WWE Backlash Review - June 14, 2020

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Kickoff Show: United States Champion Apollo Crews def. Andrade

This was along the same lines as their recent Raw encounter. It was a well-wrestled affair that needed more time. Both guys are great, but it never felt like they had a chance to go all out. The purpose of this match was to further tease tension among Andrade, Angel Garza and Zelina Vega, and with Andrade losing again, I'm sure the split is coming sooner rather than later. I assume Kevin Owens thwarting Garza's interference will likely lead to a rematch between him and Crews on an upcoming episode of Raw.

WWE Women's Tag Team Champions Sasha Banks & SmackDown Women's Champion Bayley def. Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross and The IIconics in a Triple Threat Tag Team Match

I find it difficult to care about the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship picture because of how WWE has basically neglected the division over the last year or so, but at least Bayley and Banks are doing their best. Granted, I'm well aware that they're only holding the belts too further their own feud, but at least they're making matters interesting in the meantime. I'd be open to them losing the titles to Tegan Nox and Shotzi Blackheart on Wednesday's NXT. As for this match, it was a perfectly fine opener that slightly exceeded my expectations.

Sheamus def. Jeff Hardy

The feud took a turn for the worse with their segment on SmackDown last Friday, but on the bright side, their in-ring chemistry is still strong. This was another quality contest from them and I appreciated that they received as much time as it did. Sheamus winning was the right call to keep the program alive and build to a rubber match at Extreme Rules, but here's hoping the urine test garbage is in the past.

Raw Women's Champion Asuka vs. Nia Jax Ended in a Double Count-Out

I didn't have much desire to see Jax contend for the Raw Women's Championship coming into this show and I still don't, but there's no denying that they work well together based off their feuds in 2016 and 2018. Unfortunately, this wasn't one of their best matches together. It plodded along until the lame double count-out finish. It was obviously designed to protect both women and set up a rematch, but I'd rather they move on from this as quickly as possible and get to Asuka vs. Flair already.

Universal Champion Braun Strowman def. John Morrison and The Miz in a 2-on-1 Handicap Match

If you actually thought Miz and Morrison were a threat to Strowman's Universal Championship here, I'm not sure what show you were watching. They're a tremendous tandem but have been booked to look like jokes since losing the SmackDown Tag Team Championship two months ago. They didn't have a shot in hell of winning here and thus the outcome wasn't surprising in the slightest. Miz pulled Morrison off Strowman at one point, so I fear that WWE may be planning to break them up in the near future.

WWE Champion Drew McIntyre def. Bobby Lashley

Lashley ambushing McIntyre before the bell was a nice touch because it gave viewers the impression that he had a chance of capturing the championship. In fact, he spent a majority of the match on offense and it turned out to be damn good with McIntyre having to fight from underneath. There was one ugly spot halfway through with Lashley accidentally dropping Lashley, but thankfully, McIntyre appeared to be all right. Lana inadvertently costing Lashley the win was predictable albeit logical. Lashley not losing clean makes me think that WWE plans on keeping him in the WWE Championship picture for a little while longer, which is a positive.

Randy Orton def. Edge

Needless to say, the "greatest wrestling match ever" tagline was complete crap and did them no favors, yet they delivered an outstanding main event in spite of all that. I actually appreciated the big fight feel WWE gave it at the beginning with the pre-recorded in-ring introductions from the late, great Howard Finkel, though I could have done without the added-in crowd noise. Their tributes to Triple H, The Rock, Eddie Guerrero and others were cool but were a bit overdone down the stretch. Unlike at WrestleMania 36, they kept things flowing and had my attention the entire time. They could have shaved off around 10 minutes, but the length wasn't nearly as much of a problem here as it was at 'Mania. It's a shame Edge was legitimately injured during this matchup because he was fantastic here and it'll suck to see him miss time.

Overall Show

I'm not even sure what to say about the stuff with The Street Profits and The Viking Raiders, which was completely ridiculous and honestly felt like a giant waste of time. Why not cut it out and end the show earlier? I haven't minded their feud on the whole, but what we saw on this show from them did not deserve the cinematic treatment and should have never aired. The rest of the show was decent in my opinion with Orton vs. Edge being the best bout of the night, though I also enjoyed McIntyre vs. Lashley. The undercard was solid albeit unspectacular. Only the aforementioned garbage with Street Profits and Viking Raiders was truly terrible. The three hours didn't drag as badly as I feared, but WWE has had better pay-per-view outings this year.