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Onto the matches themselves...
1.Hardys v. Cade and Murdoch - fun tag match but it went 5-6 min too long for me and we all knew who was going to win **match
2.Melina v. Mickie -should have of had Mickie win it or at least have Nitro interfere for a cheap win for Melina *match
3.Beniot v. MVP - Benoit wins w/a small package in the best match of the night MVP has improved big time ***match
4.Lashley v. McMahons and Umaga - what a crappy joke Lashley is the unstoppable monster, Vince wants revenge but doesn't do any of the work and no big spot from Shane to make it interesting. Vince winning is such a joke and slap in the face to ECW and pretty much sums it up that its finished.
5.Taker v. Bastita - Last man standing and the ending was totally stupid the rigged setting falling and the explosion and both guys get counted out ok so no one wins but then right after instead of at least 1 or both getting carted off they get up and walk away pretty much telling u that the ending was a crappy well protected landing.*match
6.Fatal 4 Way - Why even allow Orton to compete is beyond me, he has been punished time and again and yet doesn't learn so why give him the main event, he should have been suspended for at least 90 days for his actions overseas. Then the ending sucked w/Cena retaining by being kicked onto Orton. Shawn is a real trooper and I would rather see him with the title even for a short run.*match
All in all a very dumb, boring ppv and with all the talent from all 3 shows being on the ppvs they could have easily put 1-2 more matches what about a showing from the New Breed congratulating Vince. They had the Originals, maybe CM Punk/Burke have a face off. Or mix it w/ one of the other matches I mentioned before.
Jason Ouimette
Syracuse,NY
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I must say, I am really tired of crapout endings to matches. The undercard of the PPV was pretty good, and I am hoping that we get to see a 2 out of 3 falls with Benoit and MVP or something to take their rivalry to the next level. But I want to offer my feedback on the main events
ECW- What a complete waste. I hope this is to transition the belt to someone else, because I am SO SICK of McMahon!! I have really started to like ECW with its own brand, and I want it kept at that. I do not care about Vince winning the title while wearing a sweatshirt to cover up the fact that he got flabby, I want real wrestlers doing real things. This storyline is a joke, and the only thing that will redeem it is Lashley beating Vince so bad he stays away for months.
Smackdown- A great match, I want to see Batista heeled if he is fighting Undertaker, but these guys give a hell of a match. Seeing some serious spots and having the Undertaker really step it up was great, though the ending was a bit lame. I hate no finishes at PPV, I am paying money, so give me a result.
Raw- Again, they are just kicking around some plots with a storyline going nowhere. Did we not already see HBK superkick someone for a cover? This feud needs to evolve, and Edge and Orton need to go fight with each other. Cena has really stepped it up, and for that I am happy, but we need a heel and a hero, not two in the middle guys.
Overall a meh PPV. I miss the days of good storylines and stables and such. The fact that WWE only pushes their top events (mainly McMahons) and just kicks around others is really making me drift away from WWE. And that's my two cents.
Skylar Wolfe
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Hey guys at Pro Wrestling Insider:
Love the site, sorry this is so long, but I can't give my feelings on just a few sentences:
First off, I want to say, that PPV wasn't that great, it wasn't ECW December to Dismember bad, but it wasn't that great either. Every match just about had a horrible ending.
Let me break it down:
World Tag Team Match:
Since when did America's Least Wanted (aka Cade and Murdock) get pushed this hard? Seriously, not that great of a match. Hardy's were alright, seriously, this is a mid Raw type of a match. Also, since when to Murdock do a poor man's Yoshitonic? It was bad. Then ending was like, Matt Hardy, legal man, outside fighting when all of a sudden Jeff swantons the bejesus out of Murdock, and Matt says "Hey Cade, wait here" pins Murdock and wins the match.
Women's Title:
Has anybody noticed that every time WWE.com does a "follow me" segment, they usually lose? Mickie looking so fine, Melina look eh...and the match was alright, I was really surprised that the crowd got really into it. But Mickie should of won the match in my opinion, there is no point of pushing Melina. Her attitude sucks, her wrestling is okay, and Mickie really deserves a champion. If I want to watch good women's wrestling, I'd watch Shimmer.
US Title Match:
Match of the night, next to Taker/Batista. Technical match, back and forth action, the ending was okay for a technical finished. MVP is really improving, and you really can't say anything bad about Benoit.
ECW Title Match:
This started off as a Lashley squash match, but really caught up with Lashley. I really wanted to see Shane win the title, not 50's Gangster Vinnie Mac. By the way, if WWECW wasn't dead yet, it is now. That bit with McMahon and the ECW originals was really a low blow, seriously.
World Heavyweight Title:
Holy crap. That match was really surprising, but anytime Batista is on PPV and people are paying for him, he does well. That Undertaker Legdrop was sick, and the finish was really good. Just about the best match of the night.
WWE Title:
There was good fast pace action, but why did that ending suck?! Seriously, Cena falling on Orton to win the match, after he gets his ass handed to him? C'mon!! I think seriously HBK is just going to deck Cena in the mouth and walk out. I understand HBK is a little angry because he is getting older, but I don't blame HBK for being angry about still getting punked out by Cena.
Overall, it was okay, 6/10...not that great, but not that bad.
Thanks again-
Christopher from Ohio
**********
With countless pay-per-views a year, it's hard to rationalize spending 40 dollars a pop to watch them. Even Wrestlemania 23, which was supposed to be the "grandest stage of them all," came off like a boring single-brand pay-per-view. Sadly, Backlash came off as a longer episode of Raw.
No match was truly terrible. But even though the show was "tri-branded," and even with all six matches being championship matches, I didn't get the value for my buck. The only fan favorite I truly like (Mickie James) lost in a mediocre match. The Hardy Boyz went over in a match that no one with half of a brain expected them to lose. MVP is an excellent newcomer, and the match against Chris Benoit was worth throwing down a few dollars. Mr. McMahon winning the ECW title was weird; I don't know if I'm down with that yet or not. (The grandfather is now a Royal Rumble winner, a former WWE Champion and the current ECW Champion... what a résumé.) Batista/Taker was doomed to failure from the beginning (c'mon, why a Last Man Standing Match?) and the fatal fourway was good until the finish. (John Cena has officially beaten anyone worth beating in the WWE and no one likes him; how is that exciting television?)
I wouldn't have minded paying $15.00 for the PPV:
$4.00 for the Fatal fourway
$3.00 for production value alone (video packages, set, pyro, etc.)
$2.00 for the Last Man Standing Match
$2.00 for the U.S. Championship match
$1.50 for the Women's Championship match
$1.00 for the ECW Championship match
$0.50 for the Tag Team Championship match
... and $1.00 for Ron Simmons coming out and saying "Damn!" after Randy Orton's "sexual" comment. Funny stuff.
Ultimately, it would have been a great program had it been free. Then again, when no match is a truly "new" match, it's hard to justify spending 40 period on wrestling period.
**********
OK I really think that Vince has lost it. Why in the hell would he make himself ECW champ? Now I liked what they did after with the originals. Mainly cause I think that is what all old school ECW fans are thinking too. There doesn't seem to be any GOOD reason that he would do this. The only reason is that he needs to feed his ego. Now I didn't like Lashley as the champ, but at least he could pull off being a champ. Vince should drop this title with in two weeks or else he will have lost all of the old school fans.
**********
I was at Backlash and being a fan for 15 years I must say it was one of the worst ppvs I've ever seen.
A few notes from the live show:
-Carlito pinned Johnny Nitro in a very short dark match
-I was amazed at the response Batista got, the crowd was probably only 60/40 in favor of the Undertaker
-Cena got the loudest boos, and cheers, of anyone (how does he do that?)
This was a tri-branded ppv, yet all we got was 6 long, mostly forgettable matches. Think of all the great talent not used: Booker, Kane, RVD, Flair, CM Punk, Finley, Khali... the list goes on. Kennedy only makes a cameo in a Edge promo? Vince gets the ECW title? Well at least Lashley lost cause I think even the fans with the blandest tastes are getting sick of the Lashley push just like the rest of us, as exhibited by the fact that the crowd was pretty dead for the handicap match.
WWE needs new creative directions or their ship will continue to sink
**********
Tonight’s Backlash comes from the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia…now I miss WCW…
Alright let’s get to it.
Tag Team title match- Whoever yelled “you suck Murdoch loud enough to get his attention sure had some pipes on him. It was a basic Tag team match, with all the heel beatdown’s, hot tags, ref not caring about heels entering but caring about the face entering, and of course…Canadian destroyer? Huh? WWE doesn’t pay attention to TNA? Bull.
Backstage Vince McMahon shows up in a ghetto cap, obviously upset he’s missing his colostomy bag. Will all the ECW alumni roll over in their graves if Vince wins the title? STAY TUNED!
Melina vs. Mickie Lame – Lame, Lame, Lame, Lame, Lame.
Backstage time – Maria still a ditz despite new hair. God she’s hot though. Mr. Kennedy possibly foreshadowing cashing in. Hmm… Wrestling knows how to make you think sometimes. Kayfabe is a mysterious thing.
I saw a Condemned Promo. I’m writing my complaint to WWE. I didn’t pay $39.95 so I could see a movie (which I already saw) commercial that I see on Free TV with all the other commercials. If you’re as sick of this as I am, you’ll do the same. I beg you, I plead you, help me make this crap stop.
Benoit vs. MVP – Missed this match due to typing complaint to previous annoyance.
Backstage – Orton takes a hit to his sexual orientation, as is the price for trashing your hotel room. He’s going to have a looooooong week.
ECW Title Match – If I would have told you in 1999 that Vince McMahon would be ECW champ in 2007 you would have slapped me across the face. Well, here you go. The belt’s prestige killed in a 3 count. Way to go WWE.
Last man Standing- good thing the Undertaker has such physical ability, I thought that in the first few minutes he couldn’t survive that devastating powerslam! Shades of Trish Stratus…after 20 minutes of dancing around, they make their way to the stage in a situation that could only happen in a cartoon, Batista spears Taker off the stage onto some wood and padding, which somehow causes unexplained pyro blasts and 3 towers to magically fall over, but not onto the competitors. After all, that would be too believable. Double count out, which means Taker wins. However do you smell a Title vacation swerve? Don’t forget to watch every Friday to find out!
More Condemned plugging, now I’m really upset.
Fatal 4 Way- Pretty good for WWE standards. Amazing finish except Cena winning, but man it was nuts.
Overall, on a scale of amazing to crap, I rate this PPV Backlash, “S***â€ÂÂÂ
What to do if you want the replay: Don’t buy it, don’t even accept the DVD as a birthday gift, watch the photo highlights on Raw, Smackdown and ECW and you can move on with life, trust me.
Living in a gloomy Monday,
Mark Davis
Windsor, Ontario, Canada
