WWE BACKLASH

 

San Juan, Puerto Rico

BIANCA BELAIR vs. IYO SKY (18:01): Puerto Rico paid the WWE to do this show there. I hope this doesn't mean the WWE never goes back, because this was one of the hottest wrestling crowds I've ever seen. You would have thought that this match was Omega/Okada or Steamboat/Flair or something considering how crazy the crowd was going during it. It felt like this crowd had never seen wrestling before or something and couldn't fathom how amazing it was. I was thinking this was probably a similar reaction to when movies were first invented and the audience saw a train pulling into a station on screen and went insane (that happened in 1895 by the way, and no, the audience probably didn't go insane). This match was good and all, but it wasn't that good. And there is wrestling in Puerto Rico. It's just that the WWE hasn't been there in years. Bianca retained her title but Iyo Sky was the star even though she's supposed to be a heel. **1/2

SETH ROLLINS vs. OMOS (10:31): You can tell Vince is back in charge because Omos is getting pushed. He faced Lesnar at 'Mania and now he's facing another huge star. Omos never wins against these big stars, though, so this "push" is moot. Sure, Omos is a tall dude, but can't Vince see that he fucking sucks? Granted, Vince also put Giant Gonzalez on TV and pushed Andre when Andre was past his prime. Vince loves big dudes. That'll never change. On another note...why is Vince not in jail? It came out that he paid a woman in his company 7 million dollars in a sexual harassment suit to get her to be quiet about it. And yet he's back, pushing tall wrestlers that can't wrestle. I hope Seth goes to AEW someday, because he's a great wrestler and this weird, dancing, Joker-esque gimmick is just fucking baffling to me. *

AUSTIN THEORY vs. BOBBY LASHLEY vs. BRONSON REED (6:51): Bronson Reed beat Okada last year in New Japan. Now he's getting pinned by Austin Theory. Did he make the right decision to return to the company that fired him? Maybe he didn't like living in Japan. Who knows? They were sort of pushing Theory's U.S. title as being the 2nd biggest belt...but now they're having a new RAW world title. Maybe they'll give it to Theory. What ever happened to the Intercontinental title? That seemed to have disappeared. This match was short and pretty forgettable. *1/2

RHEA RIPLEY vs. ZELINA VEGA (7:11): I guess Zelina is from Puerto Rico? The crowd was into this because of that. Besides the hot crowd, this show was fairly mediocre. Where's Charlotte and Becky Lynch and Rhonda Rousey, anyway? They used to be the big stars in this division. *1/2

BAD BUNNY vs. DAMIAN PRIEST "SAN JUAN STREET FIGHT" (25:03): They probably should have made this the main event since Bad Bunny is from Puerto Rico and everyone came to this show to see him. Originally it was supposed to be Bad Bunny & Myserio vs. Damian Priest & Dominic. I think that match would've been better...especially because both Dominic and Rey showed up in this match. Carlito showed up and got the biggest pop of the night. I remember him in WWE but he didn't last too long. Silvio Vega also showed up but I don't remember him in WWF. This was a hardcore match so they used Singapore Canes, a trash can, a chain, and chairs. They did a big spot out in the crowd where Damian Priest slammed Bunny down onto two tables from a sound rig set up. Bad Bunny is a popular musician these days, filling Yankee Stadium, rumored to be dating Kendall Jenner. So I guess it's unique seeing him leaping from the top rope and hitting people with steel chairs. He's not really mainstream popular, though, but if you have kids they probably know who he is. I downloaded his album last year and didn't really like it. Maybe I'm just too old to be cool (it's all in Spanish, too, so there's that). This match was entertaining at least. And at least they learned their lesson from Cardiff and had Bad Bunny win his match in his hometown. **1/2

THE BLOODLINE (THE USO'S & SOLO SIKOA) vs. KEVIN OWENS, SAMI ZAYN & MATT RIDDLE (22:05): I was kind of bored watching this. The Bloodline storyline was the hottest thing the WWE has done in years...but that was a few months ago. Now it feels stale. They really missed the peak by not having Sami or Cody beat Reigns for the title. Because the story of Sami possibly turning on The Bloodline being so white hot, they've recreated that but with The Uso's and Solo Sikoa. They teased Solo turning on The Uso's in this match. Ugh. You know...it worked with Sami. It doesn't mean you just do it again with someone else and it'll work. I'm still bitter about how they botched the pinnacle of The Bloodline storyline. It'll go down in infamy as one of the worst decisions in wrestling. Matt Riddle ended up getting pinned. He's back from rehab and I guess this was his punishment. **

CODY RHODES vs. BROCK LESNAR (9:43): Brock Lesnar was a bloody mess in this match after he rammed his head into the exposed steel turnbuckle. I'm guessing they did this obvious set up for blood because at 'Mania in the Hell in a Cell match they stopped the match to tend to Finn's bloody wound and got a lot of flak for it. The WWE hasn't done blood in years because of advertisers. I guess they could do it here because this show was on Peacock (which does have commercials)? Who knows? Maybe they were jealous of AEW because AEW always does bloodbaths and the crowds love them. Either way, the match was pretty good but short. They started with Cody beating up Brock before the bell and hitting him with the ring steps. Then we got the Brock suplexing and destroying Cody for a while. Then Cody was in the kumura submission hold but flipped it over and pinned Lesnar. This match would've been a lot better if Cody was champ and it was for the title. Roman, the champ, wasn't on the show. I'm pretty flummoxed as to the WWE's popularity and high ratings and big crowds these days because the product has been falling apart ever since Sami lost in February. **1/2