WWE
Tonight is WrestleMania Backlash. We’re watching and providing live results of the show. Tonight has a few rematches from WrestleMania and a few matches with some tweaks. Will the matches produce tonight or will they just seem like rehashes of the same old matches we’ve seen?
Here is tonight’s card:
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Cody Rhodes vs. Seth Rollins
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SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair vs. Ronda Rousey (“I Quit” Match)
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Drew McIntyre & Raw Tag Team Champions RK-Bro vs. Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns & SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos (Six-Man Tag Team Match)
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AJ Styles vs. Edge (Damian Priest Barred From Ringside)
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Bobby Lashley vs. Omos
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Happy Corbin vs. Madcap Moss
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Drew and Roman battle
Roman hits a Superman Punch and then goes into slow motion mode. He works over Drew. He then gets cocky and grabs both belts to show off. He turns around into a Claymore. Drew McIntyre tags in Randy Orton who is finally in. He runs wild. He hits an RKO on Roman. He catches a Superkick to the face. But, no sells it, and hits an RKO on one of the Usos.
McIntyre comes in and starts throwing people around. Drew takes a bunch of kicks and Orton is left laid out in the ring. Orton makes a tag to Riddle while Jey Uso also gets tagged in. Riddle is going crazy. Knees to everyone. Brotons. Floating Bro. 2 count. Near fall. Things have really picked up.
Well, the crowd wanted a table spot and they finally got one. Orton and Uso were battling around the outside of the ring. Eventually, Roman hits Orton with a Superman Punch on the outside. Drew tries to put Roman through the table, but Roman reverses it and puts Drew through the announcer’s table.
Back in the ring, Riddle hits a massive RKO from the top rope. As he is going for the cover, he gets hit with a Spear from Roman. Roman makes the cover for the victory.
The Bloodline win. That was a good match. Like many matches, it really picked up in the final 10 minutes or so. Slow down, Cole. He joins Heyman in calling The Bloodline the greatest faction in WWE history. I’m not sure about that, but I am sure the show is over. See you tomorrow night for Raw.
.@WWERomanReigns drives @DMcIntyreWWE through the announce desk! #WMBacklash @HeymanHustle pic.twitter.com/2iFfPjSOnH
— WWE (@WWE) May 9, 2022
The Main Event
The Bloodline is taking on RK-Mc-Bro tonight. I swear Randy Orton is having the most fun he’s ever had in a WWE ring. Riddle must have some good stuff to get Randy this Happy. Hey, maybe they’ll start calling him Happy Orton.
Early on they go through the obligatory feeling out portion of the match. Eventually, Riddle spends a significant amount of time getting worked over by The Bloodline. They do the typical heel tactics of hitting the legal man while the opponent is distracted. Meanwhile, Orton and McIntyre keep falling for the tricks and further distracting the ref. Eventually, the Usos tag in Roman Reigns. Reigns continue to work over Riddle.
Riddle continues to try to make a tag. He looks like he might when Jey Uso superkicks Randy Orton off the apron. Jey Uso starts to posture to the crowd. This gives Riddle the time to recover. He hits a pump knee on Jey Uso. It actually was more of a kick, but it doesn’t matter. Uso rolls to the floor. Roman pulls him back in and tags himself in just as Riddle makes the tag to Drew.
.@DMcIntyreWWE is taking it to @WWERomanReigns! #WMBacklash pic.twitter.com/Kc4hgfsJXE
— WWE (@WWE) May 9, 2022
Let the jokes begin
Someone sent Hook or at least a guy with a Hook t-shirt to the front row. Now, that’s funny. Unlike Moss’s jokes. The crowd seems to have taken a potty break during this one. They have gotten very quiet. It could be because no one cares about this feud. Pat McAfee told a joke of his own calling Moss the most explosive man in WWE.
I would have much rather seen Ezekial and Kevin Owens instead of this one. This feels like it could have very much been a Friday Night SmackDown match.
Corbin literally dominated for the entire match. He hit the End of Days and a Big Bossman Slam. He unloaded everything. He couldn’t put him away. In the end, Moss wins with a Sunset Flip roll-up. You thought roll-ups were just saved for Monday and Friday nights. Well, they can appear on a Sunday night too. That’s the second one tonight.
Massive chokeslam from Happy Corbin!#WMBacklash @BaronCorbinWWE pic.twitter.com/Eikod4AnhK
— WWE (@WWE) May 9, 2022
Who's going to quit?
After the kendo stick fight, Charlotte and Ronda fight out in the crowd. There were a few moments where neither looked like they knew exactly what they should do next. When they came back to ringside, Rousey was a moment too late with a chair swing and awkwardly hit Flair’s foot which had been waiting to kick the chair for a few seconds.
Moments later, Flair powerbombs Rousey into the barricade. They continue to battle and they both refuse to quit when the mic is shoved in their face. Rousey locks in an armbar while Flair is dangling upside down from the top rope on the apron. Flair hits Natural Selection a chair. Rousey won’t quit. Flair locks in the Figure 8. She screams in the mic. Rousey escapes by hitting a chair on Flair’s leg. The crowd continues to chant we want tables.
Flair makes the ref hold the mic for her. She says this is Rousey’s last chance and says Happy Mother’s Day. Rousey says I was hoping you’d say that and locks in the armbar on Flair through the chair. Flair said I quit in an instant. Personally, I hate when they do that. They should at least hang on for a second.
That was a pretty lame ending because of the way Rousey talked into the mic. Had they left that out, I would have enjoyed it a heck of a lot more. Flair cries after the match because she is so sad she said she quit. Rousey is the new SmackDown Women’s Champion. This is the first time she has held that title.
.@RondaRousey forces @MsCharlotteWWE to scream "I QUIT!" at #WMBacklash! pic.twitter.com/tLwkU79knO
— WWE (@WWE) May 9, 2022
Rousey vs. Flair
Who will say I quit? A Flair wrestling in an I quit match led to one of my all-time favorite matches when Charlotte’s Dad wrestled Terry Funk back in the NWA days. Funk gave Flair a Piledriver into a table and the feud would go down in history. This feud has not lived up to that standard in large part to the inability of these women to effectively convey emotion through promos. Ric Flair and Terry Funk were two of the best at that. History won’t remember Rousey for her promo ability.
Man, it’s good Rousey is a trained combat sports athlete. She’s not had a ton of training as a professional wrestler and some of her landings are a bit awkward. She took a nasty suplex early on where she landed on the back of her neck. She was fine.
I quit matches require someone to have a mic shoved in their face and say I quit versus just tapping out. That leads to some weird moments of the ref sticking the mic in someone’s face and the wrestler having to say something.
👀#WMBacklash #IQuitMatch @MsCharlotteWWE @RondaRousey pic.twitter.com/YNR0ZldVws
— WWE (@WWE) May 9, 2022
AJ Styles vs. Edge
It’s hard to believe these two guys have been wrestling for over 20 years each when you see how good they still are. Edge had a pretty long off-period, but a serious injury to recover from. AJ, on the other hand, has wrestled a pretty daring style over the years. The fact that he has managed to stay as healthy as he has is a credit to how good he is. He lives up to his nickname: Phenomenal.
Edge is clearly a great wrestler. However, a lot of his matches since he’s returned have moved at a fairly slow pace and have bordered on boring at times.
The early portion of the match really focused on Edge trying to further injure AJ’s shoulder. Edge used all the tools at his disposal. He sent him into barricades, steel steps, and ring posts.
The next phase of the match was focused on AJ fighting his way back into the match. He tried to put Edge away. This led to AJ locking in the Calf-Crusher. Edge eventually gets to the ropes and is able to get out of the move. At some point during the match, Edge had removed a middle turnbuckle pad. AJ sends Edge face first into the exposed turnbuckle. This was not enough to put Edge away.
Edge counters with a spear. He cannot get the 3 count after 1 spear. He goes for another, but AJ hits him with a knee. AJ hits a Styles Clash. Edge barely kicks out. Not many people have kicked out of Styles Clashes over the years. AJ tries to go for the Phenomenal Forearm, but his injured shoulder keeps him from being able to Springboard up.
Damian Priest appears in the aisle. He’s banned from ringside. Finn Balor appears and takes out Priest. All the while, AJ is on the top rope. Someone appears from the crowd. The masked figure pulls AJ off the rope. Edge locks in the Crossface and Sleeper. Edge gets the win.
The masked person was Rhea Ripley. Her hair is dyed a deep shade of purple. Ripley and Edge pose together after the match. The match was fine. The final portion was pretty good. It took about 5 minutes too long to get to that point. Ripley being added to the Purple Reign is pretty interesting. We’ll see where we go from here.
What did we just witness?!?!#WMBacklash @EdgeRatedR @RheaRipley_WWE pic.twitter.com/BwRs6BEYL6
— WWE (@WWE) May 9, 2022
Omos vs. Lashley
I’m sure this one is about to be a technical masterpiece. Lashley dominated a lot of this one. Occasionally, Omos would get a simple move in, but because of his sheer size, simple becomes scary. Lashley ties up Omos in the ropes like Hogan would always do to Andre. Lashley pummeled him.
Lashley would lock in the Hurt Lock. Omos was just too strong. He’d eventually get up and ram him into the corner. Lashley had to break the hold. Lashley kept fighting back until he caught a cane in the back of the head from MVP. Omos pinned Lashley and gets the win.
Thanks to MVP, Omos gets a huge win at WrestleMania Backlash. WWE has big things in store for Omos. We’ll see if he can live up to the billing.
.@fightbobby doing all that he can to stop @TheGiantOmos! #WMBacklash pic.twitter.com/TtpkVJiEeZ
— WWE (@WWE) May 9, 2022
Rhodes vs. Rollins
Cody and Seth are kicking off Backlash. As the match starts, Rollins looks to be one step ahead of Rhodes. About 10 minutes in and both men have had their moments, but Seth Rollins just keeps turning Rhodes back at every attempt.
Maybe I’m just a Cody mark, but I have thoroughly enjoyed his matches in WWE. This one has been good so far. At one point, the two men get into a fighting spirit exchange where they slap, punch, and kick each other in back and forth action. I think Cody is having a lot of input on his matches thus far. So, I think he’s bringing a bit of AEW flair within the framework of the WWE style. Quite honestly, I’m enjoying it.
What an exchange!! Rollins goes for the Pheonix Splash. He misses. Cody goes to the top. Rollins stops him. Rollins hits the Superplex and rolls into the Falcon Arrow. Cody reverses into a CrossRhodes. He goes to pin him and he has him for the count of 3, but Rollins’s leg is on the ropes. The two men continue battling. Rollins hits a pedigree and 2 and 3/4 count.
Seth goes for the Dusty Bionic Elbow combo. Cody stops it. Neither man can get a move in. Ultimately, Cody Rhodes gets the win. Rollins rolled Cody up and grabbed the tights. Cody reverses and grabs the tights himself for the 3. What a match!
Cody beats Rollins for the second time. That was fantastic. Lashley and Omos is up next.
He got him! @CodyRhodes takes down @WWERollins once again at #WMBacklash! pic.twitter.com/De168kwkgW
— WWE (@WWE) May 9, 2022
The most dominant faction in history?
Tonight, @WWE presents #WrestleMania #Backlash, and your main event features the most dominant faction in pro wrestling / sports entertainment history, the #bloodline.
Read the entire post here – https://t.co/SUYgzrWuWE pic.twitter.com/HQ6Us8Rlbn
— Paul Heyman (@HeymanHustle) May 8, 2022
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