WWE Backlash (April 2004)

From Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; Your Hosts are Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler

Opening Match: Ric Flair v Shelton Benjamin: Flair tries taunting him a bit at the bell, so Benjamin sweeps him off of his feet, and dominates him on the mat - then taunts him right back. Flair objects, so Shelton slaps the taste out of his mouth - Ric selling it with a flop. He gets overconfident and suckered into the corner for some chops, but manages to win a long criss cross with a dropkick, then clothesline Flair out of the ring. Shelton follows him for a backdrop out there, but Ric suckers him again on the way back in, this time with an eyepoke. Shelton uses his speed to slam Ric down off of the top before he can capitalize though, so Ric goes back to outsmarting him by dodging a dropkick. I'm really enjoying the dynamic of this match thus far, with Flair continually suckering the less experienced Benjamin, but unable to build momentum. Figure Four, but Shelton counters with an inside cradle for two, and he delivers a ten-punch in the corner, but makes the cardinal mistake of turning his back on the dirtiest player in the game, and Ric clips his knee. Flair goes to work on it, and gets the Figure Four on this time, but just can't resist cheating, and is forced to break. Slick Ric, baby. Flair unloads a big chop for two, and he desperately grabs a chair, but the reprieve allows Benjamin to recover, and plant an enzuigiri on him. Shelton mounts a comeback with a vertical suplex, but gets suckered into a chop again, and Flair pulls out the knux, but they backfire, and Benjamin hits a flying clothesline for the pin at 9:29. Good opener with the young Benjamin relying on speed to overcome Flair's tricks, and managing to get the best of the vet - and the best out of him. You could tell Benjamin was having the time of his life working with Flair here, and Ric seemed game to give him as much of a rub as possible. ** ¾

Tajiri v Jonathan Coachman: Coach takes him down with a quick armdrag, but backs off when Tajiri starts throwing kicks. Coach manages to avoid the Buzzsaw by rolling to the floor, and he ducks another kick out there - Tajiri hitting the post. Coach goes to work on the leg, and a kneebreaker sets up a grapevine, but Tajiri reverses. Coach keeps after the knee to retain control, but another kneebreaker is countered into a sunset flip for two. Coach clips the knee to cutoff a comeback, and slaps on another grapevine, but Tajiri rakes the eyes to escape. Coach tries heading up, but gets crotched, and hung in an inverted tree of woe. Handspring elbow sets up a seated dropkick, and he starts pummeling him with kicks in the corner. Tarantula sets up the Buzzsaw, but Garrison Cade pops onto the apron for a cheapshot, and Coach schoolboys Tajiri for the pin at 6:26. This was better than it had any right to be. * ¼

Intergender Handicap Match: Christian and Trish Stratus v Chris Jericho: Trish is looking insanely hot tonight. She gets chases by Jericho at the bell, but he runs into Christian to start us off. Jericho backdrops him, and hits a hanging vertical suplex for two - complete with arrogant cover. He knocks Christian out to the apron for a springboard dropkick, then back in with a flying backelbow for two. Chops, but he accidentally runs into Trish on the apron, and Christian capitalizes by forward suplexing him across the top rope, then shoulderblocking him off into the rail. With Jericho now down, Trish decides it's time to tag in, and slaps him around. Chick Kick hits, but Chris starts coming back, so she wisely passes over to Christian to chinlock him. Scuffle in the corner ends in both men looking up at the lights, and Jericho schoolboys him for two. Sleeper-slam gets two, and a northern lights suplex is worth two. Walls, but Trish runs in to break it up, so Jericho puts her over his knee for a spanking. Christian saves with the Unprettier for two, but Trish runs in, and nearly gets her head taken off with a clothesline. The entire crowd gasped on that one. Done with his woman beating, Jericho starts making a comeback on Christian, and a sloppy bulldog sets up the lionsault, but Christian lifts his knees to block. Texas cloverleaf applied, but Jericho counters into the Walls. Trish saves, so Jericho slaps it on her instead, but Christian schoolboys him for two to break it up. Unprettier, but Jericho counters with a slingshot into Trish, then hits an enzuigiri for the pin at 11:14. Not as good as the WrestleMania match the month before, but still good stuff. * ½

WWE Women's Title Match: Victoria v Lita: Lita controls early on, but gets taken down in a side-headlock by the champion. Bridging reversal sequence ends in Victoria hiptossing her, and another lockup ends in both tumbling out of the ring. Back in, Victoria hooks a backslide for two, so Lita hooks a sloppy Oklahoma roll for two. This match is falling apart, and fast. Lita with a sunset flip for two, triggering a pinfall reversal sequence that ends in Victoria hitting a sloppy bodyslam to setup a standing moonsault for two. Bow-and-arrow, but Lita escapes, so Victoria floatover suplexes her for two. Surfboard gives us all a chance to check out Lita's rack, but the Spider's Web is countered with a headscissors. Lita adds a corner clothesline to setup a bodyslam for two, and a snap suplex follows. Another headscissors leads to a sleeper, but Victoria gets the ropes. Victoria with the Spider's Web for two, but a flying moonsault misses, and Lita somersault cradles her for two. Twist of Fate gets two, but Victoria counters a second one into an inside cradle to retain at 7:24. Not good, with sloppiness abounding, and some of the worst transitions I've seen this side of Bruce Jenner. ¼*

WWE Intercontinental Title Hardcore Match: Randy Orton v Cactus Jack: Randy tries using a trashcan as a shield, but Jack beats him back with a barbed wire bat. He chases him around the ring with it, and manages to catch him on the floor for some abuse. Back in, Cactus chokes him in the corner, and hits a legdrop for two. Baseball slide knocks Randy back out of the bring, and Cactus follows with a swinging neckbreaker out there. He tries for a flying elbowdrop on the floor, but Randy hightails it up the aisle to avoid, and catches Jack with a side suplex on the ramp for two as he tries to follow. Orton hooks a backslide on the ramp for two, then decides to get a little more brutal by slamming Jack's head back into it for two. Man, Mick may be a little slower, but he certainly hasn't lost a step in the bump department. Back in, Randy grabs the barbed bat, but Jack mulekicks him to block, then adds a lariat. He pulls out Mr. Socko, but then decides he'd rather use the barbed bat before finishing him. He blasts Randy with it to draw blood, then hits a bat-assisted elbowdrop. Into the corner, Jack unloads closed fists, and hits a running kneesmash. He hits a bat-assisted legdrop to the groin, then retrieves a canister of gasoline from underneath the ring. He drenches the bat it, and goes to light it up, but Eric Bischoff shows up, and threatens to stop the show if he does. Okay, so for those of you keeping track: if a performer dies in the ring, the show must go on, but if a man lights something on fire, everyone must go home. Duly noted. Disappointed, Jack decides to bring a board covered in barbed wire in instead, but it backfires when Orton throws a handful of powder into his eyes, then powerslams him onto it for two. And it's real wire this time, because Jack's arms start bleeding immediately. Orton positions the board in the corner, and whips Cactus into the cactus, then pulls out a burlap sack - filled with what must be thousands of thumbtacks. He empties it into the ring, and tries the RKO onto them, but Jack blocks by dropping Randy into it - turning him into a pincushion. Cactus with a schoolboy for two, and Randy decides to bail up the aisle to lick his wounds, but Jack isn't finished with him. He drags Orton back, and throws his ass off of the entrance stage, through a pair of tables. Jack dives after him with an elbowdrop off of the stage, but it only gets two, so Jack beats his ass back to the ring to finish him, but the Double-Arm DDT only gets two! Jack is now downright mad, and he decides to slap the Mandible Claw on to finish this kid once and for all, but Orton manages to counter into the RKO to retain... no wait, it only gets two! I was sure that was the ending. Jack keeps coming, so Randy hits another RKO - this time onto the barbed bat to retain for real at 23:03. I'm not a particularly big fan of gory hardcore matches, but no doubting that this was a hell of a brawl, and downright MADE Orton - not because of the disgusting spots, but because of the story being told with the aid of the disgusting spots. *** ½

La Resistance v The Hurricane and Rosey: Rob Conway trades wristlocks with Hurricane to start, and wins the exchange with a bodyslam. Criss cross goes Hurricane's way with a headscissors, and Rosey hiptosses him onto Conway for two, but a cheapshot from Sylvain Grenier allows La Resistance to takeover. Conway powerslams Hurricane for two as they begin cutting the ring in half, but Hurricane escapes a bearhug, and gets the tag. Rosey is a lair of fire to starts a four-way brawl, and Hurricane hits Conway with the Eye for the pin at 5:03. Nothing special, but fine for a TV-level match. ¾*

Edge v Kane: This is Edge's return, after more than a year on the shelf with a legit neck injury. Edge sticks and moves in the early going, but gets trapped in the corner, and slammed. Kane goes after his cast covered arm, but misses a charge, and Edge hits a 2^nd rope clothesline. Spear, but Kane bails to the floor to avoid it, so Edge baseball slides into him instead. He goes to put him through an announce table, but Kane rams his hand into the steps to block, then goes after it back inside of the ring. Sidewalk slam sets up a leaping elbowdrop, but Edge dodges, and hits a diving double-ax, followed by a spinheel kick. The referee objects to the use of the cast during the double-ax, however, allowing Kane to big boot him down. Flying clothesline misses, allowing Edge the Impaler, but the spear misses again, and Kane goes for the chokeslam - only to get clocked with the cast, and speared at 6:26. This was a less than stellar return for Edge. ½*

Main Event: World Heavyweight Title Triple Threat Match: Chris Benoit v Triple H v Shawn Michaels: First fall wins. Shawn is wearing the same gear he wore at Survivor Series '97 here, and the crowd gets right on him with 'You Screwed Bret' chants. Chris goes right after HHH in the corner, so Shawn helps him dump Hunter, but then makes the mistake of getting into a chopfest with Benoit. That... doesn't go well for him. Chris levels him with a lariat, but a backdrop is countered with a swinging neckbreaker, as HHH rejoins us with a high knee on HBK. He tosses Benoit out to have Shawn to himself, but Michaels manages to block the Pedigree. Slugfest ends when Benoit drops them both with release German suplexes, then smacks them around with chops. Chris slaps the Crippler Crossface on HHH, but Shawn saves, so Benoit not only tosses him out of the ring, but follows him out and kicks the crap out of him on the floor. He tries the flying headbutt on a still downed HHH, but Hunter pops up to superplex him - only for Shawn to rush over, knock Benoit off the top to the floor, and electric chair HHH off the top for two. Backdrop, but Hunter counters with a kneeling facebuster - only to have Benoit swoop in with a flying headbutt on Michaels for two. German suplex, but Shawn holds the top rope to block, and dives at Chris with a forearm - only for Benoit to duck, and Michaels to clobber the referee. That allows HHH to sneak up with a Pedigree on Benoit, but Chris counters into a sharpshooter. Shawn rushes over to save, but Benoit sees it coming, and lets off to trap him in the Crossface, but there's still no referee. Chris lets off to go try and wake the referee up, but that allows Shawn to sweep him into his own sharpshooter, and here comes a replacement referee - Earl Hebner, no less. The crowd immediately clues in to the Montreal reference, but they don't ring the fucking bell this time, and the fans won't leave Shawn alone with the chants for the rest of the match now. Shawn gets distracted by the chants, allowing Benoit to counters a bodyslam into another Crossface, but HHH saves. He wins a slugfest with Benoit by DDTing him for two, as Lawler notes that we've 'seen Benoit choked many times.' Certainly not the last time, though. Shawn counters a German suplex with a short-clothesline on Benoit for two, as the crowd continues to mercilessly chant at him. All three guys spill to the outside, and Shawn dives at everyone with a flying bodypress, but overshoots it, and ends up crashing through the announce table. You'd think he'd have learned better by then. With Shawn down, HHH takes Benoit back in, and beats him from pillar to post, culminating in a camel clutch. Benoit escapes, so HHH tries a ten-punch count, but gets countered into a stungun in the corner. That allows Chris to execute the three-alarm rolling German suplexes, but the flying headbutt misses. Kind of expected Shawn to make the save on that one, actually. Pedigree hits, but NOW Shawn makes the save, and he hits the jumping forearm on Hunter. Bodyslam sets up a flying elbowdrop, and Shawn looks to finish with the Superkick, but Benoit is recovering on the apron, so Shawn plants it on him instead. Unfortunately for him, that bit of strategy allows HHH to recover, and he blows him low for two. He looks to finish with the Pedigree, but Michaels backdrops him over the top to block, and crawls to cover the still downed Benoit - only for HHH to attack with a sledgehammer to stop the effort. HHH goes for the kill with the weapon, but Benoit interferes, so Hunter is forced to deal with him on the floor before finishing off Shawn. A Pedigree on the steps should do the trick, but Chris counters with a slingshot into the post - brilliantly sold by HHH by flopping over the rail into the lap of a little old lady. That looked great. Still dazed, Benoit rolls in, but Shawn has recovered. Superkick, but Benoit countered into the sharpshooter to retain at 30:09 - HHH inching for the save, but falling short! Hey, at least the Montreal reference factored into the finish in a meaningful way. The match wasn't quite on par with the WrestleMania version that preceded it, but it was still really well worked, exciting, and dramatic. *** ¼

BUExperience: The RAW brand delivered a series of stinkers since the inaugural show in the summer of 2003, but for the first time, they put on a card on par with what the Smackdown crew had been doing – not coincidentally because of additions like Chris Benoit, Shelton Benjamin, and Edge following the 2004 Draft. These additions resulted in a very good show, with the two big matches delivering (and covering an hour of the 154 minute run-time), along with a solid undercard.

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