Backlash is over, and it stands a good chance of being WWE's worst main roster pay-per-view of 2018.
With no less than four awful matches and a fair share of bad booking decisions, the event came close to being a total disaster, if not for two matches and a funny, but ultimately meaningless, Elias segment.
Did anyone manage to come out of this train wreck with the wind in their sails?
Loser: Bayley
More wheel spinning. That's what this match was, though it wound up being one of the better-worked matches of the night. No big new developments with Sasha Banks came. Last night was a great opportunity to make that happen.
We'll see if anything develops tonight on Raw, but as it is, Bayley lost a match with no fanfare and if nothing happens tonight, will remain in a suspended state of animation.
Winner: Seth Rollins
For once, Michael Cole isn't spouting hyperbole. Seth Rollins really is the hottest act in the company right now, and out of last night's disaster, managed to create a legitimate match of the year candidate.
Seth Rollins managed to rise above the muck and was the only one to come away from the show with major wind in his sails. He'll continue to be Raw's headliner in all but name.
Loser: Nia Jax
We're already seeing that Nia Jax is far short of Championship material. First, she and Alexa Bliss had a terrible match that met all the fears fans had of the WrestleMania match. Those fears were just delayed by a month.
After the match, she cut the worst promo of 2018 so far, with cringe-worthy content and horrible delivery. The fans in Newark weren't silent and seemingly, any goodwill that was built into Nia Jax over the past few months, dissipated in a chorus of boos.
The longer her reign goes on, the more glaring these issues will be. It's best for her to drop the title soon, preferably to someone other than Alexa Bliss.
Loser: Randy Orton
In a match that should be disgraceful by their standards, Randy Orton and Jeff Hardy delivered a dud directly after the dud of the Raw women's title match. Given that Jeff Hardy managed to pull passable matches out of Jinder Mahal in the past month, we know who the culprit is here.
Randy Orton looked bored and like he didn't want to be there. The crowd responded in kind, giving the Viper his fair share of boos. If a heel turn doesn't come from this, it's a waste.
Regardless, hopefully, this is the end of the feud between them. May Andrade 'Cien' Almas soon arrive to save us from the tedium this could develop into.
Winner: Daniel Bryan
Daniel Bryan proved once again how great he is. Big Cass, unfortunately, made no discernible improvements in the ring, but Daniel Bryan managed to make this a decent match regardless of his opponent's shortcomings. He ultimately got the win via the 'Yes Lock' with Cass tapping out surprisingly quickly.
The feud doesn't look like it's over, as Cass beat Bryan down after the match, but as far as singles comebacks go, this was close to perfect. It certainly leaves us wanting more from Bryan, and after Miz's performance last night, we're already looking ahead.
Loser: Charlotte Flair and Carmella
A month ago, Charlotte Flair broke Asuka's undefeated streak. Now, she's losing clean to Carmella after an awful match and a terribly-sold injury angle.
What?
The whole thing was dreadful, with an absolutely bizarre booking decision on top of one of the worst matches of 2018 so far. It proved that Carmella isn't Championship material. Hopefully she'll drop that title on Tuesday, let alone waiting until Money in the Bank.
Winner: Shinsuke Nakamura
The finish was disappointing, if necessary to continue the feud, but Shinsuke Nakamura walked out of Newark with a much-needed showcase match under his belt.
More fans have begun to question why the King of Strong Style hasn't had a standout match during his year on the main roster, but those doubts were put to bed last night.
This match was by far the best of his recent encounters with AJ Styles, and there's still much left in the tank for this feud. Hopefully, it won't be centered on low blows after this, though. If so, it will have jumped the shark.
Losers: Braun Strowman and Bobby Lashley
So, instead of doing something interesting between Braun Strowman and Bobby Lashley, WWE decided instead to sow dissension between Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, something which we've seen before in the past six months and does nothing for either of them right now.
It's yet another head-scratcher to come out of this show. Braun Strowman and Bobby Lashley need something better to do than be in a randomly-paired tag team, especially since the former relinquished his tag team titles. It just feels like both men are in a holding pattern.
Losers: Roman Reigns and Samoa Joe
That's three pay-per-view matches in a row Roman Reigns has bombed. Samoa Joe didn't do much better either.
The whole thing was overbooked to death, with endless restholds taking up most of the time. The story was obvious - Roman Reigns overcoming the odds, as indeed he did, managing to wake up from the Coquina Clutch.
The problem was nobody bought the story. It got so bad that fans turned on Samoa Joe and some even left the arena during the contest, with chants of "beat the traffic" echoing through the venue.
The match damaged both Roman Reigns, who fans have clearly rejected (and who now have one more reason for doing so) and Samoa Joe, whose momentum was snapped. A hoss fight resembling their earlier encounters would have been far preferable.
When is Hulk Hogan booking going to be left in the 80's where it belongs?
