I have to be honest here and I don't care how I may be coming off as a fan. Backlash 2018 started out great and was going well for a while and then completely took a nose dive from there. Between the awful endings to one of the matches to the questionable match placement, overall it was a disappointing show. I'm not complaining just to complain, though! Besides, it's just an opinion anyway. Yes, some fans do complain a lot and maybe even too much but it's gotten to the point where you're not even allowed to criticize something you didn't like. I will stand by my opinions! Anyway, here it goes!
Kick-Off Match - Bayley vs. Ruby Riot
I thought this match was fine and really didn't see anything wrong with it. I had predicted Ruby Riot to come out on top and she did. However, it was due to help from the Riot Squad members Liv Morgan and Sarah Logan. While that was expected due to their gang mentality, I was kind of hoping Bayley's loss would be directly due to Sasha Banks' involvement, whether it be purposeful or inadvertent. Either way, it's probably more important for Ruby Riot to get a win like this to further establish herself.
Intercontinental Title - Seth Rollins vs. The Miz
This was by far the match of the night. Even before any other matches followed, I knew it would be the match of the night. The Miz is someone that made me change my mind about him. Up until Maryse's return two years ago, I hated The Miz. After that infamous Talking Smack segment with Daniel Bryan took place, I officially became a fan. He's improved greatly in the ring as well. Rollins is just incredible and this was a fantastic way to open the show. With The Miz now on Smackdown, I kind of figured Rollins would retain, which he did. As great as the match was, I thought; oh boy, what can follow this? Five stars all the way!
Raw Women's Title - Nia Jax vs. Alexa Bliss
Little Miss Bliss exacted her rematch clause here, after having lost the Championship to Nia at WrestleMania. I enjoyed the match and like their match at WrestleMania, it went longer than I expected. It was a good story, as it took a completely different look compared to their previous one. This time, Alexa tried to paint Nia as the bully. In the end, the Irresistible Force retained the Title and I think she's moving on to other challengers. I liked the match but Nia's post-match anti-bullying promo could have been a little shorter. Overall, so far, so good when it comes to Backlash's fourteen installment.
US Title - Jeff Hardy vs. Randy Orton
The US Title has moved around a bit lately but I think it's landed on Jeff Hardy for a decent amount of time. Hardy can almost always be expected to perform and Randy Orton is another fans can count on. I enjoyed the match; the counters, the RKO, and the overall performance of both men. The match had a great sequence of moves and the ending with Hardy countering the RKO into a Twist of Fate was pretty cool. Hardy wasted no time as he immediately climbed to the top to deliver the winning Swanton Bomb. I think we're either headed for a rematch soon enough or a Triple Threat involving Shelton Benjamin. So far, I was enjoying Backlash.
Daniel Bryan vs. Big Cass
The show took a slight dive here as the match wasn't very well received. To be honest, I wasn't paying much attention so I really have no frame of reference. I wasn't thrilled that this feud was happening. In fact, I don't care about Big Cass anymore. Frankly, after he and Enzo broke up, I stopped enjoying either of them. As we know, Enzo is gone and I wasn't phased during Cass's recovery from injury. Bryan fulfilled his promise when he made the 7-footer tap out. I thought the match was going to end in a DQ but I liked the tap out. As expected, Cass attacked Bryan after the match. I didn't dislike this because of how the match went, I just didn't care about it at all.
Smackdown Women's Title - Carmella vs. Charlotte Flair
Almost a month ago on Smackdown, Carmella cashed in her "Money In the Bank" to become Women's Champion over Charlotte, the woman who broke Asuka's streak at WrestleMania. I think people are giving this match too hard a time. I didn't think it was bad at all. Carmella may be annoying be she's supposed to be. It means she's doing her job well. What made this match good to me as well was the fact that Carmella won fairly clean and I think it was important for her first Title defense to go that way and establish some credibility. After all, 'Mella Is Money!
WWE Title No Disqualification Match - AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
This is where the show took an unfortunate turn. First of all, I completely disagreed with this match not being the Main Event. As some have pointed out after the fact, the way the match ended is why it didn't headline. However, I'd argue that the ending shouldn't have even taken place. The match itself was fine but I really think they're overdoing it with the low blows. I'll give credit where credit is due and say that I didn't mind the actual spot of the double low blow kick. However, ending the match with neither man able to get up due to it was terrible. Again, I don't mind the spot itself necessarily but no match at a PPV should ever end this way, especially a Title match. It means we're going to get yet another match between the two at Money In the Bank. I never thought I'd say this, but, I don't care to ever see it again. Maybe the chemistry just isn't there in the WWE. I wasn't expecting them to top their New Japan match or even go that style. It's unfair to compare both the styles and the fan base. If this was going to be the ending, it should have taken place at the Greatest Royal Rumble, which was just a televised house show. This ending made me start to hate the show.
Braun Strowman & Bobby Lashley vs. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn
I was so angered by the way the last match ended that I stopped paying attention to the rest of the card. This match did what it was supposed to but I didn't feel any which way about it. I was wrong about my prediction and yet again, there is some dissension again between the friends. I didn't hate this match but it didn't really do anything for me.
On a positive side note, unlike many, I actually enjoyed the segment with Elias when everyone kept interrupting his performance. The New Day is always entertaining but the fans got really excited when Aiden English appeared because they knew Rusev Day was upon them. Rusev then came out as well. As predicted, No Way Jose came out with his Conga line, which featured Titus Worldwide. It all came together after the final interruption, as Bobby Roode came about and planted his nemesis Elias with a Glorious DDT. Everyone then danced to the back. I thought that was a fun segment.
Roman Reigns vs. Samoa Joe
I wouldn't have minded this being the main event if Reigns was going in as the Universal Champion, despite me not caring about that Championship at all. However, this match without a Title was something I felt didn't deserve the main event over the WWF Title match. I didn't hate the match as many did, but I didn't exactly love it either. I got completely turned off by the ending of AJ/Shinsuke so much so that my brain stopped caring. It was akin to the way I felt when the Undertaker lost his streak at WrestleMania. Back then, I felt deflated and didn't have the enthusiasm I should have by the time Daniel Bryan had his moment. I felt Joe needed the win but I can see it being Roman considering his two losses to Brock Lesnar recently. Overall, it was a fairly lackluster show. It started out incredibly with Seth Rollins vs. The Miz and held a fairly steady pace for the first few matches. The Cass/Bryan match was a somewhat low point but the ending to the WWE Title match really brought the entire thing down.
If you have any further thoughts on this topic, let me know in comments. Heck, let us all know on The WAR Report podcast, every Tuesday at 7PM EST on YouTube, brought to you by tagmeadate.com, the first and only dating site for wrestling fans. Go to askthewarreport@gmail.com or #askthewarreport. For TagMeADate members, our Android and Apple apps are vastly approaching so stay tuned!
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