There was a great deal of build up for WWE Backlash on Sunday. The question going in was, could it deliver?
Advertising Randy Orton vs. Edge as potentially The Greatest Wrestling Match Ever, was there any way those two could live up to the hype? This was especially true as it was reported just before the event that Edge has suffered a serious injury, even though it was difficult to tell where that injury took place.
WWE piped in crowd noise, they produced another cinematic match, brought back blood, had some great in-ring competition, all while offering questionable endings.
Here are your winners and losers for Backlash:
Winner: Apollo vs. Andrade
The pre-show match, these two were as good as one might expect they'd be. Both are athletic and excellent in-ring performers and they put on a strong match. The inclusion of Kevin Owens on commentary opens up the door to Owens possible challenging Crews down the road and Angel Garza not being much help to Andrade has to hint their alliance is in jeopardy.
Winner: Women's Triple Threat Match
This match was excellent, but Peyton Royce, Alexa Bliss, and Sasha Banks were the standouts. This contest showed that the Women's Division in WWE is highly-underrated and the company has a number of strong talents they should be using more often.
That Banks was able to pull out a sneaky pin to see the champions retain was a good booking decision. It would have been too soon to give the titles back to the Iiconics or Bliss and Cross. Plus, don't we want to see how the Banks and Bayley drama unfolds while they're holding the titles?
Winner: Sheamus vs. Hardy
It's not great that Jeff Hardy suffered a big loss so early in his comeback, but the way WWE booked this match, it was the best possible way for him to suffer a defeat but not look weak. This was just a solid wrestling match where The Celtic Warrior got one over on his opponent.
This is good for Sheamus because his heel character needed to win a big bout to continue his momentum. He'll move on to likely find a new person to pick on while Hardy may search for the assailant that took him out a few weeks ago, assuming he believes Sheamus is not the attacker.
The downside here is that if you're going to force Hardy to endure personal attacks like being called a junkie and then not let him get his revenge, what does that say if WWE is trying to tell a story or offer some kind of moral to it?
Loser: Nia Jax vs. Asuka
This was the first dud of the night. Understanding the logic here was not to have Asuka lose but not to make Jax look weak, WWE elected to go with a double count-out.
Perhaps the worst part about this match is that the feud seems to be continuing past this pay-per-view. Asuka and Jax aren't really a great pairing and the chemistry just doesn't seem to be there. It feels like Asuka works better with a different style than Jax offers.
Winner: Championship Handicap Match
Back on the right track again, the Strowman Express rolled over Miz and Morrison, but not without the wrinkle that the competitor who earned the pinfall or submission would be the lone holder of the WWE Championship. That small detail was enough to put some doubt in the mind of The Miz who stopped Morrison from getting the three-count when it looked like The Monster Among Men was merely human.
That opening allowed Strowman to mount a comeback and take out his opponents. This was a smart last-minute addition to the match because it allowed a predictable loss for the Miz and Morrison without making them look useless against the champ.
Winner: Lashley vs McIntyre
The quick start by Lashley was genius booking by WWE. Applying the Full Nelson prior to the bout officially getting under way set the tone early for how devastating the move is. It also implanted the idea that Lashley could be more dominant than any other competitor McIntyre had ever faced since winning the title.
As the match went on, it didn't disappoint. There was a slightly scary moment when the champion got dropped on his head outside the ring, but after it was evident he was ok, the heavy-hitting contest continued.
Every part of this contest was great, with the exception of the last few seconds when Lana got involved. Perhaps it was a necessary evil to get her out of the storyline for good and protect Lashley as a dominant force, still she inexplicably climbed up on the apron and distracted Lashley enough to allow McIntyre to land a Claymore Kick for the win.
McIntyre said it best after the match when he said, "I told Lashley to bring his best and instead he brought all his baggage." It's time for Lashley to get rid of that baggage once and for all.
Winner/Loser: Viking Profits
Admitting that I'm still not totally sure what the he-- was going on during a good chunk of the Viking Raiders vs. Street Profits cinematic style match, this was mildly entertaining. In fact, this was enough fun, it made some of the earlier quests to prove each team's competitive supremacy wasn't a total waste of time.
There were moments that didn't make sense. First, why were they so hostile to start after becoming buddies during their previous segments? Finally, did this thing really even happen? Official Jessica Carr seemed to imply the match still had yet to start. And, what was the alien-like creature in the garbage? As Rusev noted, "The sea monster from southpaw wrestling finally made its main roster debut!"
All that said, I want Akira Tozawa to lead a faction of ninjas and I'd like to see more Viking Profits action. For that reason, we'll call this a win.
Loser: Greatest Wrestling Match Ever
Before getting into this, let me set the record straight early: I thought this was a very good match.
That said, WWE was smart to use this match to try something different. Piping in crowd noise, having the official dress in 80s attire, and adding other elements shifted some of the focus away from the idea that this match probably wasn't going to live up to the billing. Now, it will be discussed for more than just the wrestling, but for the post-match effects the company added in.
The match itself started slowly but started to pick up steam after Orton was cut and started bleeding. The bout took a vicious turn from that point onward but it was still hard to stay focused on the action with the newness of the crowd noise being somewhat of a distraction.
Orton and Edge threw in every imaginable idea into this match. Close pins, other wrestlers moves and finishers, crazy camera angles, and even a "This is awesome" chant. And, when looking at the match for what it was without all the post-production, it was excellent. The problem is, I don't know that it will ever be easy to separate the match from the effects.
Was it the greatest wrestling match ever? No. Then again, it was really good and I'm not sure anyone expected it to be the best of all time.