Backlash thoughts
WrestleMania XXV perhaps fell a bit short of expectations three weeks ago, but Sunday night’s Backlash pay-per-view delivered in a big way.
All three major championships changed hands, and five of the six scheduled matches on the card were very good. The one that didn’t fall into that category – Kane versus CM Punk – wasn’t bad, nor was it anything special.
When all was said and done, former Rated RKO members Edge and Randy Orton were world champions, and two of WWE’s biggest stars – John Cena and Triple H – were carried out on stretchers. I believe the two world title belts now are exactly where they should be.
As expected, the show-stealer was the Last Man Standing Match between Edge and Cena. I find it utterly amazing that Cena consistently has strong matches on pay-per-view, yet there are still fans out there who don’t think he can work.
Here is a match-by-match look at the show:
Edge defeated John Cena in a Last Man Standing Match to win the world heavyweight title: This was an excellent, 28-minute match worthy of what was billed as the final encounter to this fantastic rivalry. The crowd was hot before these two even locked up, as both guys had intense facial expressions to play up the fact that it was their last match against each other. Cena was on offense much of the way, but no matter what he did, Edge kept getting up at nine. Cena had a look of disbelief a couple times when Edge got to his feet. In what appeared to be a pretty dangerous spot, Cena threw the steel steps over the top rope onto Edge, who was standing outside the ring. Cena also landed the Attitude Adjustment off the middle rope. Then, in a holy-you-know-what moment, Cena gave Edge an Attitude Adjustment while standing on top of the announce table, tossing Edge into the crowd. I hope all the fans that Edge landed on were plants (they’d have to be), because one guy wearing a Cena shirt was on the floor next to Edge looking out of it.
Cena and Edge then fought in the crowd, going all the way up to the concourse level before coming back down the steps, where Cena hit a bulldog onto the equipment area. Edge rebounded, but couldn’t put away Cena after an Impaler DDT on the stage and a chair shot to the back of his head. As Cena recovered, got Edge up on his shoulders and was about to hit another Attitude Adjustment, The Big Show (I called it!) suddenly appeared on the stage and chokeslammed Cena through a large spotlight, creating an explosion and a ball of fire on impact. This time, Cena did not get up, and Smackdown had a world champion again. Cena had his neck placed in a brace and was taken out on a stretcher. Even though Edge – now a nine-time world champion – needed Big Show’s interference to win, he comes out of this match looking strong because he took everything that Cena dished out and refused to lose.
Randy Orton, Ted DiBiase Jr. and Cody Rhodes defeated WWE champion Triple H, Batista and Shane McMahon (Orton wins the title): The stipulation was that if any member of Triple H’s team was pinned, disqualified or counted out, Orton would win the title. The match got off to a hot start, as Triple H attacked Orton before the bell and they brawled to the back. Triple H quickly re-appeared, but Orton was out of sight for about six minutes before returning and blindsiding Batista outside the ring. They told a good story here, as Batista and McMahon were in for most of the match, which meant that Triple H was forced to watch from the apron with his fate in the hands of others. He finally got the hot tag at about the 20-minute mark. Triple H was setting up Orton for the Pedigree when he saw Batista outside the ring about to hit DiBiase with a chair. Triple H let Orton go and took the chair away from Batista, but when he turned around, Orton hit an RKO out of nowhere. That appeared to be the finish (the guy ringing the bell sure thought so), but Triple H kicked out. Orton then delivered a punt to Triple H’s head for the victory after about 22 minutes of action.
Triple H sold that he was unconscious as he was put in a neck brace and carried off on a stretcher. The crowd popped for Orton’s win and there was a small segment of the audience chanting, “Na, na, na, na, hey, hey, hey, goodbye” at the fallen Triple H. Batista had a look on his face after the match that conveyed his concern for Triple H as well as his disappointment that he had inadvertently cost him the title. It looks as if Triple H will take some time off to sell the injury, leaving Batista to challenge Orton. I think the seeds have been planted for Triple H to turn on Batista when he comes back.
Jeff Hardy defeated Matt Hardy in an I Quit Match: The blow-off match to the Hardy Boyz feud was good, but this program never lived up to the possibilities. Some solid back-and-forth action built to an entertaining finish. Jeff placed a weakened Matt on a table inside the ring, and then proceeded to duct tape his wrists and ankles before using a rope to tie him to the table. He then brought a ladder into the ring and prepared to dive off it onto Matt. Matt was great here as he begged Jeff not to do it. He even made a confession of sorts when he said, “I’m sorry about the accidents.” Jeff wasn’t buying it, so Matt attempted to save himself by saying “I quit” at about the 19-minute mark. Jeff, of course, hit a legdrop off the ladder onto Matt anyway.
Chris Jericho defeated Ricky Steamboat: I had my doubts going in about how good this match would be. Steamboat, 56, looked good during his brief time in the ring with Jericho at WrestleMania XXV and in a 10-man tag match the next night on Raw, but working a 12-minute singles match would be more of a challenge. Steamboat pulled it off, though, as the crowd was into the match and was chanting “You still got it.” Steamboat did all of his signature spots: a high crossbody off the top, crisp armdrags, skinning the cat and a plancha on the floor. “The Dragon” also did a belly-to-back suplex off the top rope for a two and a half count. After Steamboat got a few more near falls, Jericho caught him in the Walls of Jericho, and Steamboat tapped out. Steamboat got a nice hand after the match. The booking here was well done, as Steamboat showed that he can still go, and Jericho withstood everything Steamboat threw at him and ultimately scored a clean win.
Christian defeated Jack Swagger to win the ECW title: This was a strong opener with some good near falls. Swagger was dominating early with his superior strength and mat skills. At one point, he pressed Christian over his head and tossed him over the top onto the floor. In the end, the story was that the veteran won by outsmarting the bigger, stronger rookie. While the referee was trying to stop Swagger from undoing one of the turnbuckles, Christian was on the other side of the ring taking off a turnbuckle. Swagger charged at Christian, but Christian moved and Swagger hit the exposed buckle. Christian quickly followed with the Killswitch for the win. After the match was over, Christian walked back through the curtain and had a brief exchange with former partner Edge.
Kane defeated CM Punk: These two had a hard-hitting match, but I do not like the result at all. It’s perplexing that WWE has booked Punk to win the Money in the Bank Ladder Match two years in a row and then immediately killed his momentum. Punk got in a lot of offense, working mostly on Kane’s right arm and shoulder, but he eventually fell victim to a chokeslam after Kane blocked one of his kicks.
Santina Marella defeated Beth Phoenix: This impromptu “match” took place after some comedy between Santina and The Great Khali. Phoenix challenged Santina for the Miss WrestleMania crown, but Khali objected. Phoenix then cut a promo on Khali, who responded by giving her a light chop on the head and pushing her down. Santina then called for the bell to ring, and “she” covered Phoenix for the win. In the post-match, Santina had a wardrobe malfunction, as “her” bare chest was exposed. And here I thought the Attitude Era was over. The highlight of this segment was Santina saying that “she” couldn’t kiss Khali because “she” was in love with another man. When Khali demanded to know who it was, Santina thought about it, then blurted out “J.R.” Either Jim Ross is a tremendous actor, or else he had no idea that he was going to be the punch line. Michael Cole needled him by saying, “Come on, Mr. Barbecue Man.” Ross quickly shot back: “Who fed you that line?” Khali’s facial expressions throughout the segment had me cracking up.
Comments
This was a great PPV! It makes me really excited to watch Raw tonight, but why have Punk lose when the next PPV is in Chicago where he could conceivably cash in MITB?
P.S. Eck what do you think about the Ravens draft? I think Oher is a great pick
RESPONSE FROM KE: I like Oher, but the Ravens need a n impact wide receiver.
Posted by: Geckle | April 27, 2009 3:47 AM
Edge is officially the epitome of a transitional champion. The match was really good , though he shouldnt have lost it in the 1st place at WM 25
Survivor Series - Edge wins WWE Championship.
Armageddon - Edge loses the WWE Championship.
Royal Rumble - Edge wins the WWE Championship
No Way Out - Edge loses the WWE Championship.
No Way Out - Edge wins the World Heavyweight Championship
Wrestlemania 25 - Edge loses the World Heavyweight Championship.
Backlash - Edge wins the World Heavyweight Championship.
9-time champion ( 4 times in last 6 -8 months )
With CM Punk mostly cashing in on the next pay per view , we will soon have Edge winning for the 10th time at the next pay per view after judgement day !! Who knows Triple H may no-sell the injury and come back to keep up with the championship tally and stay ahead of Edge.
This make me think what was the fuss about the montreal screwjob !! Guess it meant something back then.
Posted by: Razzaq | April 27, 2009 4:52 AM
Losing to Kane these days could be a career killer.Why did they book this match anyway? I don't see where it leads to.
Posted by: rob the barber | April 27, 2009 6:32 AM
This is happening too often in recent years—the major PPV being outshined by its immediately-subsequent minor PPV. I understand the logic behind saving some of these moments (e.g., Orton recapturing the title): People are going to order WrestleMania anyway, but they need a little extra push to buy Backlash, so don't overprogram the major show—keep a little in the pocket for next month. Or at least, so goes the argument.
Problem with that is, I can't be persuaded to spend $500 a year on PPVs. It simply isn't going to happen. But what *will* happen, eventually I'm going to say to myself, "There isn't much point in paying for [SummerSlam], because they're going to save half the good stuff for [Unforgiven]. So I'll just follow them all on the live-blogging sites, and save my money."
Posted by: Stephen | April 27, 2009 8:19 AM
Good PPV overall, Rhodes and DiBiase looked like stars in that match, they are geting better and better now that they have the opportunity to be in higher profile angles and longer matches. I just hope they stay a team for the forseeable future, God knows the tag division needs established teams.
Kane beating CM Punk serves no purpose at all, I'd rather have seen a US or IC title match here if the only result was to have Punk buried by a guy who is no longer relevant in WWE.
Happy that Christian got the Ecw title, hopefully this guarantees his place on most PPV cards in future. Two good workers and a solid match, but I thought it was ridiculous that ECW announcers didn't call this match, Striker is fast becoming the best colour man in the business and I thought the commentry fell flat on this match as the "A team" seemed uninterested. I'm not sure I'm generally a fan of the new look 3 man PPV announce team anyway though. What's you're thoughts on it Kev?
Posted by: Gary | April 27, 2009 8:28 AM
Cena vs edge was awesome match of the year although hbk vs undertaker probaly taken that award, they may have had quite a few matches already but i never get tired watching these two go at it and it was there 1st ppv singles match for quite a while, Edge must now rank alongside the greats if not already the numerous amout of great matches he has put on and been involved since his push to main event stardom heres hoping to a long title reign he has been messed about with those short reigns
Posted by: slickman | April 27, 2009 8:47 AM
I agree. The belts are where they should be.
Regarding HHH/Batista, I hope they don't recycle yet another feud. Unless they make Batista the heel this time around.
Steamboat = amazing
Yeah, not sure what they are thinking with Punk. I thought he was going to pull an Edge and run in after the match was over, but I guess not.
I think Kane is in line for one more final run before he calls it a career. He deserves it.
Good for Christian. He deserves it. Let's hope him and Swagger start getting more air time.
Posted by: Max | April 27, 2009 9:45 AM
Boy, Kevin - you predicted the results great --- Only item you mis-called was setting up the feud between Shane/Triple H with Stephanie caught in the middle. Can't remember who you predicted for Christian/Swaggart, but I think you did call for Christian on that one.
I did agree with most of your predictions, but I figured 2 of the 3 belts would change hands. I felt Triple H and Cena would lose, and although I wanted Christian to win, I really thought Swaggert would retain.
We were going back and forth whether to order the PPV, since we've been let down by the past few, but I'm glad we decided to order. I thought all the matches were good (although I admit I didn't really watch the Kane/CM Punk one - that didn't really interest me). It was strange watching a PPV with no match for either the Undertaker or Shaune Michaels.
Other thoughts on the match --- Why did Big Show have to butt in??? Has Edge ever won a belt without outside help? Wasn't that a disqualification, and belts don't change hands in a DQ?
I'm getting tired of that though, because overall I think both Cena and Edge had a very good match, and Edge (although I don't like him - do love his entrance music though) is a very good wrestler on his own, but would be a lot more credible without the outside interference. He could've won that match on his own...Also surprised Vicki didn't make an appearance. Glad that was the closing match. Also when they went into the crowd, I'm sure they were plants there but if not, someone is going to get paid pretty well by a lawsuit. My friend and I were trying to figure out if they were indeed plants, and I'm not sure. I remember being down at the First Mariner arena in the past few years, when we were in the crowd, and Batista/Edge brought their match out of the ring and into the crowd. Fans were trying to get closeup pics, and my only thought is these two guys are wrestling and probably not watching 100% where they're going - Someone is going to get hurt.
Batista/Triple H/Shane versus legacy - thought that would go to Orton --- and you're right, guess this is leading up to Triple H taking some "family" time off, to spend with Steph and the children. Although at the end of that match, thought the facial expressions of both Batista and Shane were "priceless" - (more priceless than Dibiase and wimpy Rhodes) - They conveyed both disbelief and concern, over what happened to their friend/brother-in-law, and you're right, Batista's look was "Oh no, what did I just do" ---- but then again, Triple H should've ignored the ladder, that may have led to a DQ, but then the belt would've stayed with Triple H. But I agree with your call - that sort of lets Shane get out of the "wrestling" aspect and getting back to behind the scenes, and a possible future feud with Batista/Triple H, after Batista takes the belt from Orton.
Oh well, I probably won't watch the next few PPV's since Triple H probably won't be on them :) LOL.
Posted by: Jeannette | April 27, 2009 10:11 AM
great blog kev, just a couple of quick questions though. When the WWE goes overseas and broadcasts a RAW or Smackdown show from the UK, does the viewship Stateside decrease because the product isn't live? If so, is that the reason that Summerslam 92 (i believe) is the only PPV that has been done outside of North America?
Posted by: david williams | April 27, 2009 10:37 AM
Great crowd last night. Very pro-Orton and pro-Edge. I'm with you on Cena (although I wanted to see Edge win last night) he gets a bad rap and puts on very solid matches with the right opponent.
The end spot to the LMS match was sorta ruined for me and my friends because we noticed a group of workers preparing the area during the 6-man tag... I said to a friend in a text "someone is going through a spotlight". Still it was awesome.
Not only was there na-na-na goodbye chants at HHH, but even a "Please Retire" chant. I think HHH coming back and going heel is the only way to keep him fresh at this point.
Posted by: Scott | April 27, 2009 10:58 AM
this was a pretty good ppv the main events were obviously better than mania's but you shouldn't be surprised about Punk losing to Kane they did the same thing to him last year before he won the world title
Posted by: frank | April 27, 2009 11:07 AM
I completely agree. This ppv fixed all of wrestlemania's wrongs. I should have paid to fly to Backlash instead of Mania with the quality of matches last night!!
now what happens to Swagger? He's stuck in ECW trying to get his belt back instead of being drafted to Smackdown where I feel he would have excelled.
Posted by: ndugu | April 27, 2009 11:26 AM
I thought it was a great event.
You could tell those audience members were all plants for the FU into the crowd, because nobody over 9 wears John Cena tee-shirts.
I was just cringing for JR. That Santino segment was so dumb. I can just imagine Vince and his cronies all rolling in laughter backstage as the rest of the arena sat their stone faced.
Posted by: Elevation | April 27, 2009 12:12 PM
Watched the PPV at Hooters last night and guess who walked in the door? So Cal Val !!! Whenever you see someone up close usually you see the flaws that you don't catch on TV, this girl has no flaws. She is straight up HOT !!! Oh yeah, Backlash was good too :-)
Posted by: jt | April 27, 2009 12:18 PM
"I hope all the fans that Edge landed on were plants (they’d have to be), because one guy wearing a Cena shirt was on the floor next to Edge looking out of it."
To me, that guy didn't look like he was out of it. He looked like he was selling that he was out of it. He had his hand on his head as if he had just woken up from a night of hard drinking.
Posted by: Christopher | April 27, 2009 12:36 PM
The more I'm thinking today about Backlash and WWE in general, thought I'd take a moment during my lunch to shoot you this line..... Okay now with the draft etc., although I'm sure they won't do this --- due to the heels/babyface feuds, the WWE really needs to set up some new rivalries/feuds. For two pompous jerks, how about an Edge/Jericho feud on Smackdown? That would be something, I'd really enjoy watching. Or instead of Batista/Orton; Triple H/Orton; (same old, same old), why doesn't the Big Show decide to go after Orton's belt on RAW??? Let's get some new rivalries going.
Posted by: Jeannette | April 27, 2009 1:17 PM
I agree with you that this was a much more satisfying PPV than Wrestlemania was. I am impressed that Triple H allowed Orton to pin him cleanly, even if it did take an RKO AND a punt to the head to finish the job. This is definitely the outcome we should've seen a few weeks ago.
I was impressed with how well Edge was made to look in this match froma resilience standpoint, which is why I was disappointed that they undermined it by having Big Show win the match for him. From a story point of view, why would Big Show want to help Edge win anything?
I have given up on the idea that the WWE will ever book Punk properly. This victory does nothing for Kane and hurts Punk- they really learned nothing from the poor booking decisions from Punk's first post-MITB push.
And as passable as the Jericho/ Steamboat match was, it was pretty awkward watching Steamboat try to remember how to apply a figure four.
RESPONSE FROM KE: I think the story will be that Show was more interested in hurting Cena than helping Edge
Posted by: Glen | April 27, 2009 2:06 PM
TOO MUCH belt changing these days! Agree? No credibility.
RESPONSE FROM KE: I agree. Way too many changes.
Posted by: Gregory Asch | April 27, 2009 2:22 PM
Here's one for you Kev, why was Big Show wearing his wrestling attire when he wasn't booked to do anything? Maybe he wears it everywhere?
Posted by: Mike C | April 27, 2009 3:33 PM
i'm glad that they finally had the exchange between christian and edge last night. i'm sure others would agree that edge and christian both holding titles at the same time is bigger than the hardys both holding titles at the same time. here's to judgment day: khali & santina vs. beth & jr
Posted by: paul19 | April 27, 2009 3:51 PM
"That Santino segment was so dumb. I can just imagine Vince and his cronies all rolling in laughter backstage as the rest of the arena sat their stone faced."
I was stone-faced while I watched it in the movie theatre, but out of the rest of the cineplex crowd, it got the third-biggest reaction of the night (the second-biggest being Cena throwing the steps at Edge, and the biggest being Cena AA'ing Edge onto the "fans").
Speaking of Edge and Cena, I was so into their match that the possibility of outside interference didn't cross my mind until Big Show came out. I may never warm up to Cena's shtick, but as an in-ring (or should I say "out-of-ring") performer, he is slowly winning me over.
RESPONSE FROM KE: What do you mean it didn't cross your mind? Didn't you read the preview I did on Sunday?
Posted by: Christopher | April 27, 2009 4:20 PM
Kevin , I know it's way off topic , but in regards to your reply to " Geckle ", I have to agree with another " Sun " writer that commented today that the Ravens have their wide reciever right under their nose - a healthy Demetrius Williams . Just sayin'
Posted by: the artist formerly known as jack in hebron | April 27, 2009 4:31 PM
Wow...that was a good pay-per-view. Finally, Orton wins the WWE Championship back. The Cena-Edge match was excellent, although, for a second, i thought Christian was coming from the back to help out Edge.
CM Punk cashes in MITB for a shot at Edge's World Title at Judgement Day in...Chicago?
Did you notice in the Jericho-Steamboat match, that at one point Steamboat had a chokehold (i think that's what it was) on Jericho and he had his feet under the rope to break the hold. The ref noticed, tapped Jericho's leg and then Jericho moved his feet away from under the rope. Weird.
Do you know what happened during the Hardy's match. At one point the crowd got quite hot and they all seemed to be looking towards the right of the screen (where the announcers are seated) into the audience. Didn't know what was going on.
On the whole, a very entertaining pay-per-view. And Orton won the gold...which is always pleasing.
Great post(s) Kevin.
Posted by: Legacy.1 | April 27, 2009 5:21 PM
According to reports, Michael Cole got booed big time, when making his way to the ring at the start of the show, by the live crowd. I don't get it. In my opinion, Cole is a good announcer and i don't understand why he continuously gets booed.
Oh, and i found out that the distraction during the Hardy's match was, coincidently, a fight in the crowd.
Kevin, do you know why the announcers are not allowed to call the referee's by their names anymore? I read about it on the internet.
RESPONSE FROM KE: I have no idea about the referees' names. Like any fan really cares. WWE sometimes worries about the strangest things: can't say "belt" or "wrestler", etc.
Posted by: Legacy.1 | April 27, 2009 5:57 PM
Think there's anything to that backstage promo and Edge being fun, think it's time for a face turn?
Tons of belt changes, hopefully that means Edge, Christian, and Orton retain for a while.
You definitely called Big Show's interference, now how about some lotteries numbers?
RESPONSE FROM KE: If I could predict the lottery numbers, you wouldn't be reading this blog right now and I would be on a beach somewhere far away.
Posted by: Woody | April 27, 2009 6:28 PM
"I was just cringing for JR. That Santino segment was so dumb. I can just imagine Vince and his cronies all rolling in laughter backstage as the rest of the arena sat their stone faced.
Posted by: Elevation"
do you have absaloutely no sense of humour? it seemed as if jr didnt know that santino was gonna say it was him and because of how jr reacted, khalis facial expressions and khalis 'girl chop' on beth this section was completely hilarious!!!!!!
exellent ppv. i was marking out several times, the edge and christian meeting, orton winning and punting hhh and that whole last match! punk should of hit the gts after those kicks i think but even him losing that one wasnt really enough of a bad point to knock this great ppv.
Posted by: ultimate_krang | April 27, 2009 6:34 PM
Kevin you mentioned that Cena throwing the steps at Edge was a scary spot, but what about the Big Show/Cena spot? That looked a whole lot more dangerous since you could see Edge pushing the steps away as they got closer, but Cena's body went through glass, during the close ups you could see that Cena was bleeding from a gash on his left shoulder.
RESPONSE FROM KE: The bump Cena took certainly involved some risk, but it still basically was a flat bump. Heavy steps flying through the air is a lot less controlled.
Posted by: James Madison | April 27, 2009 6:54 PM
Remember late 98 to 99? they changed the title a lot then too
RESPONSE FROM KE: They sure did. And I didn't like it then either. I think the title changes mean more when they happen less frequently.
Posted by: Rob Watkins | April 27, 2009 6:54 PM
Everybody seems to be on the same page as me as far as last night goes.
Finally Orton has the belt....Steamboat's still got....This is just the first step in what should be big things for Christian, hopefully not the opposite for Swagger.....Hardy's, eh...It had so much more potential.....My only gripe with the Last Man Standing Match was it was only a couple minutes into the match and the ref's already going as high as 7 or 8 counts, which in reality is about a 20 count with the ref's painfully long pauses in between #'s.
Other than that, great match. Not really looking forward to a Cena/Show program. Wondering who Edge's next feud will be with?
And it can't be said enough, WHAT ARE THEY DOING TO C.M.PUNK!?!!?! If HHH and Cena are both going to be out for a while and HBK isn't comming back till summer than there is no time like the present to start heavly pushing guys like Punk, Morrison, Matt Hardy, Kofi Kingston, MVP, and Jack Swagger.
Posted by: Andre the Midget | April 27, 2009 7:36 PM
Hey Kev, I'm not rly sure about this, but before Cena and Edge locked up in the begining of their match they were mouthing something to eachother. I thought I heard "Now's the time" but I'm sure I'm wrong.
RESPONSE FROM KE: I know what you're talking about. I think it was "the last time" or "one more time".
Posted by: Brendan Yu | April 27, 2009 7:50 PM
I love Edge, but he gets the belt just about every-other PPV and loses it on the other ones.
About HHH/Batista, wouldn't it make more sense for Batista to go heel on HHH since they haven't had that angle?
RESPONSE FROM KE: Maybe. But the crowd seems to be turning on Triple H, and he has stated many times that he prefers being a heel.
Posted by: Beach Bum | April 27, 2009 7:55 PM
As others have noted, it's generally not a good sign when a throwaway PPV like Backlash is heads and shoulders better than Wrestlemania. Cena and Edge had the match they should have had at WM, and the 6 man tag was far better than the one on one encounter three weeks ago. Christian/Swagger was a good opener, and the Hardys had a better match than they did at WM, but not as good as you'd expect. It's time to face facts, they just don't work well against each other.
CM Punk losing was hardly a surprise, because the WWE is convinced the way to build him to a championship is to spend 3 months jobbing him. Still, I can envision Punk becoming the first guy to not win the title after cashing in MITB, and turning heel, spending the summer in a feud with Jeff Hardy.
Posted by: Joe Barber | April 27, 2009 9:01 PM
HHH needs to go heel. He is too stale as a baby face and I think is better as a heel. Remember the Helmsley-McMahon era? I cannot think of too many heels better than that.
One thought - seeing as this was billed as 'The Last Time' between them, won't Cena have feel aggrieved that it wasn't Edge who beat him but the Big Show - so after the Show feud, logically, Cena would be gunning for Edge again...or at some point in the near future.
RESPONSE FROM KE: If WWE is serious about keeping the brands separate, Cena couldn't challenge Edge. Plus, it's time for both of them to move on.
Posted by: Wayne | April 28, 2009 8:44 AM
I appreciate where everyone is coming from with regard to CM Punk, but let's chill a little. I expect this feud to continue a while longer, so I'll complain if they don't give him the win back - at Judgment Day for example - but not just yet. After all, he basically dominated the match against Kane and the announcers sold him strong. It's not like last year when he won MITB and the next night on Raw they booked him as Jericho's byatch.
Posted by: Martin | April 28, 2009 10:21 AM
Personal highlight of backlas was JR's line when Edge tapped to the STF: "He can tap DANCE if he wants to". Nice.
Posted by: theorangechimp | April 28, 2009 10:22 AM
This was a darn good PPV. I was there live (I'm from Baltimore but up in RI for school)
I don't agree that it was better than Wrestlemania.
I do think that this Wrestlemania had a lot of faces win when more savvy fans have been waiting for the Heels to get the belts and for the faces to start chasing.
Backlash delivered on getting the belts to the heels (except Christian, but I feel Swagger will get the belt back soon)
RE: Cena, its not that us Cena haters out there don't think he can work a match.
Its that in any non-high profile match he doesn't do a great job selling and NEVER DOES THE JOB. He can never do the job cleanly, which is extremely boring and predictable.
Even Stone Cold and the Rock would job cleanly occasionally.
And Cena's character is worthless. Its bland and played out. He needs a hell turn to freshen it up a bit, but the WWE would never have the balls to do that because it would hurt their merchandising.
What do you think, Kev?
Posted by: Dave MacMickey | April 29, 2009 3:22 PM