Backlash 2005 Review

Sunday, May 1st, 2005
Verizon Wireless Arena
Manchester, New Hampshire

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Intercontinental Championship Match
Chris Jericho vs. Shelton Benjamin

I am really looking forward to watching this one again here. We get some nice wrestling to start, with Benjamin given the chance to show off his athleticism. Jericho, playing the heel here in this babyface match, slaps Shelton in the face to make sure we're clear on that. Jericho and Christian were my two favorites during this time and they both will be gone pretty soon. Jericho counters a powerbomb attempt by Benjamin with a hurricanrana outside the ring. Jericho goes up top and Shelton leaps to the top rope and hits a superplex. I am such a mark for that move. They are quickly winning the crowd over here and deservedly so. Benjamin hits a springboard bulldog and this match is really starting to kick into gear. Jericho goes for the Walls of Jericho, but Benjamin jumps up to the second rope and then hits a T-Bone suplex, but Jericho is able to get his leg to the bottom rope. Jericho gets him in the Walls in the center of the ring, but Benjamin is able to fight to get to the ropes and receives some boos in the process. Jericho avoids a dropkick and goes for the Lionsault, but Benjamin gets his knees up, but Jericho catches that and goes for the Walls again, but Benjamin reverses it into a crazy pinfall and scores the win. This match was really, really good. I am pretty sure I like this match a lot more than most, but I am a huge fan of both guys. This was a really good blueprint for having a 50/50 babyface match.

Match Rating: **** (out of 5)

Edge is backstage talking about how he stopped Chris Benoit's opportunity at WrestleMania. He says you can bank on him being the last man standing tonight.

Tag Team Turmoil Match For The World Tag Team Championship
The Heart Throbs vs. William Regal & Tajiri vs. Simon Dean & Maven vs. La Resistance vs. Hurricane & Rosey

This was a huge favorite of creative during this time despite no one necessarily really liking the idea. The Heart Throbs are the Tekno Team 2000 of 2005. Regal and Tajiri were a nice team for being a throw away idea. Both Regal and Tajiri work circles around both Heart Throbs and get the pinfall victory over them. Simon Dean and Maven are out next and immediately go to work on Tajiri. Hot tag to Regal and he takes out Dean and gets the pinfall as the champs look to run the gauntlet. La Resistance are next and of course they then immediately attack them. The crowd starts a big "USA" chant despite the only person from the USA being Rob Conway. The champs are clearly in control until Regal is rolled up and they grab his tights and score the upset. We are now guaranteed new champions and it wouldn't make much sense to go the La Resistance route again. Hurricane is thrown over the top rope and he hit his leg on the top of the ring post on the way down. I can't imagine that was on purpose. Rosey gets the hot tag and nearly gets the victory until Grenier makes the save. Hurricane hits the splash off of Rosey's shoulders and we have new champions. The crowd popped pretty big for that finish. The match was ok, which is about as good as a match like this can be in under 15 minutes.

Match Rating: **1/4

Last Man Standing Match
Edge vs. Chris Benoit

They go at it right away as the crowd starts the "You screwed Matt" chant. Benoit comes out chopping but as soon as Edge takes control we now get "We want Matt". Edge charges for the spear, but Benoit hits a drop toe hold. Benoit dumps Edge in the crowd. Back in the ring, he has him in the Crippler Crossface and Edge is tapping but that doesn't do anything in a Last Man Standing match of course. Benoit goes for the suicide dive and Edge recreates the spot from Benoit's ladder match with Jericho at Royal Rumble 2001 and hits him in the head with a garbage can lid. Edge then hits a really nice looking superplex from the top rope through the garbage can. Edge goes under the ring and brings out a ladder. Edge body slams Benoit and then takes a looooonnnng time to climb the ladder. Benoit gets behind him and hits a German suplex off the ladder. Benoit is on top of the ladder and goes for the headbutt, but Edge moves out of the way at the last second. God, I hate that move. Crippler Crossface again and Edge is tapping out again. Edge is back in control again and hits the spear. Benoit gets up again and so Edge hits another spear. Edge gets up and grabs a brick out of the briefcase and hits Benoit over the back of the head. He slams it on the steps to prove it was real. Last Man Standing matches are really hard to come up with a good ending and this one made sense, but was anti-climatic. The match was good action though and Edge had more heat than usual at this point in his career thanks to the Matt stuff. Another good match on this show.

Match Rating: ***1/2

Lita is smirking backstage and Kane tells her he is ready. She then says that it would be funny to see Trish have to hold up her end of the bargain if Viscera were to win. However, she says that she likes what Kane has in mind much more and they make out. This is 2005 WWE.

Jerry Lawler is here and introduces the Raw Divas. Christy Hemme, Stacy Keibler, Candice Michelle, Maria, Lilian Garcia and Victoria are all in the ring. Lawler has each woman pick their favorite photo to show on the big screen. Lawler is about to ask them some questions when they are interrupted by Chris Masters. Masters is offering $3,000 to anyone who thinks they can get out of the Master Lock. He picks a woman from the crowd and then insults her for looking like a man. Yeah, this is going over well. He puts her in the Master Lock and it visually reminds me a lot of when Chyna shook Marlena around like a rag doll. However, that was a fun moment and this was hot garbage. This was better for Raw and the dialogue was brutal.

Trish and Viscera meet up in the back. We get even more uncomfortable "jokes" here. This show just drove off a cliff after a really solid first hour.

Kane vs. Viscera

Alright, let's get this one over with. Kane's entrance music with vocals is so, so bad, which is a shame because his original music was good. Viscera comes out to zero reaction. Kane leaps off the top rope to the outside and knocks over Viscera and the crowd is again chanting "We want Matt". Viscera hits his best move which is his rolling kick that he does. Trish provides a distraction and Viscera hits a Samoan Drop that looked like it crushed Kane's arm and shoulder. Kane is up top again and hits Viscera again, this time in the ring. Viscera counters a chokeslam and sends Kane over the top rope. The women get involved as Trish is going after Kane with a chair, but Lita hits it with her crutch and it knocks out Trish. Kane is up top for a third time, but Viscera catches him and hits a sitdown powerbomb for a 2 count. Kane hits a big boot and a chokeslam and that is all. There have been significantly worse matches than this one, but it still wasn't good.

Match Rating: 1/2*

After the match, Trish insults Viscera and tells him that even if he would have won she would have never slept with him. Viscera grabs her and shakes her around similar to Masters. He then crushes her with a big splash and gets a pretty big reaction out of it. Trish does a stretcher job here.

Muhammad Hassan & Daivari vs. Shawn Michaels & Hulk Hogan

Unsurprisingly, Hogan gets a monster pop here. For the record, I never liked the Hulkster despite being a WWF/E fan since 1990. Hogan was truly still in great physical condition here for a 51 year old. Hogan and Hassan start things off. Hassan is only 23 years old and working a semi-main event with Shawn Michaels and Hulk Hogan. Let that sink in. Hogan and Michaels have their way with him and hit a double boot. Michaels misses an elbow drop and that allows Daivari to tag in. Hogan and Michaels has to be one of the stranger pairings for a dream team. Daivari's offense lasts about 20 seconds and is already getting his. Hogan reminds us again of how heel-ish his offense always was, as he chokes Daivari. Hassan sneaks in while the ref is distracted and hits Michaels in the back with a lead pipe. Daivari goes for the pin, but Hogan pulls him off in kind of a weird spot because Hebner kind of stopped counting too early. There is a giant Hulkamania banner that is spelled wrong. Do better, wrestling fans. The heels naturally are working on Michaels' surgically repaired back. Hassan gets Michaels into the Camel Clutch in the middle of the ring. Michaels lifts Hassan up on his shoulders and hits the electric chair. I think we all know what happens next here. Hot tag to Hogan and the heels are in trouble. The pipe makes a triumphant return and Hassan hits Hogan in the back with it. However, it only stuns Hogan for a moment before he Hulks up. Hogan hits the big boot, but Hassan grabs his leg as he's about to hit the leg drop. Hogan takes care of him and Michaels hits Sweet Chin Music and the heroes get the victory. This was pretty much exactly the match you would expect it to be and the live crowd loved every second of it. If you're a huge Hogan fan, this is for you.

Match Rating: **3/4

Triple H is backstage and is confident he will be the next World Heavyweight Champion. He reiterates that Batista had one great night at WrestleMania and that the Pedigree will win him his belt back tonight.

Christian and Tyson Tomko are on their way to the ring. Christian says that this could very well be the last time he is on a Raw pay-per-view. Since he is a main eventer, he is going to address all of his fellow main eventers in the form of a rap. He takes shots at Batista's charisma and Triple H's nose to a good pop. On the SmackDown side he calls JBL boring and Cena for looking like Corey Haim. Christian says that no matter which show he's on because that's how he rolls.

World Heavyweight Championship Match
Triple H vs. Batista

Let's see if they can top their disappointing show closer from WrestleMania here. They are outside the ring after a back body drop by Batista. Shortly after, Triple H drives Batista over the barricade and he is now firmly in command. Flair gets involved and drives Batista into the ring while Triple H distracts the ref. Batista fires back with a big clothesline and Batista is shaking the ropes. Batista goes for the Batista Bomb, but Triple H has the World Heavyweight Championship belt and hits him in the head and nearly scores the victory. Batista goes for a clothesline, but accidentally hits the referee after Triple H ducks. Triple H hits the Pedigree and Ric Flair picks up the ref and throws him in the ring. The ref is still out and unable to count. It's fairly rare to see the ref be knocked out for the heel pinfall attempt. Another ref is on his way to the ring and Batista hits a spinebuster and gets a 2 count. It was a nice touch to have Jack Doan put on his ref shirt as he was running down the aisle. After a few clotheslines in the corner from Batista, Triple H gives the ref a low blow. Flair tries to interfere, but is unsuccessful, but it does allow Triple H to now give Batista a low blow. Batista out of nowhere hits a Batista Bomb. Mike Chioda is back up and is able to make the 3 count. While that was by no means a great match, but it was a more entertaining match structure than what we got at WrestleMania. The crowd was into it and Batista came out of it looking like an unstoppable beast.

Match Rating: ***

After the match Triple H loses it and Pedigrees Mike Chioda, as Batista stands tall on the ramp.

This is a great example of a show that would have been perfect for the 2 hour In Your House era. You get rid of the crap with Chris Masters, Kane/Viscera and the tag team match and you have a really good show. Instead, that dragged it down a bit, but this was still entertaining and probably even more enjoyable if you are a huge Hogan and Batista fan. The Shelton/Jericho match does not get enough love and is definitely worth watching.

Overall Rating: 72%