Random Thoughts on WWE Backlash 2023

Backlash 2023 is the first WWE PLE/PPV to be held in Puerto Rico since New Year’s Revolution 2005. This is a spoiler heavy post, so please look away now if you wish to avoid spoilers.

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Raw Women’s Championship

Bianca Belair © vs. IYO Sky

Excellent opener. They got plenty of time, Sky put up a fight and Belair found a way to win as usual. I don’t think many people expected a title change here, but it was a lot more competitive than a lot of people thought going into the match. The announcers did a great job of saying that this was the Iyo Sky that fans wanted to see because we haven’t seen her have a great singles match on the main roster, but now she got the opportunity and she crushed it. They could say that Sky’s friends cost her the match a bit, but it’s not like they really did that much to cost Sky the win. The crowd reaction will get a lot of people talking because it’s the first time that a crowd has really been against Belair that much. I don’t know if that’s going to be a regular thing at US/Canada shows that Belair goes to, but it might happen because sometimes fans do turn against babyfaces that are so dominant. Anyway, this was a tremendous opening match. Great job by Belair and Sky.

Winner and STILL Raw Women’s Champion: Bianca Belair via pinfall

Rating: **** ½

Omos vs. Seth Rollins

It was good overall and better than most Omos singles matches. Seth Rollins was outstanding in this match. When Omos was on offense, Seth was bumping his ass off for him and making Omos look dominant. When Seth got a one count, he sold it so well with his facial reactions. I know Omos is not a favorite wrestler for a lot of people and he’s bigger than most people that a lot of fans like, but he’s improving every time we see him. For a guy that’s only been a pro wrestler for four years, he did pretty well. Rollins winning was the right call obviously since he’s a top contender for the new World Title. I thought the finish was really well done with the top rope version of The Stomp to win.

Winner: Seth Rollins via pinfall

Rating: ***

United States Championship

Bobby Lashley vs. Bronson Reed vs. Austin Theory ©

That was a fast-paced match with plenty of big moves and nearfalls from as soon as the bell rang. It was the classic “steal the pin” finish you see in triple threat matches often with Lashley hitting Reed with a Spear, Theory dumped Lashley out of the ring and Theory covered Reed to win. That’s how Theory won the US Title in a triple threat match with Lashley and Seth Rollins too. More time would have been nice for sure, but it was still an enjoyable match for the time they were given.

Winner and STILL United States Champion: Austin Theory via pinfall

Rating: ***

Smackdown Women’s Championship

Rhea Ripley © vs. Zelina Vega

It was a shorter match to put over Ripley as a dominant champion, which is fine because that’s how Ripley should be booked. Vega got that one nearfall after the Meteora and the fans bought into it as a potential ending to the match, but Ripley kicked out just in time. I don’t think anybody was surprised by this result. Ripley is probably going to have a long championship reign although her blue title may become red soon since she’s on Raw.

Winner and STILL Smackdown Women’s Champion: Rhea Ripley via pinfall

Rating: ** ½

San Juan Street Fight

Damian Priest vs. Bad Bunny

It was a very entertaining brawl. It’s not easy going over 20 minutes in a singles match like that, but kudos to Bad Bunny for pulling it off and Damian Priest deserves a lot of credit as well because he is the professional wrestler in there working with the singer. They had a great match together. It was smart to make it a Street Fight with weapons. They did big spots throughout the match including the table spot that was out in the crowd. There was no cover there because the finish has to be in the ring for a Street Fight. I thought Bunny really exceeded expectations in this match because you don’t know how a guy is going to do in that kind of match when he’s not a full-time wrestler, but he was impressive. It was his first match in over two years and he did better than he did in that WrestleMania 37 tag team match. Anyway, Priest deserves a lot of credit too. That was one of the biggest matches of his career and he delivered.

Also, it’s 2023 and we’ve just seen Carlito and Savio Vega show up on a WWE PLE. Amazing!

Winner: Bad Bunny via pinfall

Rating: **** ½

The Bloodline (Usos & Solo Sikoa) vs. Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn & Matt Riddle

It was another very good match on this show. The chemistry between The Usos and Zayn/Owens is always going go be strong. It wasn’t at the level of the WrestleMania tag team match, but that’s fine because it’s hard to top that. I thought the Riddle/Owens/Zayn team might win just because of the story of The Usos being on a losing streak, but I understand having Solo win since he gets booked so strong all the time. By having Solo win you are telling the story that The Usos can win if Solo is with them because Solo is a dominant force and this makes Solo look even stronger. Riddle taking the fall was the best choice for that team because it’s better to protect Zayn & Owens as the Tag Team Champions rather than having one of them take the fall.

Winners: The Bloodline via pinfall

Rating: *** ½

Cody Rhodes vs. Brock Lesnar

The right guy won this match. That’s the important thing. I think if you were expecting an amazing match this wasn’t that, but what they did was good and it told the story they needed to tell with Cody finding a way to get the win. Lesnar may attack Cody again to set up a rematch and if that happens then that’s certainly fine with me because they can build on this. I just think because of how Lesnar beat up Cody on Raw last month that this needed to be a Cody win. Lesnar getting busted open while he ran into the turnbuckle added to the drama. Maybe it was planned in some way or there was some hidden thing that I didn’t see, but it only adds to the match when you see blood like that. That finish is a way to protect Lesnar because he’s doing an offensive move like a kimura lock, yet Cody finds a way to counter it by moving forward and pinning Lesnar, who didn’t let go of the hold so that he could kick out. Lesnar beat Lashley while Lashley held onto the Hurt Lock in the past, so now Lesnar is the one taking a pin while holding onto a submission in a similar spot. It’s not a decisive win, but it’s a win and that’s what Cody needed.

Winner: Cody Rhodes via pinfall

Rating: *** ½

Overall Show Rating (out of 10): 8

It was a very good Backlash event. I think there were low expectations going into Backlash, but WWE exceeded those. The crowd was super hot, so that helps a lot. I think Bad Bunny-Damian Priest had a terrific match with some fun appearances from Carlito & Savio Vega, both of whom are Puerto Rican legends. Great call to use them in that match. Bunny was really impressive and Priest did an excellent job of working with him. If you think that match should have been the main event then I won’t argue, but I think having Cody Rhodes beat Brock Lesnar as the last match was smart because you’re telling the audience that Cody is a top guy. It wasn’t a decisive win, so maybe we’ll see it again too.

Bianca Belair and IYO SKY had an excellent opening match. A nice reminder of how talented Sky is when you give her time to have a lengthy singles match. The six-man tag team match was fun and had a strong story coming out of it with Solo Sikoa and Jey nearly coming to blows even though they won. I loved Zelina Vega’s Puerto Rico tribute even though she lost to Rhea Ripley. The fans loved seeing Vega in that moment. Seth Rollins was his usual awesome self against Omos, who is getting better. Maybe the best Omos singles match to date.

The atmosphere of Backlash helped a lot. This was one of the best WWE crowds for a PLE that there’s ever been. They were amazing. I would say it’s comparable to Montreal at Elimination Chamber earlier this year too. When you go to markets that haven’t seen major WWE events for a long time, the fans are going to be so excited to see the show that they are going to be loud the entire. We saw it on Smackdown and we saw it at Backlash. Great job by the San Juan, Puerto Rico crowd

2023 Premium Live Event Rankings

WrestleMania 39 – 9.5

Elimination Chamber – 8

Backlash – 8

Royal Rumble – 8