411’s WWE Backstage Report 4.20.20: Drew McIntyre On His WrestleMania Win, Booker T Takes a Shot at Bayley

-Welcome to the latest edition of WWE Backstage. We are fresh of the most unique Mania in history and I credit the WWE for pulling of a solid show that showed they can be creative when needed. I was happy to see them pull this off when people were screaming this was going to be the worst show ever. I think people forget how talented the roster is and that while things can be boring, the talent is too good to deliver an all time horrible show. Now to Backstage as this week George Kittle will be on the show and that is enough to make this one a winner.

-Show opening!

-Renee Young welcomes us from her home and she is joined by her co-host, Booker T. Christian and Paige are also on the panel this week. Renee brings up that it is 6 years to the day that Paige made her Main Roster debut. Everyone admits to enjoying WrestleMania.

-They jump right into The Boneyard Match and we get some video of the awesomeness. Just amazing stuff and Renee says there is just so much to unpack. Booker gives it 5 stars and compares it to Friday the 13th. He loved seeing Taker in that form and loved seeing AJ step up in that role. He brings up that Mick Foley wants to be in the match next year and Renee asks Booker if he wants to be in one. Booker says no. Ha! Paige isn’t sure if it would work with anyone other than The Undertaker and wants to know if AJ is alive. Christian calls it a cinematic experience and that is gives Taker another vehicle down the line.

-Next they cover the Firefly Fun House match and I laughed like crazy during this whole thing. As a match, well, it wasn’t one, but it was still amazing. This is the one I need to go back and see again because I was checking out all the crazy reactions on twitter and probably missed some stuff. Paige compares it to being on a massive acid trip. She felt the whole thing was creatively beautiful and loves seeing Bray being given this canvas. She also puts Cena over for being a great sport. Booker still isn’t sure what he saw and has to watch it a few more times as he is still on the fence. Christian thinks it worked because they were on different nights. He then gives his own take on what he thought the match meant. He took it that Cena was given more chances because of his look while someone like Bray was given one chance. They discuss the idea of doing cinematic matches and Christian thinks they need to be kept special. You can’t do it all the time.

-Commercials!

-Back to Mania and Drew slays Brock to win the WWE Championship. Drew joins Renee and Christian via video conference and Drew says he has been doing media all day in the UK and the US. He knows it was different because of no crowd, and talks about the emotion hitting him when he looked at the title after the match. He had to snap back to performance mode and admits he looked into the camera which you aren’t supposed to do, and he is happy they kept that moment when editing the show. Christian asks what it means to be the first man from the UK to be WWE Champion. He calls it wild because people like Regal, Barrett, and The Bulldogs never got to do it. It is so special to him and the way it happened was perfect. Renee asks where Drew was when he watched the match. He was at home with his wife and two cats. It was the first Mania he watched on the couch since Mania 23. He mentions he hates watching himself and when he saw the emotion on his face it hit him again. He had the title locked away upstairs and didn’t break it out until the match was over.

-Renee brings up that it is just about 10 years since Vince McMahon called him The Chosen One and a future World Champion. Drew calls Vince a wizard as he predicted this was coming. Drew admits if he had been champion years ago it would have sucked and he would have bombed. He is now ready to carry the flag. Christian brings up that Drew needed some time away from the WWE, like he did and wants to know how that helped. Drew says he needed to get away to learn and grow up. He got to be the man in other companies and that helped him. It also gave him a chance to work on his interviews because he does have an accent. He still can’t believe it and it blows his mind.

-Renee brings up the current state of the world and if there is any pressure being the champion during this time. He doesn’t feel any pressure and just wants to be the one leading this ship. He can’t wait for the fans to get back in the arena and it will be their moment when he walks out with the title in front of them. Christian tells Drew he is very proud of him and Drew thanks Christian for all his help.

-Commercials!

-Back to Mania again and Braun Strowman running through Goldberg to win the Universal Title. Booker is asked how Braun makes the most of this unexpected opportunity. Booker brings up he won his first singles title because Rick Martel forgot his boots that night. He was happy to win the TV Title, but was also pissed it happened that way. It did put a chip on his shoulder and he hopes Braun has the same mindset. Christian brings up that he stepped into Edge’s spot when he retired. Braun just has to prove that it should have been his spot to begin with and prove he deserves the title. Paige remembers Braun cutting promos in the PC with Dusty and she knew he was going to be a big star. She is just so proud of him.

-Next we get footage from the Last Man Standing, which some will say is likely still going on as we watch this show. I personally enjoyed it more than most, but even I felt it went a bit too long and the setting killed what they could have done. Christian calls is a kick ass, physical fight that was exactly what it needed to be. He cracks on the idea that Edge was going to change his style for this comeback. Paige had this as her Main Event and she wished there was a crowd for Edge’s return match. She will never say anything bad about this match and calls it incredible. They talk about the Edge 24 special on The Network and it’s fantastic. Check out that show and my review of it as it really was one of the best things produced by The Network.

-Tag Title Ladder Match: Those three were crazy and get all the credit for killing themselves with no fans in the building. Christian gives them props as he has been on a ladder a night before a show with an empty building and it seems higher and it is eerie. Booker admits to turning the sound down and he was going nuts for the ladder match. Renee thinks the match showed that John Morrison is back and that the WWE is lucky to have him around again. He did look like a big time star and probably should be more than just a tag guy right now.

-Commercials and then The People’s Tight End, George Kittle.

-We get video of George Kittle watching Mania live and his reaction to Otis kissing Mandy is fantastic. Renee and Booker welcome George Kittle to the show. For those unaware, George is the best TE in the NFL and a massive WWE fan. He has been dubbed by The Rock himself as the People’s Tight End. Renee asks his favorite match from the show and he picks The Boneyard Match. He thinks Taker can go another 30-40 years if he keeps doing matches like that. Nice! He didn’t know what to expect form that match or the Firefly match and he thinks that made it even better. He loved the KO/Seth match and credits both guys for putting their bodies on the line.

-Booker asks him about Otis and Kittle says he is a fan of seeing guys who work hard get rewarded. He loved the moment with Mandy and Renee calls it a beautiful moment. Renee brings up that the Super Bowl didn’t work out the way he wanted (thanks for bringing that up Renee. I still replay that game in my head on a weekly basis and it crushes my soul) but wants to know what it was like meeting The Rock. George says it was only for about 30 seconds but his heart nearly jumped out of his chest when he first saw him. He puts the Rock over for having massive biceps. Fantastic! They obviously have to talk about The Gronk since he is a former TE. He loved seeing him on the show and Booker wants the inside dirt. George won’t talk crap on Gronk and stands up for his fellow TE. He loved seeing Gronk on the show and winning the 24/7 Title. Booker T cuts a promo on Gronk for Kittle and Kittle marks out over it. He says it made his day and he doesn’t know where to go from here now. I need to see Kittle take the 24/7 Title off Gronk at some point!

-Commercials!

-Back to Mania and Charlotte wins The NXT Title for a second time.

-Everyone is back for this segment as they talk about the NXT Title Match. Paige loved the match and felt they killed it. She loved that Rhea stepped up and she is happy Charlotte is the NXT champion because she knows it annoys a lot of people. Christian calls it the best pure wrestling match of the entire weekend. He is amazed by the showing of Rhea and thinks this a matchup where they can trade big wins for years to come.

-Shayna vs Becky next and I do think Shayna should have steamrolled her to set up the Rocky III story, but perhaps they wanted to wait until the crowd can be in the arenas again. Shayna won Booker over in this match and he looks for her to be a player now. Christian thinks Shayna has something different that nobody else has and compares her to Brock. He feels she is going to come back meaner and better.

-Commercials!

-CM Punk will be back next week! Nice!

-Nia Jaxx returned on RAW after a year away with an injury. Nia won her match with Paige’s finisher. Paige lets us know that Nia asked her permission first. It was bittersweet because Paige knew it meant she wouldn’t be using it anymore, but it gave her chills to see someone else using it. Booker talks about putting yourself through that kind of rehab and he loves seeing her back.

-We throw to a wwe.com exclusive where Bayley talks trash to Paige and also asks why Renee Young wasn’t in the match. Paige understands why she would be angry with her. Booker says to asks him what he thinks of Bayley and then says “Sasha Banks is a hell of a worker.” BURN!

-This show was fun and very Mania heavy as expected. Having Drew on the show was a must because he is now the face of the company and he came off well here. The panel was in the bag for Mania but that’s kind of expected as these are their friends and colleagues and I am sure they are proud of what they accomplished. I am obviously in the bag for Kittle so that segment worked for me, though your mileage may vary. The diss of Bayley by Booker to close was a eyebrow raising way to close what was a positive show. Thanks as always for reading!