WWE BACKLASH 2023 HITS & MISSES: Bianca vs. Iyo, Bunny vs. Priest, Cody vs. Brock, more

WWE BACKLASH 2023 HITS & MISSES
MAY 6, 2023
SAN JUAN PUERTO RICO AT THE COLISEO DE PUERTO RICO JOSE MIGUEL AGRELOT
AIRED ON PEACOCK, 8:00 p.m. EDT, 7:00 a.m. CDT
BY FRANK PETEANI (@FrankPeteani), PWTORCH.COM CONTRIBUTOR

Announcers: Michael Cole and Corey Graves

Raw Women’s Championship: Bianca Belair defeats Iyo Skye to retain the championship.

HIT

I’m a proponent of starting shows with title matches and in selecting this match to open, WWE made a wise choice. Going in I was curious as to what the reactions would be for both competitors. Seeing the crowd shift from Bianca to Iyo was interesting to watch, but not surprising. She is someone that would, in my estimation, be popular with a crowd outside of the contiguous U.S.

Now, if I’m being honest, I enjoyed the match, but I could have done without the one-handed press slam by Bianca. I understand she’s strong and was trying something and was looking for a moment, but both women could have gotten severely injured. Thankfully it all worked out, and we move on. Furthermore, the interference took me out of the match to a point. Now I understand they have been teasing dissension within Damage CTRL. I get the point of Bayley and Dakota Kai likely costing Iyo the chance to win the championship. The announcers emphasized it. That’s all well and good, but I think things would have been served better if Iyo just worked a competitive match but came up “just” short.

Overall, I’m not upset about it. I understand the place from where they’re coming. I’m just stating my piece. It still was still a great match that is obviously worthy of a hit.

Seth “Freakin’” Rollins defeats Omos (w/MVP)

HIT

(Sigh) I gave this a hit, but it’s an infield single. It’s a bouncer that squeaked by the infield. It’d be unfair for me to call this a miss.

This is the best match, at least in my opinion, that Omos has wrestled. It helped that he had Seth Rollins working with him. Look let’s not kid each other; we all know Omos is not the best in the ring. If you’re going to use him on a PLE, you have to put him with somebody that’s going to create movement and make things look good. Rollins did just that. I enjoyed this match more than I expected I would.

I don’t know that the win means much for Rollins, but he had to win the match. The only victories Omos holds in 2023, on television anyway, are over Elias, Dolph Ziggler, Mustafa Ali, and some stiff on Raw last week. Everyone beats those guys. He lost to Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania, but I suppose there’s no shame in losing to Lesnar. He’s been used on the last two PLEs in singles matches so, obviously there is interest on the company’s part in using him. We’ll see how that works out moving forward.

Triple Threat U.S. Championship: Austin Theory defeats Bobby Lashley and Bronson Reed to retain the championship.

MISS

It wasn’t a terrible match, and I probably would have graded it a hit if we didn’t see the same finish we’ve seen in this situation with Austin Theory before. He stole the pin in a triple threat back at Survivor Series and did the same thing here. I understand he’s a heel and that’s how they get wins most of the time at least in big matches such as these. Yes, technically he didn’t cheat and won the match “clean,” but it’s not the point. It feels like an escape hatch on the part of the WWE. In their eyes Bobby Lashley is protected by not taking the pin and Theory likely wasn’t going to get A-Town Down on Bronson Reed. That all makes sense and I get it. I would still like to see Theory win a match on his own merit and not steal a pin after someone else does their finisher.

Smackdown Women’s Championship: Rhea Ripley defeats Zelina Vega to retain the championship.

HIT

I don’t if anyone caught it, and maybe I’m making it up, but I think Rhea Ripley was getting emotional for Zelina Vega. All my impressions of Rhea, unless I’m totally misreading her, is that she’s a great person backstage and she gets along with everyone. That being said, how could you not be happy for Zelina. After all the times it “didn’t work out” for her to work in N.Y. or Puerto Rico (which was a bunch of BS in my opinion but, we won’t get into that), she got that chance here. Now, I normally don’t like “geographical” title matches. I feel like it takes down the value of the title as only the top people should be competing for it, but I have a heart. I understood what they were doing here, and I support it. They are very proud of their people down in Puerto Rico, and it’s amazing to watch.

The match was what it needed to be. I only wish Zelina worked some matches on TV and got wins to build her up. The only televised win she got was over Sonya Deville, who loses to everybody. I hope Zelina will be used in a more meaningful role in the ring moving forward but, I don’t have a ton of optimism. The post-match was amazing and emotional. I was even getting teary eyed.

Sometimes it’s not just about the match. It’s about the overall story, and this fits that example.

San Juan Street Fight: Bad Bunny defeats Damian Priest

HIT

What else can you say, other than this was one of the best celebrity matches I have seen in my lifetime. I’d have to go back and review others but, sometimes you have to just trust your gut and mine tells me this was everything and more. I don’t rewatch much wrestling these days save for the PPVs I review for Pro Wrestling Then and Now, but if I were to rewatch sometime for the hell of it this match would be one of them.

Here’s another thing that was amazing for me. Watching this match, I didn’t even think about Bad Bunny being a musician! He looked the part of being a professional wrestler. Sometimes you watch these matches and you’re like come on, how is he or she doing that to (insert wrestler)? That didn’t cross my mind at any point. He even won it straight up with a Destroyer! You can tell Bunny has put in the work and he genuinely loves performing in the WWE. If I’m spending my money to watch this product, these are the guys I want to see. Even Logan Paul gives me that feeling as well, even if he can be unlikable.

Before I get to the appearances, I have to say I gained so much respect for Damian Priest in this match. It’s not that I wasn’t a fan of his to begin with but, what he did here was amazing. Aside from really rounding into form as of late on TV he sold incredibly well for Bunny and I’m sure he genuinely wanted to put on a great match with his friend. I hope WWE has good plans for him moving forward as I think he has a lot to offer.

I have one small quibble. Perhaps when Savio Vega appeared earlier in the show, he could have just said he’ll be in Bunny’s corner. Or as Todd Martin said on the post-PLE round table, he could have come out first and Carlito second. His appearance in the match was great but the surprise was lessened by his appearance earlier in the show. It’s a small quibble in the grand scheme of things. That being said, the pop for Carlito was amazing. The crowd reaction was one I don’t think I’ve ever seen. It got me wondering what happened back in the day with him. I’d have to go back and skim through some of Wade’s newsletters to see what the scuttlebutt was on him. His run was a time I was watching WWE but wasn’t terribly invested as I am now. Based on what I remember I just don’t think he and the WWE were a good fit. Sometimes the schedule, the style they want, or various other things just aren’t a match for someone. That’s perfectly fine as sometimes it just doesn’t work out.

I had discussion online with respected colleagues about the idea that this match should have been the main event. Initially I was glad they went with Cody Rhodes vs. Brock Lesnar. I think your top match with your top stars should go on last. With all due respect to Bad Bunny, he’s a celebrity and Damian Priest is a midcard act at best. That said, in talking to said colleagues and getting their points of view with the main point being serving the local crowd in Puerto Rico, I think this should have gone on last. You’re in Puerto Rico how often? Have the show close out with the contingent of Bunny, Vega, Carlito, and the LWO. Thank that crowd for spending their money and coming out. It’s not a big deal and I know they were overall happy, but this could have been an even more special moment.

The Bloodline (Jimmy & Jey Uso and Solo Sikoa) defeat Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens and Matt Riddle

MISS

Part of me think it’s hard to believe I’d be giving this match a miss, but another part isn’t too surprised. Rich Fann talked about it on the PLE round table, and I thought about it going into this match. Last year’s Backlash featured the Usos (as champs) and Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre (remember him?), Randy Orton (same), and Matt Riddle. Riddle was there to take the pin last year as he was this year.

Now don’t get me wrong, the result lines up and I get the story. Me grading this a miss doesn’t mean it was bad or I hated it. It just missed for me, that’s all. They have been building up Solo Sikoa as of late and the dissension within the Bloodline continues. With that finish Solo basically said you guys can’t take care of business so I will. That’s fine.

I think my problem is we’ve just seen so much of the Bloodline vs. some variation of Owens, Sami, and Riddle that it didn’t do anything for me. In addition, and this is not a terrible thing, but the tag champions lost. WWE does this so much so in the grand scheme of things it doesn’t matter, but that also doesn’t make it right.

The work in the match was fine. You’re never going to go wrong with any of these guys. Perhaps the placement of the match killed it for me but, I just can’t give it a hit. If “push” was a category I’d score it that, is that fair?

Cody Rhodes defeats Brock Lesnar

HIT

The match was about the length I expected and the result correct. The blood spot, which has since been reported as planned, made sense as they were trying to protect Lesnar in the loss. Granted he doesn’t wrestle all that often but except for beating Omos, Lesnar has only beaten Bobby Lashley which happened back in November. You need to keep him strong.

The question remains did Cody gain from this match? Time will tell. He did hit his finisher twice while Lesnar hit his, so maybe Cody gained by kicking out of the F5? He pulled the leverage pin out his you-know-what and it kind lines up with the story they’ve told in that Cody is afraid of Brock but isn’t afraid to fight him. He was able to “sneak out” a win and then he then ran from the ring, which also lines up. That’s the problem for me. Do I want the guy that is still a potential world champion being portrayed as scared? He was beaten down on TV, admitted he was scared, and for all intents and purposes stole a win. While it all may make some sense, I’m not sure it’s a good luck for Cody, but time will tell. I still enjoyed the match overall.

Hits 5
Misses 2

Closing Thoughts

Overall, what else can I say about this show? It was enjoyable from start to finish and I can’t say I was bored at any point. Except for match placement, I thought they did a great job serving the local audience with Zelina and all the appearances in the Bunny vs. Priest match. We’ll see how things progress with Damage CTRL, the Bloodline, and Cody Rhodes moving forward as those are the key stories for me coming out of this event.

That said, the hits have it and this report is adjourned. Talk to you in a few weeks after Night of Champions!

Follow Frank on Twitter @FrankPeteani. Thank you for reading!