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So...I'm like a week behind when it comes to wrestling shows...but instead of
dwelling on it...I've decided to start a new thread going back over some past
pay per views from the last couple of years...and for the first show I decided
to go back to one of my favorites & the first SDL pay per view of the brand split...
Backlash (2016)
+ The theme song was kind of bland...but I did like the the artistic choice of
the black match cards with the glowing blue eyes. Its a very cool look...
+ Baron Corbin vs. Apollo Crews was on the kick off show...and my copy
doesn't have this match on it (more on that later).
+ Shane McMahon & Daniel Bryan would come out to open the show with an
in-ring promo. I get the reason behind it...I just think it was pointless.
+ Its weird hearing Mauro, JBL & "Dead Eyes" Otunga on commentary again.
+ The Women's Six Pack Elimination Challenge match was a lot of fun. Every
woman had their spots & moments & thankfully Becky won the title. The last
few moments of the match were pretty cringe with Carmella slapping, screaming
& stomping around the ring...but I really enjoyed this match at the time and
I really enjoyed watching again for this flashback.
Interesting Side Note: Every woman apart from Nikki Bella would end up being
the SDL women's champion...and in the order they were eliminated...Alexa, Naomi,
Natalya & finally Carmella.
That is kind of strange...
The post match interview with Becky was also a nice moment...its just a shame
she had such a terrible title run with no clean wins & missing the No Mercy pay
per view through an "injury" that had some interesting rumors surrounding it.
Of course this would signal the "Rise of Alexa Bliss" and while at the time I was
stoked the WWE was pushing new talent...they (IMO) went too far with Alexa
& now I physically can't stand the bitch.
+ We then see a backstage attack by Bray Wyatt on Randy Orton...of course
Orton wasn't cleared to wrestle because of what Lesnar did to his head at
Summerslam.
+ Next up it was The Usos vs. The Hype Bros in a solid match which did tell a
good story. The Usos struggled to handle Mojo Rawley but eventually attacked
Ryder's knee & made him tap out with the Tequila Sunrise.
+ Next up was backstage interview with Slater & Rhyno...it was okay. I'm not
really a fan of toilet humor.
+ Next up was The Miz vs. Dolph Ziggler for the Intercontinental title in a great match
with Maryse providing the "perfume" needed for the Miz to retain.
I also just want to say that Maryse is stunning & the sooner she's back the better for
the Miz...and the male audience.
Its also interesting to remember that the Miz/Daniel Bryan "feud" began 3 weeks
before this event with the Miz cutting that amazing promo on Talking Smack.
Shame the WWE has no sense of timing as we could have finally seen them in the
ring 2 years later at this very pay per view.
Of course this Ziggler/Miz feud was excellent from start to finish but its just
a shame that the Miz went on to bigger & better things while Ziggler simply
became the guy "new" performers defeated at their first pay per views matches.
+ Next up we had a surprisingly entertaining encounter with Bray Wyatt vs. Kane
in a No Holds Barred match. Of course Orton came out & hit an RKO to help Kane
score the win...which at the time annoyed me...but really...it didn't matter in the long
run as it was simply a smaller part of a larger story.
The long term storytelling with the Orton/Wyatt/Harper was still very interesting
to me and its just a shame that by the end of it all...Orton came out on top...not
Wyatt or Harper.
+ Next we had the final of the tag team tournament for the newly minted SDL
tag team titles with Slater & Rhyno vs. The Usos...and I really liked the Heath
Slater "Free Agent" storyline & I'm a big fan of Slater & Rhyno as a tag team.
The match was fairly basic but the crowd was into it just waiting for Rhyno to
hit a Gore & secure the win.
The post match interview was also great & Slater is an incredibly likeable guy.
Its a shame they are simply jobbers on RAW now. Can we put Slater on 205 Live?
At least give him something to do.
+ And finally we have the main event...Dean Ambrose vs. A.J Styles for the WWE
World Championship...and its funny to look back at this. Ambrose was considered a
failure as a World Champion & Styles is trying so hard to be heel...but I think most
people wanted to see A.J go over in this match.
I personally think Ambrose wasn't given a fair run with the title...he only held it for 84
days. To put that into perspective...Jinder Mahal would go on to hold the same title
for 170 days.
The match itself is strange. It has a slow pace with a burst of energy & movement
every few minutes...but I never thought Ambrose & Styles had the best in-ring
chemistry. I mean it wasn't horrible or anything...just kind of fell flat for me.
The crowd is clearly divided with both Ambrose & Styles being cheered & booed in
equal parts throughout the match...and the finish...well...its funny to think A.J won
his first WWE title thanks to a dick kick...while now he's getting his groin punched
in on a seemingly regular basis.
This feud would continue with both John Cena & James "Blobfish" Ellsworth being
added to it over time & eventually Styles would triumph & Ambrose would be dropped
back to the mid-card for a pointless reign as the Intercontinental champion.
Interesting Side Note: This pay per view & No Mercy were never released on DVD
in Australia while every other WWE pay per view from 2016 was. Thankfully I have
a digital copy.
Final Thoughts:
This was a pretty solid show with a strong card & an overall air of excitement about
everything. I mean it wasn't perfect...but I've seen a lot worse in the last couple of years.
Highlights:
+ The Women's Six Pack Elimination Challenge...
+ Becky winning the women's title...
+ Miz vs. Ziggler...
+ Maryse not wearing pants...
+ Slater & Rhyno winning the tag titles...
+ Styles winning the World title...
Lowlights:
+ Orton not being cleared to compete...
+ Kane pinning Bray...
+ The mixed reaction to the main event...
+ No Corbin vs. Crews on my copy...
On my Pay Per View Grading Scale for this thread...
I give Backlash 2016 a...
B+
Feel free to post your own opinions, thoughts or memories
of this particular show & I'll be back with another Pay Per
View Flashback next month.
Thank you all for reading & like always...I'll see you all around the traps.
dwelling on it...I've decided to start a new thread going back over some past
pay per views from the last couple of years...and for the first show I decided
to go back to one of my favorites & the first SDL pay per view of the brand split...
Backlash (2016)
+ The theme song was kind of bland...but I did like the the artistic choice of
the black match cards with the glowing blue eyes. Its a very cool look...
+ Baron Corbin vs. Apollo Crews was on the kick off show...and my copy
doesn't have this match on it (more on that later).
+ Shane McMahon & Daniel Bryan would come out to open the show with an
in-ring promo. I get the reason behind it...I just think it was pointless.
+ Its weird hearing Mauro, JBL & "Dead Eyes" Otunga on commentary again.
+ The Women's Six Pack Elimination Challenge match was a lot of fun. Every
woman had their spots & moments & thankfully Becky won the title. The last
few moments of the match were pretty cringe with Carmella slapping, screaming
& stomping around the ring...but I really enjoyed this match at the time and
I really enjoyed watching again for this flashback.
Interesting Side Note: Every woman apart from Nikki Bella would end up being
the SDL women's champion...and in the order they were eliminated...Alexa, Naomi,
Natalya & finally Carmella.
That is kind of strange...
The post match interview with Becky was also a nice moment...its just a shame
she had such a terrible title run with no clean wins & missing the No Mercy pay
per view through an "injury" that had some interesting rumors surrounding it.
Of course this would signal the "Rise of Alexa Bliss" and while at the time I was
stoked the WWE was pushing new talent...they (IMO) went too far with Alexa
& now I physically can't stand the bitch.
+ We then see a backstage attack by Bray Wyatt on Randy Orton...of course
Orton wasn't cleared to wrestle because of what Lesnar did to his head at
Summerslam.
+ Next up it was The Usos vs. The Hype Bros in a solid match which did tell a
good story. The Usos struggled to handle Mojo Rawley but eventually attacked
Ryder's knee & made him tap out with the Tequila Sunrise.
+ Next up was backstage interview with Slater & Rhyno...it was okay. I'm not
really a fan of toilet humor.
+ Next up was The Miz vs. Dolph Ziggler for the Intercontinental title in a great match
with Maryse providing the "perfume" needed for the Miz to retain.
I also just want to say that Maryse is stunning & the sooner she's back the better for
the Miz...and the male audience.
Its also interesting to remember that the Miz/Daniel Bryan "feud" began 3 weeks
before this event with the Miz cutting that amazing promo on Talking Smack.
Shame the WWE has no sense of timing as we could have finally seen them in the
ring 2 years later at this very pay per view.
Of course this Ziggler/Miz feud was excellent from start to finish but its just
a shame that the Miz went on to bigger & better things while Ziggler simply
became the guy "new" performers defeated at their first pay per views matches.
+ Next up we had a surprisingly entertaining encounter with Bray Wyatt vs. Kane
in a No Holds Barred match. Of course Orton came out & hit an RKO to help Kane
score the win...which at the time annoyed me...but really...it didn't matter in the long
run as it was simply a smaller part of a larger story.
The long term storytelling with the Orton/Wyatt/Harper was still very interesting
to me and its just a shame that by the end of it all...Orton came out on top...not
Wyatt or Harper.
+ Next we had the final of the tag team tournament for the newly minted SDL
tag team titles with Slater & Rhyno vs. The Usos...and I really liked the Heath
Slater "Free Agent" storyline & I'm a big fan of Slater & Rhyno as a tag team.
The match was fairly basic but the crowd was into it just waiting for Rhyno to
hit a Gore & secure the win.
The post match interview was also great & Slater is an incredibly likeable guy.
Its a shame they are simply jobbers on RAW now. Can we put Slater on 205 Live?
At least give him something to do.
+ And finally we have the main event...Dean Ambrose vs. A.J Styles for the WWE
World Championship...and its funny to look back at this. Ambrose was considered a
failure as a World Champion & Styles is trying so hard to be heel...but I think most
people wanted to see A.J go over in this match.
I personally think Ambrose wasn't given a fair run with the title...he only held it for 84
days. To put that into perspective...Jinder Mahal would go on to hold the same title
for 170 days.
The match itself is strange. It has a slow pace with a burst of energy & movement
every few minutes...but I never thought Ambrose & Styles had the best in-ring
chemistry. I mean it wasn't horrible or anything...just kind of fell flat for me.
The crowd is clearly divided with both Ambrose & Styles being cheered & booed in
equal parts throughout the match...and the finish...well...its funny to think A.J won
his first WWE title thanks to a dick kick...while now he's getting his groin punched
in on a seemingly regular basis.
This feud would continue with both John Cena & James "Blobfish" Ellsworth being
added to it over time & eventually Styles would triumph & Ambrose would be dropped
back to the mid-card for a pointless reign as the Intercontinental champion.
Interesting Side Note: This pay per view & No Mercy were never released on DVD
in Australia while every other WWE pay per view from 2016 was. Thankfully I have
a digital copy.
Final Thoughts:
This was a pretty solid show with a strong card & an overall air of excitement about
everything. I mean it wasn't perfect...but I've seen a lot worse in the last couple of years.
Highlights:
+ The Women's Six Pack Elimination Challenge...
+ Becky winning the women's title...
+ Miz vs. Ziggler...
+ Maryse not wearing pants...
+ Slater & Rhyno winning the tag titles...
+ Styles winning the World title...
Lowlights:
+ Orton not being cleared to compete...
+ Kane pinning Bray...
+ The mixed reaction to the main event...
+ No Corbin vs. Crews on my copy...
On my Pay Per View Grading Scale for this thread...
I give Backlash 2016 a...
B+
Feel free to post your own opinions, thoughts or memories
of this particular show & I'll be back with another Pay Per
View Flashback next month.
Thank you all for reading & like always...I'll see you all around the traps.
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