For those of you wondering, I did see Backlash, but due to my trip to see FWA on Monday (see my other column for my thoughts on the show), I haven't had the time to produce a column regarding my thoughts on Backlash. Until now, that is.
I didn't catch the live edition of Sunday Night Heat, but I don't think there was a whole lot to see there anyway. The show opened with a promo video for the historic clash between Goldberg and The Rock. As usual, I can't fault the production staff for this promo package. It was superb.
1 Team Angle Retained The Smackdown! Tag Team Titles Against Los Guerreros
Despite many people praising this opening bout, I was rather disappointed by it. It wasn't an awful bout by any means, but it just felt, well...ordinary. For me, the highlight of the whole match was Team Angle placing a portrait of Kurt Angle (complete with gold medals) at ringside, and Tazz joking that it was the man himself.
Both teams got in cheap shots and broke the rules. Chavo choked Shelton Benjamin with the tag ropes, but Team Angle fought back when Charlie Haas caught the legal man, Eddy Guerrero with a sneaky shot to the back. Team Angle then set "Latino Heat" up for the Team Angle "leap-frog/back splash" combo.
Eddy was in trouble, but in an impressive move, turned Haas' gut-wrench suplex into a flying headscissors! Chavo got the tag and destroyed Team Angle, but could not put the champs away. Eddy got back into the fray and hit a series of brainbusters on Charlie.
The finish appeared to come out of nowhere. After Eddy had squashed Haas with a Frogsplash, and Haas had escaped the all-important pinfall, Shelton Benjamin tripped Chavo during a back suplex attempt, which allowed Charlie Haas to get the three-count!
Following the decision, Chavo took out both team members with a dive to the floor (which knocked down the Kurt Angle portrait), and Los Guerreros made off with the tag belts. The following scene where the Latinos left in their car was cringe inducing to say the least.
In another backstage segment, Test began hitting on Torrie Wilson. Honestly, WWE, I didn't pay £14 to watch c**p like this. Test kissed Torrie, and Torrie walked away in disgust. Then Sable appeared, which meant that there would be more awful backstage segments later on in the show.
2 Sean O' Heare w/Roddy Piper Defeated Rikishi
Piper headed to the ring with a basket of coconuts (I can't believe that they’re using an angle that's 20 years old). He introduced Sean O'Heare, who had awful music. The match itself was awful aswell.
The crowd just didn't care about this match (they weren't really into the opener, either), but this match deserved to have no heat. Piper got involved immediately, which allowed O'Heare to catch Rikishi with a kick.
O'Heare increased the boredom level further by keeping Rikishi in a neck-hold. Rikishi tried to Stink Face O'Heare, but the bearded brute used his leg strength to send Rikishi flying onto his rear! (Which did grab my attention for a moment).
Piper returned to the apron and brought a coconut into the ring. Both Rikishi and O'Heare took each other out with a pair of weak crescent kicks. Piper handed the coconut to the referee, but Rikishi grabbed it and shattered it over Piper's head. Piper went down like only a bloated washed-up has-been can, and did a ridiculous sell job on the mat. Then O'Heare hit a Death Valley Driver on Rikishi for the 3-count.
The match did nothing to get Sean O'Heare over, it only succeeded in showing how useless Roddy Piper is and that Rikishi is strictly a TV-only comedy act. O'Heare's character may be dead in the water already.
Backstage again, and Sable told Stacy Keibler that Test was cheating on her with Torrie. Honestly, this had to be one of the most poorly acted segments EVER. I'm certain that Sable had her lines pinned up on the wall opposite, she was so robotic. Stacy wasn't happy with the news, although the acting wasn't too convincing.
Meanwhile, RVD and Kane were discussing their tag-team collision with The Dudley Boyz later on. Apparently, Chief Morley was the referee, so the champs were really up against the odds.
3 Rob Van Dam And Kane Retained The Raw World Tag-Team Titles Against The Dudley Boyz (w/ Special Referee Chief Morley)
Finally, something worth coughing up the cash for. Although RVD shouldn't be messing about in this division, and the Morley/Dudleys nonsense appears to be never-ending, I found this match to be very entertaining.
Although it didn't get off to the best of starts (when RVD nearly failed to land on his feet, following his flip over Bubba Ray Dudley's back), it soon picked up steam when "The Whole Dam Show" hit a spinning heel kick on Bubba and then another spin kick on D-Von. RVD also got Bubba into the corner and after back flipping off his head, caught him with a drop kick to the face!
Kane got the tag and cleaned house, booting D-Von in the face, but then tasting a bulldog from Bubba Ray (amidst chants of "We Want Tables" from a restless crowd). Kane recovered and drilled Bubba with spinebuster for a 2-count. So far, "The Chief" was calling it right down the middle.
RVD returned to action and registered a 2-count following a Split-Legged Moonsault on Bubba. RVD had his monkey flip attempt blocked by Bubba, and received a side-slam for his effort.
After some double-teaming from both Dudley brothers, RVD managed to tag out to "The Big Red Machine".
Kane annihilated both Duds' again, and RVD soon took out Bubba with The Rolling Thunder. He dove at D-Von and leap-frogged onto the turnbuckle, but D-Von countered with a nice neckbreaker from the top-rope, which RVD sold, like a pro. Inevitably, Morley turned on the champions, and gave Kane a low blow.
After depositing if Kane, Morley aimed for RVD, but missed and nailed Bubba Ray instead! D-Von went mad and pounded Morley with fists to the head. Lance Storm then showed up, which prompted The Coach to come out with the biggest whoppers of the year,
"It's Lance Storm, he hasn't be seen in 3 weeks!"
Storm received a Bubba Bomb from Bubba Ray, but Morley had got to his feet. However, Bubba managed to reverse his whip into the ropes from Morley, and both Dudleys gave "The Chief" the 3D! Meanwhile, the match was still going on, and Kane capitalised on all the distractions by choke-slamming Bubba Ray, and then allowing RVD to hit a 5 Star Frog Splash before taking the fall for his team.
An impressive match, but what was the point of this storyline is The Dudleys are now faces and "suspended" again? And why are RVD and Kane even involved?
Stacy Keibler then confronted Ms Wilson in the women's locker room. A terrible catfight ensued (in a rather ironic and funny moment, Ivory actually dropped a cat!), with the faces (Ivory, Jacqueline) trying to break it up, and the heels (Victoria, Dawn Marie, Molly) egging them on.
4 Jazz w/ Theodore Long Defeated Trish Stratus For The Women's Title
Trish came out and did a rather convincing job of selling her rib injuries. The two women grappled for a bit, before Jazz worked on the ribs.
Jazz attempted a gut-wrench suplex, but Trish countered it nicely by landing on her feet and delivering her own gut-wrench to Jazz! Jazz removed the turnbuckle to expose the unforgiving steal, but almost got taken out by The Stratusphere from Trish!
In a painful-looking counter hold, Jazz grabbed Trish by the leg and clamped on a half crab. Trish escaped and got one up on Jazz by applying a FULL Boston Crab. Then she really stuck it to her rival by locking her in her very own STF submission finisher!
Jazz managed to break the hold, but got her bell rung with a Chick Kick, which got the champ a close 2-count. Jazz got a 2 of her own following a drop kick, but Trish surprised Jazz with The Stratusfaction! However, Theodore Long broke up the pin by throwing his shoe into the ring and then blaming a fan.
Trish attempted another Stratusfaction, and this time converted it into a great-looking sunset flip attempt. However, Jazz reversed the move and got some extra leverage from the ropes to bag the title. A very good Women's match, where Jazz and Trish tried new things and made their collision different compared to their previous battles.
Meanwhile, Booker T and Shawn Michaels were busy discussing the big 6-man tag later on. Nash tells them not to worry about a thing. Sure, take Nash's word for it. He's reliable.
The Big Show Defeated Rey Mysterio
I'm sorry, but this match was a total p**s take. I've also heard that Rey Mysterio is now injured FOR REAl due this time-wasting match. Way to go, WWE.
Rey used his quickness to annoy The Big Show, and even brought a chair into play. Would Rey become "The Giant Killer" once more? To be honest, I wouldn't have gave two hoots (and that's the mild version, folks) if he did manage to defeat the bumbling oaf.
The sequence where Rey stunned The Show with a series of 619's (to the legs, rear and face) was ridiculous. Predictably, The Big Show walked the effects off and beat Mysterio with a Choke-Slam. What a waste. Michael Cole and Tazz feign concern about Rey even though the Choke-Slam wasn't even that powerful.
The idiocy continued when Rey was placed on a stretcher and Show returned to the ring and whipped the fallen Mysterio into the ring-post while he was still attached to the stretcher! It later turned out that Show was too rough, and that fantasy had become reality, which means that we won't be seeing Rey in a while.
Backstage, Lillian Garcia had got an interview with HHH, Ric Flair and Chris Jericho. Lillian removed the microphone too soon, which prompted HHH to say, "I'll tell you when I'm done" (something along those lines). Jericho hilariously called her "Vivian".
In the corridor, Torrie and Stacy are having a p**-poor scuffle. Stacy was thrown into a few shelves, which caused a tool box to bounce off her turnip for REAL! See what this mindless nonsense can do? Scott Steiner (being the gentleman that he is), helped her up and took her to see a trainer (wow, that's some contribution to a PPV!) Test wasn't happy, he wanted to know what was going on. Steiner told him that that's what Stacy wants to know. Quite frankly, I'd like to know what's going on aswell!
5 Brock Lesnar Retained The Smackdown! World Title Against John Cena
On this evidence, John Cena is NOT ready for main events. I found this match to be mediocre. On Smackdown! it probably wouldn't have looked out of place, but it was definitely not PPV material. Cena had been built up like he didn't have a shot at winning, and he didn't even get to execute his FU (DVD) finisher.
Cena got onto Lesnar immediately. However, "The Pain" destroyed "Mr Thuganomics" with his power moves. Outside of the ring, Lesnar gave Cena and up close and personal look at the World Title belt. The pause proved to be mistake, as Cena recovered and threw Lesnar into the steel steps.
Lesnar was now cut open and soon the crimson really began to flow. Lesnar predictably kicked out at 2, but Cena kept on the attack with a back suplex, reverse elbow and gullotine leg drop. Lesnar got thrown into the post, and kept the juice streaming down his face.
Cena kept going and DDT'd Brock for yet another 2-count. Brock retaliated with a spinebuster, but walked into a jawbreaker from Cena. Cena then clamped on a chin-lock for way too long.
Brock fought back, but the crowd was now on Cena's side! Cena took a cheap shot on the champ and the crowd loved it! Cena tried to finish off Brock with the aid of a steel chair, but the ref snatched it off him! The crowd didn't like the decision, but it allowed ample time for Lesnar to hit Cena with an F5 for the 3-count.
As far as the match goes, it didn't cut the mustard IMO. However, one positive thing to come out of it is that Cena's gimmick is working. Much like the match between Brock Lesnar and The Rock at Summerslam, the crowd turned on the favourite and got behind the underdog.
7 HHH, Ric Flair And Chris Jericho Defeated Kevin Nash, Booker T And Shawn Michaels In A 6-Man Tag-Team Match
Again, another letdown. While decent (although no thanks to Nash), this match was no where near the big time face-off it should have been. Shawn Michaels and Jericho started things off rather nicely, with a series of near falls.
Nash got tagged in, and was his usual lazy self. Honestly, his offence was appallingly bad. Fortunately, Booker T soon came in and stomped a mudhole in Y2J with a spinebuster and flapjack that both received near falls.
"The Game" was the next man to enter the ring, and had a brief scuffle with "The Booker Man". After planting Book' with a spinebuster of his own, he tagged in "The Nature Boy", who should never be used as an active wrestler again.
HBK returned to action and to be fair to Flair (as the great Bobby Heenan would say), he took Michaels' flying forearm and Sweet Chin Music rather well. HHH soon stepped in to prevent a pinfall by driving HBK into the canvas with The Pedigree.
Jericho saw that Michaels was in a weakened state, and beat him without mercy. HHH stuck his big nose (which he's made good use of) in again and knocked HBK down with a flying knee smash to the temple. Flair got in again but nearly got pinned when Michaels reversed a Figure Four Leg-Lock into a small package.
Michaels managed to survive a 3-man beat down and tagged in Nash. He knocked Flair out of the ring and onto the floor and took on both Y2J and HHH at the same time. The match soon developed into a wild brawl, with Flair locking on a Figure Four, and Jericho delivering a Lionsault at the same time!
Nash gave Y2J The Jack-knife, but the ref was out cold. So was Nash a moment later, when HHH struck him in the face with a sledgehammer for the match winning fall. Even in a 6-man tag, HHH didn't do the job. Not only that, he got the fall for his team!
8 Goldberg Defeated The Rock
Finally, one of the dream matches that we've all waited for! The Rock VS Goldberg! A match that would truly be legendary! I was really pumped for this one!
The Rock got a huge reaction, which was not good when you're planning on having Goldberg replace The Rock as "Raw Main Event Guy" after this match. Goldberg got a few chants, but nowhere near as many as you'd expect (or the WWE would want). And what happened to his music? The theme sounded like it was being played backwards!
In the ring, and the "Rocky" chants were relentless. Some "Goldberg" chants, but again not enough. The two franchise players locked up and Goldberg showed his power by shoving The Rock down and out of the ring!
The Rock bought some time outside, before returning to the fray and slapping "Da Man" in the face! Goldberg gave an evil grin and clobbered "The Great One" with a clothesline to the floor. The Rock recovered though, and hung Goldberg up on the ropes.
Back inside and The Rock knocked the monster down with a clothesline of his own. Goldberg got to his feet and Rock Bottomed "The Great One"! Sensing victory, Goldberg was poised for The Spear, but The Rock moved and Goldberg sent himself flying shoulder-first into the ring post!
When the action continued inside the ring, The Rock tried to force Goldberg to tap to The Sharpshooter, but Goldberg would not quit! Before long, he shot back with a Spear, although in doing so he aggravated his sore shoulder. Goldberg kept fighting, but The Rock turned the tide with a Spear of his own!
Goldberg got Rock Bottomed immediately after, but managed to kick out, although it looked like a 3-count to me. Undeterred, The Rock delivered a Spinebuster and then a People's Elbow but still could not put Goldberg away. Goldberg came back to life and crushed Rock with a pair of Spears and then a single Jackhammer for the fall.
Although, this wasn't on the same level as Rock/Hogan or Hogan/McMahon, Goldberg Vs The Rock was still a memorable, engrossing encounter and the best match on the show (although, it didn't have much competition). However, the fan reaction was quite disturbing. Luckily, Goldberg was indeed a hit with the crowd on the following Raw, but the WWE are still going to really miss The Rock.
As a show, Backlash was a dissapointment. The only bouts that really had my interest were Goldberg/Rock, Trish/Jazz and RVD And Kane/ The Dudley Boyz. The other bouts ranged from abysmal (O'Haire VS Rikishi, Mysterio VS Big Show) to average (The 6-Man Tag, SD! Tag Title Match, Lesnar VS Cena), and I could have done without the Test/Stacy/Torrie/Sable garbage. I did get some entertainment out of the show, but I still feel short-changed. I'm am still going to watch WWE religiously because I consider myself to be a true fan, but after a show like this, I fear that they are slipping further and further into a hole in which they may not be able to get out of. Please WWE, sort yourselves out.
Previously posted on Smash Wrestling:
http://www.firetank.com/smashwrestling/
