10 WWE Backlash Matches That Should Have Happened At WrestleMania

Edge’s return to the ring in 2020 was absolutely remarkable. The pop when the Alamodome heard “You think you know me” must be in the top 10 of all time; what a shame his first match was behind closed doors.

Everybody knows what happened to the world a few months after the Rated-R Superstar came back to the squared circle, so there’s no need to bring it up here. The show "must go on" and WrestleMania 36 was held over two days with no fans in attendance (except that giant fan on the ceiling) at the Performance Centre. It was a unique pay-per-view to say the least, with matches being filmed and perfected well in advance of broadcast.

Edge’s first feud was with his old Rated-RKO partner Randy Orton. Their match started in the ring, then took them to places in the Performance Centre most fans hadn’t seen before: from the gym, to a warehouse, to the roof of a production truck. This Last Man Standing match was a 5/10; it was long and laboured in all the wrong places.

You guessed it: their rematch at Backlash in June was far better.

Billed as the Greatest Wrestling Match Ever, this carefully constructed contest started with tributes to Howard Finkel and Madison Square Garden. By this point, WWE knew what it was doing with cinematic matches and it showed in almost 45 minutes of action between two wrestlers who knew each other well. It definitely had a lot of editing, some spots were over the top, and it made a mockery of the false finish, but Edge and Orton were able to showcase the best of themselves.

Was it the Greatest Wrestling Match Ever? No. Was it better than their slog at ‘Mania? Definitely.