Backlash X8 - 5/6/2022

[doctorhbomb]

What a great show. Really, really fun from start to finish.

[AaronMLuke]

Have to say that was a great show. Every match was pretty much a banger. Though Bunny/Priest should have closed the show. Loved that they saved the blood for Puerto Rico. 

[username]

The finish for Cody/Brock would have been great if Brock didn't release the arm afterwards and tried to snap it instead. 

[StarChief EagleDemon]

Felt like a flash pin by Cody, I'm wondering what that exactly does for the story. Is a rematch coming?

Hopefully the Bloodline angle will move out of the stasis it's been in for the past few weeks. I guess Kevin and Sami can say that they followed through with their mission statement of bringing down the Bloodline, technically speaking, but it's seems more like the Bloodline is doing it to themselves.

Otherwise the show was A LOT of fun, which I wasn't completely expecting. 

[Phantom Lord]

Show was a lot of fun from the start. Iyo finally lived up to all her potential in that opener. It's amazing what can happen when they're just allowed to go out and deliver. Only match that was a bit of a dud was Rollins vs. Omos which was to be expected. But Rollins to his credit dragged something out of the big guy and made it passable by the end. No idea where Omos goes from here though.

Zelina had a star making moment with that crowd reaction tonight. I would have said the hell with it and had her win, but I guess they'll do the lame belt switch like last time. 

Bad Bunny is better than he has any right to be. That was fun watching that match.

Six man was good and was to be expected with Solo getting the win.

Didn't expect Cody/Brock to turn into a blood bath. But it added nicely to the match when the momentum swung for Cody's favor.

Overall a really good show. I wish more crowds were that alive.

[Eivion]

Bianca/Io was fucking great and the best Io has looked in years. Easily MOTN and I loved how much the crowd adored Io to the point of booing Bianca despite liking her as well. This was the first time Io felt like a real star on the main roster. Hopefully they can pull from this and push her on her own this year. 

Seth/Omos was way the hell better than expected. Omos looked like a beast and was a good prick riling up the crowd. Seth bumped around well for everything and had some solid comeback attempts. Thought the finish did very well in protecting Omos. Really solid match, maybe even good. 

US Title match was super fun. Everyone got some nice moments to shine with Theory weaseling out as expected. 

Rhea/Zelina was solid. Rhea dominated as expected with Zelina getting her big moments in early on and at the end. Kind of wish they gave Zelina more to do with how much of a star she came off of in front a Puerto Rico, but it was still nice as moment overall, especially the post match ovationt hey gave her. 

Bad Bunny vs. Priest ended up being more of a proper match/brawl than i expected. Bunny looked way better here than he did at Wrestlemania two years ago. Crowd was hot, Action was good. Priest gave Bunny enough while also making him earn it nearly every time. loved the overbooked bits with Judgement Day, LWO, Carlito, and Savio. This was good and super fun all around. if not for Io/Bianca it would have been my favorite match on the show. Only complaint I have is that ti totally should have been the final match. 

Usos/Solo vs. Sami/KO/Riddle was pretty solid. Felt kind of weird to see them in the death spot between a hot match and the main event, but they still had the crowd into things despite not being as molten as they were before. 

Cody/Brock was probably the best Brock match in years. Not amazing but well worked within the current suplex city style of Brock. Dug Cody attacking before the match began. That bit of hope he built up early on only to be destroyed was neat. Thought they did well building it again, especially with Brock either doing a blade job or getting busted open hard way. The two made the most of it either way. The finish was probably the best way to have things go. Good match though it shouldn't have been the main event. Honestly had they switched it and Bunny/Priest I'm not entirely convinced the crowd wouldn't been even hotter for the match. 

 

Aside from my issues with match placement I thought this was a pretty good show overall. The crowd was good and felt unique to even compared to more positive WWE crowds. Really helped create a different atmosphere. Al lot of people both tonight and last night on Smackdown felt like bigger stars than normal as well. Really hope WWE comes back to Puerto Rico next year and dips into other countries for televised events just a pinch more often. 

[Casey]

I’m surprised no one has mentioned Bianca almost paralyzing Iyo Sky.

[DreamBroken]

Bianca/IYO was amazing. Almost ruined by shitty unnecessary interference but a truly great match with an all time crowd for it. Peak stuff.

Didn't care for the middle stuff, Theory sucks. Zelina should've won, her reaction felt lightning in a bottle like. Then Bad Bunny & Priest deliver the ultimate spectacle to bring things back. I thought when they went to the stage bump that it was going to the finish from there and it was gonna end up just ok but then the epic appearances and pops for Carlito and Savio (WITH Los Boricuas theme!) took it to the next level. Bad Bunny is the best, amazing entrance too with the crowd singing along. Definitely should've headlined with this, I had no interest for the trios match following this. All time performance for Bunny. Zelina should've won.  Hated that she wasn't there for the big post-match LWO celebration. 

Cody/Brock was solid, better than most recent Brock matches. Didn't love the finish but it was ok I guess. Felt like Cody narrowly escaping with the victory when the 'story' was Cody bringing the fight to Brock. And then they say "now Cody can get back on the path to finishing the story!", except he's not on that story's brand anymore and the 'other' title is not that. That interest died at WM anyway. zelina.

[Eivion]

26 minutes ago, Casey said:

I’m surprised no one has mentioned Bianca almost paralyzing Iyo Sky.

That was a nasty moment. I know she was selling the damage to her arm, but she should have said fuck it and just used it regardless. 

[Ziggy]

Great PPV,  I got to go back and watch the 6 man and Brock vs Cody. I love a Iive crowd man. It make everything so much better. People on Twitter say they need to run Wrestlemania there.

That Bad Bunny match should've closed the show. I was concerned the crowd would cool off after Bad Bunny vs Priest but they were still up. Props to Bunny for pushing for this to take place in PR. I'd imagine between AEW exceeding most people's expectations with ticket sales and the Crowd being so lit tonight. PR is probably getting more Televised shows more often 

[Cobra Commander]

 

[southofheavy]

Jeeeeez o pete's, this crowd is so AWESOME. Goddamn. 

Just finished Iyo/Bianca. I figured it'd be a ripper and I was correct. It was so, so cool to see Iyo get that kind of reaction. Hopefully, bigger things are in store for her. (GIVE US THE DAMN IYO/ASUKA MATCH, DAMMIT.)

[HumanChessgame]

Not enough good can be said about how hot the crowd was.

Bianca/Io was a great match even if the ending was never in doubt. If and when Damage Control breaks up, Io should definitely be the one to break out and be at the top of the division.

Rollins got the most he could out of Omos.

I would have been down with a Lashley/Reed HOSSFIGHT~ but no matter how much they try to cram Theory down our throats he's still mediocre as hell. 

Zelina's reaction to the amazing pop she got was something else. Like the other women's title match there was no doubt about the outcome, and Rhea doesn't need to lose the title this quick, but I think they could have given Zelina a DQ win to make the crowd happy.

The street fight was the spectacle it needed to be and like others have said would have been better to close the show but I think it would have worked better as a six man. Bunny did good here but even with the gimmick I have trouble buying a non-athlete being able to competitively fight Priest. Savio was an interesting surprise as I'd thought he was under contract to MLW. Something tells me he'll get an HOF nod soon.

Six man was fine but I have no interest in anything Bloodline-related.

When Cody went after Brock before the bell I thought they might switch up the formula a bit here, but aside from Brock doing the job and getting color it was a regular Brock match for the most part.

[Dolphman 3000]

10 minutes ago, HumanChessgame said:

The street fight was the spectacle it needed to be and like others have said would have been better to close the show but I think it would have worked better as a six man. Bunny did good here but even with the gimmick I have trouble buying a non-athlete being able to competitively fight Priest.

I didn't realize it until earlier, but Bad Bunny holds the attendance record at that San Juan venue for a concert he performed last July

It's like if Billy Joel would have wrestled Roddy Piper at Madison Square Garden in 1984 - no way Billy does the job

[TheVileOne]

Kind of a throwaway transitional show in the grand scheme of things. We still got absolutely no development in this whole Lesnar vs. Cody feud. The crowd was hot at least and was appreciative to just have a big WWE event. The Carlito and Savio Vega appearances were also fun. It was cool to see Savio Vega in WWE again.

Brock does a blade job and gushes buckets in a WWE match again and no one is going to do or say shit because it's Lesnar.

Good performance by Bad Bunny against Damian Priest. 

US title match was a total throwaway Raw match. Theory felt like he didn't even belong in there and it should've been Lashley vs. Reed.

[SirFozzie]

Considering the events of the past week, I almost don't want to talk wrestling..

 

But just some thoughts.

 

Please, God, let Zayn/Owens feud with the Bloodline end. It's multiple months past its sell by date.

I want to see Iyo Sky vs Bayley when one or the other turns. I want to see multiple month feud.

Vega was way over.

Bunny was way way way over. As was Carlito, the LWO and Savio Vega. But here's my hangup.

 

WWE has become a place where celebrities come in and do things just as well, if not better than the wrestlers. Now, there was signs of this going back to the very first WrestleMania, Mr T. But in the last few months, we've had Pat McAfee, Jake Paul, and now Bad Bunny come in and have good to great matches. Now in a couple of cases, these were spectacle matches, made specifically to hide weaknesses. But what does it say about WWE Superstars, that celebrities can come in and do their job better than they could? Also, while we're a long way away from the old days where riots and the like was an outcome from too much heat, what's to stop a drunk fan from saying "Hey, those celebrities could hang with these guys, I bet I could kick their ass."

And yeah, as @Dolphman 3000 says above, it's like Billy Joel coming in 1984 and Piper doing a job to him. No offense to Bad Bunny (although his punches were a new level of shittiness, but I don't think we're going to expect great worked punches), but a 20 minute "Street Fight"?

[GuerrillaMonsoon]

I'm trying to work out whether they called an audible and had Savio Vega do a run-in after hearing the nuclear pop for him appearing backstage, or they just legitimately knew that Savio was going to get a monster pop no matter what, and if so, that's crazy. 

Also - wrong entrance music. Crowd would have gone banana had it been his babyface singles music.

[matt925]

That was such a fun show with that crowd. Iyo vs Bianca was awesome and the crowd brought it up to the level of greatness. I’m gonna rewatch that match again tomorrow. 
 

Bad bunny was great yet again, I liked everything else on the show. The reaction zelina got after the match was nice. Just a fun entertaining show. 

[Infinit]

After winning the Royal Rumble at number 30....and then losing to Roman in the Mania main event....how does a flash pin help Cody?

[Casey]

26 minutes ago, Infinit said:

After winning the Royal Rumble at number 30....and then losing to Roman in the Mania main event....how does a flash pin help Cody?

Cody is in his Hard Times era.

[Pete]

3 hours ago, SirFozzie said:

Considering the events of the past week, I almost don't want to talk wrestling..

Honestly, a wrestling show in San Juan with a sold out crowd emitting Godzilla-level heat is a perfect way to honor Dean when you think about it. Love the staging too... they went out of their way to make this feel different from a standard B-show PPV.

What were they chanting for the babyface punches?

[Just Adam Bay Bay]

3 hours ago, SirFozzie said:

Considering the events of the past week, I almost don't want to talk wrestling..

 

But just some thoughts.

 

Please, God, let Zayn/Owens feud with the Bloodline end. It's multiple months past its sell by date.

I want to see Iyo Sky vs Bayley when one or the other turns. I want to see multiple month feud.

Vega was way over.

Bunny was way way way over. As was Carlito, the LWO and Savio Vega. But here's my hangup.

 

WWE has become a place where celebrities come in and do things just as well, if not better than the wrestlers. Now, there was signs of this going back to the very first WrestleMania, Mr T. But in the last few months, we've had Pat McAfee, Jake Paul, and now Bad Bunny come in and have good to great matches. Now in a couple of cases, these were spectacle matches, made specifically to hide weaknesses. But what does it say about WWE Superstars, that celebrities can come in and do their job better than they could? Also, while we're a long way away from the old days where riots and the like was an outcome from too much heat, what's to stop a drunk fan from saying "Hey, those celebrities could hang with these guys, I bet I could kick their ass."

And yeah, as @Dolphman 3000 says above, it's like Billy Joel coming in 1984 and Piper doing a job to him. No offense to Bad Bunny (although his punches were a new level of shittiness, but I don't think we're going to expect great worked punches), but a 20 minute "Street Fight"?

Is Priest really anywhere near Piper in 84 level? Piper was the company’s top heel, and Priest is at best third in his group (fourth if we remove gender) in heat. I don’t see where a loss hurts him, plus with that crowd there was less than zero chance Bad Bunny was doing the job. To me having Theory lose to McAfee at WM 38 was more questionable since they were trying to push Theory, and McAfee is a joke on commentary and on his own tv show weekdays.

For last nights show I loved it. It felt like the best B level show they’ve put on in ages. I agree with people saying Zelina should have won, but then Smackdown ends up with both women’s titles in that scenario since the LWO and Bianca both got drafted there. 

Maybe after her showing last night they surprise us and give Zelina the briefcase in July. If not her then whichever member of Damage Control is turning (Bayley or Iyo).

My final thought is they can definitely declare the Omos experiment to be done now too. They tried, it’s not working. 

 

[GuerrillaMonsoon]

Billy Joel was 22-0 as an amateur boxer.

I'd absolutely pay money to see someone kick the shit out of him while singing the lyrics to Just The Way You Are at him.

[Brandon Bones]

I broke my WWE fast to see this crowd.  It’s interesting to me how this year seems to be the time when under appreciated markets like the UK and PR are finally getting some attention. 
 

I kind of dug the brevity of Brock/Cody.  But um… didn’t I hear they had a thing about blood these days?  You can never keep that straight with WWE.  I mean for me personally.  Whatever.  I couldn’t give a fuck about the ethics of bleeding in matches hardway or otherwise.  But did Lesner have a gimmick in the corner he could run his head into to get the juice?  His hand movements didn’t suggest a manual.  My AEW eyes make it impossible for me to NOT still see Cody as an AEW act.  
 

I really liked Rhea Ripleys act.  She is a total package and feel she could be the face of the company to supplant Roman.  I’ve missed so much of her evolution over the last few years.  But whatever she is doing?  Do more of that.
 

So if Dom is a total simp for the Mami character.  Has it at all been suggested that they’ve actually fucked in kayfabe?

 

While I understand the thought process in the light that’s shed on the locker room if famous people keep coming in and stealing the show.  I’d also say it’s a bit of a trade off for whatever penetration it gets you into other fanbases and demographics.  I’m sure Priest isn’t too upset about having his name spoken about in association if Bunny’s music stats and cred are to be believed.   Priest is another guy that’s come up since I stopped watching and he looked like a total star.

I also think it’s novel and not unwelcome for the fed to actually show respect to the territory they are visiting.  Something they spent a lot of time forgetting to do.

Rats off to them.

EDIT: I too would pay to see that rat faced hack Billy Joel get pleather beat out of him.

Edited May 7, 2023 by Brandon Bones
Triggered by mention of Billy Joel

[Matt D]

Why were the fans so anti-Bianca? I haven't been paying attention.