10 WWE Backlash 2020 Impulse Reactions
The Greatest, The Bad & The Bin.
Backlash used to be a somebody.
The event was traditionally a way for WWE to extend WrestleMania season, and for certain shows, was a phenomenal success. Backlash 2000 was a mammoth fiscal success, Backlash 2004 proffered a genuine classic between Randy Orton and Cactus Jack, and Backlash 2016 - despite taking place at an unfamiliar time of year - served as a welcome reintroduction of the single brand pay-per-views that went such a long way to refining the individual identities of Raw and SmackDown beyond the colour of the ropes.
2020's edition wasn't about any of those things. As the first pay-per-view on a Network partially free to new users, it won't add much to McMahon's McMillions. Randy Orton didn't have a genuine classic. And the only brand identity on display here was that of WWE's - warped version of the Sports Entertainment company it used to be, trapped in its worst identity crisis since 2002 but with none of the fresh legends left to bring back for cheap pops.
The main eventers were given an almost-unassailable task, but they'd already escaped the night's biggest criticisms before the bell even rang.
10. Keep In Trim
WWE might be both soulless and witless at times but they have at least mastered brevity during these trying times.
The company haven't yet quite figured out Performance Center atmosphere creation or how show the structural nous and comedic chops required to deliver cinematic matches on par with their WrestleMania 36 efforts, but they are at long last just getting in, getting done, and getting the f*ck out of there.
At least 'The Show Of Shows' was two manageable nights instead of one disenchanted evening. At least both Money In The Bank briefcases before the sun came up in the UK. And at least the Greatest Wrestling Match Ever didn't stop this entire pay-per-view going too far past the three hour mark.
There are several tricks WWE will hopefully employ if and when wrestling one day looks like it used to, but substantially shaving these run-times might be the best of all. It's much easier to get away with a bad show if you're keeping it short...as they were just about to prove.