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Leonard Tripodi of Kenilworth, N.J. (5.0): Best: Chris Jericho vs. Umaga. Worst: Paul Burchill vs. Hacksaw Duggan. Raw in London, England was all about William Regal. And what a crowd reaction he got all night. You would think Regal was involved in that four-way for the WWE Title at Backlash the way he came off in every segment throughout the show. The Burchill squash was easily worst of the night and also unnecessary. Burchill isn't going to get over by having matches with semi-retired washed up jobbers like Duggan. Triple H-JBL wasn't very good and about as boring as any Triple H match in recent memory. JBL just didn't come off as a serious threat, even after the post-match attacks on Orton and Triple H. JBL standing tall should send a strong message after witnessing the dead crowd reaction at the end of Raw. For the first time in many months, I was actually hoping for a John Cena run-in and save, but even that didn't happen. I agree with Caldwell's comment about Regal's earlier remark of how JBL isn't worth paying to see on PPV against Orton. Anyway, I loved watching Mickie defeat Beth to regain the Women's Title in what seemed like a long overdue payoff. That was easily the best Women's Title match this year. Mickie had great intensity and was crisp in her execution throughout, especially that finishing sequence. Beth really sold her shock and disappointment afterwards. Mickie's charisma and excitement was truly believable. I could've done without the kiss on Grisham, but the post-match celebration on the stage was a nice touch and gave the moment even more credibility. The segment with Shawn Michaels's promo was solid and Jericho's inclusion added another dimension. Speaking of which, Jericho also had a good night. His victory over Umaga was much needed and might catapult him into the upper tier. WWE should really consider using guys like Jericho instead of JBL. He can have great matches with Triple H, Orton, or even Cena down the road. This show was better than last week, but it still lacks something special that is needed to sell Backlash to the casual and even some mainstream viewers.
 
Shane McKinley of Danville, Calif. (7.0): Best Match: Randy Orton vs. William Regal. Worst Match: Shilling of WWE's Kids Mag. I always liked Jericho as a heel, and him being a ref during HBK vs. Batista could have an HBK vs. Jericho spinoff, and Batista won't be seen as much as a heel. Pushing Carlito/Santino over London/Kendrick is like pushing Curryman/Shark Boy over the Motor City Machine Guns. They might have a more entertaining gimmick, but I don't look forward to the "International Wieners" matches. Backlash's music: Yikes! Hinting of a Cade-Murdoch breakup for a long time now. Liked that the "King of The Ring" Video package took actual research (unlike TNA Lockdown's absurd "Steel" video package). Would have liked to see Orton vs. Regal go longer. Regal had some nice techincal moves and body scissors. He's a DH you would like to have on your team. I would have liked to have seen a JBL vs. Umaga feud. I wonder what the backstage story is on how Triple H feels about JBL being in the main event. The four-way match at Backlash feels very much like a holdover match. They have been pumping up JBL as a worthy contender, but it's still too early to really believe him as a title contender. Personally, I think that JBL vs. Orton would be serviceable in feeding Orton, and having a heelish Cena fight Triple H. But perhaps they are saving that for Summerslam. They are stubborn to change Cena's character. Used to be that people didn't like Cena because his wrestling was just pure ugly and watching his matches mostly had him punching, punching, and punching some more. That aspect of him has gotten better. It's just that his character needs work. Good show.

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