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WWE WrestleMania Backlash had a lot to live up to following what a very successful and historic two-night WrestleMania 37 event was.
The company was back at the ThunderDome for the first pay-per-view since the grandest stage of them all. However, the performers showed up and delivered a highly entertaining card from top to bottom.
With six matches on the night and five of them being with titles on the line, there were high stakes and compelling stories to be told. Since arriving at the ThunderDome at Summerslam last year, WWE has consistently produced solid events, with WrestleMania Backlash being no exception.
Regardless of the fans' reception to the creative in WWE, the talented roster seems to always overcome it all and perform at a high level with the lights on bright. In this article, let's take a look at the star ratings for every match at WWE WrestleMania Backlash.
Sheamus vs. Ricochet - United States Championship (WWE WrestleMania Backlash Kickoff)
WWE announced on Sunday that the WrestleMania Backlash Kickoff show would feature Sheamus providing an open challenge for the gold. It was none other than the former US Champion Ricochet who accepted the challenge.
The WrestleMania Backlash Kickoff contest was a nice blend of styles. Ricochet showcased his high-flying arsenal to keep the champion on the back foot.
The speed at which Ricochet could move around the ring was on display and kept the action moving. Sheamus countered with his hard-hitting move set to keep his challenger down and take control.
In the end, Sheamus caught Ricochet with a pumping knee to the face out of nowhere to get the pin. The WrestleMania Backlash Kickoff encounter was kept short at just over seven minutes, but the two stars packed a lot of action into this short duration. This was a solid affair to get the WWE Universe ready for the main card.
Star rating: ***
Rhea Ripley vs. Asuka vs. Charlotte Flair - RAW Women's Championship (WWE WrestleMania Backlash)
One of the most anticipated matches at WrestleMania Backlash had to be a triple threat affair for the RAW Women's Championship with Rhea Ripley defending against Charlotte Flair and Asuka.
At WrestleMania, Ripley defeated Asuka to win the gold. However, the match did not leave a lasting expression, with their subsequent encounters leaving a lot to desire.
During the WrestleMania Backlash opener, the three ladies went on a mission to steal the show. Ripley, Asuka, and Charlotte wrestled at a breakneck pace.
The three superstars exchanged moves and drifted away from the typical triple threat tropes. The sequences in this contest felt fresh, with a spectacular double superplex being one of the highlights.
Asuka looked the best that she has looked in months with her hard-hitting offense mixed with submissions. The reversals from Charlotte and Rhea out of the Asuka Lock were gripping.
In full Cruella Deville-inspired gear, Charlotte was at her evil best, being the antagonist of this three-way at WrestleMania Backlash. Rhea would cut off both ladies when their advantage became too much.
The finish was very well done. Asuka tried to remove Charlotte from the equation, but was met with a big boot from Flair on the apron. Asuka was then hit with the Riptide in the middle of the ring by Ripley for her to retain the RAW Women's Championship.
All three performers were at their best, and the action never let up for more than 15 minutes. The opening contest provided a perfect start to what would become another quality WWE pay-per-view offering at WrestleMania Backlash.
Star rating: ***3/4
Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode vs. Rey & Dominik Mysterio - SmackDown Tag Team Championships (WWE WrestleMania Backlash)
During the WrestleMania Backlash Kickoff, The Dirty Dawgs of Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode taunted and attacked Dominik Mysterio, throwing a couch on his body.
This put into question whether the father-son duo would make history on the night. The doctor let Rey Mysterio know that he would have to find a new tag team partner or go it alone, and the masked superstar chose the latter.
The majority of this SmackDown Tag Team Championships match saw The Dirty Dawgs in complete control, beating down Rey Mysterio. With Mysterio grounded and dominated by the champions, Dominik Mysterio made his way down to the ring to come to his father's aid.
Rey hit a top rope bulldog on Roode and made his way to his corner, where Dominik tagged himself in.
The Dirty Dawgs quickly cut Dominik off, but The Mysterios somehow regained momentum before Rey hit the 619 on Roode and tagged in his son.
He followed up by hitting Ziggler with a sliding sunset flip powerbomb into the guardrail on the outside. Dominik then hit a frog splash on Roode to score the pin for new SmackDown Tag Team Champions at WrestleMania Backlash.
The action was good throughout this WrestleMania Backlash tag team match, but the heat from the champions felt very long and drawn out.
Hot tags by the babyfaces were not effective and made getting into the encounter tougher. However, this had the right result with The Mysterios making history by becoming the first father-son tag team champions in WWE history.
Star rating: ***
The Miz vs. Damian Priest - Lumberjack match (WWE WrestleMania Backlash)
Heading into WrestleMania Backlash, the feud between The Miz and Damian Priest has been very lackluster.
Following a fun tag team match featuring Bad Bunny at WrestleMania, it has seemed like this rivalry has been dragging on just to get another month out of the characters involved. The hope for this encounter would be for Priest to win and move on, but things turned out much worse.
Damian Priest defeated John Morrison on RAW this past week to make this WrestleMania Backlash clash a Lumberjack match. However, WWE used this stipulation to promote the new Netflix movie, Army Of The Dead, starring WWE Hall of Famer Batista. The lumberjacks in this contest were dressed and acted as zombies. Yes, you read that correctly.
This entire segment at WrestleMania Backlash was hard to get into and actively made you embarrassed at what you were watching. The Miz and Damian Priest tried their best to still have a well worked affair.
John Morrison even added some entertaining offense on the zombies, but this whole thing was more or less a blemish on an otherwise quality pay-per-view.
Damian Priest gained victory by nailing "Hit The Lights" on The Miz following the zombie abduction of John Morrison. Following the match, the zombie lumberjacks converged on The Miz and supposedly ate the former WWE Champion. That was ridiculous, but at least it did not overstay its welcome.
Star Rating: DUD
Bianca Belair vs. Bayley - SmackDown Women's Championship (WWE WrestleMania Backlash)
Coming into WrestleMania Backlash, SmackDown Women's Champion Bianca Belair will still riding high off her historic win in the WrestleMania 37 main event over Sasha Banks. The longest reigning SmackDown Women's Champion in history, Bayley, looked to cut her reign short at the pay-per-view.
Belair came out hot, seemingly getting the better of the more experienced challenger at every turn of the WrestleMania Backlash bout. However, Bayley took control with a front suplex on the steel steps.
The challenger worked very aggressively with a lot of intensity, as the two ladies' chemistry was on full display with momentum swinging back and forth.
The highlight of this SmackDown Women's Championship match at WrestleMania Backlash had to be the terrific ripcord Bayley to Belly by "The Role Model" using the champion's signature ponytail.
At the conclusion of this contest, Bayley use of the ponytail backfired when Bianca used her hair to tie up Bayley's legs on a roll up for the win.
Bianca Belair showed a lot in this title match at WrestleMania Backlash. Her ability to be dominant using her strength and also work from underneath is a rare quality that not many other performers can showcase.
Bayley is at the top of her game and understands how to build a good story in her matches, which effectively puts over her character and highlights her opponent.
The finish to this WrestleMania Backlash title match sets up the need for a rematch, which is necessary due to the lack of challengers on SmackDown. Could we possibly see this feud continue inside Hell In A Cell? That remains to be seen, but what we witnessed here was a really good matchup.
Star rating: ***1/2
Bobby Lashley vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Braun Strowman - WWE Championship (WWE WrestleMania Backlash)
The ladies were definitely the highlight of WrestleMania Backlash heading into the final two matches of the evening. The two final title matches needed to step up to end this major show on a high.
Things accelerated right off the bat in this WWE Championship triple threat match, with Bobby Lashley defending against Drew McIntyre and Braun Strowman.
This was every bit of a hoss fight that you could have imagined between these three huge men. Lashley and McIntyre looked to take out their larger adversary with a stunning double vertical suplex. The two men then went at it, taking the action to the floor where Braun amazed everyone with a diving somersault off the apron.
The action found itself up at the top of the stage in the entranceway with Drew and Bobby battling near the LED screens. McIntyre slammed Lashley's head onto the screens and then threw his entire body into the screens, taking him out temporarily. This left the two challengers battling it out inside the squared circle.
Drew dropped Braun with a spectacular Minchoku Driver for a two count in this WrestleMania Backlash semi-main event. McIntyre then looked to take out Strowman on the floor. However, Braun reversed and caught Drew into a powerbomb, driving him through the announce table.
Strowman looked set to finish him off with a running power slam, but McIntyre reversed and hit the Claymore. However, Lashley returned to cut him off. The WWE Champion quickly disposed of McIntyre and hit Strowman with a spear for to retain the championship at WrestleMania Backlash.
This was a non-stop sprint that was a banger for over 14 minutes. The three men delivered a heavyweight slugfest that was an absolute blast to watch unfold.
The finish should set up Lashley and McIntyre to conclude their feud inside Hell In A Cell next month, but they produced what had to be the best Braun Strowman match in quite some time at WrestleMania Backlash.
Star rating: ****
Roman Reigns vs. Cesaro - WWE Universal Championship (WWE WrestleMania Backlash)
The main event of WrestleMania Backlash was Roman Reigns defending the WWE Universal Championship against Cesaro. Reigns, in his Tribal Chief persona, is on the best run of his entire career.
His opponent, Cesaro, has been riding high on an awesome run himself, coming off beating Seth Rollins at WrestleMania and on SmackDown to gain this opportunity. Roman made the decision to tell his cousin, Jey Uso, to stay in the back, so he could take care of his business on his own.
Cesaro came out looking to push the offense against the champion. He hit a cockscrew European uppercut and a twisting plancha to the outside to allow Reigns to have to regroup at WrestleMania Backlash.
Momentum swung back to the champion's advantage when he started to attack Cesaro's right arm. His brutal attack on the European uppercut arm of the challenger allowed Cesaro to work from underneath and put his impeccable selling on full display. Roman even talked trash to the recently departed Daniel Bryan, while working over his friend.
The bruises on Cesaro's arm and body provided visual storytelling that instantly gripped viewers into the action at WrestleMania Backlash.
The way Reigns slows things down and works so methodically is extremely compelling and makes you rally behind his challengers. Cesaro's comeback was fascinating in the way that he had to change his arsenal due to the damage done to his injured arm.
Cesaro's signature submissions with the Sharpshooter and crossface were heavily affected by the work done by "The Head of The Table". The challenger could not even finish executing the Neutralizer as well, which would soon lead to his demise at the hands of The Tribal Chief.
At the conclusion of this main event, the pain was too much to overcome for the Swiss Superman at WrestleMania Backlash. Reigns broke out of the crossface and rained down forearms.
He followed up by locking in a guillotine choke. Despite Cesaro fighting to get free, Roman locked it in deeper and got the win via referee stoppage.
Post-match, Jey Uso briefly attacked before Seth Rollins came down to the ring. After staring down with the Universal Champion, Rollins attacked Cesaro and wrapped his injured arm in a steel chair. He then slammed the arm and chair into the ring post before delivering a curb stomp to end WrestleMania Backlash.
This was a superb main event with excellent storytelling and selling especially by Cesaro. This was one of the best singles matches of his entire career.
Roman Reigns added another emotionally driven, fantastic performance to his catalog of the past few months. He is truly in top form and has been the best overall performer in all of WWE. This ended WrestleMania Backlash in a great high.
Star rating: ****1/2
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