WWE Backlash Review - May 10, 2025

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

United States Champion Jacob Fatu def. LA Knight, Drew McIntyre and Damian Priest in a Fatal 4-Way Match

Although the Fatal 4-Way we got for the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania 41 was better, this was still fun for what it was. It had a nice pace and the crowd was into the action from start to finish. The stuff with McIntyre and Priest was well done and obviously indicates their feud isn't finished yet. I assumed Fatu would retain, but I didn't think it'd be after an assist from the debuting Jeff Cobb, who has been rumored to be joining WWE for the past two months. That was an awesome moment and I'm excited to see what he'll do in WWE as part of this storyline with Fatu and Solo Sikoa.

Women's Intercontinental Champion Lyra Valkyria def. Becky Lynch

These two have knocked it out of the park with their promos in the past few weeks and I had no doubt that they'd kill it against each other in the ring, too. Needless to say, I was not disappointed. This was a terrific back-and-forth match and it was an encouraging to hear the crowd behind Valkyria throughout. This was a super important night for her and she passed with flying colors. Valkyria retaining (and doing so in clean fashion, no less) was unexpected, but I love that she got the endorsement by defeating Lynch for a second straight time. I maintain that Lynch will take the title eventually and the post-match attack made me even more confident in my prediction.

Intercontinental Champion Dominik Mysterio def. Penta

I was wondering why this was added to Backlash when we already saw Mysterio retain the title against Penta on the post-WrestleMania Raw, and I'm still wondering after what we got here. The match itself was good and it's clear they work well together, but it wasn't drastically different than their recent Raw encounter. Plus, this also had interference from The Judgment Day and this time El Grande Americano. On the bright side, it looks like we're getting a Lucha Brothers reunion at Worlds Collide against Americano and probably The Creed Brothers.

Gunther def. Pat McAfee

I was among the minority of people who was in favor of this feud and was looking forward to this match coming into the event. Yes, it was ridiculous that it lasted as long as it did, but I had a blast with this. They told the right story with Gunther underestimating McAfee and that almost costing him a time or two. Even Michael Cole played his part perfectly. Kudos to McAfee for having a hell of a performance. My only question is, where does Gunther go from here?

Undisputed WWE Champion John Cena def. Randy Orton

This was a total trainwreck but in the best way possible. I was skeptical of what they'd be capable of at this stage of their respective careers (specifically with Cena being washed in the ring these days), so going the route they did was smart. The overbooking was indeed egregious, but it did add to the chaotic vibe and kept the crowd invested. I had a fun time with this, even with all of the shenanigans (including the multiple referee bumps and R-Truth getting involved). It's safe to say this was a significant improvement over Cena vs. Cody Rhodes in the Night 2 main event at WrestleMania last month.

Overall Show

I'm biased toward Backlash because I've found the the annual event to be consistently strong over the years, but this installment was no exception. It was a tight five-match card with everything ranging from enjoyable to excellent, not to mention it was over in under five hours. Valkyria beating Lynch and Cobb's debut were the only truly surprising things all night, but I thought it was a great show on the whole with a hot crowd to boot (which was refreshing compared to some of the other crowds WWE has gotten as of late).

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