WWE WrestleMania Backlash (May 2022)

Original Airdate: May 8, 2022

From Providence, Rhode Island; Your Hosts are Jimmy Smith, Byron Saxton, and Corey Graves (RAW); Michael Cole and Pat McAfee (Smackdown)

Opening Match: Seth Rollins v Cody Rhodes: Feeling out process to start, with Rollins frustrating him. To the outside, Seth eats the steps, but manages to clothesline Rhodes when Cody tries a big charge. Inside, Rollins hooks the leg for two, and he works a headvice. Cody escapes and uses a hanging vertical suplex, followed by a springboard roundhouse kick for two. Cody tries another springboard, but Seth dumps him over the top to block, and Rhodes gets sent into the barricade out there. Inside, Rollins works a sleeper, but Cody escapes, and sunset cradles for two. Cody takes Seth upstairs for an impressive hanging vertical superplex, but that damages both men. They stagger to a vertical base to trade chops, and Rhodes gets the better of him. Cody with a powerslam, and a clothesline sends Rollins over the top. Cody dives after him, but Rollins dodges, and Rhodes wipes out on the floor. That allows Rollins a tope, but Cody blocks, and delivers a springboard cutter for two on the way back inside. Rollins fights back with a superkick for two, and a reversal sequence ends in Seth delivering a falcon arrow for two. Rollins with a pair of short-knees, so Cody tries another springboard, but gets caught in a buckle bomb. That allows Rollins a flying frogsplash for two, but a flying twisting 450 splash misses, and Rhodes superkicks him. Rhodes goes upstairs, but Seth superplexes him off. He shifts it into a falcon arrow, but Cody counters with the Cross Rhodes - only for Rollins to end up in the ropes at two. Rollins bails, but Cody is on him, feeding him the announce table a few times before taking it back inside. Rhodes with a flying moonsault, but Rollins dodges, and delivers a pedigree for two. He fires off jabs, but Rhodes gets fired up, and Crosses him. Reversal sequence ends in Rollins hooking a rollup for two, and Cody rolls through into his own for the pin at 20:45. Like the WrestleMania match, this was solid, but too long. The last third was tremendous stuff, though the finish left me a little flat. ** ½ 

Bobby Lashley v Omos: Bobby sticks and moves at the bell, so MVP distracts him, and Omos clobbers. Omos with a corner whip to allow him a corner elbowsmash, and he adds a pair of avalanches. Omos works a headvice, but Bobby fights to a vertical base, so Omos dumps him over the top. Lashley beats the count, so Omos picks him up for a snake eyes, and he big boots him. Another snake eyes, but Bobby slips out this time, and he dives onto his back with a sleeper. That staggers Omos, and Lashley unloads in the corner, but gets distracted by MVP again. That allows Omos to recover, but Lashley fights off the attack, and delivers a reverse STO. Full nelson looks to finish, so Omos fights to a vertical base to try and leverage an escape, and manages one in the corner. Omos unloads there, but Lashley fights back, and makes a comeback. Spear, but Omos uses a knee to block, and he chucks Bobby into the post. That allows MVP a cheap shot, and Omos chokeslams him for the win at 8:50. I liked this better than the WrestleMania match, though I thought the spot where Lashley had him in the full nelson and was fighting to keep him from getting vertical was the high point, and the finish should have branched directly out of it, because the match lost steam afterwards. ¾*

Edge v AJ Styles: Damian Priest is banned from ringside for this. They slug it out right away, and Styles dropkicks him out of the ring. AJ follows to ram him into the steps and barricade out there, and a reverse STO into the announce table connects. Edge tries to distance himself, but Styles is on him with a baseball slide, and he delivers a springboard moonsault press on the floor. And he actually connects with it, unlike pretty much everyone else these days. AJ with the Phenomenal Forearm on the way back in, but Edge blocks. That allows Edge to go to work on AJ’s bad shoulder, and he sends AJ into the post with a catapult after they spill to the outside. Inside, Edge stays on the shoulder, until Styles manages to throw a pele kick, buying him a little time. He tries capitalizing with a bodypress, but Edge has the same idea, and they collide to leave both men down. AJ is up first anyway, and he throws a pair of clotheslines, as he makes a comeback. Wheelbarrow facebuster gets him two, and a rana off the top is worth two. Reversal sequence ends in AJ delivering a fireman’s neckbreaker for two, but Edge comes back with an inverted DDT neckbreaker. He goes for the shoulder again, but AJ blocks a submission hold, and hooks the Calf Crusher. Edge makes the ropes, but misses a spear, allowing Styles a schoolboy for two. Edge nails the spear on the second go, however, but still only gets two. Another one, but Styles throws a knee to block, and the Styles Clash is worth two. Phenomenal Forearm, but AJ’s arm is too hurt to deliver it, so he decides to climb to the top instead. He gets distracted when Priest shows up, but Finn Balor chases him away, and AJ perches for a dive - only for a masked man to knock him off! Styles bangs up his shoulder on the way down to make it all the worse, and Edge traps him in an arm-trap sleeper at 15:20. Much better than the boring WrestleMania match. Afterwards, the masked man unmasks as a woman: Rhea Ripley. **

WWE Smackdown Women's Title I Quit Match: Charlotte Flair v Ronda Rousey: The announcers review all the different languages that the official will accept a submission in, because they’re really weird. Rousey dominates her right away, but Flair blocks a corner charge, and she clotheslines her challenger down. Suplex, but Rousey reverses. She scoops Flair in a fireman’s carry, but the champ slips free, and German suplexes her. Rousey with a few takedowns to avoid getting hooked in a hold, and she looks for the cross-armbreaker, but Flair spills to the outside to avoid it. Flair sends Rousey into the barricade a few times out there, and she unloads some chops, but Ronda refuses to quit. Into the post, but Rousey reverses, and dumps Flair into the timekeeper’s pit. She wastes time gloating, however, and gets clobbered with a big boot on the floor. Flair grabs a kendo stick, but misses a shot with it, and Rousey gets hold of it. Flair goes on the run as Ronda stalks her, but finds two kendo sticks hidden on the entrance stage. She wins a duel, but Rousey grabs the sticks to avoid a strike, and grabs them to return fire on Flair. Charlotte gets wrecked, but refuses to quit, and she grabs a camera from the cameraman to chuck at her challenger in an act of desperation. Flair bails into the crowd, but Rousey chases, so Flair throws a drink in her face to cool her down. They brawl around the crowd for a bit, until Ronda gets hold of a chair, and chases the champ back to ringside. Flair kicks the chair away from her before the challenger can use it, and she powerbombs Rousey into the barricade, but she won’t quit. Flair gives her some trash talk, so Rousey slaps her across the face, and unloads punches to the stomach. Fireman’s carry, but Flair escapes with an eyerake, and Ronda eats post. That buys Flair the time to climb, but Rousey hangs her in a tree of woe before she can dive. Rousey capitalizes by trapping her in an armbreaker while she’s in the tree, but Flair won’t give up, and is able to hang on long enough until they both end up collapsing on the floor. Both are battered, but Flair manages to nail her with a chair to get the better of the situation. Flair with the Natural Selection on a chair on the way back into the ring, and the figure eight looks to finish, but Rousey won’t quit. She manages to break the hold with a chair, so Flair big boots her again, and threatens to break her arm with the chair. She sets it up, but makes the mistake of adding ‘happy Mother’s Day’ before striking, and that fires Rousey up! The challenger gets her in an armbreaker from there, and Flair quits at 16:33. Still not on par with the Survivor Series match from 2018, and Ronda still looks out of shape compared to her first run, but a fun brawl, and definitely better than the ‘Mania match. ** ½ 

Happy Corbin v Madcap Moss: This is the first match on the card that isn’t a ‘Mania rematch. Both of these guys are dressed uncomfortably like gigolos. And I mean, uncomfortable for me to look at, yeah, but also uncomfortable to wrestle in. They trade off for a bit, mostly dominated by Moss. He tries a charge, so Corbin backdrops him over the top, but Moss lands on the apron. He tries striking from there, but Corbin fights it off, and delivers a chokeslam, before properly dumping Moss to the outside. Moss eats the rail out there, and Corbin catches him with a backelbow for two on the way back inside. Cross corner whip leaves Moss a mess, and Corbin works a crossface. Moss fights free, so Corbin corner whips him again, and delivers a clothesline for two. Corbin with a weird slam variation to set up a senton splash for two, but a charge misses, allowing Moss to send him over the top. Moss follows to attack on the outside, and he continues the comeback as they head inside. Fallaway slam gets him two, but Corbin counters a neckbreaker with a uranage for two. Superplex, but Moss blocks, so Corbin uses a Deep Six for two. Avalanche follows, but Moss dodges a second one, and hooks a sunset flip at 9:44. ½*

Main Event: Six-Man Tag Team Match: Roman Reigns, Jimmy Uso, and Jey Uso v Drew McIntyre, Randy Orton, and Riddle: “This is insanity! Randy Orton, in a six-man tag!” How do they say these things with straight faces? Orton and Jimmy Uso start, and Randy teases grabbing Drew’s sword, but that goes nowhere. Orton gets the better of the first exchange, and passes to Riddle to moonsault Jimmy for two. Cross corner whip, but Jimmy reverses, and he pops Riddle with a chop. Another cross corner whip fails, however, and Riddle deadlifts him into a gutwrench suplex. Tag to Drew for some more abuse to Jimmy, and he also uses a deadlift, his into a vertical suplex. Drew neglects to cut the ring in half because he wants Roman, and Reigns obliges. They square off, but then Reigns passes to Jey before any contact is made, toying with Drew. Jey gets to be Roman’s whipping boy for that one, and Drew launches him with a suplex while locking eyes with Roman. Tag to Riddle to stomp Jey’s hand, and a gutwrench suplex follows. Jimmy blind tags himself in, allowing him to clobber Riddle from behind, and he draws Riddle into the heel corner for some abuse. They cut the ring in half on Riddle, until Jimmy misses a corner splash, and McIntyre gets the tag. Roman is the legal man opposite, and he’s got no one to tag out to, both of the Usos down. That gives us a big slugfest, and Drew no-sells a cross corner whip, and rebounds at him. Suplex and a neckbreaker work, so Jimmy runs in, but Drew dispatches him with another neckbreaker. Claymore kick, but Jey distracts him, allowing Roman a Superman Punch. That knocks Drew to the outside, and Roman is on him, sending him into the rail out there. Inside, Roman pounds him, but gets distracted while taunting Orton, and McIntyre blasts him with the Claymore! That allows tags to Jimmy and Randy, and Orton runs wild! Powerslam leads to the RKO, so Jey runs in, but Randy powerslams him as well. That buys Jimmy time to run, but Randy drags him back in with a ropehung DDT. He sets the RKO back up, but Roman runs in, so Randy hits him with it as well. That allows Jimmy to recover again, but Orton no-sells a superkick, and delivers an RKO - Jey able to save his brother at two! Drew looks to Claymore Jey, but gets blocked with a superkick, and a stereo version from both Usos knocks Drew to the outside. Tags made, making Jey and Riddle the legal men. Riddle runs wild, delivering a muscle buster, and a flying corkscrew senton splash for two. Jey fights back with a pop-up neckbreaker for two, but Randy is back to help his partner. He takes a trouble-making Jimmy to the outside to post, but Roman comes over with a Superman out there. Drew responds by sending Reigns into the steps, and he tries a powerbomb through the announce table, but Jimmy cuts that off. That allows Reigns to put Drew through the table, and we get a dogpile sequence. Jey and Riddle end up inside, and they trade strikes. Jey gets to the top, but Riddle RKOs him off before he can dive. That should do it, but Roman charges in with a spear before a cover can be made, and Riddle is done at 22:10. This was watchable, and had a strong last act, but could have cut about five minutes out of the early part of the match without sacrificing anything important. ** ¼ 

BUExperience: As a card, this was pretty lackluster, with a slew of rematches, and only one title defended. But, the matches themselves were better than their WrestleMania counterparts straight across the board, and this was the WWE’s best overall effort since before the pandemic. 

**