WWE Backlash 2004
April 18th, 2004
I’m tackling my first ever WWE review right here. I would usually review something like ‘Survivor Series 96’ or ‘Canadian Stampede’ because they’re two of my favourite PPVs of all time. I thought this one would be best to go with though, as Backlash is coming and thought this would be a neat one to do. In this one we have the infamous Mick Foley vs. Randy Orton and Triple Threat matches. Do I find them overrated like nearly everything mainstream you may be asking? Time will tell my friends.
Shelton Benjamin vs. Ric Flair
Benjamin was fresh off beating HHH. Perhaps throwing Flair in there may not have been the smartest move, as the plan was to get Shelton over as a face and Flair got a pretty big reaction. It all turned out good though, but could you imagine if they were to put Batista in this match? From jobbing in a curtain jerker to main eventing. You can tell Benjamin is happy to be out there, smiling a lot when Flair does his signature stuff. Speaking of Flair, this is pretty much him by the numbers here. Face takes over for a while, only for Flair to cheat and go on the offensive. He does take a nice bump on the outside in a back drop. He may not be Tenryu, but still good for his age (although the Tenryu to Flair comparison is a bit of stretch, since Tenryu is as good as some that are 20-30 years younger than him). Flair uses his usual cheating here as well, with Benjamin selling it nicely. Flair getting caught midway through the “Whooo” is a pretty cool spot. Flair tries for the brass knucks in the final parts of the match, but Benjamin is able to catch him with the Stinger Splash and hit a bit of a mistimed clothesline off the top. Matches don’t always have to excel in the workrate department in the opener, just get the crowd into the match, and this match did that. **
Tajiri vs. Coach
I may not be happy about Tajiri losing here, but Coach was willing to get his head kicked in. Coach does play a nice heel though and works a pretty smart style, working Tajiri’s legs. His cheating is nice and his comments through the match are good. He plays the heel that you hate, but want to watch him to see him get his ass kicked. Tajiri to my delight busts out the Handspring Elbow and I haven’t seen it done well in so long. Styles used it in his 30 min Iron Man with Daniels but it was hardly as clean as Tajiri’s. Coming into the finish, Coach takes some very stiff kicks, especially the tree of woe dropkick. But by god is the finish weak. Cade runs in and punches Tajiri and he gets beat. It’s not friggin’ Survivor Series. I’m surprised we didn’t see a singles match between them. It would’ve hardly been Kawada vs. Hansen though. *
Chris Jericho vs. Christian and Trish Stratus
I enjoyed the build up for this one, especially the events that took place at Wrestlemania. Trish actually plays a better heel than Christian in this match. Just look when she gives Jericho the Chick Kick and only gets 2, she tags straight out. The facial expressions are there as well. If only WWE would sign some real women for her to wrestle. A problem though is when we hit Christian’s heat section, much like the Wrestlemania match, it kills the flow. You don’t have to hit a chinlock in a 12 minute match. A Christian match wouldn’t be full without JR calling the Reverse DDT the Unprettier. Seriously, this guy needs to get back on the ball or just step down. They do a good job building false finishes on Jericho, as I remember watching live I was into a few of the near falls. The one with Christian hitting the Unprettier and Trish running in for the pin is the best. Christian’s submission of choice at this time was the Texas Cloverleaf, but he had no idea on how to use it. He get the knees up on the Lionsault and locks in the Texas Cloverleaf. It makes zero sense. Trish takes probably the bump of the match off of a Jericho Lariat, going All Japan style and landing on her head. Jericho using the Shining Enzuguri as a finish is weak, but at least it isn’t the Walls, because he had done zero back work. **3/4
Women’s Title: Victoria vs. Lita
People were turning on Victoria at this point, because she was no longer “Crazy Stalker Bitch” but more “Happy Fun Victoria”. As for Lita, well, she was done. The neck killed whatever she had and can only have a good match when Trish is there to hold her hand. This match is extra sloppy, making me wonder why it was given 7 mins. But hey, at least I can’t complain about Paul London getting this time. Lita is the main culprit of the sloppiness, mainly with her sloppy strikes. I don’t want her to make them connect like Low-Ki, but Jesus Christ, she hits like my nephew, and he’s not even 6 months. Victoria excels in everything Lita can do best, which is not really hard, but it’s a point that should be made. Her moonsault is evidence of it. Whereas Lita looks like my dog being thrown into the air and forced to do it, Victoria does it cleanly. Lita does not use the moonsault in this match though, gladly. And why protect Lita? It’s not like losing to a move wouldn’t hurt her. Not to a school boy. ½*
Intercontinental Title, Falls Count Anywhere: Randy Orton vs. Mick Foley
The death match, if you want to call this match that, is something that has to be treated seriously. Don’t go out there and use the Wifebeater mentality and hit each other with weapons for the sake of it, use the Necro Butcher, Sexxxy Eddy or JC Bailey method of using your weapons to tell a story. Now you can either do this by slowly building the match, slowly building the violence and placing your moves and get the crowd into the near falls, bump your ass off and hope for the best or excel in violence. They try each but only get half way on each. In this day and age, for those who watch new age hardcore violence, thumb tacks and barbed wire boards will get us so far, but we want the light tubes and men bleeding all over the place. Foley knows his stuff when it comes to death matches and knows how to work things, sadly Orton doesn’t. They do a nice build to start, teasing shots with the barbed wire bats and trading the normal offence in the ring. When Orton is busted off a barbed wire bat shot, Foley knows what to do and works on the cut. When Foley tries to use the fire, Bischoff prevents it. Now come on, it’s No DQ. I’m not going to say to Benoit and Jericho “Have an hour Iron Man Match” and when Benoit locks in the Crossface so “No sorry, no submissions”. When the barbed wire board is busted out, the tame crowd goes crazy. Foley takes a shot into it with mustard and bleeds from the arm. He’s not out there for himself, but to make a star.
Orton’s bump into the tacks is gutsy. Have I seen worse? Sure but the bump was nice and sick. One problem though, if he’s going for an RKO into the tacks, isn’t he going to get his back covered in them anyway? There aren’t many near falls in this match, which is what you have to do in death matches. Orton’s bump off the stage is once again nice, as is Foley’s elbow off the stage. As much as this night is about making Orton a star, it’s Foley’s night. Sure, Orton got a big reaction after the match, but this was Foley’s night. We get a bit of nice psychology, playing off the Wrestlemania finish and naturally it only gets 2 because Foley isn’t caught up in the spectacle. Orton looks a little loss (I’m kayfabing you see), not knowing what to do. It strikes him though, RKO on the Barbed Wire Bat to finish off Foley. Everyone raves about the violence in this match but seriously, this is child’s play compared to what happens these days. You got panes of glass (sometimes on fire), light tubes, nail boards and things flaming being busted out these days. Points for effort though, as Foley got whatever he could get out of Orton in this environment. ***1/4
La Resistance vs. Hurricane and Rosey
Can you say toilet break? They don’t treat this more than a toilet break either, as none of them are motivated enough to put on a good performance. This is also WWE Style 101, don’t hurt yourself but by god bore the crowd in the process. La Resistance don’t help things either but working rest holds. Come one. You’re working a 5 minute match; you can’t seriously get blown up that quickly. I wonder how these guys feel about having their match invaded by Eugene so he can run the ropes. Their match is already filler, but then it becomes a side act for Eugene. We all let loose a sigh of relief when the match is over though. DUD
Edge vs. Kane
I wasn’t really taking notice of this match because it’s not a good match and because I was taking notice of Hebnar. Crowd tells him he screwed Bret. You damn right. Kane uses some nice, yet boring, psychology. It’s basically formula hand work. Although he does work a rest hold off a wristlock. Once again I have to ask the question, why the rest hold in such a short match? Edge hits the Edgecution, which surprise surprise, JR doesn’t call. I’m actually surprised he didn’t call it a spear. The finish is your usually Edge finish, as he forgets the body part has been worked and will use it to his advantage. I don’t care if you hit him with the cast, but at least have the decency to sell it. ½*
World Heavyweight Title: Chris Benoit vs. Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels
To my delight, the fans shit all over HBK. He gets noticeably upset about this as well. They were trying to capture the magic of the Wrestlemania match here and even though it has its own little magic being in Benoit’s hometown, it just can’t match up. Benoit has the soundest strategy here, lock on the Crossface at any possible time and dish out as much punishment as possible. He’s not out there to play around; he’s out there to keep what he fought 18 years for. Even though he hands out a lot of moves in the early going, Benoit shows how deep his moveset is by being able to continue and hand out moves and not seem repetitive. Benoit’s effort alone is why you should see this match. His bump to the outside is sicker than his usual bumps and his Flying Headbutt more amazing than usual.
Benoit lives up to his nickname of the “Rabid Wolverine” when going for the Sharpshooter on HHH and despite being kicked away, he locks it on anyway. When HBK tries to break as well, he just slaps him in the Crossface. He has the match won, but due to HBK knocking the ref down accidentally with his flying forearm, he can’t get the win. Shawn locks him in the Sharpshooter and none other than Earl Hebnar makes his way out. Well this has the crowd in a frenzy, bring the “You Screwed Bret” chants. One thing that pissed me off here was JR and King handing out their “Get over it” story. Well if you didn’t remind us of it just seconds ago, maybe it wouldn’t have been chanted, but they shove it down our throats anyway.
Shawn is noticeably pissed and I’m happy. He pisses the crowd off even more by locking on the Crossface. Shawn going for the crossbody off the top and crashing through the table is a nice spot, but ultimately helps kill the flow a little as well. There is nothing really wrong or standout about HHH’s shoulder work, but going to a Camel Clutch after working the shoulder isn’t what I’d call making sense. Benoit helps the match get back on track with Rolling Germans and going for the Flying Headbutt. One great thing about Benoit’s Headbutt is that you never know if it’s going to hit. HHH surprisingly hits the Pedigree, but isn’t able to cover because he’s tried. Considering he hasn’t done much in the match, what does he have to be tired about? Shawn saves because we don’t kick out of the Pedigree clean. The heat continues for Shawn though after hitting his forearm and kipping up. I may seem like a bastard, but being a huge Bret mark, I was when watching this live at home and I still am enjoyed by this. Intentional or not, the next spot is great. Shawn sets to Superkick for the Superkick on HHH, only to see Benoit on the apron and Superkick him instead. I think it was more there to get over Shawn wants it one on one with HHH though.
HHH’s over aggressiveness is his undoing. Using the Sledgehammer on Shawn is smart, yet I’d rather if he’d kicked out of the Pedigree before HHH went to the hammer. He nails Shawn in the spin with it and in a nice bit of psychology, since Benoit survived the Pedigree before, he opts for one on the steps, but as I said before, his over aggressiveness gets to him and Benoit catapults him into the post. With HHH out of action, it’s just down to Benoit and Shawn. Benoit stays a step ahead of Shawn, blocking the Superkick into the Sharpshooter. It’s a fitting end to the match, especially due to the circumstances and got Benoit over huge at the time. Sadly in the coming months he would play a side act to HHH’s feuds with HBK and Eugene. The magic of Wrestlemania wasn’t going to be captured, but they gave it a shot and once again, points have to be given for effort. They ultimately fell short though. ***1/2
