WWE Backlash 2020: Results, ‘Greatest Wresting Match Ever’, ratings and full recap

WWE’s backlash pay-per-view had two World Cup fights, but the show was really about a match: Edge versus Randy Orton. It was literally billed as the greatest wrestling match ever, and as far as the promises are concerned, it is next to impossible to live up to what you can get. And of course Edge and Orton didn’t follow that slogan. How could they? The good news is that they are still delivering an outstanding show.

Elsewhere, both Braun Strowman and Drew McIntyre have successfully defended their world championships. Asuka and Nia Jax fought for a double countout, real crap, while The Street Profits and The Viking Raiders fought ninjas in the Performance Center parking lot. Really.

Scroll down to get the full results and analysis from Backlash.

Randy Orton beats Edge

This was the biggest wrestling match ever, but of course it wasn’t the best match ever.

OK to get the goodies out of the way. It was a fantastic game. It was Randy Orton’s best egg yolk match, probably since his 2011 with Christian. It was long, but felt epic.

But it was disappointed in a few ways. First, the slogan “Greatest Wrestling Match Ever” obviously made it difficult without seeing a hint of disbelief. It opened the match to a degree of control that would always hurt it. Second, WWE added noise, as Tom Phillips told us, just before it started. In a way, it was nice to hear the ambience of a stadium audience. On the other hand, everything felt so artificial and forced. “That’s great,” loud boos, sudden cheers, the match just felt overproduced.

It goes without saying that this would have been better in front of a real crowd, but it probably would have been better in front of the NXT wrestlers, who have made provisional crowds in the past few weeks.

But that was also fantastic. It was incredibly long at 50 minutes. But although there were certainly slow spots, this time was ultimately well spent. The two built-in finishers and moves from legends, from Edge hitting Eddie Guerrero’s Three Amigos, Orton nailing a family tree, and Edge using a rock bottom. Orton also stepped out of two spears while Edge survived two RKOs.

Ultimately, Orton scored the W when Orton, when Edge had a head and arm choke, got low and then took the punt kick to take Edge out.

Rating: 4.5 stars. The match did not surprise anyone and was disappointed by its hyperbolic marketing. It wasn’t the biggest wrestling match ever. But you can’t complain enough because it was still an excellent one.

Viking Raiders vs. Street profits

The Raw Tag Team Championship match was the cinematic segment of the night, as was the undetaker against AJ Styles at WrestleMania and The Money in the Bank, which ran to the top from last month’s pay-per-view.

This was perhaps the strangest and definitely the least fun, even though it had its moments. It started with the four brawls in the parking lot, where they fled to the backstage after beating each other on Braun Strowman’s car. The four then get weapons from the sketches they made on Raw – a bowling ball, a golf club, a piece of meat, etc. – and step in, but agree to put down their weapons.

They land again in the parking lot, where Akira Tozawa and a crew approach them on ninjas. Really. They all work together as The Viking Profits and fight waves of ninjas in kung fu film style. Tozawa then brings out a 7 foot ninja, so the four flee. They climb onto the production trucks, but they all fall into a nearby dump where, and I won’t do it, they are frightened by a tentacle monster lying under the rubbish. The segment ends without a winner.

Again, I cannot stress this enough. I have not invented any of it.

Drew McIntyre is stuck in Bobby Lashley

Drew McIntyre defeated Bobby Lashley with a claymore kick. This match was fine, but the psychology behind the end was counterproductive.

After a competitive game, Lashley hit a spear on McIntyre to count two. Lana then comes to the ring and clings to the ring apron. McIntyre bumps into Lashley, who then enters Lana. From the distraction, McIntyre scored the Claymore and victory. The problem? It looks like McIntyre, the hero, only won because Lashley was distracted.

That would be acceptable if the payout were valuable, but what are the chances that the Lashley Lana story will become more important than the credibility of Raw’s current top star? It also feels inconsistent. McIntyre flawlessly defeated Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania. How come he needs a happy distraction to defeat Bobby Lashley?

The match was decent until the end. It started with Lashley working through a distraction from MVP and locking up the Full Nelson before the bell rang. The two then worked very hard to the goal – there was a section in which Lashley and McIntyre traded submission holds that were particularly strong. However, like the Universal Championship Match, it was injured because it was difficult to accept Lashley as a real challenger.

Rating: 2.5 stars.

Braun Strowman retains his Universal Championship

Because you

Strowman’s handicap match against The Miz and John Morrison was surprisingly fun, mostly because it’s cool to see John Morrison’s constant springboard kicks and his gymnastics offensive. In the end, the tag team struck Strowman after a two-person skull crushing final, but Miz broke up Morrison’s Pinfall because Morrison would have won three points.

Miz, worrying, threw Morrison back, but Strowman stepped out. Strowman then choked Miz and hit Morrison to keep the championship. Huge points for this match because the tag team doesn’t look particularly weak. Still, the match had little gravitas because the idea that Strowman would have lost it was marginally unimaginable.

Rating: 3 stars.

Asuka connects to Nia Jax

The Raw Women’s Championship match ends with a double count. Asuka put an arm bar on the outside of Nia Jax, causing Jax to drop out by beating Asuka in the barricade. The two got up and Asuka hit Jax with a high kick – just as the referee counted 10.

The match was a bit sloppy and scored, but mostly well until the weak end. Asuka filed for filings one after the other to neutralize Jax’s economies of scale. For her part, Jax would fight out of submissions and dampen Asuka. After double counting, Asuka hit Jax with a flying hip to let it lie.

The bad news is that the end was lackluster. The good news is that Asuka is still a champion.

Rating: 2 stars. A decent match disappointed with a bad finish.

Sheamus defeats Jeff Hardy.

This match was long and sometimes slow, but ended up strong. Sheamus beat Jeff Hardy to hell in this match and took the win after a brogue kick.

Sheamus took over the vast majority of the fight and knocked down old Jeff extensively. (Literally old, Michael Cole noticed how Hardy grows old and can’t recover as much as before – which is strange to say.) Hardy would celebrate short comebacks before he was cut off by Seamus.

Finally Hardy hit a surprising Twist of Fate and then a Swanton Bomb that looked like the end. But Sheamus has his legs on the ropes, a nice wrong finish. Hardy tried to jump from the barricade onto Sheamus from outside, but was hit by a brogue kick. Another brogue kick in the middle of the ring led to 1-2-3.

Rating: 3.5 stars. Solid.

Sasha Banks and Bayley keep the Women’s Day team titles

Sasha Banks and Bayley defeated Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross and The IIconics in a triple threat match to open the show. After a chaotic match, Banks Bliss rolled up for the three.

All six women worked hard in his chaotic match, although it’s clear that Banks stands out from the others. Still, the IIconics have improved a lot, and although there were some awkwardness in a six-player match that were hard to avoid, there was no noticeable mess or slip throughout the fight.

There were three women in the ring at all times, one from each team. The story of the game was that it was a mystery, with vigorous pinfall attempts and ad hoc tag team moves. A decent open one.

Rating: 2.5 stars.

Score before the show

Apollo Crews retained the US championship by defeating Andrade.