Backlash Reax

Read on for my thoughts on last night's Raw and Smackdown brand WWE Network special event.

-- Kickoff:
- Bayley vs. Ruby:
This is a nice start to things.

Ruby's doing pretty well so far.

I hope Ruby can win three-on-one.

Bayley just might do it.

Not bad. I hope at some point Ruby can be more than the leader of the Squad. I'm not sold on Liv or Sarah outside of this group yet.

-- Backlash:
- Seth vs. Miz:
I hope this starting the show means Miz is going to get involved with Cass/Bryan.

I liked Miz realizing he wasn't going to outwrestle Rollins. He's underrated.

Miz doesn't have to fly around to beat Rollins. He needs to stop Seth from doing so and capitalize.

Seth is great at firing up.

Rollins is really taking it to him now.

I mean, Seth is hitting him with everything.

OUCH. That was a hell of a hit from Seth's knee.

Clever Figure Four spot.

I would have popped SO hard for Miz winning on that SCF.

AAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHHH TWO great near falls with the SCF. I'm worried how Miz is going to believably beat anyone now.

That was a really great ending sequence. I hope Miz is going places.

- Nia vs. Alexa:
It's so hard to buy Bliss beating Nia.

Alexa absolutely looks like the underdog here.

I like this so far.

That Samoan Drop could have killed Alexa!

I like the story here.

Alexa's fighting for her life.

HOLY SHIT that was a heck of an ending. Solid work so far.

- Post-match:
That was pretty cool. A little cheesy, but the right idea.

- Joe promo:
Joe's going to have a tougher time against hardcore favorites AJ and Nakamura.

- Jeff vs. Orton:
Fine start.

Both men doing what they do best.

This is really solid.

That was fun. I'm sure they could tear it up if they had more time.

- Elias et al:
How many Little Jimmys even know who Springsteen is?

Well this is odd.

Ah so they're just adding every goofy gimmick in one segment. Gotcha.

This is really stretching the show out.

God, finally.

- Bryan vs. Cass:
Nice strategy to start.

Solid big guy/little guy stuff.

Pretty basic work, but not bad.

OK enough so far.

Wow, way to fucking kill Cass.

- Post-match:
Well, at least he'll get some heat back.

I'm not crazy about this, since we're just setting up another Bryan victory.

- Carmella vs. Charlotte:
Charlotte might win this one early.

Yeah, Carmella is outclassed as a wrestler here, for sure.

Talk about a big difference between two wrestlers' abilities.

Carmella's OK, but not great.

Ehhhhhhhhh. Weak. At least have her cheat.

- AJ vs. Shinsuke:
I like AJ's aggression here. It adds something different to previous encounters.

There's a nice story here so far.

VINTAGE Shinsuke!

This isn't bad, but we know they're capable of so much more.

Nice springboard counter.

NICE Exploder spot.

OOOUUUUCCCHHHHHHH HOLY SHIT THEY BOTH GOT DESTROYED BY THE CHAIR THERE.

I'm liking the submissions.

This is heating up quite well.

Wow, someone's really a fan of low blows.

This is going well.

HAHAHAAHAHAHAHHA that double low blow.

NNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOO we have to sit through another round of this shit?

- Braun/Lashley vs. Sami/Owens:
Sami's the lamb being led to the slaughter here.

Shit. I think Braun or Lashley could have teamed with Nicholas to beat these guys at this rate.

The heels finally get something going.

Kevin and Sami getting STOMPED by these two.

Looks like we might be in for the 4,000th Kevin/Sami feud. Ugggggh.

Ehhhh. The action was pretty fun, but Raw is really lacking in credible heels right now.

- Post-match:
Kevin and Sami are dangerously close to dropping to IC Title level. Raw desperately needs some high-level heels. Time to turn Finn and Lashley.

- Reigns vs. Joe: 
Damn. Joe looking to finish what Brock started.

Joe mugging this dude. I'd be upset, too, if my opponent blew two Universal Title matches and I didn't get to challenge for the title as a result.

Reigns getting almost NO offense in here.

Damn, Roman might be slipping to Jinder level after all!

This isn't bad, but it's taken time to get going.

Now it's picking up.

Nice clutch counter.

Ehhhh. Good but not great. We know they can both do more. Especially as the main event of the show.

More wrestling coming up.