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WWE will promote WrestleMania Backlash this weekend, and there may not be a more appropriate name for a premium live event.
Coming off WrestleMania 38, WWE was riding high. So much history took place over that weekend - The Undertaker's induction into the Hall of Fame, Triple H's farewell to his in-ring career, and the return of Stone Cold Steve Austin. It all came together to craft a magical occasion that the WWE Universe will remember forever.
On top of all of those memories comes the one that closed it all out: Roman Reigns standing victorious over Brock Lesnar, holding both the WWE and Universal Championships.
Having one undisputed champion is a brave new world for the company, even though it's just a return to Wrestling 101 in the traditional sense. Now, Roman must find worthy challengers to draw attention to his title defenses.
Drew McIntyre was the first man to take on that assignement, but the two won't be facing off for the gold at WWE Backlash
McIntyre and Reigns are inexplicably being put into a six-man tag team contest featuring The Bloodline vs. RK-Bro and The Scottish Superman. Rumor has it that this may be to cover for a shoulder injury that The Tribal Chief suffered in the Lesnar match. Even if that's the case, the whole affair still smacks of filler.
This threw a monkey wrench into the original booking. Now, the unification of the tag team titles is off the table (barring a last minute stipulation) and there will be no one-on-one contest between McIntrye and Reigns for the ultimate prize. This has left many fans disappointed.
The disappointment seems to be permeating throughout the entire event. A vocal portion of the WWE Universe has made it clear on social media that they think the card in general is lackluster.
Since Backlash follows 'Mania (which is considered the end of the company's creative calendar year), the purpose of the show is to close the book on old chapters and open things up for the new year.
If that's the case, it's not happening in 2022. This Backlash show just doesn't have the same spice as some of its predecessors.
The Ronda Rousey-Charlotte Flair match has lost a lot of the zest it had just a few years ago, so their 'I Quit' showdown isn't going to carry the card.
Happy Corbin vs. Madcap Moss is a throwaway bout. In the grand scheme of things, neither man is going anywhere on the card right now, so the winner is irrelevant.
The rest of the card merely rehashes contests we've already seen. Even Cody Rhodes vs. Seth Rollins will have a hard time sprinkling magic dust on this one.
In essence, the promotion has taken all the goodwill it acquired from a tremendous WrestleMania weekend and squandered it with a thrown-together event. Let's hope that going forward, these bigger shows are given a little more attention. Particularly WrestleMania Backlash, as it should always set the tone for what comes next in WWE.
Are you looking forward to this weekend's WrestleMania Backlash card? Which match are you anticipating the most? Please share your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.
