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Cook’s WWE Backlash 2017 Report Card

May 21, 2017 | Posted by Steve Cook
Kevin Owens WWE Battleground

Hi, hello & welcome to the WWE Backlash 2017 Report Card! It’s SmackDown Live’s first PPV after WrestleMania & the Superstar Shakeup, and things have definitely been shaken up. A former Raw enhancement talent is challenging for the WWE Championship. The US Championship is here now & AJ Styles is going after it. Shinsuke Nakamura is making his long-awaited in-ring debut. Let’s let it play out and see how it goes!

Here’s how I grade the WWE SuperStars…

A – Outstanding. Great moves, selling, interaction with the fans, everything. Stands out as a top performer.
B – Above Average. Very good offensively or defensively. Plays their role well. Helps the match accomplish what it set out to do.
C – Average. The type of performance that does nothing to stand out. No outstanding moves, no great effort to sell their opponent’s offense or draw the crowd into what they’re doing, just bland, basic wrestling. Sometimes, especially in a multi-man match, a short period of time spent in the ring without a chance to do too much.
D – Below Average. Poor execution, ignoring the crowd, not doing things that make sense.
F – Failure. Not doing anything useful. Actively holding the match back from accomplishing its objective.

Kickoff Match: Tye Dillinger vs. Aiden English: I really haven’t seen much of English as a singles act. I dig the musical entrance. I also dig the pre-match bow & the pre-match ten. English gets the advantage by pulling Dillinger into the ropes, then slows it way down. Working the chinlock! JBL calls English a cross between George Jones & Ken Shamrock. Somewhere Paul Bearer approves of the dated musical reference. Dillinger makes the comeback. Ten punches in the corner! English uses the ropes again, but takes the Ric Flair bump off the top rope. Top rope splash by Dillinger misses, English hits what’s probably his finisher for a two count, then gets a little emotional over it. He misses a rolling senton off the top, Dillinger hits the Tye-Breaker for the three-count! Probably could have been a ten count.

I think I’ll switch up the grading style for Dillinger matches. Why not? English had a solid effort out there, though a little slow for my liking. Rip Rogers probably loved it.

Grades
Dillinger: 10
English: 7.5

The main thing of note during the Kickoff show was probably Erick Rowan being weird with the panelists. Gotta have him doing something, right? It’s kind of amusing.

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Dolph Ziggler: Nakamura didn’t quit match the entrance with his music like he did on his SmackDown Live debut, but it did get quite the reaction. Some grappling to start, which both of these guys excel at. You can tell they’ve trained for it all their lives. Nakamura gets the early advantage, but Ziggler takes control when Nakamura tries to follow him back into the ring. Everybody always falls for that. Ziggler asks Nakamura if he can see him, which I can only assume is a sign of his bitterness towards John Cena getting with Nikki Bella. Nak gets back on track with a couple of nearfalls, but Ziggler targets the knee and hits a big DDT for 2. Ziggler scores a couple of nearfalls with a roll up and a Famouser. Superkick doesn’t land, but a Zig Zag gets a two count. Nakamura comes back, but Ziggler flips out of a back suplex attempt and superkicks Nakamura in the back of the head for the two count. Ziggler’s spit to Nakamura’s face gets him all enraged. After kneeing Ziggler down, Nakamura goes up top, misses, back and forth, back Exploder by Nakamura leads to the Kinshasha for the three count!

Pretty solid debut for Nakamura here. Ziggler got more than enough offense to seem credible, and Nakamura was on point with his execution. It felt like it was missing a little something to get to the next level, which I almost want to blame on Tyler Bate & Pete Dunne absolutely tearing it up last night and making everybody look silly.

Grades
Nakamura: A-
Ziggler: A-

We get a replay of The Fashion Files from last week. I love these guys way too much.

WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship Match: The Usos (c) vs. Breezango:Tyler Breeze comes out in his janitor’s uniform (with mustache) from the Fashion Files, which I assume is why they replayed the sketch. Maybe he’s supposed to be The Cleaner now. Fandango starts with Jimmy Uso, flying headscissors & a hip swivel from Fandango. He tags in The Cleaner, who mops the ring. Very sanitary. Jimmy misses the splash in the corner while the crowd chants for the mop. Mop to the face of Jimmy! Jey comes in and knocks the man’s mustache off. HE BREAKS THE BROOM. WHAT THE HELL, MAN? Breeze kicks the man down for a two count. Fandango comes back in, Jey & Jimmy get the advantage and work over Fandango, but it doesn’t last too long. Breeze is back on the apron and he’s wearing an apron. Grandma Breeze, Byron Saxton calls him. Her? I don’t know, and I’m not even going to try to get the gender classification right so that’ll get me some heat. Grandma dropkicks both Usos. Bronco Buster! Jey gets a dropkick and Jimmy tags in to do the Rikishi butt smash. Jimmy throws the dress at JBL! He misses the corner smash and hits his head off the ringpost. Nice replay of JBL getting hit with the dress. Fandango with the hot tag! Man, even if Breezango loses they at least have earned more TV time. Tornado DDT gets the two count for Fandango. Tag to Breeze, Uso breaks up the double team, they hit the Demolition Decapitation for a two count. Superkick reversal by Breeze. Unprettier by Breeze gets a two count! He then tries a front flip off the apron but gets tossed into the front row. A…dive by Fandango goes better, but a superkick by the Usos gets a three count.

Well, that’s slightly disappointing, but probably because I got my hopes up too much. The bright side here is that Breezango had an entertaining showing and proved themselves on the PPV stage. Hopefully they’ll get more shots.

Grades
Usos: B-
Breezango: A-

The Japanese & Hindi announce teams marking out for their favorite wrestlers is well appreciated. Too bad Lana isn’t there to give the Russians something to scream about. I think the Chinese guys were talking about John Cena for some reason.

Baron Corbin vs. Sami Zayn: Sometimes it’s real obvious Sami learned from his mentor, El Generico. Corbin’s offense is less exciting but usually pretty effective. Sami sells a back injury early on but still manages to do a nice dive off the barricade. Corbin eventually gets the upper hand and works that back over. Sami tries to fight back but he jumps right into a bear hug. The bear hug was so exciting that it broke my stream, so there’s that. We come back and Corbin hits a spinebuster for two. I was about to comment on how quiet the crowd was but they respond with an Ole chant for Zayn. Sami fights back with a clothesline and then a crossbody for two. He’s doing a heck of a job selling that back. Corbin nearly takes his head off with a clothesline for two. A Nick Gage-style chokebreaker gets a two count! Sami comes back, a sunset flip powerbomb gets two. Sami goes for the Tornado DDT, Corbin shrugs it off, Sami tries an Exploder in the corner but ain’t no way. Sami does get a crucifix for two, but gets Deep Sixed for a two count. Both guys going back & forth here. Sami eventually lands the Helluva kick and gets the three count, which probably means this feud continues. I’m all right with that.

Good chemistry here. The crowd took awhile to get into it but I can’t knock the execution & the guys involved.

Grades
Corbin: B+
Zayn: A-

UpUpDownDown makes its PPV debut playing Rocket League! Good way to get Zack Ryder & Ember Moon on television.

The Singh Brothers need to get a larger rug for Jinder to step onto when he exits his limo. Jinder claims Chicago & America is full of…haters! I hate people that use the phrase “haters”, so it’s good for a heel to use I guess.

Naomi, Charlotte Flair & Becky Lynch vs. Natalya, Carmella & Tamina (w/James Ellsworth): James Ellsworth comes out and calls everybody sausages. He claims to be the Michael Jordan of sports entertainment and all kinds of other things. I like the lyrics of Tamina’s theme song. I like how Naomi, Charlotte & Becky are all over the page in terms of style. A little something for everybody! Becky is overpowered by Tamina to start. Natalya comes in and it’s more evenly matched. Charlotte comes in to the woos of the crowd. Chops followed by a kneedrop, it looks familiar. Flair Flop in the corner, fortunately she doesn’t go up top…but she does get clotheslined on the apron. Some frequent tags by the Welcoming Committee so everybody can beat Charlotte up in the corner. Naomi gets the tag and goes to work on Carmella briefly. I think Carmella’s kicks are landing better than Naomi’s. She misses in the corner though, but Natalya gains the advantage once again. Tamina lands a Samoan Drop for two, Charlotte breaks up the count. Hot tag for Becky, who hits the Becksploder on Natalya! Nattie barely kicks out of a pin attempt. The Disarmer is broken up and all hell breaks loose in the ring. Nattie eventually locks in the Sharpshooter on Becky, who taps out! A clean win for the Welcoming Committee is a bit of a surprise here.

Some solid action here from the ladies. Not the show-stealer like we saw from Alexa Bliss & Bayley on Raw’s latest PPV, but nothing to complain about here.

Grades
Faces: B
Welcoming Committee: B

WWE United States Championship Match: Kevin Owens (c) vs. AJ Styles: My hopes are high for this one, and the crowd seems ready for it as well. Styles working the …headlock early. Owens responds with a …headlock of his own. Owens avoids the dropkick, much to my dismay as it’s always quite the sight. “Stupid Idiot” chant directed towards Owens. There’s that dropkick! These guys throwing the heavy lumber. Big ol’ clothesline by KO gets 2. He goes on the offensive afterwards with a DDT and multiple sentons. Kick by Styles gets him some air and he makes the comeback. AJ kind of fiddling with the right knee, which has bothered him lately. Owens responds by avoiding the moonsault into the reverse DDT and hits a neckbreaker for two. AJ’s head hit KO’s knee pretty hard on that one, as the replay shows. Owens going up top…nah. AJ setting up a Styles Clash on the apron…nah. But Owens bounces Styles’ leg off the ring post and then the steps. CANNONBALL. He does it to that right leg! Now he locks in the half crab, and then the ankle lock. He used to use the Sharpshooter back in the day but I’m sure Natalya wouldn’t stand for that. KO takes AJ up top, but AJ reverses into a power bomb! AJ tries the Phenomenal Forearm, but his leg won’t allow the springboard action. Owens hits a modified DDT for two. Owens yells at AJ to stay down, but eats a Pele kick for his trouble. AJ takes KO up top, but KO reverses and hits a fisherman’s suplex off the second rope for two! KO back up top now…AJ knocks him off, and then vertical suplexes him on the apron! Hardest part of the ring, you know. Styles hits that Phenomenal Forearm on the floor and teases the Styles Clash on the table, but his foot gets caught up in the hole where the monitor sits. Owens crawls back in the ring and wins by countout! Well I don’t think I’ve seen that one before. Owens superkicks Styles while they get him out of the table because he’s a bad person.

Hey, if you’re going to do a countout finish you should come up with a unique way for somebody to get counted out. The feud will continue, and that’s quite all right with me. Good showing here. I wouldn’t say it lived up to my high expectations, but they can get there eventually.

Grades
Owens: A-
Styles: A-

Byron Saxton doesn’t know who Peter Rosenberg is. Well, who does?

Luke Harper vs. Erick Rowan: Rowan gets the advantage early, but Harper fires back. Things go south when Harper gets knocked off the top rope (don’t ask me what he was thinking) and hits the steps. Rowan beats him up on the outside & tosses him back in the ring. Big splash gets two. A dropkick from Rowan gets two! Chinlock, followed by some bodyslams and a pumphandle backbreaker. Was that a Mandible Claw? It might be time for somebody to bring that back. Rowan misses the top rope splash. Harper with a …dive to the outside! Rolling senton in the ring, then a big boot gets two for Lucas. Bossman slam gets a two count. Powerbomb gets a near fall for Rowan. Back & forth now. Kind of a rana by Harper, then a superkick, Another one! What is he, a Young Buck? Rowan tries gesturing towards his mask for some unknown reason. Clothesline by Harper gets the three count.

Well, it was a match. Nothing terrible, just kind of there. I have nothing further to say about it that is either relevant or true.

Grades
Harper: C+
Rowan: C-

WWE Championship Match: Randy Orton (c) vs. Jinder Mahal (w/The Singh Brothers): I’m trying to give Jinder a chance, but the Twitter crowd is trying to turn me against him by over-selling his viability. Pete Dunne might have proved me wrong last night (there was a similar situation with offtheteam.com people selling him to me and making me turn against him for a minute there) but somehow I doubt the same happens here. Orton attacks Mahal prior to the match because he does that kind of thing. Jinder seems angry, and I don’t think I would like him when he’s angry. I do like how he & the Singhs are color co-ordinated. Jinder gets an early advantage and works Orton’s shoulder with a resthold. Orton responds by slowing things down according to Tom Phillips, which I didn’t think was possible but here we are. Jinder working the arm/shoulder for that cobra clutch slam of his, which is good psychology. Jinder gets sent over the top rope and suplexed onto the American announce table. Fortunately for Jinder he isn’t stuck. He takes control back in the ring and goes back to that resthold. Orton fights back and Jinder jumps shoulder-first into the ring post. I’ll give him credit, he’s doing good at jumping into things here. Superplex by Orton! Fallaway slam gets two, Orton’s arm kept him from getting all of that one. Mahal fights back and continues to target the shoulder. Orton hits the backbreaker and then the draping DDT. Jinder rolls out of the ring to avoid the RKO, and the Singh Brothers get to die thanks to that. Mahal sends Orton shoulder first into the ring post a couple of times, and eats an RKO back in the ring. The Singhs roll Mahal out of the ring, which leads to more destruction for them. The referee is sure letting a lot go here. Jinder attacks from behind, hits the cobra clutch slam and wins the title.

Well, they better hope this gets over in India, because they’ve just killed their business in America to get some great reaction shots for Twitter GIF makers and to appease the trolls. Good luck with that.

Grades
Orton: C
Mahal: C

Final Thought

You know, sometimes you have to put things in their proper perspective before you comment on them. The idea of Jinder Mahal main eventing my local indy fed, much less a internationally touring company, seems ridiculous on paper. But let’s be real…what isn’t ridiculous in 2017? Up is down. Down is up.

I turned on the TV right after this show and saw the Boston Celtics, left for dead to the point where their top star has been shut down for the season, hit a buzzer-beater against the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals. If you saw the first two games of the series, or if you were like me and just read the scores because you had other things to do, you know that’s far more ridiculous than Jinder Mahal going over in the main event of a PPV.

It’s all about perspective. But yeah, I’m a lot more excited about NXT & WWE’s United Kingdom promotion than anything going on here after this weekend.

For more of Steve Cook’s thoughts on pro wrestling, along with his thoughts on the Nashville Predators’ Stanley Cup Playoff push, follow him on Twitter!

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WWE, WWE Backlash, Steve Cook