Backlash 2020 Review

Sunday, June 14th, 2020
WWE Performance Center
Orlando, Florida

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2

Triple Threat Match For The WWE Women's Tag Team Championship
Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross vs. The IIconics vs. Bayley & Sasha Banks

In this variation of the match, one woman from each team will be in the ring at once and you are only allowed to tag your own partner. I can't remember the last time I saw the IIconics wrestle. Things start off quickly with lots of quick pinfall attempts. This can't be an easy match to work, so I anticipate they will keep it on the shorter side. Nikki gets tagged in and squashes Sasha, but then eats a kick from Peyton. Bayley and Billie double stomp on Nikki, but then Billy starts slugging away on Bayley. Peyton tries to attack Bayley, but Sasha makes the save and Bayley gets a 2 count out of a roll up. Nikki hits the old Matt Hardy bulldog/clothesline combo on Bayley and Billie. Hot tag to Alexa and she takes out everyone. Peyton hits a double crossbody between the second and third rope on Sasha and Alexa, which knocks them into Billie and Bayley. Nikki and Alexa hit a nice doubleteam, but they aren't even able to make a pin attempt. Alexa goes up top and hits Twisted Bliss on Peyton. In comes Sasha and she rolls up Alexa and gets the victory. The match was positioned properly as the opener and they did the best that they could with the stipulation. It featured solid action and the right team won.

Match Rating: **1/2 (out of 5)

They show Braun Strowman arriving in his Plymouth Grand National.

Jeff Hardy vs. Sheamus

I don't mind using personal issues in a feud, but I feel like using it on a mid-card one in the middle of the empty arena era is a strange choice. Hardy starts to fight back on Sheamus, but Sheamus quickly club him with a clothesline. Jeff again fights back and knocks Sheamus off the apron with a dropkick to the knees. Hardy leaps off the steps and knocks Sheamus down in front of the announce table. Back in the ring, Sheamus hits Hardy with a series of blows and then hits Hardy's knee on the ring post. Sheamus hits a Rock Bottom into a backbreaker for a 2 count. Sheamus then hits a big knee to the head of Hardy. Sheamus goes up top and misses and Hardy hits a Whisper In The Wind for a 2 count. Sheamus misses with the Brogue Kick and Hardy hits a Sling Blade. Hardy goes up top, but Sheamus is there to stop him. Hardy is able to shove him off, but Hardy takes too long and he knocks him off. Sheamus hits a Celtic Cross for a 2 count. Sheamus puts Hardy in the Texas Cloverleaf, but Hardy gets to the ropes. Sheamus hits a bunch of clubbing blows to the chest of a battered Hardy. He goes to lift up Hardy, but Hardy grabs the rope to stop him. Hardy hits a Twist Of Fate and then the Swanton Bomb, but Sheamus gets his leg on the rope. Hardy scales the barricade, but Sheamus hits a Brogue Kick on him. Back in the ring, Sheamus hits another Brogue Kick and gets the victory. I enjoyed this match quite a bit. Both guys looked really solid and Hardy played the role of the underdog well here.

Match Rating: ***1/4

Miz and John Morrison are in the back and they talk about how the winner has to be the sole Universal Champion. Otis and Mandy come over and say that if they win tonight, they won't be Universal Champion for very long.

Raw Women's Championship Match
Nia Jax vs. Asuka

Asuka comes out fighting, but Jax basically no sells most of it. Asuka puts her in the Octopus in the middle of the ring, but Jax eventually swings her off and follows it up with a clothesline. Jax continues working on her slowly. Asuka puts her in a guillotine, but Jax hits a suplex. Jax misses with a splash and Asuka hits a running dropkick. Asuka hits a missile dropkick from the second rope and a Hip Attack for a 2 count. Jax catches an Asuka kick and hits a sit down powerbomb for a nearfall. Asuka puts her in an arm bar outside the ring, but Jax slams her into the barricade. Neither women are able to get back in the ring and we get a double countout. Really? Asuka worked really hard here, but this was not one of Jax's better performances I have seen. The awful ending did not help their cause.

Match Rating: *

MVP is on the phone and in walks Lana. Lana wants to be ringside for the match tonight, but MVP says that was Lashley's decision, not his.

Handicap Match For The Universal Championship
The Miz & John Morrison vs. Braun Strowman

Before the match Miz & Morrison debut their new music video. The Strowman Express interrupts the video, which is a bummer. I really hate having Miz and Morrison being booked like chumps. Morrison avoids a boot from Strowman and tags in Miz. Morrison distracts Strowman and Miz attacks him from behind. They hit a double dropkick, but after some fun action, Strowman hits Morrison with a big right hand. Strowman throws Miz into the corner, knocking Morrison off the apron. Morrison hits a springboard kick. Miz hits a dropkick and Morrison hits a corkscrew dive over the top rope. Back in the ring, Morrison continues the assault on Strowman. He tags in Miz and they hit a double DDT for a 2 count. Miz takes too long and Strowman battles back, but misses in the corner and hits the ring post. Morrison hits two springboard kicks. They hit a Skull Crushing Finale/Stomp combo. Morrison goes for the pin, but Miz pulls Morrison off and then immediately regrets it. Strowman chokeslams Miz and then hits the running powerslam on Morrison and gets the victory. Miz and Morrison made this quite a bit of fun, but the ending was inevitable and the match was really short.

Match Rating: **1/4

New Intercontinental Champion AJ Styles is backstage to make fun of Daniel Bryan.

WWE Championship Match
Bobby Lashley vs. Drew McIntyre

Before the bell rings, Lashley puts McIntyre in a full nelson and a bunch of referees try to pull him off. He eventually pulls off and the match starts. They show Lana still in the back watching the match. McIntyre, who is still wearing his jacket, gets a knee up, but Lashley hits a clothesline. They go out of the ring and Lashley slams McIntyre into the ring post. Lashley comes charging at McIntyre, but he catches him and throws him into the barricade. McIntyre then hits a suplex to the mat and back in the ring they go. McIntyre explodes out of the turnbuckle and hits a clothesline. Lashley knees his way off of McIntyre's shoulders, but McIntyre hits him with a spinebuster. Lashley hits his own variation of a spinebuster, but McIntyre kicks out at 1. Lashley hits a Flatliner, but again McIntyre kicks out at 1. Lashley tries to put on the full nelson, but isn't able to get it applied. McIntyre hits a face first version of the Alabama Slam for a 2 count. McIntyre goes up top, but Lashley catches him and puts him in the Crossface in the center of the ring. McIntyre counters that into a Tombstone attempt, but Lashley counters that into an Ankle Lock. Lashley goes for a spear, but McIntyre turns that into a Kimura. McIntyre hits a superplex and both men are down. Lashley hits a Spear, but McIntyre kicks out at 2. Out walks Lana and she walks up to the apron. Lashley accidentally knocks her off and she falls on MVP. McIntyre hits the Claymore Kick and gets the victory. Man, that ending sucked the life out of a really good match. This was easily one of the best matches I can remember Lashley having in WWE. After the match, both MVP and Lashley leave Lana sitting on the outside as McIntyre celebrates.

Match Rating: ***1/2

They cut to footage of the Viking Raiders and Street Profits brawling outside. They end up damaging Strowman's car again. They run inside and continue brawling. There is music in the background, which means this is another cinematic masterpiece. The Profits grab golf clubs and the Raiders grab their shields and a bowling ball. The Profits run away, but decide to stand up to them. They face off and decide to drop their weapons at the same time. They start brawling and then Ivar finds himself by the bowling ball, which leads him to dreaming about a bowling encounter with the Profits. He rolls it and it hits Montez Ford in the crotch. Ivar then finds Erik hurt, goes to check on him and eats a spear through some glass. They show some highlights of their critically acclaimed challenges from Raw. A bunch of motorcycles show up and Akira Tozawa is one of them. The four huddle up and decide to take on the ninjas on bikes together. This is something you would expect in a family action comedy. A big ninja walks up and Ivar summons a turkey leg like Thor does. They run up to the top of a truck and begin brawling again. Erik and Dawkins fly into a dumpster. Ivar then knocks Ford in and then Ivar does a somersault dive into it. They then pan to Ivar dreaming of women telling him he's cute and Erik, not so much. Referee Jessica Carr comes over and then says the same thing. Then they hear some growling and an alligator tail is shown and then that's it for that. I'm not sure who the target audience was here, but it certainly was not me.

Randy Orton vs. Edge

They do a cool spot where they have the old school MSG microphone from the ceiling and use old Fink announcements. Charles Robinson is dressed in the old school ref outfit. As was reported, this is indeed a taped match. Edge hits a couple of arm drags, but Orton avoids a third one. It should be noted that there is fake crowd noise piped in for this one. They are playing up Orton being one step ahead of Edge here early on. Orton trips up Edge as he is running the ropes and Edge is starting to show some frustration. Edge takes a chance to outsmart Orton and it ends with Orton eating a boot to the face. Edge hits a headscissors, which sends Orton to the outside. Edge goes up to the top rope, but Orton catches him with a right hand. Orton goes for a superplex to the floor, but Edge hits a couple of headbutts to stop him. Edge then hits a leaping clothesline and Orton is busted open. Edge puts Orton in the Crossface, but Orton gets his feet to the bottom rope to break the hold. Orton goes for the RKO, but Edge saw it coming. Orton then hits his inverted backbreaker and they head back outside. Orton starts throwing Edge into everything outside the ring. Orton throws him on the table and rolls him in for a 2 count. Orton looks up to the sky and then goes for the Three Amigos. Edge stops the third one and then he hits the Three Amigos. Both men are down and they both just start slapping each other's chest. Back up, they start chopping away on each other until Orton hits a dropkick. Orton pulls Edge face first into the ring post and then hits a superplex. They hit a double crossbody and both men are down again. Edge for some reason goes to the top rope again, but Orton is there to stop him. Orton goes for the DDT from the top rope, but Edge slips down and hits the Edgecution and gets a 2 count. Edge hits a top rope crossbody for another 2 count. Orton hits an Angle Slam for a 2 count. Apparently Angle picked Edge to win the match. Edge catches Orton and hits a sit down powerbomb for another nearfall. The crowd is doing a dueling "Let's go Orton"/"Let's go Edge" chant, but I can't imagine that would be the case if this actually were in an arena. Orton hits a draping DDT. Orton goes for the RKO, but Edge hits the Edge-O-Matic. Orton leaps an Edge Spear attempt, but Edge hits an Unprettier for another close call. This is the perfect type of match to do all of these callbacks. Orton then hits a Pedigree for a 2 count. Edge now hits a Rock Bottom as they go full WrestleMania here. Edge goes for a bunch of quick pinfall attempts that are unsuccessful and then Orton hits the RKO, but Edge kicks out. Orton goes for a punt, but Edge hits the Spear. Edge hits a second Spear, but Orton kicks out. Orton hits a RKO and Edge kicks out yet again. Edge puts on the Anti-Venom submission hold, but Orton hits a low blow. He follows it up with a punt to the head and Orton gets the victory. Well, as one would expect, this was a lengthy bout, but was pretty heavy on the action. I liked most of it and it was nice to see Edge moving around the ring so well. This was a match that was begging to be played in front of 60,000 people at WrestleMania, but at the same time, it most likely wouldn't have gotten 40 minutes on a show like that. By Randy Orton standards, this was a really fast paced match and credit goes out to both guys for making the most out of the circumstances. After the match, Edge gets stretchered away.

Match Rating: ***3/4

All wrestling shows are a mixed bag, but this one is one of the better examples of it. You had poor booking in the Asuka/Jax match, awful comedy in the men's tag team match, really solid storytelling in the Sheamus/Jeff Hardy match, good heavyweight action in the WWE Championship match and an epic 45 minute main event match. There certainly is something for everyone to enjoy on this show, but also a whole lot that the majority will not enjoy. I was liking the trend of shorter shows, but this one was pretty much an even 3 hours. Still, it had three good matches, two of which were extremely close to being great and I'll take that for the most part. Just be ready to skip over a few segments, but you probably don't need me to tell you that.

Overall Rating: 69%