With WWE Backlash 2020 concluded, it’s time to look back on what happened and assess the damage, praise the positives and talk about what went down.
As I’ve been doing lately, I kept track of my reactions and thoughts throughout each segment tonight. There were some positive moments here and there with plenty of negatives, too.
Check them out below, as well as my regular Smack Talk Pay-Per-Viewpoint post-show podcast at the end of this post, which reviews the event in more detail.
Without further ado, here’s what was running through my mind during WWE Backlash 2020:
Pre-Show
- Still not digging the in-studio pre-shows, but I’d be fine with them if they were only 30 minutes and they didn’t do video packages on the actual cards. That would save SO much time.
- John Morrison and The Miz’s new song is actually annoyingly catchy, unlike the “this is the greatest show” song that I’m so sick of hearing.
United States Championship Match: Apollo Crews (c) vs. Andrade
- I wish I had anything to say about this, but I don’t. It was one of the most generic matches I’ve seen in a while. Nothing at all stood out about this to me other than Kevin Owens being on commentary as a surprise. However, once he popped up, it was obvious he’d help even the odds with Angel Garza, so I was just waiting for that to happen and everything to end, essentially. Glad Crews retained, though.
Women’s Tag Team Championship Triple Threat Match: Bayley and Sasha Banks (c) vs. Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross vs. The IIconics
- Alexa Bliss and Peyton Royce in particular are reminding me to plug the Sexiest Superstars Tournament that I have going on right now on Smark Out Moment.
- It’s now when I noticed that Boa is in the front of the “audience” and was stone-faced before he just gave a thumbs down to the heels. That made me chuckle.
- I’m glad they’re going with the rule of three at a time in the ring, instead of how they sometimes keep triple threat tag team matches as 2 competitors.
- Peyton Royce’s dive to everyone on the outside gets a “this is awesome” chant, but I’m here thinking “oof…that didn’t work out as planned.”
- I really can’t wait until WWE just does this Banks vs. Bayley feud and gets it over with. At this point, though, I’m not expecting it until 2025 or something.
- The Golden Role Models? That’s what they’re calling The Boss ‘n’ Hug Connection now? Between this and Britt Baker, lots of role models in the women’s division now, it seems…
Jeff Hardy vs. Sheamus
- I definitely apologize for the lack of reactions tonight. This show isn’t giving me much to talk about or even think about.
- However…having said that, I’m digging this match. This is rock solid.
- Good match. This isn’t something I’ll remember details about in a week or have on my Match of the Year list or anything, but this was pretty damn good.
Raw Women’s Championship Match: Asuka (c) vs. Nia Jax
- This…felt…so…slow….
- Early on in the match, they’re already acting like they’re both worn out. I know full well Asuka can go much harder and longer than that. This is just the “big superstar match” philosophy of each move supposedly hitting harder. However, it’s BORING to watch that unless they find ways to make it more than just skipping to the 3/4 mark of a regular match and going in slow motion.
- OMG this shit ended in a count-out of all things?? Did WWE purposely try to make this a worst match of the year candidate or something? Terrible.
Universal Championship Handicap Match: Braun Strowman (c) vs. John Morrison and The Miz
- Someone (Vince?) must think it’s really funny to have Braun interrupt the music video. They did that on SmackDown and they did the same thing here. Why? It wasn’t funny the first time and jokes have even less impact the more you do them. Now, all it was useful for was giving me a minute to catch up on my review material I’ve been writing.
- I’m glad they added this idea that only one could win the title, instead of being co-champions. That gave them an out for having The Miz and John Morrison get in each other’s ways without it being a Triple Threat.
- Look. It was what it was. This wasn’t ever going to be a fantastic match that breaks the internet. It’s a filler feud and a meh gimmick for what has clearly been a filler event. It did its job, but you’re not going to hear me raving about it.
WWE Championship Match: Drew McIntyre (c) vs. Bobby Lashley
- Interesting choice going with Lashley attacking McIntyre at the start. I liked that. It shows that Lashley has more pizazz than before.
- Some good action going on here, but again, nothing super awesome that stands out. Instead, I can only say that I dig how Lashley looks strong but not at McIntyre’s expense, necessarily.
- Lana’s here…she’s going to mess things up.
- Yup. Good call. Now, they can have Lashley give her the boot and stop that awful angle for good.
Raw Tag Team Championship Match: The Street Profits (c) vs. The Viking Raiders
- These two teams don’t have a bitter enough feud to be fighting backstage.
- Why are they continually breaking Strowman’s windshield? Who is getting off to this?
- So this isn’t going to be a match at all, isn’t it? It’s just a random cinematic fight thing again. I have a feeling this isn’t going to be great, as I haven’t been digging these – especially their most recent efforts like the Money in the Bank one, which is currently my pick for the worst match of the year.
- Yup. This is awful. The music and the flashbacks and all are just so bad.
- Why is Akira Tozawa involved in this? Why does he have an army of ninjas?
- The jokes in these are so lame. What did the five fingers say to the face?? Are the writers just discovering middle school joke books from the 90s?
- Terrible, and if you’re one of those people who says everyone should love these and if they don’t, they must not like things that are different or fun, you’re ignoring how different/comedic/whatever doesn’t inherently mean good. There’s a big difference between Naked Gun being hilarious and Epic Movie being horrendous, for instance.
- I’m sure if I were 8 years old, I’d love this. I’m not, though.
Edge vs. Randy Orton
- Oh good lord, don’t make this another cinematic match.
- Why does it say MSG? I mean, I know that they used to do this in Madison Square Garden. Don’t get me wrong. But this isn’t MSG. Why doesn’t it say WWE PC?
- Piped in crowd noise, much? Come on! RIDICULOUS.
- The match is good, but the audio is REALLY throwing me off, considerably. That’s almost making me feel the distinct opposite of what WWE wants me to feel.
- Muting this probably makes it better.
- There really is some great wrestling going on here. It’s not the greatest, but they damn sure gave it their all.
- Nice touch with the end being a low blow and a punt. I liked that a lot.
For more opinions on the show as a whole, check out the latest edition of the Smark Out Moment SMACK TALK podcast:
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