PWInsiderXTRA - WWE News, Wrestling News, WWE

TAKING A CYNICAL VIEW LOOK AT WWE'S BACKLASH AND THE WEEK THAT WAS FOR WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT

The Cynical View

Backlash and the Week in WWE Land

                                                   By Michael Campbell

Boo! Triple H is once again the WWE Champion. BOOOOOOOO!

But to be honest, I don’t mind so much. Welcome back to “The Cynical View”, where I’m enduring mixed feelings on a whole host of topics.

Backlash

-Backlash was a seriously enjoyable B-Level PPV. So much so, it could almost have passed for one of the biggies. Eschewing the trend for this annual show to be a lazy retread of Wrestlemania, or a cooling off period before they decide to go in any one certain direction, this one actually achieved numerous things. Obviously the biggest aspect of the show was the crowning of Triple H as the new WWE Champion, his twelve reign.

-Triple H vs. Randy Orton vs. John Cena vs. JBL

This was an excellent thirty-minute affair, that really brought out the best in “The Game” but without doing so at the expense of his opponents. In this regard, Triple H has improved immeasurably over the past four years. Some will of course grumble about his victory (politicking…. Eeek!), and if there were cause to do so, you would no doubt find me on the bandwagon. But not this time. Raw’s ratings have generally been pretty dismal in recent times, and if HHH’s victory and subsequent reign, provides a short-term boost, then all is well. Yes it would be lovely for Orton to have had a much longer reign, but as well as he had been performing, he had charged through the majority of the babyfaces in short order (thanks to shoddy booking- Jericho anyone?) and ran the risk of growing stale. Hunter is a good choice to wear the strap at the moment, whilst the WWE enters it’s notorious stage of stabilisation where it fires an abundance of lower-card talent. Orton can always bounce back, and need not be seen dropping back into the mid-card. Plus, if ever they were as well running with Hunter as a babyface champ, it’s now, as he is as over as ever on that side of the coin. They would have pulled the trigger at some point, so why not now when the character still has mileage on the side of he angels. Additionally, the Raw roster has a good selective of heel opponents for the champ, William Regal, JBL, potentially Jericho, Orton, Umaga…. Buck Woodward was asked this week about the kafuffle that surrounds HHH becoming champion, and I support his view that it’s a sensible direction.

The encounter itself was chock full of goodies. They teased some spots, without going for the obvious, but crucially, without short-changing the fans (the attempt to use the steel steps, that look sure to end with a broken announce table etc…). And the bout was paced brilliantly, especially in the lead-up to the eliminations of Cena and JBL. Everyone played their part well, and no-one was undermined. The climatic moments between Orton and Hunter far eclipsed their generally poor past clashes too, and the end sequence completely exceeded expectations. Oh yeah, and the video package prior to the match was very impressive, and original too.

-Edge vs. The Undertaker

This bout was not on a par with their absolutely sensational bout at Wrestlemania. But that goes without saying. What it was, was a very absorbing, involving, and clever wrestling match. What happened on this week’s Smackdown with the title situation, is for me, outrageous.

-Matt Hardy vs. Undertaker

It’s almost a shame to say, because this was at one point, a fantastic feud, but this was a fine choice to open the PPV. It’s a shame because built up really properly, as they were for a long time, this could have been a big, semi-main event bout. That said, it was still a big, important title victory for Hardy, and did feel important. It was athletic and exciting too, and kicked the PPV off an a high note. But I still feel that it could have been more. In contrast to what some others have stated though, I thought Matt’s post-match promo was laughably weak.

-Kane vs. Chavo Guerrero

They could have exchanged oh, three slaps, and this would have been better than their WM 24 slaughtering. Instead, they amazingly had a match. It wasn’t especially interesting though. Kane’s title reign was never really in jeopardy, and it just felt pointless, even though they produced some good exchanges. Chavo’s heel act continues to exploit Eddie’s character, and draw lacklustre heat. He’s seriously bad as ECW’s top heel.

-Big Show vs. The Great Khali

The one we were all waiting for! In all seriousness, this was a pretty awful bout, that saw the fans loudly chant “boring”. It also was detrimental to place Big Show, supposedly the World’s largest athlete, in the ring with someone, yup, taller than him.

-Batista vs. Shawn Michaels

This was no classic, but it was curious indeed. Really nice, physical action, and solid selling categorised this match, and it was unpredictable. Batista can of course add one more guy to the list of opponents with which whom he’s had very entertaining battles with. The ending was very interesting, and provides a wealth of opportunities for not just these two, but also for referee Chris Jericho.

In general, the PPV had a great sense of flow. It started out hot, and finished in the same vein, with a really intriguing variety of material in between. The Women’s match was an improvement on the WM debacle, and didn’t derail the overall pace of the show, even though it was still, largely a lousy excuse for a wrestling bout.

Meanwhile, now-former World Champion, Randy Orton’s backstage segments were completely bizarre. Especially the final one, with Hunter, where Orton appeared to refuse to look at his opponent, instead looking towards the moon. It was akin to those badly edited 70’s Exploitation flicks, where one character made feeble conversation into nothingness, whilst the other would wait to stutter forth with his lines. Really odd. I did like the touch of having CM Punk confront Orton though. Although the WWE still refuse to allow him to play to his strengths, it kept the Money in the Bank in people’s minds.

When Orton is done with HHH, if he doesn’t reclaim the big Gold strap, I would suggest having him return to Punk, blaming him for throwing his focus prior to the match, which in turn cost him the title. Thus, we could have a great feud between the two. It could be what both guys need come Summerslam.

Basically, Backlash was one of those PPV’s that come DVD time, won’t make you go potty in your trousers, but will somehow, at some point, deservedly wind up appearing on your cluttered shelves.

Various Nuggets of Woe and Joy 

-Dave Taylor’s release, if it is indeed due entirely to “Not knowing what to do with him”, as they so often say, is a complete and utter waste. The guy’s best days as a grappler may indeed, be long behind him, but surely there are still many uses for him. For one thing, he could be an invaluable asset backstage. Unless the WWE revert to wishing that every trainee/developmental talent emerges working matches that are carbon copies of Hunter Hearst Helmsley bouts, he could a add some variety to their teaching.

Additionally, wouldn’t Taylor make a great corner man for King William Regal. Where they go with Regal at the moment, has potentially great intrigue, but how cool would it have been if he had Taylor in his corner, like a boxing trainer. Not a manager in a wrestling sense, but literally, he’d be like a corner man. C’mon, you can picture it surely?

-Stripping The Undertaker of the World title is an absolutely God-awful decision. Consider how plagued Smackdown has been in recent years with injury to it’s champions. It even happened to the Undertaker last year (Undertaker was due a long-term, epic title reign, but it was cut short due to injury). Yet somehow, they’ve decided the best thing to do in the situation where their champ is healthy, is to take the belt of him anyways. I’m I the only one to whom that seems completely bonkers?

-The Booking of CM Punk on ECW this week was absolutely stunning. In a bad way. Here’s a guy who has decent momentum, despite the fact that he is never allowed to use his greatest talent (awesome promos), and currently holds the Money In the Bank spot. So what do ya do? Yep, have him look like a doofus against perennial journeyman Chuck Palumbo. Baffling stuff. I had figured what they were doing with the former ROH Champion, was to have him continually go up against top guys (like Jericho, and Edge, in fine fashion on Smackdown), and come up slightly short, not cashing the title shot in until he was absolutely ready in his own estimation. Right now, I wouldn’t be completely surprised to see him blow his shot on the ECW strap.

-Vince McMahon challenged by the Ultimate Warrior to a match at Wrestlemania 25. This is the sort of insanity that can only surround the crazed Warrior. The thought of it actually occurring (and the odds are Goldberg/Austin-like), is rather intriguing, in a Frankenstein versus the Wolf man sense. It couldn’t possibly be good in any regard, however the Warrior is so delusion-ally past-it, it could be a hilarious career-ender for the guy. But it would no doubt be a horrible investment considering the millions the Warrior is probably imagining in his facial paint. Didn’t he sue the WWE yet again, like last week?

-At the end of Raw, they decided to go with the ultimate bait and switch, and present no ending to the WWE title match between food-thrower Randy Orton, and King of Kings Triple H. It was a curious decision to be sure, and one that has unsurprisingly, yielded a mixed batch of reactions. For me, it depends on where they end up going with this. They MUST provide an adequate follow-up and pay off for the fans, in order to make the trauma of last week worthwhile. I fear they won’t. William Regal’s potential feud with Hunter could be absolutely fantastic if played right, and is certainly fresh. If this incident adds heat to that, it’s all well and good, however, next week, if the same curious fans tune in, they have to supply them with adequate compensation. It would have been less risky if the match had only went two or three minutes prior to the blackout, but they worked enough of a bout to make viewers believe they would be treated to a full-length television main event, with a definite ending. Therein lies the crime.

Thank for reading this gibbering rant. I hope it was at least as entertaining as shaving The Great Khali’s eyebrows, and more thought-provoking than a Matt Hardy promo. If you have any comments/questions/queries/or anything to say, get in touch at bazilalfonso@hotmail.com, whether you agree/disagree/hate me, or whatever if may be, I welcome all correspondence. I have also finally got on My Space! So slabber to me at www.myspace.com/michaelwrestlingetc