WWE WrestleMania Backlash 2021: Every Match Ranked From Worst To Best
A rock solid show, apart from the zombies (seriously).
The first-ever WrestleMania Backlash event may have been a pretty typical post-WrestleMania PPV, but it was also a totally respectable, well-paced show. If you can forgive the terrible zombie lumberjack match nonsense, at least.
The other six bouts ranged from decent to genuinely great, and were largely given plenty of time to breathe. Not all the finishes went as smoothly as the competitors clearly hoped, but the meat of the wrestling on offer made for a good time.
Sure, most of the champions predictably retained their titles, yet for the standards of a shameless holding-pattern PPV intended largely to set up a bunch of Hell in a Cell rematches, it offered up arguably one of the strongest events of the year so far.
It's easy to imagine how the double main event would've been even better with a live crowd, but for a show few were particularly excited about, these matches closed things out in impressively spectacular fashion.
Though it doesn't seem to be setting up many particularly interesting or surprising match-ups for the future, on its own merits this was a thoroughly entertaining show...
7. Lumberjack Match: The Miz Vs. Damian Priest
Result: Priest puts Miz away with the Reckoning for the win (7:00).
Rating: Zombie lumberjacks are now a thing that has happened in WWE. It was already a carny-ass proposition at best, and it didn't help that it instantly conjured memories of ECW's infamous Zombie skit (thanks for the reminder, Corey).
Of course this was really just a blatant paid product placement for the new Batista-starring Netflix movie Army of the Dead, and the embarrassing cynicism on display, to shove an advertisement into an actual match, speaks for itself.
Sadly they didn't really do anything fun or interesting with the gimmick, beyond Miz getting "eaten" by the zombie horde post-match. This didn't move the needle at all, and the fact people were only talking about the zombies means it completely undermined Priest's victory.
At least it didn't outstay its welcome, right? 3/10