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Before I start the review, I'd just like to say congratulations to Anthony McConnell for being April's General Manager of the Month in WRESTLEMAN Fantasy Wrestling. New sign ups are always welcome - more details are in the Fantasy Wrestling section of this site.
Well, well, well. I did not exactly have a great night on Sunday with my Backlash predictions, did I? It is possible I could fabricate myself some points here and there, but basically, I scored a big fat zero!
Masters-Carlito was a bit of screw-job finish as I thought it would be. Mickie did retain her title – but lost the match. Kane-Big Show was a no-contest, but if there was a winner it would be Kane (by DQ or count-out). So there is three points where I could argue it making up 1 point combined.
But even so 1 out of 7 is pretty terrible, so it might as well stay as a zero.
Anyway, on with the review:
Grade Key:
0-40 - Get a refund!
40 + - E – Poor, bad value for money -
40-49 - D – Disappointing – Not worth staying up for -
50-59 - C – Passable - Worth the money -
60-65 - C+ - Decent, Worth staying up for -
65-69 - B – Good – Worth another watch -
70-75 - B+ - Very good, great event - Wrestlemania 22
76-80 - A – Brilliant, Top draw -
80 + - A* - Perfect, All time greats –
BACKLASH REVIEW
CARLITO vs CHRIS MASTERS – I thought this one would be used as the opener, mainly because the crowd would be more involved that way. But, the problem with going first is that they can not upstage what is happening after them. The match quality is not what I was hoping for. Given a more prominent position on the card, and a bit of clever booking, this match could done wonders for both of their careers. But, as it turned out, this was just a throwaway match, which made Masters look pretty stupid. It wasn’t greatly performed either – especially Masters’ little ‘siesta’ about halfway through. Hopefully, the feud has finished now – because both men need to move on, its just a shame that the blow-off didn’t live up to much.
Match Rating – 5.5
RIC FLAIR vs UMAGA – I don’t really see the point in squash matches. In my opinion Ric Flair was just made to look weak – rather than Umaga made to look strong. I was surprised that somebody of Flair’s stature would so cleanly job to a new superstar. Despite that, the short match was well performed. Umaga looks okay in the ring, but I don’t see the character catching-on in the modern day – he’s just not believable enough.
Match Rating – 5
MICKIE JAMES vs TRISH STRATUS – Obviously, this match was unfortunately completely ruined when Trish dislocated her shoulder, forcing them to ‘go home’ several minutes early. The finish was again poorly executed, by all three parties (Mickie, Trish, and the referee). I am positive that these two can put on an excellent women’s match, but they just don’t seem to have luck on their side.
Match Rating – 4.5
ROB VAN DAM vs SHELTON BENJAMIN – Why where these two not handed a ladder to play with in this match? The match in itself was good, but it has got way more potential that what we saw. The superplex by Shelton was phenomenal. I still don’t like the result of the match, as I feel RVD winning the title (but, not really wanting it), devalues the Intercontinental title. I would have much preferred the more logical solution of having a non-clean finish, a Benjamin DQ or Count-out, then let RVD frog-splash him after the match. It looks like they are going to use RVD as a transitional champ, to get the title on Masters, in my opinion. But, they had better be careful not to make RVD look weak before he challenges for the world title.
Match Rating – 7.5
KANE vs BIG SHOW – Despite the good build-up, this match always had the potential to be a stinker. When two experienced superstars (like these two) collide, you can generally expect a decent match. This was not the case this time. The events leading to Kane’s breakdown were slow and lacking any real psychology. Also, it didn’t really seem as though it was Big Show’s last resort to hit Kane with the chair to snap him out of it – hence, it looked a bit too heelish. Not one to remember.
Match Rating – 4.5
VINCE & SHANE MCMAHON vs SHAWN MICHAELS & GOD – The God angle in this match was just stupid, rather than funny. Aside from that, the match was quite entertaining – but was basically the same as we’ve seen twice before at ‘mania and SNME. I’m no sure this feud is really achieving the objective of slowing down Shawn’s schedule – he seems to be putting his body on the line constantly. The father, the son, and the holy Spirit Squad pick up the victory as the match becomes 7-on-1. Shane keeps being booked as almost an equal to one of the greatest wrestlers of all time, that’s not right surely? Worryingly it seems like the result is designed to continue this feud even longer!
Match Rating – 7
MATT STRIKER’S CLASSROOM – This was a good filler segment. WWE always like to give you something light-hearted between their main-events, mainly in order for the crowd to recover. I’m a big fan of Matt Striker’s character, and I also have a lot of respect for Nick Dinsmore, the man behind Eugene. Entertaining and funny.
Segment Bonus Points – 2
JOHN CENA vs EDGE vs TRIPLE H – The main-event was the match of the night. It started well, with Edge just looking on as H and Cena hammer each other. Since when was this a No Holds Barred match? Triple must have lost so much during that match – it was everywhere. I think the edgecution DDT on the (non-breaking) announcers table knocked Triple H clean out for a few seconds, as the referee was about to raise the X signal until Trip started to move a little bit. At the finish I couldn’t help but laugh – looking at all the furious faces in the crowd. They couldn’t believe Cena did it again! So with no more PPVs between now and ONE NIGHT STAND, maybe it will be John Cena who faces RVD for the WWE title?
Match Rating – 8.5
OVERALL RATING - 43.5/70 – 64% - C +
I’d say that that rating is pretty fair. I’ve judged the PPV to worth staying up for. There were some stinkers on the card, but the main event was very good. My immediate feelings after the PPV were that it was disappointing, but in hindsight it was a little better than that. It was still a bit disappointing in the respect that looking at the card beforehand – it looked very strong.
Unfortunately, that’s all for this week’s column, as its deadline week for my assignments at university. I’ve also got some exams coming up, so I had better start revising at some point.
Anyway, thanks for reading. The column will be back next Wednesday. I’m unsure of the topic at the moment, but I’m considering a Modern Era vs Attitude Era comparison.
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