WWE Backlash Review - September 11, 2016

Becky Lynch scores her first taste of WWE gold!

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

​Baron Corbin def. Apollo Crews (Kickoff Match)

You had to know these two would be a part of the event in some form or fashion since they're notable names and were left off for whatever reason. But why wasn't this match advertised in advance? That was a bit bothersome, but other than that, this was a really good match in its allotted time. They have history from when they worked against each other at NXT TakeOver: London late last year and they showed similar in-ring chemistry here. Corbin continues to stack up victories, but I feel bad for Crews who remains directionless.


SmackDown Live Commissioner Shane McMahon and SmackDown Live General Manager Daniel Bryan Opened the Show

Considering there were only a handful of matches on this three hour show, I was fine with Bryan and McMahon appearing on-screen simply to kill time, as much as it felt like an opening to Raw or SmackDown Live. Both of them played their roles well and kicked off the night on a solid note. It was also for the best that their segment was kept short and sweet and didn't last longer than it needed to.

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The Usos score a submission victory.

Becky Lynch def. Carmella, Nikki Bella, Natalya, Naomi and Alexa Bliss in an Elimination Six-Pack Challenge to Become the First SmackDown Women's Champion

It's tough to put six women in one match and not expect it to be a train wreck, but this exceeded my expectations at certain points and was well wrestled on the whole. All six women put forth a strong effort and I was glad the eliminations weren't rushed early on. Everyone taking turns coming into the ring one-by-one grew tiresome, but the rest of the match was enjoyable. While Carmella has been a better heel lately, she hasn't been built up enough for the final few minutes to feel dramatic. Nevertheless, if Lynch didn't win here, they should have saved her moment for WrestleMania 33, but she has waited long enough to get a real run with a title and this was very well deserved in addition to being long overdue.


The Usos def. The Hype Bros in a SmackDown Tag Team Championship Tournament Semifinal Match

The Usos ditching their traditional entrance and face paint is a refreshing change of pace for the newly turned duo, though they should probably ditch the old theme song, too. The Hype Bros can be a fun undercard team, but they haven't received much development on the main roster, not to mention Mojo Rawley is absolutely awful in the ring. Thankfully, Zack Ryder did most of the in-ring work for his team. It was a passable tag match, but ultimately nothing memorable.


Intercontinental Champion The Miz def. Dolph Ziggler

I was actually slightly disappointed the crowd wasn't as hot for this match as they should have been considering the roll Miz has been on in recent weeks. They had a short turnaround time for their feud, but all of their interactions have been good and the match was equally entertaining. Miz mocking Bryan was an excellent touch and although I don't at all think it leads to a match between the two, I am interested to see where it goes otherwise. Maryse aiding Miz to victory should lead to a rematch with Ziggler, but I have zero desire to see Ziggler going after the gold again. When you think of how many times he's lost on pay-per-view this year (seven), the guy's a loser!


Bray Wyatt def. Randy Orton by Forfeit; Kane def. Wyatt in a No Holds Barred Match

Reports that surfaced earlier in the day indicated Orton would be taken out of the match due to not being medically cleared to compete yet following the injury he sustained at SummerSlam (then why the hell did they book the bout in the first place?), so his ambush at the hands of Wyatt came as no surprise. Kane wasn't a shocking replacement either given he faced Wyatt at this weekend's live events. Yet another no-brainer was how their match was dreadfully boring and the added stipulation (which was never explained) hardly helped matters. Worse yet, Wyatt lost to a near 18-year veteran. I guess it made up for Orton not being able to wrestle for the live crowd, but they could have easily had Orton come out afterward and lay out Wyatt with an RKO "out of nowhere."


Heath Slater and Rhyno def. The Usos to Become the First SmackDown Tag Team Champions

Admittedly, I paid little attention to the match until the start of the second half or so. It wasn't a bad match by any means, but I think I simply stopped caring by this point in the show. That said, I've been really digging the duo of Slater and Rhyno and I couldn't have been happier they won the titles here. I realize The Usos are fresh off their heel turn, but they can say they wrestled two matches in one night and I have no doubt they'll be holding those titles soon enough anyway. Besides, their program with American Alpha doesn't need the straps at stake.


AJ Styles def. Dean Ambrose to Win the WWE World Championship

Ambrose may have had a string of disappointing high profile matches this year, but this was certainly not among them. Granted, most of that can be attributed to Styles' exciting offense, but Ambrose appeared to be far more motivated here than he was at SummerSlam or even in the weeks leading up to this event. He and The Phenomenal One meshed quite well together and the smaller card worked to their advantage as they were able to receive an ample amount of time for their match. They could have easily had Ambrose retain in fluky fashion (which was my official prediction), but Styles is on such a hot streak right now that he needed to win the title and I'm ecstatic he did on this show. Ambrose will thrive in chase mode per usual and Styles should have a lengthy reign where he can have above-average matches with the rest of the roster. Let that sink in, folks. AJ Styles is the WWE World Champion in 2016. What a time to be alive.


Overall Show

There was plenty of question coming into this show how SmackDown Live would be able to fill out their first three hour pay-per-view event, but I thought they did so nicely. Some of the matches were able to go a little longer as a result, and we weren't subjected to any awful comedy or filler. Wyatt vs. Kane was a dud, but everything else ranged from decent to good to great. Plus, we received three title changes and all of them I was happy with. This was a stellar start to the New Era's brand-exclusive events, so here's hoping they can keep it up going forward. SmackDown has been the better brand in my mind, but let's all appreciate how cool of a time it is in wrestling right now. Sit back and enjoy!

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