50 Ups & 50 Downs For WWE's Decade: The 2010s
39. Roman Reigns Vs Samoa Joe, Backlash 2018
Fans headed for the exits early as Roman Reigns and Samoa Joe chinlocked their way to one of the most disappointing pay-per-view main events of the decade, but was the abysmal assemblage down to the men in the ring or the ones pulling the strings from the safety of the backstage area?
In every possible sense of the phrase, the New Jersey fans didn't care and had literally had enough.
They'd had enough WWE - Backlash 2018 was just a week removed from the ultra-controversial Greatest Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia, and only four on from yet another controversial WrestleMania. They'd had enough Roman Reigns - the 'Big Dog' was a two-time loser against Lesnar and wasn't wrestling here like his future trajectory depended on it. They'd even had enough Backlash - the show was the worst pay-per-view of year and foreshadowed possibly the most disheartening post-'Mania slump in recent memory.
Beating the traffic meant so much more than witnessing Roman Reigns beat Samoa Joe. The product's value had never felt lower.