Backlash

May 8, 2018

Newark, NJ

Prudential Center

For years, I've had a goal of making it to WrestleMania 35. I feel that's an attainable goal, and 2018 is an interesting year, if unspectacular.

The main event was Samoa Joe versus Roman Reigns, with the whole story being that Roman was a choke-artist for his constant losses to Brock Lesnar. Before the match began, Joe went offense and even slammed Reigns on the outside through an announce table. This felt like a house show main event. After the intense start, Joe wears down Reigns with rest-style submission holds. Most of the first 10 minutes is just Joe with Reigns in a headlock or arm lock. It's just a slow and boring match. It's 20 minutes of Reigns getting whooped, and then he wins with a spear. There's been so much commentary on the "Big Dog" Roman Reigns era that it seems silly to belabor the point here. This was a plodding end to Backlash.

AJ Styles defended the WWE Championship against Shinsuke Nakamuara in a WrestleMania rematch. After Nakamura turned heel and showed us all his affinity for hitting Styles below the belt, this match was set with no disqualifications. This feud showed it's hard to get a heel over when he doesn't cut promos. I don't think there was enough investment in Nakamura for this turn to work. The fans liked his entrance, and they liked him, but his heel turn came off as confusing, and rather than explain his motivations, he just hit more low blows. But that's Vince McMahon booking for you.

I know people hold the Styles/Nakamura Wrestle Kingdom match in high regard, but I don't think these two have that much chemistry. I will say that's probably due to the booking and the environment, because this is about as clean and sanitized a no disqualification match as you can find. After both guys low blow each other, the referee counts both of them out. Awful finish.

Daniel Bryan faced Big Cass in Bryan's first pay-per-view (or PLE for those of us in 2024) singles match in three years. I get why this pairing was done, but for much of Bryan's return from his concussion issues, it seemed he was drifting, and you think they would have a better role for him than trying to get Cass over as a heel. Especially since this match was so basic, with Bryan winning clean with the Yes Lock. Cass attacked Bryan after the match. This would have worked better for Cass if he hadn't lost in 7 minutes, but whatever.

At WrestleMania, The Miz lost his Intercontinental Championship in to Seth Rollins in an awesome triple threat match that also included Finn Balor. This one-on-one matlch between Rollins and Miz is all about subverting expectations, and I think it's the best match of Miz's career. This was a barnburner of an opener. There were plenty of moments where this match could have ended and been satisfying, but it kept going to a higher level. By the end, the crowd was reacting like this was a main event match. After a great sequence of pins and reversing pins, Rollins nailed Miz with a stomp to retain his title. And the show went down from here. This should have closed the show.

A lot of this event has a feeling of, "Well, of course they would do that." Nothing inventive or novel. And that made up plenty of the last years of Vince McMahon's tenure in WWE.

Other matches on this show:

• WWE United States Champion Jeff Hardy vs. Randy Orton

• Raw Women's Champion Nia Jax vs. Alexa Bliss

• SmackDown Women's Champion Carmella vs. Charlotte Flair

• Bobby Lashley & Braun Strowman vs. Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn

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