WWE Backlash 2022 (a.k.a. Wrestlemania Rehash)

Consider this a bonus musings before the regularly scheduled PPV musings for the day pops up later on. Long story short; I was feeling a bit sick and this popped up, so I figured "why not?"

The good news is that the show was a little under three hours and went by fairly quickly. Not only that, but for the most part, the wrestling was largely good, even if some of the finishes were somewhat weak. If you're going into this just wanting some good wrestling, this Backlash show (I refuse to call it the full name) covers that bare minimum quite nicely.

With that said, if you're looking for something a little more worthwhile and worthy of the premium live event moniker that they like to toss around, then this isn't it. This was a case of a show where nothing of note happened. Yeah, Ronda won the Smackdown title in that I Quit match, but that's a win that should've happened at Mania and other than that, you've got a show of rematches where nothing of note happened. Again, there's good wrestling on here if that's all you want, but otherwise, you could easily skip this and not miss a beat.

Cody beats Seth Rollins with a handful of tights. Don't know why you need to have your new babyface win with a handful of tights unless it's to set up yet ANOTHER match. Their Mania match was fine, this felt like a lesser product, and third time is diluting this thing a bit. I'm already worried about Cody's booking going forward.

The giant dude whose name I don't remember beats Lashley with an assist from an MVP cane shot to get his win back. Total waste of time.

Edge defeated AJ Styles with an assist from a mystery assailant who turned out to be Rhea Ripley, freshed turned from a couple weeks ago and looking to feud with that Liv person, but sure, let's have her join Edge's weird House Of Black knock-off cult... This was somewhat shorter, but somewhat baffling because they banned one person from ringside, but then he showed up anyway, which prompted Finn Balor to take care of this dude, allowing for Ripley to come in and lowblow AJ (note to self; remind me to send AJ Styles a cup because the poor bastard needs one) so that Edge can win this very dull match.

Ronda Rousey defeated Smackdown Women's Champion Baby Flair in a weapons-laden I Quit match to win the title she probably should have won at Wrestlemania. Upon reflection, I am seriously reconsidering calling this a show with good wrestling because this was your typical Attitude Era-style hardcore match with a kooky I Quit match stipulation tossed in... which is different from an Attitude Era-style I Quit match where one person hits another person with a billion chair shots to the head and pipes in a pre-recorded "I Quit" utterance to win the match. The only difference is that an Attitude Era-style hardcore match would at least have two folks I actually care about watching, which is more than what I can say for this. Deathly bored with this one. Don't care how good these two are; when the match leaves you yearning for an extended piss break, it's time to rethink your booking.

Madcap Moss defeated Happy Corbin in the only non-Wrestlemania Rehash of the show... and it's AWFUL

AWFUL.

AWFUL.

AWFUL.

Next...

And finally, Roman Reigns and the Usos defeated Drew McIntyre and the RK-Bros in a six-man tag match that felt like there was some good action in it and was probably the hottest match of the night... on a show that was largely dull. But this felt like a holding pattern, which is the same feeling I get with a lot of Roman matches these days. Fine for a house show loop, but not good for a show you're trying to sell as "premium."

And that's Backlash 2022; a show with a lot of forgettable stuff. I actually have to take back what I said about this being a show with good wrestling across the board because between the opener and the main, there was a whole lot of nothing. I was bored, I felt like this was a waste of time. The house show went to back in March felt more significant than this. I feel sorry for anyone who watched this on Mother's Day and felt somewhat miffed as a result... but if you enjoyed it, more power to you.

This show probably could've used more zombies... oh fuck, I'm wanting the zombies to come back... THANKS, VINCE!

Fuck this company.