arrow/Superplex combo, only for Miz to counter into another Skull Crushing Finale. That near fall was insane. After a series of rollups, Seth found a way to hit the Curb Stomp and retain in 20:30. An excellent opener that was about on par with the WrestleMania one. My only grip was the two finisher kickouts, as it was a bit much. However, the leg work was great, they had some really well thought out sports, and this was the highlight of the show. [****¼]
WWE Raw Women’s Championship: Nia Jax [c] vs. Alexa Bliss Their WrestleMania match didn’t work for me at all (*¾), and I feel like Nia needs to just run through Alexa. This suffered from some of the same problems that the Mania match did. Nia working from underneath as a face just doesn’t work for her. Alexa dominated her at a few too many points, and it just lessens their matches. There was some solid drama in the possibility of Alexa managing to win back the title, especially after knocking the champion during a Vader Bomb attempt. Nia caught Twisted Bliss and won via Samoan drop in 10:17. Again, it went too long and had way too much Alexa on offense. But, there was a semblance of a story and some drama that allowed it to be average. [**]
WWE United States Championship: Jeff Hardy [c] vs. Randy Orton At the start of 2017, it would’ve been insane to hear that Randy Orton would face Jinder Mahal and Jeff Hardy at back to back Backlash events. We still didn’t get motivated Orton on this show, but he was better than some of his dire performances recently. They had a decent back and forth match, where they were booked to be rather even. While the in-ring stuff was technically fine and there weren’t really any botches, it lacked something to make it feel like a Pay-Per-View match. Hardy avoided the RKO and hit a Twist of Fate, before winning with the Swanton Bomb in 11:48. It felt like a good house show match and nothing more. Basically, the best Orton gives us these days. [**½]
Next, we got one of the best segments in some time. I’m not going to fully recap it, because it needs to be seen to be believed. Elias attempted to give us a concert, but got interrupted by the New Day. Each attempt at singing was cut off by a new arrival, including Rusev Day and No Way Jose, who came out with a conga line that included Titus Worldwide and Breezango. The last guy out was Bobby Roode, who planted Elias with a DDT. This was some of the most fun I’ve had watching wrestling in years. Sometimes, you just wanna have a good time.
Big Cass vs. Daniel Bryan This was a major disappointment of a feud, even if Cass cut one good promo in the build. Coming in, I figured if anyone could get a good match out of Cass, it would be Daniel Bryan. Luckily, they seemed to tell the right story. Cass used his size to take control. I gotta note that commentary going overboard with explaining that Bryan was the underdog was a bit much. Anyway, Cass’ confidence proved to be his downfall. He wouldn’t take advantage of openings, instead taking time to gloat. That allowed Bryan to rally and put him in the Yes Lock. Cass tapped almost immediately, which killed potential drama. The match went 7:46. The story was okay, but Cass on offense was a snoozefest. [**¼]
Post-match, Cass attacked Bryan so this can continue for some dreadful reason. Can Bryan just move on to working interesting people?
WWE Smackdown Women’s Championship: Carmella [c] vs. Charlotte I loved the video package for this match. I’ve seen a lot of people are pissed that Carmella is champion. I’m in the opposite boat. I’d much rather she be champion than have to sit through another dull Charlotte run. Anyway, Carmella came in with the right strategy. They’ve built the story around her not being on Charlotte’s level, so she wasn’t trying to mix it up with her. Instead, she ran, stalled, and used those old school heel tactics to her advantage. I liked how Carmella got to apply her Code of Silence finisher, only for Charlotte to power out. It furthered that story. Surprisingly, not only did Carmella retain, but she did so cleanly. Charlotte missed a moonsault and tweaked her knee, so Carmella kicked her there and rolled her up to retain in 10:11. Parts of it were dull, but I truly dug that Carmella came in with a good strategy and won by using her brain. [**¼]
WWE Championship No Disqualifications Match: AJ Styles [c] vs. Shinsuke Nakamura Even though we now know how the match finished, this still should’ve gone on last. Anyway, I saw a lot of folks upset that this wasn’t a No DQ match featuring a lot of weapons and big spots. Why did people expect that? That wasn’t what this was about. It was built around the low blows and how Nakamura is willing to take those shortcuts when he gets in trouble. Granted, it could have used more intensity and more use of the chair that got brought in. It did lead to a rough cut on the cheek for Styles. Once they gave us the first low blow spot, things picked up big time. AJ returned the favor and the final few minutes ruled. Unfortunately, they kicked each other low and neither man could answer the ten count, leading to another no contest in 21:09. They continue to disappoint, but show flashes of what they’re capable of. Those final few minutes were grand and they ultimately told a fine story, but that finish got crap on and for good reason. [***¼]
Bobby Lashley and Braun Strowman vs. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn They had a fun little tag on Raw a few weeks back (***¼). This wasn’t nearly as good. Like too many other matches tonight, it felt like something you’d get on a house show. Things were technically fine, they just felt hollow. The main story was another tease of Owens and Zayn breaking up. They threw each other into their powerhouse opponents to take the beating alone. Sami slapped Kevin, leaving him alone to take Lashley’s delayed vertical suplex for the loss in 8:40. Lashley’s finish is trash. Also, he feels like just another guy already. That was fast. The match was basic and the ending was sloppy, as even commentary noted how Owens wasn’t the legal man. [**]
Roman Reigns vs. Samoa Joe I feel bad for Roman Reigns. I honestly do. He constantly goes out and gives us great efforts, but gets put in these no-win, dumb booking situations. Roman spent most of the year whining about Brock Lesnar being the company favorite, yet here he is main eventing a show with nothing on the line. Also, they laid the match out poorly. Joe attacked Roman before the match and put him through the announce table. Once the bell rang, I think everyone knew where this was going. After a hot start, we went into REST HOLD CITY, BITCH! It felt like it never ended. Fans were literally leaving in droves from what I’ve heard. The ones who remained chanted for everything but this match, including what sounded like “beat the traffic.” Yikes. Roman made his usual rally, they gave us some late near falls, he survived the Coquina Clutch, and won with the Spear in 17:54. Stop doing this. Even if you somehow blame the fans for these reactions, go with it and maybe don’t put Roman in the main event. The match was crap and nowhere near the stuff we’ve seen from Joe and Roman in their Raw matches over the past year. Predictable, boring, and felt like it took forever. [*¾]
The cameras cut directly to the crowd, only to catch a WHOLE BUNCH of people leaving.
Overall: 4/10. Our first look at WWE giving us monthly Pay-Per-Views with both Raw and Smackdown was a failure. So many good people were left off the show and what we got was lackluster at best. The Kickoff match was decent other than Bayley botching. I thought Carmella/Charlotte told a good story and Nakamura/AJ was headed somewhere very good until that terrible finish. Seth/Miz was hands down the match of the night and deserves to be talked about and watched multiple times. Everything else felt something I’d see on a house show and didn’t belong on PPV. The only things you need to see are Seth/Miz and the ridiculous Elias segment.
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Post by bigshab421 on May 7, 2018 8:14:12 GMT -5
I loved the match, but I just don't see the point in not having a conclusive ending with Nakamura/Styles. Nakamura's heel persona is awesome and it really would have told a story if he had beat AJ with the low blow for the title.
I don't see the point of not giving Nakamura the title now. I don't see AJ as stale, but I want to see him chase the title right now. Nakamura would eventually drop it back to him and move onto another high profile feud or even hold on to the title and face guys like Bryan, Orton, Hardy, etc...
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