10 WWE Backlash 2020 Impulse Reactions

9. Apollo Crews (c) Vs. Andrade

Rob Gronkowski Mojo Rawley King Corbin
WWE.com

The recent exit of Paul Heyman from WWE's top table may serve to harm the pushes of both Apollo Crews and Andrade in the weeks and months to come, not least with the grim foreshadowing brought forth by their match being moved to the Backlash.

As with Jeff Hardy and Cesaro's bruising affair before Money In The Bank, this was an exhibition of some very hard work for very little actual worth, regardless of the title on the line. Crews clearly cares a great deal about that United States Championship, but who else does? Not Kevin Owens bantering on on commentary, nor really those poor extras stationed behind the plexiglass faking giving a sh*t.

Sat at ringside for the duration, 'KO' was the biggest star out there, stealing much of the focus from the match on the call just as he did Andrade's concentration when he nailed Angel Garza with a stunner on the floor after he tried to interfere. The result was never in doubt (Vega's stable are a bunch of losers then, now and forever), but the trajectories of everybody out there felt as precarious than they had all year.

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Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett