wrestling / TV Reports
Kevin’s WWE Backlash 2020 Review
Image Credit: WWE
Loading...WWE Backlash
June 14th, 2020 | WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida
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WWE United States Championship: Apollo Crews [c] vs. Andrade
It’s our Kickoff match. A rematch from when Apollo won the title (**¾) and they also had a title match back in April (***¼). I love Zelina Vega so much. Interestingly, Kevin Owens showed up just before the bell to join commentary. This was a case of two quality wrestlers simply having a quality wrestling match. KO sold the idea on commentary that Zelina might prefer Angel Garza to Andrade. The offense got bigger as the match progressed from loud chops to a slingshot DDT to the press slam/moonsault/SSP combo. Garza got on the apron and Owens took him out with a Stunner. Crews avoided a Hammerlock DDT and hit the spinout powerbomb to retain in 7:23. Just some really good wrestling. [***¼]
WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship: Bayley and Sasha Banks [c] vs. Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross vs. The IIconics
Main card time. This was the match I’m most excited for on the card. Apparently, Sasha and Bayley are trying to go by the “Golden Role Models.” Three women were legal at a time in this. Things were particularly good when Sasha, Peyton, and Alexa went at it with some fun pinning combinations. Alexa Bliss got a hot tag at one point and it started slowly but then she started hitting everyone in her path. She’s so good in that role. Peyton was arguably the MVP here, with a sweet spin kick, some smooth offense, and a cross body through the ropes. Alexa nailed Twisted Bliss only for Sasha to sneak in and roll her up to retain in 8:50. A spot or two came off awkwardly and the finish is overdone but that was still really good. I wish they went closer to 12 minutes. [***¼]
Jeff Hardy vs. Sheamus
It’s hard to take this “personal” rivalry seriously when it involves throwing piss on someone. During COVID-19. It also didn’t quite feel all that bitter once the bell rang. There were a few moments, particularly the viciousness with which Jeff was suplexed onto the ring post. Though the intensity picked up after, it was hurt by them calling spots loudly. I know it must be tough with no true audience but this was really loud at times. Sheamus abused him and Jeff did a good job of selling the fact that he was basically dying. Jeff found an opening to hit Twist of Fate and Swanton Bomb but Sheamus got his foot on the rope. When Jeff tried his guardrail spot, he ate a Brogue Kick. Another one inside kept him down after 16:46. That started slow and dragged a bit but it picked up late thanks to Hardy’s bumping and some cool spots. [***]
WWE Raw Women’s Championship: Asuka [c] vs. Nia Jax
TakeOver: The End (***¼), NXT in Osaka (***½), and Elimination Chamber (**¾) come to mind for their history. What made this one work well was that it was kept short and let them kind of just go at one another. I appreciated the differences Jax brought to her offense, like the Cobra Clutch and especially the Jackhammer. Asuka threw many stiff kicks at Nia to hold her off. The fight spilled to the outside, which led to a double countout finish in 8:56. Good stuff but I hate that finish. It reeks of the ‘80s and early ‘90s. Also, I have no interest in this feud continuing. [***]
WWE Universal Championship: Braun Strowman [c] vs. John Morrison and The Miz
Nothing about this match sounds interesting to me and that’s coming from a huge Miz fan. On the Kickoff Show, it was announced that Miz and Morrison wouldn’t be co-champions if they won. They also kept having the challengers pump their new music video. That gave you the tale of the match. They threw everything they had at Braun but ran into a clear problem when they resorted to taunting with the song and then when they stopped the other from possibly winning. Strowman put Morrison down with a powerslam in 7:22. A pretty useless filler title defense. [*½]
WWE Championship: Drew McIntyre [c] vs. Bobby Lashley
I love TNA. MVP got in Drew McIntyre’s face before the bell so Lashley came over and locked him in the full nelson. Officials ran out to try and break it but they couldn’t. It finally broke and Drew still wanted to compete, so the bell rang. That gave Lashley a clear target in Drew’s neck. Drew finally got an opening when he caught Lashley with belly to belly suplex into the guardrail. Still, he kept mostly taking a beating inside. Drew seemingly survived it all, including kicking out at one on a Flatliner, making it through an ankle lock, and not falling to a Spear when he went for the Claymore. Lana walked out following that to yell at the referee. The distraction was enough to lead to Drew hitting Lashley into Lana, who fell onto MVP. A Claymore later and Drew retained in 13:16. That was going so well, telling the story it needed to. Lashley was a force and one who was smart thanks to MVP’s coaching. Drew had to overcome a lot. Then, you get the trash Lana appearance. [***½]
WWE Raw Tag Team Championship: The Street Profits [c] vs. The Viking Raiders
This turned out to be another cinematic match, starting as a brawl in the parking lot, which led o Braun Strowman’s car getting destroyed again. They brought back stuff from their recent friendly competitions like Montez having a bowling ball rolled into his crotch. It involved them fighting all over the outside area with weapons, had some comedic moments, included an appearance from Akira Tozawa and ninjas on bikes, and featured Ivar dream sequences. It was all over the place. Things ended with them all in a dumpster. It was pretty fun chaos. I saw the same nonsense Twitter accounts complaining about it. No official match but some goofy fun which I’m usually down for. [NR]
Edge vs. Randy Orton
THE GREATEST WRESTLING MATCH EVER! This was done with “enhanced audio,” which meant piped in crowd noise. Charles Robinson was even in an old school ref shirt with a bowtie and they used Fink’s voice for the intro. The idea of the match is that Orton has been wrestling for years while Edge has been hurt. It made sense that Orton could best him with the simplest of things. For example, he just stopped short to avoid an arm drag and it worked to perfection. As this progressed, it got more aggressive. Orton got busted open and Edge kept the pressure on. As this neared the 30 minute mark, you could tell that it was a pretty great wrestling match. The stuff done by Orton and Edge was actually quite good but the added-in crowd noise and weird angles made it hokey. I really liked them resorting to moves from those close to them like Edge using the Killswitch and Orton hitting the Pedigree. They went overboard with the kickouts late, as Edge survived multiple RKOs and Orton kicked out of a bunch of Spears. Orton finally took it home with a low blow and the Punt after 44:47. That’s a great idea for the ending as Orton, who bragged about being the better wrestler, resorted to underhanded tactics. That was fantastic overall. They went too far with the false finishes late and the presentation was odd but everything else worked wonderfully. [****¼]
