6 Match Star Ratings For WWE WrestleMania Backlash 2022
1. The Bloodline Vs. Drew McIntyre & RK-Bro
A match of two halves, the first was very inert.
It's hard to gauge. Was it prolonged house show-level stalling, or did the main crux of the story - Roman's fear of sharing the ring with Drew McIntyre - not feel like a highly-anticipated show-down because the televised build felt so sudden?
It's not as if Drew has spent the last however many months as some super-over fan favourite on some epic quest heading towards the title picture. His last two programmes were comedy-centric.
The second half was thrilling: an honest-to-goodness spot-fest loaded with high spots and saves worked at a breakneck pace removed from the WWE norm. To much controversial discourse, Dave Meltzer compared the main event to a PWG match, and there's something to the take. The spots weren't quite as audacious nor state-of-the-art, nor was the feeling elicited quite that of unbridled, dumb pro wrestling ecstasy, the sort that truly makes you lose your mind. The breakneck turn-taking action however did very much warrant chants of "This is awesome!", which is rare for a modern pro wrestling crowd.
Randy Orton's hot tag is an absolute revelation, and placed in the context of a relentless trios banger, it genuinely felt like the man has never been better nor more over than he is. If you were to build a spot monkey from the ground up, at WrestleMania Backlash at least, he'd look like Randy Orton.
For all the talk of Roman having next to no credible challengers, on this evidence, it's really not an over-exaggeration to state that this version of Orton could very well headline opposite him at next year's 'Mania if the Rock can't make it.
A quite inexplicable, but very welcome over-delivery of a match with a questionable, practically cowardly finish.
Pulsating, twist-heavy action >>>>>>>> chinlocks and monologues.
Star Rating: ★★★¾