10 Best Ruthless Aggression Era WWE PPVs
8. Backlash 2004
A mixed bag, this event, but its highlights make it memorable enough.
The opening bout between Shelton Benjamin besting Ric Flair was a good curtain jerker. Not only that, but after Shelton had defeated Flair, it seemed plausible that WWE management initially had big plans for the rising star, especially seeing as he had two straight victories over Triple H on Raw leading up to this match.
The stand out match from this event was Randy Orton versus Mick Foley in his Cactus Jack persona. Randy and Mick had had a decent feud starting back in December, with Orton always being able to put Foley away. Bringing back the Cactus Jack character was a nod to the previous feud between Foley and Evolution leader, Triple H, and was done excellently.
This match, which had Foley promising to bust open Orton’s ‘virginal’ head didn’t fail to deliver, and was one of the major stepping stones in building Randy Orton into the top level talent he is today.