5 things we learned from WWE Backlash

With just over a week removed from the previous pay-per-view, which was The Greatest Royal Rumble, WWE Superstars were asked to step it up and put together another marquee event for WWE Network subscribers.

Could they get it done? Was there enough time elapsed from their Saudi trip to put together a great show? Or, would things fall flat and leave fans severely disappointed? We'll let you be the judge as we take a look back at this years WWE Backlash PPV and find 5 things that we learned in the wake of the big dual-branded event.

Here are the 5 things we learned from the 2018 WWE Backlash pay-per-view.

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#5 Braun walks alone

The monster among men

Braun Strowman has proved time and time again that he is more than capable of taking care of himself against all foes. In fact, you can line up multiple men in his path and he is likely to still come out on top.

Apparently, WWE officials are having a difficult time, creatively, figuring out what exactly to do with Strowman. Not only that, but Bobby Lashley is another big man who is currently in creative limbo.

So, what do we do? We take two monstrous singles competitors that are perfectly capable of main eventing on any roster, and throw them together and make a tag team out of them. What could possibly go wrong...everything!

The match that featured Strowman and Lashley taking on Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn was nothing more than an 8-minute mess. The emphasis was placed on the jaded relationship between Zayn and Owens and focused very little on the two monsters in the ring.

At the end of the day, this match did nothing to progress any sort of angle. In fact, fans are left wondering what's next for Strowman? As previously stated, Braun Strowman is a main event caliber performer on anyone's roster, including both WWE main rosters.

Hopefully, the circus that was Backlash will serve as a wake-up call for WWE's creative brains and maybe we will see Strowman in title contention, where he belongs.

#4 Big Cass misses a big opportunity?

Where do we go from here?

I have been anticipating this type of opportunity for Big Cass ever since news broke of his injury last year. Unfortunately, Cass didn't really capitalize the way he should have.

Coming into this match against Daniel Bryan, pretty much everyone expected Bryan to come away with the win. However, the payoff was to come following the contest, when Cass was set to pick Bryan apart.

While Cass stuck with the plan, he just did not have that killer instinct that we expected to see out of a 7-foot Superstar with a chip on his shoulder. In fact, the post-match activities seemed to be too rushed and it really lacked believability.

Big Cass has a wealth of potential. He is a big guy, with a pretty strong in-ring presence. He just needs to work on his timing and his storytelling. If he can find a way to put those pieces into place, Cass can be a real player in this game.

But as for now, the Backlash pay-per-view did not flatter the big guy whatsoever.

#3 Still too many pay-per-views

Backlash ran as a dual-roster PPV.

Since the birth of the WWE Network, the company has been stacking on the monthly special events, which are more commonly known as 'pay-per-views'.

I can only assume the reason for this was an attempt to lure more potential WWE Network subscribers. I guess I can see that reasoning, but there's also a significant downside to this madness as well.

In 2017 there were a total of 16 pay-per-view events produced by the company. This year, we will see 13.

With this said, it is important to keep in mind that the whole idea behind these special events has always typically been to have a somewhat lengthy build, which culminates with a climax at the PPV event.

With the massive amount of PPV events currently on schedule, it makes it difficult to have a proper storyline build, which makes for a lackluster PPV...similar to what we witnessed at the 2018 Backlash PPV.

#2 Big Money Roman can't deliver

Roman Reigns had another main event opportunity at Backlash

It's no secret that WWE's powers-that-be desperately want you and I...and everyone else to not only accept Roman Reigns as 'The Guy', but they want us to practically worship this guy.

Sure, the man has a great look, but aside from that, Roman is very rough around the edges and it was proved once again at Backlash, that he lacks that ever-elusive it-factor needed to deliver on the main event stage.

Reigns went head-to-head against Samoa Joe at Backlash in what was supposed to be the main event of the evening. What was supposed to be the climax of a big show, ended up looking more like a dark match after a Monday Night RAW event.

This match was set up for Roman to take control and prove once-and-for-all that he is WWE's alpha Superstar.

Unfortunately for everyone watching, the match fell quite short of those expectations. Reigns and Joe absolutely no chemistry together, which was sort of expected.

But, even with the lack of chemistry, someone who is the caliber of Superstar that Roman is, is expected to rise above and carry the match, which would subsequently prove all of the naysayers wrong. Sorry, Vince, maybe it's time to look elsewhere for your prize stallion.

#1 The Intercontinental Championship is WWE's most exciting title

Rollins and The Miz steal the show!

On a night where WWE featured a marquee WWE Championship match, as well as a big main event with Samoa Joe taking on Roman Reigns, it was actually the Intercontinental Championship bout that brought fans to their feet.

Seth Rollins is well on his way to having the best year of his career. Since becoming the Intercontinental Champion, The Kingslayer has been on fire!

However, that white strap he wears around his waist was actually brought back to prominence by his challenger, The Miz.

With these two battling for a title that has been elevated to such a high standard, it was obvious that fireworks would go off when the bell rang to start the match.

From beginning to end, for 20-minutes, The Miz and Seth Rollins laid everything on the line and delivered a show-stopping performance in the first match of the show, which made it nearly impossible to follow.