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Welcome to the second edition of PPV Fallout! Today, we are going to take a look at the matches and moments from Backlash and try to determine where each feud or Superstar is headed in the near future and to see what is in store for us as we move on to Backlash.
WWE Backlash
Match #1. ECW Championship Match – Christian def. Jack Swagger©
Impressions – This was hands down the best match that I have seen out of Jack Swagger so far, and the best match I have seen from Christian in years. It was nice to see some old school wrestling, but most importantly, IT WENT BACK TO BASICS. I believe that WWE sometimes makes things so much harder than they need to be (I will touch on this a bit later), but this was a good example of how it can be done right. Great opener.
Fallout-
· Christian is ECW Champion. I expect that a rematch with Swagger is first on the agenda, but hopefully can lead to some other interesting matches such as Christian vs. Evan Bourne.
Match #2. Chris Jericho def. Ricky “The Dragon†Steamboat.
Impressions – This was a good match. Not great. Not bad. Good. I have to say, I think that Steamboat’s appearance on Raw the night after Wrestlemania was by far his best showing since his return, but he still brought it against Jericho in this match.
Fallout -
· Chris Jericho wins by Submission. I believe that Jericho’s run with the Legends is over. I expect now that he is on Smackdown that he will have a prominent role in the title program, as he and Edge will battle for who the top heel of the brand is.
· Ricky Steamboat most likely will be done for now. I assume that he will make appearances occasionally as everyone in WWE does.
Match #3. Kane def. CM Punk
Impressions – The match itself was much better than I had originally anticipated, however, the booking of this match boggles my mind. Kane is lackluster. He is not a great worker, he doesn’t have a large amount of fan support, and he hasn’t had a steady push since before he took off his mask. I just don’t see the need to put him over a rising star like Punk, but that’s just me.
Fallout-
· Kane wins via pin fall. I would assume he will continue to be a road block for Punk, but nothing more than that.
· CM Punk looks to hopefully be on the cusp of breaking through now that he is on Smackdown. This week’s episode showed that WWE is looking to use him in a bigger role. After watching Smackdown it appears that we will be getting CM Punk vs. Umaga.
Match #4. I Quit Match- Jeff Hardy def. Matt Hardy
Impressions – Going into this match, knowing all the rumors surrounding Jeff’s contractual status, I figured that Matt had this match in the bag. However, I was happily surprised to see Jeff get the W. The match itself was pretty good, with the spot at the end being very awesome. That was something I have never seen before, and it was cool to sort of sit and wonder how that whole situation would play out, since we’ve never seen it before. Good stuff from both men.
Fallout –
· Jeff wins. After watching Smackdown, Jeff is the #1 contender for the Championship. This is going to raise a lot of eyebrows over his contractual status. However, I believe that Judgment day is going to give us a lot of answers. The way that PPV plays out will most likely show us exactly what’s going on with Jeff.
· Matt loses, but it didn’t necessarily hurt him in the process. He quit like a “cowardly heel†instead of actually being beat to the point that he can’t stand the pain any longer. He did break his hand in this match, which is really unfortunate, seeing as he is starting his first major heel run on Raw. He will most likely be ok, however, because as evidenced on Raw, they still intend on keeping him onscreen throughout the injury. I assume that he will not be put into a major storyline until after his hand heels.
Match #5. – WWE Championship Match – Legacy -Randy Orton, Ted Dibiase, and Cody Rhodes def. Triple H©, Batista, and Shane McMahon.
Impressions – Early I was discussing how WWE makes things so much harder on themselves then they need too. This storyline is proof of that. This whole situation is so convoluted and, to be honest, boring. I still think that this is all going to lead up to the non-sensical heel turn of Batista. That was the original plan before Batista was injured last year, and they keep dropping hints about it. Plus, with the added tension of Batista costing Triple H the title, it is very clear to me that we will see Evolution 2.0 shortly.
Fallout –
· Randy Orton wins via RKO and Punt kick. Raw showed us that Orton will face Batista at Judgment Day, which I believe will be the next step in “Batista joins Legacy†route.
· Triple H is out selling the kick, as he should be. I expect a return either at or shortly after Judgment day.
· Dibiase and Rhodes look to possibly be entering into a feud against Carlito and Primo after watching Superstars. When I saw that C&P were drafted to Raw, I knew that it was just a matter of time until Priceless picked up the straps. Maybe a match for the titles at Judgment day?
Match #6. – World Heavyweight Championship Match- Edge def. John Cena©
Impressions – This was a fun brawl. The spot at the end with Big Show chokeslamming Cena through the searchlight was extremely well done. The best part about it was, that IT MADE SENSE! If you were Big Show, and Cena pinned you at Wrestlemania and ruined your sexual relations with Vickie Guerrero, wouldn’t you take the opportunity to interfere in a No Disqualification match to cost him the title? Great booking, and a solid match.
Fallout –
· Edge wins and becomes a 9-time World Champion. Edge will go on to face Jeff Hardy at Judgment day, however, as I said earlier, the outcome of that match all depends on Jeff’s contractual status.
· Cena will move on to a non title feud with the Big Show which makes sense storyline wise, and otherwise as well. Cena will be filming “Orange Sash†…I mean his next movie, and he will miss a lot of the house shows I presume, so taking the title off of him was the right move here.
Overall – Backlash really surprised me this year. Most years, it is full of Wrestlemania rematches, and while we did get those feuds continued, it was in different matches. There was not a single bad match on this show, which really sold the show for me. This was one of the best PPV’s I have seen in quite some time.
Final Thoughts- Watch it all, but go out of your way to see Christian vs. Swagger, Hardy vs. Hardy, and Edge vs. Cena. The only thing that you might want to skip is Kane vs. Punk, but it wasn’t a bad match at all.
On the way to Judgment Day:
· Jeff Hardy/Edge
· Batista/Randy Orton
· Chris Jericho/John Morrison
· CM Punk/Umaga
· Dibiase & Rhodes/Carlito and Primo
· John Cena/Big Show
· Christian/Swagger/Dreamer/Bourne
I will be back after Judgment Day with another PPV Fallout! Thanks for reading, and if you want to contact me for questions or feedback, you can email me at TJWWE2007@gmail.com.
