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Did we witness the Greatest Wrestling Match Ever at WWE Backlash?
Last month, WWE strangely decided to hype Edge versus Randy Orton as the Greatest Wrestling Match Ever before it even occurred. It certainly raised the hype of this match to very unattainable levels.
That being said, it was an excellent match put on by two true veterans. To be able to wrestle for 45 minutes straight is quite impressive. It was one of the real highlights on an occasionally plain Pay-Per-View i.e. Backlash. It seems like WWE has already started setting the stage for Summerslam.
As I am still trying to figure out what happened to the Street Profits and Viking Raiders as the cameras cut away, I will present my list of the top five most surprising moments of WWE Backlash 2020.
#5 A double count-out finish
They just can’t let Asuka have a clean victory as the Women's Champion, can they?
Asuka has unarguably been the MVP of the Performance Center Era in WWE. It started looking as if the Empress of Tomorrow was finally being rewarded for her great work when she won the Women’s Money in the Bank ladder match and the WWE Raw Women’s Championship last month.
However, in recent weeks, she has lost to Charlotte Flair and hasn’t gotten any real revenge on Nia Jax either. Did that finally change on Sunday night at Backlash? Sadly no.
Asuka got in some offense at Backlash but Nia Jax controlled the majority of the match with her unique power moves. They both fought to the outside of the ring and got so busy fighting each other there that the referee was able to complete his ten count, resulting in a double count-out. It is surprising to see a non-finish these days and it is disappointing that Asuka cannot seem to catch a break or get a big victory.
#4 The Miz costs John Morrison the Universal Championship
Heading into Backlash, the Universal Championship program seemed like a complete placeholder. The Miz and John Morrison basically played pranks on Braun Strowman to garner heat. Do you think that Braun Strowman would be terrified if someone attempts to dump slime over him? We saw nothing on Sunday night that changed the aforementioned view.
The match was what you would expect it to be. John Morrison and The Miz got in a little offense on Braun Strowman. The surprise came towards the closing moments of the bout. WWE added a last-minute stipulation that only the person who pins Strowman could become the new WWE Universal Champion.
This led to the moment when Morrison was about to get the win until The Miz pulled him off Strowman. The Miz realized his mistake and attempted to rectify it. However, it was too late, then. Strowman, unsurprisingly, retained his title. Will The Miz and John Morrison have problems going forward after Backlash? It might be the only interesting thing to come out of this feud.
#3 The entire segment featuring The Street Profits and The Viking Raiders
It certainly made sense to have The Street Profits fight The Viking Raiders for the Raw Tag Team Titles at WWE Backlash. It was a pleasant surprise to see WWE add this match to the card on the day of the show itself. After weeks of friendly competitions, it was beyond time to see them have an actual match. Instead, we got a lot of ninjas.
It was time for a surprise cinematic match at WWE Backlash. This one was certainly “WWE style comedy” played to the most extreme to date. We had bowling balls to the groin, Dawkins spearing Ivar through a glass, fights involving lots of ninjas, an appearance by Akira Tozawa, in-match flashbacks, lots of turkey legs, and a surprise alligator attack in a dumpster.
It was strange and we don’t know yet if the two teams survived the gator attack. I really hope we get to see an actual match between the four in the near future but they sure tried their best with the material they were given on Sunday night at Backlash.
#2 Bobby Lashley has his best WWE match since his return
Bobby Lashley hasn’t had quite an amazing luck since rejoining WWE in 2018. Shortly after arriving on the scene two years ago, Lashley found himself in a questionable feud with Sami Zayn. Last year, he got involved in a soap opera-style angle with Lana, Rusev, and Liv Morgan.
It seems as if WWE wasn't interested in utilizing the Destroyer to his full potential. Fortunately, this has changed in recent weeks. We are finally getting to see a better Bobby Lashley, as evident from his performance at WWE Backlash.
Bobby Lashley getting more serious and working with MVP as his manager was an excellent idea. It paid off with a WWE title chance. Bobby Lashley and Drew McIntyre had a really good WWE Championship match on Sunday night.
Bobby Lashley really got to show his technical skills at Backlash. He moves extremely well for someone his size. It is actually quite disappointing that Lana had to distract him and cost him at the end of the match. It simply took away from one of Bobby Lashley's best in-ring performances.
#1 The Greatest Wrestling Match Ever at WWE Backlash turned out really, really good
I loved how WWE presented the start of the match between Randy Orton and Edge at WWE Backlash. Using the old MSG microphone, old school referee outfit, and the late, great Howard Finkel’s voice was fantastic. They even did a real good job of showing different camera angles to enhance the match itself.
While we will likely mock the title of the match for a long time, there is no denying that we saw a 45-minute classic from two WWE veterans at WWE Backlash. When Randy Orton actually cares, he can really be an excellent in-ring talent.
To see Edge at 46 years old in his first regular match in over nine years, put on a performance like that was incredible.
One of the things that made the match so fun was the tribute to other past WWE stars. We got tributes to the likes of Eddie Guerrero, Kurt Angle, Christian, Triple H, and The Rock. We had many excellent false finishes in the match as well.
The idea to use “The Punt”, a banned WWE move, was a fitting finisher to this match. Edge and Randy Orton should be proud of themselves that they were able to put on such an instant classic.
