WWE Backlash (May 2017)

Original Airdate: May 21, 2017

From Chicago, Illinois; Your Hosts are Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton, and John Bradshaw Layfield

Opening Match: Dolph Ziggler v Shinsuke Nakamura: This is Nakamura's main roster debut. I'm considerably less excited about this one than everyone else seems to be, probably because I've never gotten what everyone sees in Nakamura. Dolph tries to shoot at the leg to start, but Nakamura is ready with a headlock to block. Dolph counters to a waistlock, and they trade those for a bit, until Nakamura starts using those educated feet. The ring looks massive tonight. I'm sure it's just the standard size ring, but it looks enormous due to the camera angles. Or, perhaps they needed a bigger ring for beefy Jinder? The feeling out process continues with Nakamura dominating, until Dolph suckers him to the outside, and nails him with a neckbreaker on the way back in. Ziggler capitalizes on his advantage with a devastating chinlock, but Nakamura escapes, so Dolph throws a dropkick for two. Elbowdrop gets two, but a whip into the ropes is countered with a short-knee, and Nakamura puts him down with a spinkick. A pair of kicks rattles Ziggler for a knee in the corner for two, but he's got enough presence to hook a schoolboy for two. Nakamura responds by cranking on the arm, but Ziggler's in the ropes before he can fully realize the hold. Nakamura tries a gourdbuster, but Dolph counters with a jumping DDT for two. I don't like these new full screen style replays. Dolph with another schoolboy for two, and a fameasser is worth two. Superkick, but Nakamura blocks, so Ziggler reroutes with the Zig Zag for two. Piledriver, but Nakamura blocks, and throws more kicks. Side suplex, but Ziggler blocks, and superkicks him in the back of the head for two. Ziggler starts throwing his own series of kicks, but Nakamura doesn't appreciate that, and basically tries to buttfuck him. Okay, not really, but that's what it looked like. 2^nd rope flying kneedrop misses, so Dolph tries the superkick, but Nakamura ducks, and hits his inverted exploder suplex, then finishes him of with Kinshasa at 15:48. This was okay in general, but you'd have to classify it as a disappointment given the buildup for Nakamura. ** ½

WWE Smackdown Tag Team Title Match: The Usos v Breezango: Tyler Breeze is dressed as a janitor for this. Jimmy Uso starts with Fandango, and that goes absolutely nowhere. Tag to Breeze, complete with mop, which he uses to trip a charging Jimmy up. They run through some comedy spots with the mop, until Jey Uso tags in, and knocks it away from him with a closed fist. They do another comedy sequence where Jey keeps climbing to the top rope, but Breeze keeps slowly rolling away before he can dive. Jey gets frustrated, allowing Tyler an enzuigiri for two, and he passes to Fandango. The crowd is eating this all up. The champs double up on Fandango, but he blocks a sunset flip from Jimmy with a legdrop, as Bate suddenly appears on the apron in a new costume - an elderly woman, complete with walking cane! Nice touch, as he climbs between the middle and bottom rope when tagging in. The Usos kick his cane away, but apparently they've somehow forgotten that this isn't actually an old lady, and are shocked when they have to eat dropkicks. They beat Bate down and rip off his dress, but he gets the tag back to Fandango, and Roseanne Barr the door! Bate tries a somersault bodyblock off the apron onto both champions, but gets caught, and thrown into the crowd. That allows Fandango to dive with a somersault plancha, but he gets overwhelmed in a double team on the way back in, and the Usos retain at 9:56. Much like the Mizdow stuff from a few years ago, this was entertaining beyond its star rating. ¾*

Sami Zayn v Baron Corbin: Feeling out process to start, with Sami using speed to fight off Baron's attempts at overpowering him. Zayn sends him to the outside with a dropkick, and hits a moonsault press off of the barricade out there. Back in, Sami tries to keep it going in the corner, but Corbin goes after the bad lower back to put a stop to that, and he delivers a backbreaker. Cross corner whip is nicely sold by Sami, and Baron slaps on a bearhug. Zayn escapes, so Corbin charges, but ends up bumping over the top to the outside. Back in, Zayn tries to keep his distance, but walks into a spinebuster for two. Zayn sells the back like death, but manages to throw a few clotheslines to mount a comeback, and a flying bodypress gets him two. Corbin with a lariat for two, and he keeps pounding the back. Chokeslam backbreaker gets two, but Zayn counters a superplex with a sunset bomb for two. Sami keeps coming with a tornado DDT, but Corbin blocks, so Zayn tries the exploder into the turnbuckles. Corbin blocks that too, so Zayn hooks a crucifix for two - only to run into the Deep Six for two. Another charge ends in him crashing out of the ring, however, and Zayn hits the Helluva Kick for the pin at 14:33 as Baron hustles back in! The psychology was sound, and Zayn's selling was exemplary, but Corbin's offense left a lot to be desired. Just a lot of punch-kick, punch-kick stuff, with a few big moves interspersed. ** ½

Six-Woman Tag Team Match: Naomi, Charlotte Flair, and Becky Lynch v Natalya, Carmella, and Tamina: Not loving Becky's new hair style. She starts with Tamina, and gets knocked around. Tag to Nattie for a suplex, but Lynch counters with an inside cradle for two, and she passes to Charlotte. Flair grabs a wristlock, but Nattie reverses, then cuts off an attempted reversal with a hair pull. Charlotte responds with a schoolgirl for two, and she starts throwing those patented chops to setup a kneedrop. A distraction in the heel corner allows Nattie to clothesline her down (you'd think someone named 'Flair' would be better aware of such tricks), and they gang up on her in the corner. They cut the ring in half on Charlotte, but Flair reverses a turnbuckle smash by Carmella, and Naomi tags in with a flying bodypress for two. She unloads a kick combo on Carmella, but Tamina blocks her from climbing the ropes, allowing Carm to jump her. She hits a bronco buster for two, then tags Tamina to help cut the ring in half on new victim Naomi. New Victim Naomi - new, from Mattel! She fights off Natalya long enough for the hot tag to Becky, and it's exploder time, baby! Beckamania runs wild on Nattie, and she looks to Dis-Arm-Her, but Carmella saves, and Roseanne Barr the door! The ring is cleared, and Nattie gets Becky in the Sharpshooter for the submission at 10:03. The timing was way off, but they made good use of quick tags, and it was watchable. *

WWE United States Title Match: Kevin Owens v AJ Styles: Feeling out process to start, with some nice little psychological touches from both guys. Kevin knocks him off the ropes as AJ tries to climb to setup a lariat for two, and he grounds his challenger in a chinlock. AJ fights out, so Owens DDTs him for two, then adds a series of three senton splashes for two! Nice cardio, Kev! Back to the chinlock, but Styles escapes, and this time is able to throw an enzuigiri before Owens can cut him off. Seated forearm smash gets two, and a wheelbarrow facebuster is worth two. Clash, but Owens blocks, so AJ reroutes with the fireman's neckbreaker for two. Back to the Clash, but this time Owens backdrops him, so AJ tries a springboard moonsault press, but Kevin dodges, and hits a superkick to setup a package neckbreaker for two! Slugfest ends in Styles on the outside, and Owens climbs to try a dive, but AJ blocks. He looks to bring Kevin off the turnbuckles with a Clash all the way down to the floor, but Owens bashes his knee into the post to block, and hits a Cannonball on the way back in! The champ goes after the knee with a second Cannonball directly onto it, then slaps on a half crab. Styles gets close to the ropes, so Owens drags him away and shifts to an anklelock, but AJ makes the ropes anyway. Owens looks to punish him with a Samoan drop off the top, but Styles counters with a sunset bomb. Phenomenal Forearm, but the leg gives out in the process, and AJ crashes in a heap! Owens immediately capitalizes with a double-arm DDT for two, but slapping AJ around triggers the pele kick! AJ looks to capitalize with a superplex, but Owens counters with a muscle buster off the top for two! Okay, these full screen replays have gots to go. Owens goes up to squash this Styles kid like a bug, but AJ rolls to the apron to put some distance between them. He does it BEFORE Kevin dives, however, and Owens hops down to punish him with a suplex on the apron - Styles able to reverse! AJ tries dragging him back in, so Kevin whips him into the barricade to avoid that - only to get himself hit with the Phenomenal Forearm out there! AJ follows with the Clash on the announce table, but Owens uses a headset wire to tangle his challenger up, and Styles is counted out at 21:10! Great match, terrible finish. But, on the bright side, that means we'll probably get a rematch! *** ¾

Luke Harper v Erick Rowan: They slug it out to start, with Harper getting an advantage and climbing to the top, but Rowan knocking him off, down to the floor! Erick follows out with a baseball slide, and he tosses Luke into the barricade before bringing it back in with a frogsplash for two. Chinlock, but Harper powers up, so Rowan chops him in the corner. Harper responds in kind, so Erick avalanches him in the corner, and delivers a dropkick for two. Rowan with a pair of bodyslams, and a pumphandle-backbreaker is worth two. He goes up for a flying splash, but Luke rolls out of the way, and they spill to the outside. Harper bashes his face into the announce table a couple of times out there to soften him up for a tope, and a slingshot somersault senton on the way back in leads to a big boot for two! Discus punch, but Rowan ducks, so Harper reroutes with a swinging scrapbuster for two. Powerbomb is blocked, and Rowan hits a spinkick to setup his own powerbomb for two. Another one, but Luke counters with a somersault cradle for two. Rowan tries for the powerbomb again, but Harper counters with a rana (sorta), and a pair of superkicks lead to a discus punch at 8:56. Some touchy execution, but great effort and energy all around here. ** ¾

Main Event: WWE Title Match: Randy Orton v Jinder Mahal: Randy jumps him before the bell, and unloads in the corner before dumping Mahal to the outside for a toss into the announce table. Jinder's body looks freaky, and unnatural. Back in, Mahal hides out in the corner for a while, and Randy tries for the RKO early, but it's blocked. They spill back to the outside, where Jinder manages to knock him into the LED ring apron, and he rolls the champ in for an overhead wristlock. Backslide, but Orton blocks, so Mahal hits a single-arm DDT instead, then adds a kneedrop for two. Armbar, but Randy escapes, and tosses the challenger over the top. He follows for a side suplex onto an announce table, but he gets stomped after rolling Jinder back in, and it's wristlock time again. If you've gotta to work the arm, couldn't it at least be the arm he does the RKO with? Give it at least, like, the scent of psychology. Charge in the corner misses for Mahal, allowing Orton a vertical superplex for two, and thankfully they use the superior split screen for the replay. Orton with a powerslam, followed by a fallaway slam for two. Jinder fires back with a short-arm neckbreaker for two, but runs into the inverted headlock backbreaker before he can follow-up. Randy adds the elevated DDT, and it's RKO time, but Jinder rolls to the outside before he can execute it. Maybe next time don't telegraph the move? Randy follows, but runs into the Singh's out there, and while he makes short work of them, the distraction allows Jinder to recover, and he rams Randy into the post! Back in, Orton hits a quick RKO, but the Singh's pull Mahal out before he can cover! Randy goes out and murders them both (he stops to pass Bradshaw his hat so that it doesn't get damaged in the wreckage, in a funny bit), but the distraction allows Jinder to hit a cobra slam to win the WWE Title at 16:42. The crowd is in shock, understandably so. The match wasn't really on the level you'd expect for a pay per view main event, but they did their best to make it exciting. * ½

BUExperience: I don’t really have any strong feelings about this one. On the one hand, everything was solid, and there were no outright stinkers. On the other hand, there was also nothing especially worth spending your time on, aside from the very-good-but-not-great US Title match. If you’ve cleared your DVR of all the Better Call Saul and Fargo episodes you’ve got, then maybe go ahead and give it a look, but otherwise don’t bother.

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