WWE WrestleMania Backlash, the company's latest pay-per-view offering, emenated live from the ThunderDome in Yuengling Center in Tampa, Florida.
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WWE WrestleMania Backlash, the company’s latest pay-per-view offering, emenated live from the ThunderDome in Yuengling Center in Tampa, Florida. The main event of the night saw universal champions Roman Reigns take on Cesaro. This was the first heavyweight championship match for the ‘Swiss Superman’ in his WWE career. Elsewhere, WWE champion Bobby Lashley took on Drew McIntyre and Braun Strowman. Other title matches included Smackdown women’s champion Bianca Belair taking on Bayley, Raw women’s champion Rhea Rhipley facing Asuka and Charlotte Flair in a triple threat match. There was also Rey and Dominik Mysterio taking on Robert Roode and Dolph Ziggler for the SmackDown tag team championships.
Lets get right into the recap of what was a pretty eventful show.
Roman Reigns has been the best thing on WWE televsion since his return last year in SummerSlam. From an in-ring and character perspective, Reigns has been a breath of fresh air.
Therefore, no one expected him to lose to Cesaro – despite the Swiss Superman having a loyal fan following who want to see him win the big one.
Yet the manner of the loss – and the post-match angle – was surprising to say the least.
Reigns won fairly clean, submitting Cesaro to the guillotine choke. And Cesaro took a beatdown from Seth Rollins after the match ended.
It seems Cesaro’s title shot was a one-time thing, which can be disappointing. However, he seems to be in a better position on the card now. And a feud with Rollins could elevate him even further.
As for Reigns, the sub-plot of his story with Jimmy and Jey Uso looks set to continue. But it remains to be seen who his next challenger will be.
WWE WrestleMania Backlash was a pretty good night for champions. WWE champion Lashley, SD women’s champ Belair and Raw women’s champ Rhea Ripley all retained their gold.
The move makes sense, since all three have title runs that are still in their infancy. Plus all three are relatively new to the main event scene, adding a sense of freshness to the WWE product.
Even Sheamus retained his US championship in an impromptu open challenge match against Ricochet. What his next feud is remains to be seen.
The only title that changed hands was the SmackDown tag team champions. The Mysterios capturing gold was a nice touch, and it will be interesting to see how the father-son duo continue to work in tandem.
Roode and Ziggler were solid if unspectacular as champions. It will be interesting to see how their future goes. Both can be solid additions to the singles midcard if given the chance.
