10 Underrated PPVs From WWE's Ruthless Aggression Era
3. Backlash 2004
Match of the Night: Cactus Jack vs Randy Orton
Backlash tends to serve as ‘Diet WrestleMania', where bad booking decisions can be reversed and fans are treated to special matches without the expenditure of a WrestleMania weekend. Typically being a Raw only show, it’s seen as the first step after WrestleMania to build the next big things for the year. Since this followed the 20th edition of the supershow, the card was set to be stacked until the first WWE Draft since the brand split. This allowed the company to bring something fresh and new to an audience which was reasonably fickle. Drafts such as Edge and Shelton Benjamin to Raw changed the dynamic for the brand and made Backlash unmissable.
Shelton fought Ric Flair in his first solo match as a singles competitor, which is something to be treasured. Triple H, Shawn Michaels, and Chris Benoit rehashed their classic from a few weeks prior and Edge began his programme working with experienced veteran Kane. But the moment that stays with fans was the brutal confrontation between Mick Foley and Randy Orton. The Intercontinental Championship was on the line but that felt almost irrelevant, in amongst the feeling of bitterness and jealousy that were palpable during their feud.
Mick’s jump from the ramp down to Randy on a pile of crates only served as an appetiser to the extraordinary visual of seeing Randy’s pristine body punctured by hundreds of thumb tacks. The result didn’t matter too much: both men came out of that barbaric fight higher in the opinions of the fans.