11 Times WWE Was Better Than Literally EVERYTHING

4. Bad Bunny Comes Home

Bad Bunny Crossbody Backlash 2023
WWE.com

Backlash 2023 was arguably the company's best one-night show of one of its best years, not only featuring a strong slate of contests just before the company started reducing the card lengths and bloating the shows with ad breaks, but it'll be most fondly remembered for an atmosphere so incredible that topping it became something WWE tried to actively encourage.

Before the days of performative audiences that sing to the point of disconnection from the product, there was Puerto Rico in 2023, going insane for top babyfaces and heels, throwing their weight behind returning home nation stars, and making what historically scans as the least important B-show of the year feel like the centre of the wrestling universe. And at the centre of that centre, there was Bad Bunny.

The recording artist had worked WrestleMania 37 and the 2022 Royal Rumble match to not insignificant critical acclaim during a time where expectations had risen for special guests, but his San Juan Street Fight with Damian Priest had the highest bar yet. The pair soared over it before the bell rang. Bunny's entrance, throatily roared along by just shy of 18,000 packed into the José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum and shot via drone was an awesome sight, and the vibe continued into a contest that saw him fight from underneath against the bigger and more experienced Priest for a host of run-ins made way for Savio Vega and Carlito to receive nostalgia pops that rivalled the reaction saved for Cody Rhodes in the main event.

A special moment in a special time, and vitally just about everybody experiencing it knew it. 

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation for 10 years. Alongside the production of daily written, audio and video content covering WWE and AEW, he 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 on the UK's wrestling podcast charts with over 10,000 episodes and 70,000,000 total downloads. He also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House!, Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast, and has guested on long-running Sunderland AFC podcast Wise Men Say. With WhatCulture, he has provided in-person coverage of some of the biggest pay-per-views and Premium Live Events in wrestling history, including WrestleMania, Survivor Series, All In & Double Or Nothing in destinations such as New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. He has also been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana, 411Mania and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling. 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 music and culture magazines The Crack, Pilot as well as Sunderland AFC's premiere fanzine A Love Supreme. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it every other Saturday at the Stadium Of Light, and at Cribs gigs nationwide.