World Wrestling Entertainment – Backlash 2003 – 27th April 2003
Goldberg’s first WWE match is tonight. I could probably have used that sentence as the entire introduction to this review. Looking at the card, all WWE really cares about here is the huge Goldberg vs Rock dream match main event. There is some other stuff there, but the vast majority of it is pretty underwhelming. Raw’s main event scene get crammed into a 6-man tag as Chris Jericho teams with Evolution’s Triple H and Ric Flair to face Shawn Michaels, Booker T and Kevin Nash (back from another quad injury). In a glimpse into the future, John Cena has his first WWE Title shot on ppv as he challenges Brock Lesnar. Both brand’s Tag Titles are on the line, Trish defends the Women’s Title and we have some novelty factor too as the biggest and smallest members of the roster (Big Show and Rey Mysterio) have a singles match. Coach, King, Tazz and Michael Cole are all in Worcester, MA.
Team Angle vs Los Guerreros – WWE Tag Title Match
Kurt was removed from television after his WWE Title loss at WrestleMania as he got the neck surgery he so badly needed. Haas and Benjamin, however, remained on television and started dedicating their matches to him. Tonight they face the sneaky, devious Guerrero duo looking to regain the WWE Tag Titles they once held.
Eddie starts with Haas and gets under his skin by seemingly being every bit as good on the mat as he is. He and Chavo start working on Benjamin’s arm with great success which prompts Charlie to take action. He tries to cheap shot Chavo with a knee from the apron…but unfortunately he’s up against the masters of cheating, and is helpless as Los Guerreros start unloading all their usual tactics. We have cheap shots, illegal assaults on the floor, fake tags, chokes with the tag rope and more. Team Angle are nothing if not fast learners though – and they soon have Eddie trapped in the ring. They use all the nefarious tricks they just saw the Guerreros use against them…then level him with the Broken Arrow for 2. Eddie retaliates with a Saito suplex on Haas…only for Charlie to POUNCE him when he tries to lunge into a tag to Chavo. Shelton gets 2 with possibly the most beautiful powerslam I’ve ever seen. WGTT work Eddie’s back for several minutes…until he COUNTERS a backbreaker into a satellite headscissors then hurls himself OVER HAAS’ HEAD into the hot tag. JACK-KNIFE POWERBOMB from Shelton to Chavo! THREE AMIGOS from Eddie to Haas! FROG SPLASH NAILED! Benjamin has to drag Chavo out of the ring to break the fall! He then does the classic ‘hold the guys feet down’ trick whilst Haas pins Chavo – helping Team Angle retain at 15:03
Rating - *** - Really solid and enjoyable formula tag to get the show rolling. Los Guerreros were entertaining as hell, but also worked extremely hard to make sure their opponents were getting over too. They bumped hard, sold well and even allowed the champs to ‘out-cheat’ them with the finish.
The disappointed Guerreros don’t take losing well…so steal the title belts before driving home!
Backstage Test is busying himself hitting on Torrie Wilson, despite being in a relationship with Stacy Keibler. Unbeknownst to them Sable saw the whole thing.
Sean O’Haire vs Rikishi
Having already lost faith with the ‘not telling you something you don’t already know’ gimmick, WWE paired O’Haire off with the newly returned Roddy Piper – as something of an evil protégé. Tonight they have Rikishi in their sights, after Piper assaulted the Samoan with a coconut – just as he’d done to Jimmy Snuka in the past. Surely beating up islanders with coconuts was seen as wildly racist in 2003?
Rikishi goes after Piper, but has quick enough reactions to duck a sneak attack from O’Haire to put him into the ring steps. Sean strikes back with a superkick after another piece of distraction from Hot Rod. Neck vice applied…and the audience is soon so bored they start amusing themselves. A double kick to the ass counters the Stinkface before simultaneous superkicks knock both men to the ground. Piper is in the ring with another coconut…but this time Rikishi grabs it and knocks him out with it. O’Haire capitalises to hit the Widow Maker for victory at 04:54
Rating - DUD - This one sucked. It’s up to you whether you want to blame Sean’s supposed lack of ability, Rikishi’s preposterously stale gimmick, a lousy crowd, or Roddy Piper’s outdated coconut act. Wherever the blame lies, this was spectacularly dull and pretty much ended Sean’s push
Sable introduces herself to Stacy Keibler…and tells her that Torrie is hitting on Test. Poor Stacy looks so sad! She even tosses her plate of salad down before storming off…
Rob Van Dam thinks it’s ‘not cool’ that Chief Morley is refereeing he and Kane’s World Tag Title defence next. Kane delivers a rallying cry as they head to the ring…
Kane/Rob Van Dam vs Dudley Boyz – World Tag Title Match
I’d completely forgotten this angle. The Dudleyz were working a weird tweener gimmick where they seemed to side with Bischoff’s Chief Of Staff Sean Morley, even though they didn’t like him – and even though Morley didn’t appear to like them much either. Kane and RVD actually defeated Morley and Lance Storm for the belts at the end of March and fear he has appointed himself as referee here specifically to screw them over.
Bubba tries to assault Van Dam…and they actually have a really cool near-miss exchange. It’s actually Bubba’s familiarity with RVD’s act that hands the Dudleyz the advantage as he continually blocks Rob’s usual taunts and signature moves with fierce clotheslines. Kane and D-Von, on the other hand, don’t look like they’ve ever met in their lives as they botch a basic rope run and continue to look clumsy as f*ck as they go along. RVD gets the crowd back into things with a split-legged moonsault only for Bubba Ray to counter his usual tumbling monkey flip then set him up for the Wassup Headbutt. The challengers isolate Mr PPV for a few minutes without doing anything of real note, meaning the crowd barely react to the hot tag to Kane. Rolling Thunder on Bubba only for D-Von to hit a SLINGSHOT NECKBREAKER out of the corner! Chief Morley whacks Kane in the nuts as he sets up a Chokeslam! Unfortunately his next move is to accidentally clock Bubba with a clothesline! D-Von angrily assaults the Chief…so his tag partner Lance Storm tries to run in. Bubba Bomb on Lance! 3-D ON CHIEF MORLEY! Kane Chokeslams Bubba into the Five Star Frog Splash – and another ref sprints in to count the pin at 13:01. Kane and RVD retain
Rating - ** - I wasn’t particularly into what they were doing, but even I can admit that all the overbooking down the stretch was a lot of fun to watch. The Dudleyz’ tense relationship with Morley fell apart spectacularly, Lance Storm took a couple of hits for no reason, plus Kane and RVD tossing spots around too. I also really liked the deal with Bubba continually countering Van Dam’s spots. Having said all that, this definitely went way longer than it needed to.
Stacy barges into the divas locker room to pick a fight with Torrie. There is an actual cat in there for absolutely no reason, which I found hilarious. Ivory, Jacqueline and Molly relish getting some TV time
Trish Stratus vs Jazz – WWE Women’s Title Match
Teddy Long had started managing again by this point. I’m not sure he’d started his whole ‘black power’ stable yet but he’d already recruited Jazz and accompanies her to ringside. Trish is making her first ppv defence of her latest Women’s Title reign. She won the belt from Victoria at WrestleMania, in a match which also featured Jazz. Unfortunately for her she comes in injured having been assaulted by both the Dudleyz and Jazz on Raw.
Jazz is intent on going after Trish’s injured ribs and hits a backbreaker inside the first minute. Bitch Clamp applied next – a move which stretches out the chest, and ends with Stratus being dropped hard to the mat. Trish’s best defence is to use her wrestling skills to protect herself – and gets some brief respite with a gutwrench suplex before Jazz squashes her ribs once again. Headstand frankensteiner COUNTERED TO A JUMPING HALF CRAB FROM THE TOP! Once again it’s only Trish’s wrestling and countering ability which saves the match! STF locked in but with her ribs causing her such pain she can’t force a submission out of the challenger. Chick Kick gets 2! Stratusfaction nailed too, but this time Theodore Long breaks the count by throwing a shoe at her! Jazz then pins her using the ropes to take the belt at 05:50
Rating - ** - Things were going along great, and these two ladies were finally having the strong pay-per-view match their rivalry should have delivered in 2002…but that finish really killed it for me. It makes Jazz look like sh*t as well. Trish already had the ‘get out’ clause of the rib injury. She’d been assaulted by three different people on Raw coming into this. I really don’t think she needed the extra protection of a cheap finish – and Jazz going over clean after destroying Trish’s ribs would have really helped her. Crap booking ruins a decent match
Booker, HBK and Nash hang out backstage. Big Sexy demands HHH is left to him…
Big Show vs Rey Mysterio
Show felt embarrassed after being knocked on his ass by Rey Mysterio a couple of times. He felt insulted being knocked over by a wrestler so much smaller than him – so this one was booked. It pits the smallest member of the male roster against the biggest. Rey will need to rely on all his trickery…
Mysterio starts the match by running away, quite understandably. He manages to put an early dropkick into Show’s face, further angering the giant. Rey is eventually caught though, taking some hard shots in the corner before running away again. Springboard crossbody countered to an effortless backbreaker! Next Show tries a press slam…but has to settle for clubbing Rey out of the ring after he lands on his feet. Hidden chair shot by Mysterio! SPRINGBOARD SENTON! ROLLING 619’s nailed! Sadly the West Coast Pop is brutally countered into the Chokeslam. Show wins at 03:47
Rating - N/A - Most people probably had this pegged as a lose/lose situation. Either you kill Big Show’s credibility by putting Rey over, or you pointlessly curtail Rey’s burgeoning popularity and upwards momentum with a needless loss to Show. In the end, they made the best of a bad situation and produced an entertaining little match. The ways they found for Rey to hit his usual moves on a man of Big Show’s size were really innovative – and in turn Big Show hitting his normal spots on a guy as small as Rey looked BRUTAL. Not sure why they booked this, but having done so, the results were surprisingly entertaining.
EMT’s try to stretcher Rey out of the ring, such was the impact of that Chokeslam. Big Show snatches the stretcher (once Rey has been strapped to it) and SWINGS IT INTO THE RINGPOST! Brutal spot, that left an unprotected Mysterio landing right on his head!
HHH, Flair and Jericho have words for their opponents in the big 6-man.
Torrie and Stacy are still fighting (despite Torrie having changed outfit). Scott Steiner arrives on the scene to help the injured Stacy…much to Test’s annoyance.
Brock Lesnar vs John Cena – WWE Title Match
This feud was really the first time WWE gave Cena a shot at the top of the card. It was only experimental at this point, and something of a transitional feud for Lesnar – but actually wound up providing some decent television. Cena’s battle-rap promos were really on point, stating his desire for revenge on Brock (who had left him requiring knee surgery with an F-5 to a ringpost months earlier) and desperate need to become WWE Champion. He won a #1 contendership tournament – by defeating Eddie Guerrero, Undertaker and Chris Benoit and came in to the ppv with masses of momentum having bloodied Lesnar with his own belt.
Cena makes sure he doesn’t get any home state love by wearing a Yankees shirt. He gets more heat by jumping Brock from behind. It doesn’t amount to much though and Lesnar soon dominating him with his intimidating combination of power and wrestling skill. The beating continues outside the ring where John is thrown viciously into the announce table. The challenger can’t even grab a chair for respite because the champ is all over him. Finally he manages to whip Brock into the steps – instantly opening up the wound on his forehead which Cena inflicted on Smackdown. Pretty soon Lesnar is pouring blood thanks to Cena’s repeated attempts to open up the cut further. Brock powers out of a sleeper hold with a spinebuster – although the hold squeezed still more blood out of his eyes. Wisely Cena wraps his limbs around his opponent in another sleeper thus negating his power and causing the claret to flow. The crowd feels eerily similar to a 2014 crowd, with portions of the crowd booing Cena and others loudly cheering him on. Lesnar muscles back into the contest, manhandling the challenger into various power moves despite a number of semi-botches. It’s only a low blow that keeps John in the fight – but he follows it up driving Lesnar’s face into the canvas again with a flipping neckbreaker. Brock’s response is to SHUNT him into the corner with such force that his head smacks against the ringpost. F-5! The blood champion retains at 15:14
Rating - *** - At this stage in their careers both guys were reliant on their opponents to help them to great matches. There was plenty of potential there, and Brock really understood his character and style by this point – but in terms of structuring a match these two were a little off. The story they went for was ok, with Lesnar’s power dominating which in turn forced Cena to take a few cheap shots and go after the bloody forehead. Unfortunately they lost the crowd with a couple of LONG chinlock segments. They made sense (Cena milking the blood loss) but took the crowd out of it. In truth thanks to a pretty poorly executed closing stretch they never really got them back. Despite those shortcomings it was still a solid match. Considering this was Cena’s first high profile ppv match ever, and that he was just back from a pretty serious knee injury, this probably could have been a lot worse.
Triple H/Ric Flair/Chris Jericho vs Shawn Michaels/Kevin Nash/Booker T
Kevin Nash returned to the WWE with the landscape entirely different to when he was last here. Hall, X-Pac and the nWo are gone – and he returned to Raw to see his two best friends HHH and Shawn Michaels at each other’s throats. Hunter told him he had to choose between them, but then grew tired of Nash’s refusal to do so and attacked him – effectively making his decision for him. Unfortunately the Game also has Big Sexy’s partners gunning for him too. Booker only narrowly lost to him at WrestleMania, whilst Michaels is still chasing him for the belt he lost at Armageddon. Y2J teams with Evolution tonight (far more willingly than he should do considering the history he and HHH have) in an attempt to even the score for his pinfall loss to Shawn at WrestleMania.
Nash has far too much pyro for how irrelevant he is. His partners step out so he can start the match, and to the surprise of nobody HHH refuses to remain in the ring for his team. Michaels and Jericho are soon renewing hostilities and trade holds with the same fluidity and skill we saw in Seattle. Booker brains Jericho with a spinebuster. Triple H takes over with an attack on Booker as, on commentary, Coach does a far better job shutting down Lawler’s racist jokes than JR did. Amusingly it’s Flair’s incompetence that allows Booker to tag out. Sweet Chin Music on Flair! PEDIGREE ON SHAWN! With HBK on the ground Jericho tags in with relish – gleefully beating up his defenceless rival. All three of the heels get their licks in on Michaels whilst keeping him cut off from his partners. Helmsley spearheads an attack on the knee, ably supported by Naitch who can work a guy’s leg in his sleep. The eventual hot tag comes…and it brings in Nash to vent his frustration on the World Champion. Nash is blown up and out of moves within a few seconds – but does counter both Jericho’s facebuster and the Pedigree in cool fashion one after the other. Ghetto Blaster from Booker to Y2J! Nash and HHH are fighting in the aisle now…as in the ring Jericho drops Michaels with the facebuster. FIGURE 4 LEGLOCK! WITH A LIONSAULT BY Y2J! WALLS OF JERICHO! Shawn’s leg has been destroyed, meaning Nash has to abandon assaulting HHH to save his friend. JACK-KNIFE POWERBOMB ON JERICHO! HHH takes his chance to belt Kev with the sledgehammer – snatching the victory for his team at 17:51
Rating - *** - Much like Lesnar/Cena I wasn’t expecting much from this, and it actually kept me entertained throughout. The centrepiece of the match (positioning Nash as HHH’s top challenger) was sickening but there was enough talent in everyone else to carry things. Shawn made a great punching bag for the heel team, whilst HHH, Jericho and Flair all played their roles well. If you can get over how disgraceful it was that Hunter ensured his friend got a completely undeserved World Title feud this was decent.
The Rock vaguely acts like a heel in his pre-match promo, but is so funny with it he pretty much turns himself babyface. For future reference, calling your next big star a ‘whiskerbiscuit, bald headed bitch’ is NEVER going to get that guy over…
The Rock vs Goldberg
The night after WrestleMania was supposed to be ‘Rock Appreciation Night’. After defeating Austin at WrestleMania he could officially declare that he’d done it all in his illustrious career. Unfortunately his big night was interrupted by the debuting Bill Goldberg – who marched to the ring and Speared him into the ground. It was an unprovoked assault, but it reminded everyone that Rock had never beaten Goldberg. This was the first time we’d ever see WCW’s biggest star take on one of WWE’s biggest. Rock/Goldberg was discussed as a potential dream match during the Monday Night Wars. Tonight it happens. Can Bill start his WWE in-ring career with a victory? Or will Rock establish superiority over another legendary performer?
Rock’s ‘crapping myself’ facial expressions as he stalls locking up are awesome. And amazingly he is even funnier after Bill shoves him on his ass. I’m not sure the heel is supposed to be this entertaining. Huge parts of the crowd are already cheering him on, and pop loudly as he slaps Goldberg in the face. The stall tactics continue with Rocky spending almost two minutes loitering outside the ring. Eventually he rushes in, clotheslines Bill down then jumps around in celebration! ROCK BOTTOM BY GOLDBERG! But he takes far too long setting up the Spear…allowing Rock to recover and toss him into the ringpost. Now Rock’s ‘I can’t believe I did that’ face cracks me up. Scorpion King Deathlock applied – as even the commentators start to acknowledge that Rock is getting as many cheers as Bill now. He hits a low blow then struts away to adoring ‘Rocky’ chants! SPEAR from nowhere! What the hell? Psychology? Goldberg stays down because he Speared Rock using the shoulder he just injured on the ringpost. He eventually follows it up with a powerslam and again comes up selling the arm. SPEAR BY ROCK! Crowd loves it! ROCK BOTTOM! Bill kicks at 2! People’s Elbow only gets 2 as well. Goldberg powers back to his feet and polishes Rocky off with a couple of Spears then the Jackhammer. ‘Goldberg sucks’ – Worcester crowd. Match time was 13:04
Rating - *** - At the time I remember thinking this match sucked. Watching it here, it entertained the hell out of me. From a long term perspective it pretty much murdered Goldberg’s WWE run in his first ever match but Rock was just so fun. He was so comical with his facial expressions and so brilliant with his chickensh*t act that people loved him again. At the time this seemed like a solid idea – Rock sticking around after WrestleMania to put over Goldberg as the WWE’s next big star. Unfortunately it horribly backfired because all of Goldberg’s weaknesses were viciously exposed. WWE never ‘got’ Goldberg, and never realised that he needed to seem invincible and needed to be taken seriously. Rock cracking jokes and calling him ‘Whiskerbiscuit’ nailed any chance of that happening. In hindsight they’d have been better off having him mow down opponents in a WWE version of The Streak – or put the World Title on him straight away.
Tape Rating - ** - Not a good show in the sense that no match is particularly memorable or outstanding. There are some really poor matches, and even the ones that crack 3* are very much on the low end of a 3* rating and nothing you need to go out of your way to see. However, I will say that I was surprisingly entertained for long periods. Lesnar/Cena had some good ideas, albeit they were both too green to really see them through. The Raw 6-man was actually surprisingly good once you got over Kevin Nash’s push. The WGTT/Guerreros tag was a really solid tag match to start the show, and Rock’s antics in the main event are so hysterically good that I laughed my ass off through most of the match. I can’t wildly recommend this show, but once you’ve seen all the good sh*t on the WWE Network this is far from the worst ppv I’ve reviewed from WWE recently.
Top 3 Matches
3) Brock Lesnar vs John Cena (***)
2) Triple H/Ric Flair/Chris Jericho vs Shawn Michaels/Kevin Nash/Booker T (***)
1) Team Angle vs Los Guerreros (***)