Black Widow
04-16-2007, 12:22 PM
WWE: LOOKING AT THE BACKLASH TO ‘MANIA
by Michael Campbell
16 April 2007, 6:21 am
Chewing the Canvas
I guess this is where I need to offer an introduction of some sort, right? Well, I’m Michael Campbell, and I’m new to this whole nonsense of writing a regular column. So excuse me if I’m a little err…ropey. That’s the bad news. The good news is that I’ve been following the crazy world of ‘rasslin for about 17 years (Christ… time has flown). And in that time, I’ve thrown inanimate objects at my television, given up, returned, marked out, and wet myself with happiness. Everything you can imagine….
I’m aiming to offer you a regular dose of opinion and insight. What form that’ll take exactly, I’m not sure yet, but as well as being topical and following current stuff, in the big “E", TNA, ROH, and wherever else I get around to watching, I’ll be looking back through time. I’ll be delving into a vast archive of 90’s and 00’s WWE tapes to bring you snippets of better, and worse times….I don’t claim to be right about everything, but I am damn opinionated, and I will speak my mind. If you disagree, super, email me, get in my face and dribble like Paul Wight at a Drive-thru… whatever provokes some interesting wrestling discussion is all good. So I want to hear from whoever reads this, whether you think I suck or not, and anything noteworthy will be addressed next time round. In the meantime, I thought it important to look where we are in the calendar for the big boys, those Stamford lads, as the sun has set on Wrestlemania, and we approach that notoriously tricky time of year… Backlash time.
So it’s April, which in theory, should be a super hot time for the WW. With the company’s cash-cow Wrestlemania having just passed by, there are any number of new (or returning) viewers to appease. This is the time of year when the company needs to capitalise on all the media hype, on the new audience members, and present a direction that looks satisfying for the months ahead. Backlash, the first WWE PPV of it’s “New Year", should be a biggie. It should be a tempting enough show that it holds onto an increased audience, and it should be a good enough effort to appease even cynical old guffs like me. But is that always the case?
This particular PPV started life on April 25th 1999, with a show that was frustratingly lacking in all-round quality action. However, it did, in some respects, give the fans exactly what they want. See, while today, we’re being treated to mega-pushes for John Cena, and Bobby Lashley, which have a tendency to provoke civil unrest, this time 8 years ago we were in the midst of a blistering Rock/Austin feud. Aligned with the McMahons, rising superstar The Rock had just dropped the WWE title to Austin in an exciting main event at WM XV. Stone Cold back then, was on an incredibly hot streak. For the viewer today who hasn’t really watched him at his peak, the Rattlesnake really was a phenomenon. Just amplify every aspect of Cena’s popularity ten-fold, filter out the booing (People didn’t boo mega-face Austin…ahh simpler times…) and stick in a 100% believable anti-authority gimmick instead of a lame, preppy, wannabe rapper one, and you’ll get the picture. Fans rallied behind the Rattlesnake with uhh… venom, but at the same time, something funny was happening to a Mr Dwayne Johnson. The Rock’s baby face turn the year before was short-lived, and served as an appetiser for his awesome main-event, Corporate Champion heel run. In that role, he had done an absolutely bang-on job. But he was so fresh, so exciting, and so charismatic, it was obvious that the masses were ready to accept him as a good guy on the level of Austin himself. So at Backlash, the two had a scintillating rematch, that topped their ‘Mania showing, and saw The Rock turn baby at the end. It was to be the most important turn of 1999. However, the rest of the show wasn’t quite so exciting. The first three contests were dire, and the fourth, a tag bout between The New Age Outlaws and the team of the late Owen Hart, and Mr TNA, Jeff Jarrett, was only just acceptable. Meanwhile, Mankind’s boiler room brawl with Big Show was interesting, but not a patch on the superb Undertaker fight, contested under the same stipulations, from a few years before. Speaking of ‘Taker, the dead man himself fought Ken Shamrock in a sluggish, but compelling and stiff affair. Around this time also, Triple H had just dumped DX and turned to the dark side, but his big match with X-Pac here was pretty standard stuff, that never got out of second gear, and actually slowed Hunter’s momentum somewhat. It’s worth watching for his really awful entrance music however, an instrumental, comically crap riff that would never fly in the main event…. Overall, this show was a “could do better"…a lot better, but at the very least, it was making solid storyline progress in a number or areas.
Thank God for 2000. In my mind, this year was the company’s finest, and on a personal note, was when I returned to following the biz, after a lengthy exodus. And as many critics have pointed out, it yielded one of the WWE’s all-time finest shows, in Backlash. Top to bottom, this was an example of what the company can achieve when it focuses on promoting an honest, good wrestling show. Edge and Christian kicked things off with a battle against the DX team of X-Pac and Road Dogg, who were extremely stale, but still… This one was a dandy outing, and a fine opener. Dean Malenko made his mark with a great clash with Scotty 2 Hotty, in what remained a WWE-Career best for both men. Kurt Angle had a good comedy match with the Big Show, which was a nice month-long diversion for Kurt before he went on to feud with red-hot Rikishi (yes there was a time….). Meanwhile, we saw two more decent tag team clashes, one of which crucially featured the PPV debut of a certain Trish Stratus (who was smouldering, but rubbish). That these two bouts were quality, despite including the collective efforts of Test, Albert (in the pre-A-Train days) the Acolytes and Bull Buchanon is nothing short of miraculous. The fact though that these are watchable really does point to how on a card that is excellent overall, has room for all manner of different styles and performances. Speaking of variety, there was a silly, but exciting six-man hardcore title brawl, before that gimmick had run it’s course, and a really good encounter between Esse Rios and Eddie Guerrero over the European Strap. It’s bloody criminal that within months, Rios would disappear completely, as he really was a talented athlete, and more to the point, was pretty damn popular at this point! Our semi-main event was a near-classic, a tough battle between the Canadian Chris’ , Benoit and Jericho for the Intercontinental belt. Both men went all out, and incorporated a vast array of moves in a Japanese-style outing. Benoit won the showing by DQ, which was, for once, appropriate, and fine given the overall nature of their feud. But even this match was bettered by the breathtaking main event….a Rock vs. Triple H classic. Although this bout should have occurred a month before, at the frustrating WM 16, it still retained amazing crowd heat, thanks to the utterly convincing performances of HHH and Rocky. The packed arena was whipped into a frenzy, seemingly terrified by the very possibility that Hunter would win again. Booked as having ridiculous odds stacked against him, The Rock happily emerged victorious, with a little assistance from Steve Austin against the evil-doers. An outstanding show, and one that firmly established a new direction with a babyface hero leading the way….. This is exactly what audiences wanted to see from a PPV at this point in the year.
A year later, in the Allstate Arena in Chicago, things were not quite as positive. Backlash 2001 was no disaster, but it was far from memorable. The show opened with a rubbish six man tag, designed to get X-Pac’s awful “X-Factor” group over. It didn’t work of course, nor did the faction, which ultimately killed Justin Credible’s chances of success in Stamford. Rhyno and Raven though, were two ECW stalwarts who fared better in a great Hardcore title match. This is one famous for the ingenious spot where Rhyno gores his way straight into a shopping trolley. Also solid was the three-way between Eddie Guerrero, Matt Hardy, and Christian for the worthless European title. All three men looked great here. Shane McMahon’s gimmick-filled victory over The Big Show was exciting, but Jericho’s miserable “Duchess of Queensbury Rules” match with William Regal, was not. Try convincing your MMA loving friends to watch pro-wrestling after that one….The big match featured Steve Austin and Triple H taking on Kane and The Undertaker, with three titles on the line. It was a solid, well-executed, but predictable affair, which saw the bad-guy Austin/Hunter combo walk out with all the gold. This was the one that all the build-up had been steered towards, and in truth, it was refreshing to see a tag team main event at that point. Match of the night honours though, are aimed squarely at Benoit and Angle, who had a great 30 minute Ultimate Submission match. . Incorporating super in-ring psychology, it was quite the spectacle, and brilliantly executed throughout, though somewhat tarnished by a lazy retread of Shawn Michaels win over Bret Hart at Wrestlemania 12. What did the PPV accomplish however? Well, not a great deal, other than adding more heat to the “two man power trip” as they continued to steamroll over the opposition. Benoit’s feud with Angle would clearly continue, which was nice, although his baby face turn had yet to be coloured with much personality.
Rather than “Accomplish” anything, 2002’s effort destroyed a lot of the floundering promotion’s solid work in the spring of 2002. The obvious source of disgust was Hollywood Hulk Hogan’s ridiculously misconceived Undisputed title win over “The Game". Vince McMahon’s ill-advised decision to put the strap on the nostalgia-ride known as Hulk Hogan was an early detriment to the Brand Extension. Triple H was not as popular as Austin or Rock, or even Hogan (well, no-one was during a brief, but insane teary-eye-rub period), but he was the perfect person to wear a title that enabled him to be a Champion of both shows. “The Game” was believable wandering between two brands, it suited his character to be something of a tweener, and he could easily have carried two separate feuds at this point, whilst not wrestling every single week. However, the broken-down Hulkster, clearly could not. Regardless, this first-time match-up was an effective, if somewhat slow throwback to the 80’s. Possibly worse than this result however, was the absence of Chris Jericho. A month before, he was the FIRST EVER UNDISPUTED CHAMPION, but here, at Backlash, he was without a match. Although he made a whiney speech and interfered in the main event, it was an inexcusable booking decision. He should have had something more to do, and even his role didn’t led anywhere positive for him.
Speaking of useless booking, Billy and Chuck were involved in a nothing tag bout, and Scott Hall was matched up against Bradshaw, in what is one of the sorriest encounters one could possibly ever witness. At this point, there was not a person on the planet who would have dared predict that the future JBL would become a World Champion just a few years later. Elsewhere, Stone Cold and Undertaker nearly drove me into my grave with the excrement that they called a match, and Brock Lesnar somehow failed to make destroying Jeff Hardy exciting. What was good about the show then? Well after a year’s absence, Eddie Guerrero was back, and my, his intercontinental title win over Rob Van Dam was a breath of fresh air. And Billy Kidman vs. Tajiri, was an exhilarating glimpse of what the Cruiserweight division had to offer. Edge stepped up his game as a singles competitor, with a pretty damn awesome losing encounter with Kurt Angle. But the problem with the show overall wasn’t specifically the match quality, it was the direction and booking that it represented. Lesnar, Hogan, Bradshaw, Hall, Undertaker, Jericho, Austin, HHH, were all in the prominent roles, yet were all horribly booked, offering a grim vision of the future. At this point, absolutely no-one, in the main storylines, was being used correctly. And with the big Gold belt around Hogan’s waist, we were guaranteed the top matches would be of consistently poor quality.
Speaking of poor…we have 2003’s effort. This year, Backlash was like a waking nightmare, with Bill Goldberg and Kevin Nash both on the card. Now, I know a lot of people think old Bill would have been a hit had the WWE booked him better, but in my opinion, it would only have created a short term illusion that he was anything other than average. Sadly, the big showdown between Goldberg and The Rock, failed to electrify, and as that was this PPV’s only really selling point, this was something of a stinker. Even at this point, Goldberg was exposed as being incapable of doing anything much other than a squash, and I genuinely don’t believe he would have succeeded in the WWE by merely replicating his WCW run. Many fans were simply unwilling to have this outsider, a guy with a clear ego and reputation, come in and embark on a winning streak over far superior workers. Speaking of superior workers, Kevin Nash….no…I’m joking. Nash teamed with Booker T and Shawn Michaels, to battle the maniacal Triple H, Ric Flair, and Chris Jericho in a pretty dull outing, that clearly elevated Nash into a headlining feud (hmm…there’s your money), and saw Booker stutter straight back into the mid-card. Less interesting still, was the still-born tussle between John Cena (who was briefly and prematurely tested in the main event picture) and WWE Champion Brock Lesnar. That one was an awful start to Brock’s title run. Kane and Rob Van Dam’s boring partnership saw them face the Dudleys, and Rikishi tangled with Sean O’Haire, as part of the terrible storyline involving Roddy Piper (remember that?). Team Angle versus Los Guerreros was significantly better however, and there was also an adequate Women’s match. Depressing however, was Rey Mysterio’s obliteration at the hands of the Big Show, in a dangerous and un-entertaining angle. The good news was, that Scott Steiner was only on Heat, and Hogan was gone, so we needn’t have confused this show too much with the dying days of “Dubbya-See-Dubbya". But it wasn’t good at all…. And at the time, a terrifying prediction of the direness we had to look forward to in the remainder of the year…
2004 was good though…. Very much so….. And it was also the first ever Raw-only Backlash. Already by this point, single brand PPV’s were something of a mixed bag, featuring one or two well-hyped feuds, and a bunch of last minute under-card leftovers. In that regard, this was no exception, ensuring a couple of eye-brow raising moments. Tajiri vs. The Coach was one such instance, and that requires no analysis. Rosey (Umaga’s civilised relation) and The Hurricane, in the midst of their risible partnership entered an uninteresting encounter with La Resistance, and Edge made his long awaited return, battling that walking cure for insomnia, Kane. It was a sleep-inducing brawl, and one that indicated Edge’s year-long absence had left him stranded back in early 2003. But the good, was really top-drawer. The most memorable action came from Mick Foley, and Randy Orton, in a bout which had been in the making from the previous year. It did not disappoint, and could still be regarded as the best performance of Randy’s career, which saw him gain a victory that made him as a star. This feud was a pet-project for Foley, who really shines, almost doing what he did for Triple H in early 2000. Clearly, four years after his retirement, he could still deliver, when motivated. An awesome video package pre-empted this titanic bout as well. Victoria’s clash with Lita over the women’s championship was satisfying enough, as was Shelton Benjamin’s entertaining opening win over ‘ol Ric Flair. Christian meanwhile had a fine outing, alongside Trish Stratus against Chris Jericho, as part of their highly enjoyable feud, which saw Trish exceed her previous status with some wonderful performances. The card was topped by a dazzling triple threat rematch from Wrestlemania, as hometown lad Chris Benoit defended against Triple H and Shawn Michaels. This was a tad less dramatic, but a fundamentally more solid, deeper tale than their previous masterpiece. Benoit looked like a star here, which wasn’t always the case during his reign as Champion, and the finish, which saw HBK tap out to the Sharpshooter, was absolutely the right one. This bout alone would have made the show worth watching, but combined with the Hardcore brawl, and three other decent ties, and this one is a no-brainer. At the time, it was recognized as quality, but it certainly is worth a repeat viewing…..
What I particularly liked about Backlash 2004, was that it represented some really nice progress in the overall Raw scene. Okay, so some material was almost unwatchable, but we were seeing a nice push for the then-dazzling Shelton Benjamin, a fine storyline that was seeing Christian finally break from his tag-team shackles, and a guy as Champion who had the potential to have outstanding bouts every time.
April 2005 was just nasty though. It was something akin to genius pianist with a personality disorder. The main event was definitely crusty, watchable, but never fulfilling. Triple H and Batista limped around for about 20 minutes, which was about 19 longer than Big Dave was capable of. Okay…so that’s not quite fair, he put forth a noble effort here, but the booking was all wrong. Dave looked far weaker in this one, than his previous super card clash with Hunter, and this really created a great deal of doubt over his World title run…so much so in fact, that during their blow-off match the following month, EVERYONE believed Hunter would drop him back into the mid-card. Regardless, this was okay, but not worth more than one viewing in my opinion. The selling point of the show however was Hulk Hogan’s teaming with Shawn Michaels to take on Hassan and Daivari. This was as about as predictable as an Ahmed Johnson match. HBK was excellent, Hogan was terrible, and the foreign guys did the job. Then crowd ate it up, but God, I hated this. Better was the physical, fast paced duel between Chris Jericho and Shelton Benjamin, which showcased Benjamin in a fine follow up to his WM Money in the Bank showing. If only we could see more of this guy on television these days…. Meanwhile, Benoit battled Edge in an enthralling Last Man Standing match. This is a tough gimmick to pull off well it seems, but these two had a ball, and Edge, by this point, had developed into an exciting main event prospect, rather than the unconvincing baby face of the previous year. These were the only highlights sadly. A dire tag-team gauntlet though sullied the show somewhat, as did another poor Masterlock challenge, featuring everyone’s favourite genetically modified performer. Also on the card, Kane and Viscera had a completely ridiculous encounter, which incorporated Trish, Lita, and some sexual situations. Bizarre, and certainly not wrestling in my book….. If this show did anything right, it was planting the seeds for Hogan versus Michaels, which was another monster draw, but as it stood, it was a completely forgettable experience, that two quality bouts were not able to save.
And so, to last year. If ever there was any proof that the WWE misses the point completely when it comes to this particular event, this would be it. Start to finish, this felt like we were being fed Wrestlemania scraps, rather than something with it’s own distinctive taste. Carlito’s clash with Chris Masters was a better than expected start to the show, but still nothing great. Umaga, in the wee early days of his push, destroyed Ric Flair. The problem with his whole gimmick and storyline progress, was that it was completely dull and un-involving, which only changed when he became an accepted top star on Raw ..getting there…that was often challenging, due to the outlandishness of his character. New women’s champ, Mickie James had her match with Trish fall out apart due to the Canadian dislocating her shoulder in a frightening spot. This one could have been really good…. Alas. Rob Van Dam versus Shelton Benjamin, in my mind, was great, although it did receive it’s fair share of flack. I can’t see why, I still maintain this one was a fine throwback to the Intercontinental battles of the early nineties. A combination of risky high-spots, and WWE storytelling, I really enjoyed this, which was the beginning of the end for Benjamin being seen as having potential by his employers. Kane had an utterly worthless encounter with the Big Show. Kane has had it tough throughout his Backlash career hasn’t he? This was actually genuinely unwatchable, and if you avoided it first time out, you need to be commended. Shawn Michaels, as a Christian was somehow not offended that his partner was “God” in a tag match wit Shane and Vince McMahon. This had some cool moments, but after the enjoyable Wrestlemania match between Vinnie Mac and the Showstopper, it was a clearly a PPV too far. Plus, how many casual fans saw the line-up, and instantly guffawed and changed the channel when they saw “God” was on the card. The best clash was the main match, a fantastic triple threat between Edge, John Cena, and Triple H. This was Hunter’s third Backlash main event in a row incidentally, and his third loss, as Cena went home with the win, and a handful more fans than when he came in, thanks to a thrilling double FU on his two opponents. It was a match stuffed to the gills with tremendous moments, and benefited enormously from a hot crowd. This was fine indeed. HHH received his fair share of criticism for beating down both of his opponents afterwards though, which was pretty infuriating, but acknowledging the pop he received, a fair starting point for his impending baby face turn. And so that’s where this show stands out. Match quality, not great in general, but direction-wise, all seemed well. Shelton looked good in defeat, RVD gained more momentum as Mr Money in the Bank, the main event made Cena look far better than his ‘Mania catastrophe, the big Helmsley face run was all go, and it looked like (oh.. How wrong we all were) Michaels would move on from his feud with the screen-consuming McMahons.
And therein lies the problem with this historically inconsistent show… it needs to be a better indication of where the company is going. In the past, we’ve seen one outstanding Backlash (2000), two good ones (2004 and 06), with the rest varying between passable (1999), and woeful (2003). Which category will this year’s effort fit into? It’s hard to say actually, because on paper, there is a fair bit that we’ve seen before. But at the same time, some of that should be quite good. The main event is going to be a World title four-between Shawn Michaels, Randy Orton, Edge, and Cena. This one should be excellent. Love or hate him, Cena has demonstrated sound ability to blend into this sort of match-up, and this one has an abundance of interweaving stories running through it. In my mind, it’s unpredictable too, as a four-way could result in Cena losing the strap, without looking weak, or indeed, actually taking the loss himself. Whatever happens, there is a lot of talent going into this bout, which I think will be fascinating.
I’d tend to be a little more concerned about the Undertaker/Batista rematch though. I’m not convinced these two guys will be able to make this sort of stipulation work, as it often can fall flat. Sure, they had a blinding battle at Wrestlemania, but this is altogether different. It will also carry a good deal of expectation. I would imagine it’ll once again take place around the middle of the show, which would be just fine.
Bobby Lashley has his work cut out for him in his 3-on-1 Handicap match. There is just no way he can do anything here, but sustained selling for the most part, if they intend to keep Umaga looking strong. And the thought of the ECW Champion selling for long periods is just disturbing. For me, a better prospect would have been to have Bobby take on Estrada/Shane/Vince, and utterly annihilate them within a few minutes. Umaga could have been forced into a situation where he had to defend his Intercontinental Championship elsewhere, but still interfered at some point at Lashley’s detriment. As it stands, I don’t think this one will go down particularly well….
Apart from the Hardy Boyz versus Cade and Murdoch, that’s all there is to the card thus far. There is still plenty of time to build this one up though, and it could be stacked. Mr Kennedy looks set to possibly contend with Finlay, which would be an interesting one, whilst it’s also possibly that we’ll see MVP versus Chris Benoit, and possibly Carlito v Ric Flair. It’s certain that there will be a continuation of the ECW New Breed versus originals storyline, which would benefit from a couple of separate solo matches, or even better, a big Elimination match. What is for sure, is that CM Punk will play a big role in this, which is only good news from my armchair. As a heel, this man is the absolute business, and while there’s still a possibility of a swerve in this one, I’m confident this heel turn could be the real deal, and it has the potential for all sorts of awesome feuds here. But there’s a whole bunch of guys who are going to get sadly overlooked in this feud now. And indeed that’s a problem with the PPV overall. With the brand-extension being relaxed so that PPV’s are now “Tri-Brand", I.e. will feature whoever WWE wants to focus on, there could be a lot of guys lost in the shuffle. Backlash will be the first indicator of this. There are quite a number of separate feuds occurring on all the shows right now, and whereas prior to the original brand split, they could have continued on the big shows via tag matches, and been blown off at different times, it’s impossible to fit everyone in and now, and still do this. I fear this will lead to a situation where we have storylines dragged out, not because they are worthy of the time and energy, but simply because they can be, with feuds climaxing months after fans have lost interest, or before they have peaked, purely to get them out of the way.. Another issue could be that this is all too confusing for some newer fans. There are three separate brands on offer, and a lot of people may be watching shows for a specific wrestler, not being quite sure of who is supposed to appear where. For example, it’s not hard to imagine some kid seeing Raw with Bobby Lashley and Shawn Michaels, tune into the other two shows, expecting to see both guys once again. It’s unquestionable a bit of a mess. It looks very unlikely that Backlash is going to capitalize on ‘Mania, and may in fact prove a fine jumping off point for some folk… And while Cena’s and Lashley’s fans can rejoice, Backlash 2007 is going to be a show where the rest of us wonder if half the roster have made their last PPV appearance. This show will require closer attention at the time, but right now I’m hoping WWE stick to sorting out which direction(s) they’re heading in, and making that clear for the average person who just wants to turn on a wrestling show and see their favourite grappler. Otherwise, they could continue to frustrate a lot of fans…
Okay…so that would be all for my first “Chewing the Canvas” column. If you have any thoughts or comments, or suggestions/shows you’d like reviewed, for any articles, by all means, contact me at michael @wrestlemag.com. Otherwise thank you for reading (or even just skipping to the end…I’ve done that too….), I hope you join me again, as I intend to get sweaty talking about the past and future…
wrestlemag.com
by Michael Campbell
16 April 2007, 6:21 am
Chewing the Canvas
I guess this is where I need to offer an introduction of some sort, right? Well, I’m Michael Campbell, and I’m new to this whole nonsense of writing a regular column. So excuse me if I’m a little err…ropey. That’s the bad news. The good news is that I’ve been following the crazy world of ‘rasslin for about 17 years (Christ… time has flown). And in that time, I’ve thrown inanimate objects at my television, given up, returned, marked out, and wet myself with happiness. Everything you can imagine….
I’m aiming to offer you a regular dose of opinion and insight. What form that’ll take exactly, I’m not sure yet, but as well as being topical and following current stuff, in the big “E", TNA, ROH, and wherever else I get around to watching, I’ll be looking back through time. I’ll be delving into a vast archive of 90’s and 00’s WWE tapes to bring you snippets of better, and worse times….I don’t claim to be right about everything, but I am damn opinionated, and I will speak my mind. If you disagree, super, email me, get in my face and dribble like Paul Wight at a Drive-thru… whatever provokes some interesting wrestling discussion is all good. So I want to hear from whoever reads this, whether you think I suck or not, and anything noteworthy will be addressed next time round. In the meantime, I thought it important to look where we are in the calendar for the big boys, those Stamford lads, as the sun has set on Wrestlemania, and we approach that notoriously tricky time of year… Backlash time.
So it’s April, which in theory, should be a super hot time for the WW. With the company’s cash-cow Wrestlemania having just passed by, there are any number of new (or returning) viewers to appease. This is the time of year when the company needs to capitalise on all the media hype, on the new audience members, and present a direction that looks satisfying for the months ahead. Backlash, the first WWE PPV of it’s “New Year", should be a biggie. It should be a tempting enough show that it holds onto an increased audience, and it should be a good enough effort to appease even cynical old guffs like me. But is that always the case?
This particular PPV started life on April 25th 1999, with a show that was frustratingly lacking in all-round quality action. However, it did, in some respects, give the fans exactly what they want. See, while today, we’re being treated to mega-pushes for John Cena, and Bobby Lashley, which have a tendency to provoke civil unrest, this time 8 years ago we were in the midst of a blistering Rock/Austin feud. Aligned with the McMahons, rising superstar The Rock had just dropped the WWE title to Austin in an exciting main event at WM XV. Stone Cold back then, was on an incredibly hot streak. For the viewer today who hasn’t really watched him at his peak, the Rattlesnake really was a phenomenon. Just amplify every aspect of Cena’s popularity ten-fold, filter out the booing (People didn’t boo mega-face Austin…ahh simpler times…) and stick in a 100% believable anti-authority gimmick instead of a lame, preppy, wannabe rapper one, and you’ll get the picture. Fans rallied behind the Rattlesnake with uhh… venom, but at the same time, something funny was happening to a Mr Dwayne Johnson. The Rock’s baby face turn the year before was short-lived, and served as an appetiser for his awesome main-event, Corporate Champion heel run. In that role, he had done an absolutely bang-on job. But he was so fresh, so exciting, and so charismatic, it was obvious that the masses were ready to accept him as a good guy on the level of Austin himself. So at Backlash, the two had a scintillating rematch, that topped their ‘Mania showing, and saw The Rock turn baby at the end. It was to be the most important turn of 1999. However, the rest of the show wasn’t quite so exciting. The first three contests were dire, and the fourth, a tag bout between The New Age Outlaws and the team of the late Owen Hart, and Mr TNA, Jeff Jarrett, was only just acceptable. Meanwhile, Mankind’s boiler room brawl with Big Show was interesting, but not a patch on the superb Undertaker fight, contested under the same stipulations, from a few years before. Speaking of ‘Taker, the dead man himself fought Ken Shamrock in a sluggish, but compelling and stiff affair. Around this time also, Triple H had just dumped DX and turned to the dark side, but his big match with X-Pac here was pretty standard stuff, that never got out of second gear, and actually slowed Hunter’s momentum somewhat. It’s worth watching for his really awful entrance music however, an instrumental, comically crap riff that would never fly in the main event…. Overall, this show was a “could do better"…a lot better, but at the very least, it was making solid storyline progress in a number or areas.
Thank God for 2000. In my mind, this year was the company’s finest, and on a personal note, was when I returned to following the biz, after a lengthy exodus. And as many critics have pointed out, it yielded one of the WWE’s all-time finest shows, in Backlash. Top to bottom, this was an example of what the company can achieve when it focuses on promoting an honest, good wrestling show. Edge and Christian kicked things off with a battle against the DX team of X-Pac and Road Dogg, who were extremely stale, but still… This one was a dandy outing, and a fine opener. Dean Malenko made his mark with a great clash with Scotty 2 Hotty, in what remained a WWE-Career best for both men. Kurt Angle had a good comedy match with the Big Show, which was a nice month-long diversion for Kurt before he went on to feud with red-hot Rikishi (yes there was a time….). Meanwhile, we saw two more decent tag team clashes, one of which crucially featured the PPV debut of a certain Trish Stratus (who was smouldering, but rubbish). That these two bouts were quality, despite including the collective efforts of Test, Albert (in the pre-A-Train days) the Acolytes and Bull Buchanon is nothing short of miraculous. The fact though that these are watchable really does point to how on a card that is excellent overall, has room for all manner of different styles and performances. Speaking of variety, there was a silly, but exciting six-man hardcore title brawl, before that gimmick had run it’s course, and a really good encounter between Esse Rios and Eddie Guerrero over the European Strap. It’s bloody criminal that within months, Rios would disappear completely, as he really was a talented athlete, and more to the point, was pretty damn popular at this point! Our semi-main event was a near-classic, a tough battle between the Canadian Chris’ , Benoit and Jericho for the Intercontinental belt. Both men went all out, and incorporated a vast array of moves in a Japanese-style outing. Benoit won the showing by DQ, which was, for once, appropriate, and fine given the overall nature of their feud. But even this match was bettered by the breathtaking main event….a Rock vs. Triple H classic. Although this bout should have occurred a month before, at the frustrating WM 16, it still retained amazing crowd heat, thanks to the utterly convincing performances of HHH and Rocky. The packed arena was whipped into a frenzy, seemingly terrified by the very possibility that Hunter would win again. Booked as having ridiculous odds stacked against him, The Rock happily emerged victorious, with a little assistance from Steve Austin against the evil-doers. An outstanding show, and one that firmly established a new direction with a babyface hero leading the way….. This is exactly what audiences wanted to see from a PPV at this point in the year.
A year later, in the Allstate Arena in Chicago, things were not quite as positive. Backlash 2001 was no disaster, but it was far from memorable. The show opened with a rubbish six man tag, designed to get X-Pac’s awful “X-Factor” group over. It didn’t work of course, nor did the faction, which ultimately killed Justin Credible’s chances of success in Stamford. Rhyno and Raven though, were two ECW stalwarts who fared better in a great Hardcore title match. This is one famous for the ingenious spot where Rhyno gores his way straight into a shopping trolley. Also solid was the three-way between Eddie Guerrero, Matt Hardy, and Christian for the worthless European title. All three men looked great here. Shane McMahon’s gimmick-filled victory over The Big Show was exciting, but Jericho’s miserable “Duchess of Queensbury Rules” match with William Regal, was not. Try convincing your MMA loving friends to watch pro-wrestling after that one….The big match featured Steve Austin and Triple H taking on Kane and The Undertaker, with three titles on the line. It was a solid, well-executed, but predictable affair, which saw the bad-guy Austin/Hunter combo walk out with all the gold. This was the one that all the build-up had been steered towards, and in truth, it was refreshing to see a tag team main event at that point. Match of the night honours though, are aimed squarely at Benoit and Angle, who had a great 30 minute Ultimate Submission match. . Incorporating super in-ring psychology, it was quite the spectacle, and brilliantly executed throughout, though somewhat tarnished by a lazy retread of Shawn Michaels win over Bret Hart at Wrestlemania 12. What did the PPV accomplish however? Well, not a great deal, other than adding more heat to the “two man power trip” as they continued to steamroll over the opposition. Benoit’s feud with Angle would clearly continue, which was nice, although his baby face turn had yet to be coloured with much personality.
Rather than “Accomplish” anything, 2002’s effort destroyed a lot of the floundering promotion’s solid work in the spring of 2002. The obvious source of disgust was Hollywood Hulk Hogan’s ridiculously misconceived Undisputed title win over “The Game". Vince McMahon’s ill-advised decision to put the strap on the nostalgia-ride known as Hulk Hogan was an early detriment to the Brand Extension. Triple H was not as popular as Austin or Rock, or even Hogan (well, no-one was during a brief, but insane teary-eye-rub period), but he was the perfect person to wear a title that enabled him to be a Champion of both shows. “The Game” was believable wandering between two brands, it suited his character to be something of a tweener, and he could easily have carried two separate feuds at this point, whilst not wrestling every single week. However, the broken-down Hulkster, clearly could not. Regardless, this first-time match-up was an effective, if somewhat slow throwback to the 80’s. Possibly worse than this result however, was the absence of Chris Jericho. A month before, he was the FIRST EVER UNDISPUTED CHAMPION, but here, at Backlash, he was without a match. Although he made a whiney speech and interfered in the main event, it was an inexcusable booking decision. He should have had something more to do, and even his role didn’t led anywhere positive for him.
Speaking of useless booking, Billy and Chuck were involved in a nothing tag bout, and Scott Hall was matched up against Bradshaw, in what is one of the sorriest encounters one could possibly ever witness. At this point, there was not a person on the planet who would have dared predict that the future JBL would become a World Champion just a few years later. Elsewhere, Stone Cold and Undertaker nearly drove me into my grave with the excrement that they called a match, and Brock Lesnar somehow failed to make destroying Jeff Hardy exciting. What was good about the show then? Well after a year’s absence, Eddie Guerrero was back, and my, his intercontinental title win over Rob Van Dam was a breath of fresh air. And Billy Kidman vs. Tajiri, was an exhilarating glimpse of what the Cruiserweight division had to offer. Edge stepped up his game as a singles competitor, with a pretty damn awesome losing encounter with Kurt Angle. But the problem with the show overall wasn’t specifically the match quality, it was the direction and booking that it represented. Lesnar, Hogan, Bradshaw, Hall, Undertaker, Jericho, Austin, HHH, were all in the prominent roles, yet were all horribly booked, offering a grim vision of the future. At this point, absolutely no-one, in the main storylines, was being used correctly. And with the big Gold belt around Hogan’s waist, we were guaranteed the top matches would be of consistently poor quality.
Speaking of poor…we have 2003’s effort. This year, Backlash was like a waking nightmare, with Bill Goldberg and Kevin Nash both on the card. Now, I know a lot of people think old Bill would have been a hit had the WWE booked him better, but in my opinion, it would only have created a short term illusion that he was anything other than average. Sadly, the big showdown between Goldberg and The Rock, failed to electrify, and as that was this PPV’s only really selling point, this was something of a stinker. Even at this point, Goldberg was exposed as being incapable of doing anything much other than a squash, and I genuinely don’t believe he would have succeeded in the WWE by merely replicating his WCW run. Many fans were simply unwilling to have this outsider, a guy with a clear ego and reputation, come in and embark on a winning streak over far superior workers. Speaking of superior workers, Kevin Nash….no…I’m joking. Nash teamed with Booker T and Shawn Michaels, to battle the maniacal Triple H, Ric Flair, and Chris Jericho in a pretty dull outing, that clearly elevated Nash into a headlining feud (hmm…there’s your money), and saw Booker stutter straight back into the mid-card. Less interesting still, was the still-born tussle between John Cena (who was briefly and prematurely tested in the main event picture) and WWE Champion Brock Lesnar. That one was an awful start to Brock’s title run. Kane and Rob Van Dam’s boring partnership saw them face the Dudleys, and Rikishi tangled with Sean O’Haire, as part of the terrible storyline involving Roddy Piper (remember that?). Team Angle versus Los Guerreros was significantly better however, and there was also an adequate Women’s match. Depressing however, was Rey Mysterio’s obliteration at the hands of the Big Show, in a dangerous and un-entertaining angle. The good news was, that Scott Steiner was only on Heat, and Hogan was gone, so we needn’t have confused this show too much with the dying days of “Dubbya-See-Dubbya". But it wasn’t good at all…. And at the time, a terrifying prediction of the direness we had to look forward to in the remainder of the year…
2004 was good though…. Very much so….. And it was also the first ever Raw-only Backlash. Already by this point, single brand PPV’s were something of a mixed bag, featuring one or two well-hyped feuds, and a bunch of last minute under-card leftovers. In that regard, this was no exception, ensuring a couple of eye-brow raising moments. Tajiri vs. The Coach was one such instance, and that requires no analysis. Rosey (Umaga’s civilised relation) and The Hurricane, in the midst of their risible partnership entered an uninteresting encounter with La Resistance, and Edge made his long awaited return, battling that walking cure for insomnia, Kane. It was a sleep-inducing brawl, and one that indicated Edge’s year-long absence had left him stranded back in early 2003. But the good, was really top-drawer. The most memorable action came from Mick Foley, and Randy Orton, in a bout which had been in the making from the previous year. It did not disappoint, and could still be regarded as the best performance of Randy’s career, which saw him gain a victory that made him as a star. This feud was a pet-project for Foley, who really shines, almost doing what he did for Triple H in early 2000. Clearly, four years after his retirement, he could still deliver, when motivated. An awesome video package pre-empted this titanic bout as well. Victoria’s clash with Lita over the women’s championship was satisfying enough, as was Shelton Benjamin’s entertaining opening win over ‘ol Ric Flair. Christian meanwhile had a fine outing, alongside Trish Stratus against Chris Jericho, as part of their highly enjoyable feud, which saw Trish exceed her previous status with some wonderful performances. The card was topped by a dazzling triple threat rematch from Wrestlemania, as hometown lad Chris Benoit defended against Triple H and Shawn Michaels. This was a tad less dramatic, but a fundamentally more solid, deeper tale than their previous masterpiece. Benoit looked like a star here, which wasn’t always the case during his reign as Champion, and the finish, which saw HBK tap out to the Sharpshooter, was absolutely the right one. This bout alone would have made the show worth watching, but combined with the Hardcore brawl, and three other decent ties, and this one is a no-brainer. At the time, it was recognized as quality, but it certainly is worth a repeat viewing…..
What I particularly liked about Backlash 2004, was that it represented some really nice progress in the overall Raw scene. Okay, so some material was almost unwatchable, but we were seeing a nice push for the then-dazzling Shelton Benjamin, a fine storyline that was seeing Christian finally break from his tag-team shackles, and a guy as Champion who had the potential to have outstanding bouts every time.
April 2005 was just nasty though. It was something akin to genius pianist with a personality disorder. The main event was definitely crusty, watchable, but never fulfilling. Triple H and Batista limped around for about 20 minutes, which was about 19 longer than Big Dave was capable of. Okay…so that’s not quite fair, he put forth a noble effort here, but the booking was all wrong. Dave looked far weaker in this one, than his previous super card clash with Hunter, and this really created a great deal of doubt over his World title run…so much so in fact, that during their blow-off match the following month, EVERYONE believed Hunter would drop him back into the mid-card. Regardless, this was okay, but not worth more than one viewing in my opinion. The selling point of the show however was Hulk Hogan’s teaming with Shawn Michaels to take on Hassan and Daivari. This was as about as predictable as an Ahmed Johnson match. HBK was excellent, Hogan was terrible, and the foreign guys did the job. Then crowd ate it up, but God, I hated this. Better was the physical, fast paced duel between Chris Jericho and Shelton Benjamin, which showcased Benjamin in a fine follow up to his WM Money in the Bank showing. If only we could see more of this guy on television these days…. Meanwhile, Benoit battled Edge in an enthralling Last Man Standing match. This is a tough gimmick to pull off well it seems, but these two had a ball, and Edge, by this point, had developed into an exciting main event prospect, rather than the unconvincing baby face of the previous year. These were the only highlights sadly. A dire tag-team gauntlet though sullied the show somewhat, as did another poor Masterlock challenge, featuring everyone’s favourite genetically modified performer. Also on the card, Kane and Viscera had a completely ridiculous encounter, which incorporated Trish, Lita, and some sexual situations. Bizarre, and certainly not wrestling in my book….. If this show did anything right, it was planting the seeds for Hogan versus Michaels, which was another monster draw, but as it stood, it was a completely forgettable experience, that two quality bouts were not able to save.
And so, to last year. If ever there was any proof that the WWE misses the point completely when it comes to this particular event, this would be it. Start to finish, this felt like we were being fed Wrestlemania scraps, rather than something with it’s own distinctive taste. Carlito’s clash with Chris Masters was a better than expected start to the show, but still nothing great. Umaga, in the wee early days of his push, destroyed Ric Flair. The problem with his whole gimmick and storyline progress, was that it was completely dull and un-involving, which only changed when he became an accepted top star on Raw ..getting there…that was often challenging, due to the outlandishness of his character. New women’s champ, Mickie James had her match with Trish fall out apart due to the Canadian dislocating her shoulder in a frightening spot. This one could have been really good…. Alas. Rob Van Dam versus Shelton Benjamin, in my mind, was great, although it did receive it’s fair share of flack. I can’t see why, I still maintain this one was a fine throwback to the Intercontinental battles of the early nineties. A combination of risky high-spots, and WWE storytelling, I really enjoyed this, which was the beginning of the end for Benjamin being seen as having potential by his employers. Kane had an utterly worthless encounter with the Big Show. Kane has had it tough throughout his Backlash career hasn’t he? This was actually genuinely unwatchable, and if you avoided it first time out, you need to be commended. Shawn Michaels, as a Christian was somehow not offended that his partner was “God” in a tag match wit Shane and Vince McMahon. This had some cool moments, but after the enjoyable Wrestlemania match between Vinnie Mac and the Showstopper, it was a clearly a PPV too far. Plus, how many casual fans saw the line-up, and instantly guffawed and changed the channel when they saw “God” was on the card. The best clash was the main match, a fantastic triple threat between Edge, John Cena, and Triple H. This was Hunter’s third Backlash main event in a row incidentally, and his third loss, as Cena went home with the win, and a handful more fans than when he came in, thanks to a thrilling double FU on his two opponents. It was a match stuffed to the gills with tremendous moments, and benefited enormously from a hot crowd. This was fine indeed. HHH received his fair share of criticism for beating down both of his opponents afterwards though, which was pretty infuriating, but acknowledging the pop he received, a fair starting point for his impending baby face turn. And so that’s where this show stands out. Match quality, not great in general, but direction-wise, all seemed well. Shelton looked good in defeat, RVD gained more momentum as Mr Money in the Bank, the main event made Cena look far better than his ‘Mania catastrophe, the big Helmsley face run was all go, and it looked like (oh.. How wrong we all were) Michaels would move on from his feud with the screen-consuming McMahons.
And therein lies the problem with this historically inconsistent show… it needs to be a better indication of where the company is going. In the past, we’ve seen one outstanding Backlash (2000), two good ones (2004 and 06), with the rest varying between passable (1999), and woeful (2003). Which category will this year’s effort fit into? It’s hard to say actually, because on paper, there is a fair bit that we’ve seen before. But at the same time, some of that should be quite good. The main event is going to be a World title four-between Shawn Michaels, Randy Orton, Edge, and Cena. This one should be excellent. Love or hate him, Cena has demonstrated sound ability to blend into this sort of match-up, and this one has an abundance of interweaving stories running through it. In my mind, it’s unpredictable too, as a four-way could result in Cena losing the strap, without looking weak, or indeed, actually taking the loss himself. Whatever happens, there is a lot of talent going into this bout, which I think will be fascinating.
I’d tend to be a little more concerned about the Undertaker/Batista rematch though. I’m not convinced these two guys will be able to make this sort of stipulation work, as it often can fall flat. Sure, they had a blinding battle at Wrestlemania, but this is altogether different. It will also carry a good deal of expectation. I would imagine it’ll once again take place around the middle of the show, which would be just fine.
Bobby Lashley has his work cut out for him in his 3-on-1 Handicap match. There is just no way he can do anything here, but sustained selling for the most part, if they intend to keep Umaga looking strong. And the thought of the ECW Champion selling for long periods is just disturbing. For me, a better prospect would have been to have Bobby take on Estrada/Shane/Vince, and utterly annihilate them within a few minutes. Umaga could have been forced into a situation where he had to defend his Intercontinental Championship elsewhere, but still interfered at some point at Lashley’s detriment. As it stands, I don’t think this one will go down particularly well….
Apart from the Hardy Boyz versus Cade and Murdoch, that’s all there is to the card thus far. There is still plenty of time to build this one up though, and it could be stacked. Mr Kennedy looks set to possibly contend with Finlay, which would be an interesting one, whilst it’s also possibly that we’ll see MVP versus Chris Benoit, and possibly Carlito v Ric Flair. It’s certain that there will be a continuation of the ECW New Breed versus originals storyline, which would benefit from a couple of separate solo matches, or even better, a big Elimination match. What is for sure, is that CM Punk will play a big role in this, which is only good news from my armchair. As a heel, this man is the absolute business, and while there’s still a possibility of a swerve in this one, I’m confident this heel turn could be the real deal, and it has the potential for all sorts of awesome feuds here. But there’s a whole bunch of guys who are going to get sadly overlooked in this feud now. And indeed that’s a problem with the PPV overall. With the brand-extension being relaxed so that PPV’s are now “Tri-Brand", I.e. will feature whoever WWE wants to focus on, there could be a lot of guys lost in the shuffle. Backlash will be the first indicator of this. There are quite a number of separate feuds occurring on all the shows right now, and whereas prior to the original brand split, they could have continued on the big shows via tag matches, and been blown off at different times, it’s impossible to fit everyone in and now, and still do this. I fear this will lead to a situation where we have storylines dragged out, not because they are worthy of the time and energy, but simply because they can be, with feuds climaxing months after fans have lost interest, or before they have peaked, purely to get them out of the way.. Another issue could be that this is all too confusing for some newer fans. There are three separate brands on offer, and a lot of people may be watching shows for a specific wrestler, not being quite sure of who is supposed to appear where. For example, it’s not hard to imagine some kid seeing Raw with Bobby Lashley and Shawn Michaels, tune into the other two shows, expecting to see both guys once again. It’s unquestionable a bit of a mess. It looks very unlikely that Backlash is going to capitalize on ‘Mania, and may in fact prove a fine jumping off point for some folk… And while Cena’s and Lashley’s fans can rejoice, Backlash 2007 is going to be a show where the rest of us wonder if half the roster have made their last PPV appearance. This show will require closer attention at the time, but right now I’m hoping WWE stick to sorting out which direction(s) they’re heading in, and making that clear for the average person who just wants to turn on a wrestling show and see their favourite grappler. Otherwise, they could continue to frustrate a lot of fans…
Okay…so that would be all for my first “Chewing the Canvas” column. If you have any thoughts or comments, or suggestions/shows you’d like reviewed, for any articles, by all means, contact me at michael @wrestlemag.com. Otherwise thank you for reading (or even just skipping to the end…I’ve done that too….), I hope you join me again, as I intend to get sweaty talking about the past and future…
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