8 Match Star Ratings For WWE Backlash 2020
The new measure of success in WWE: "Whoa, that actually wasn't a complete joke!"
WWE built up Backlash amid turmoil and desperation.
Executive Director Paul Heyman was given the boot the week before a show that didn't involve any of the youth movement he was keen to push last year. There was a noticeable late Ruthless Aggression/early PG Era quality to its line-up, damning Heyman's noble failures and consigning them to the halcyon days of late 2019 when RAW changed its opening segment every third week.
Aleister Black might not get out of that darkened room without Heyman lobbying for him. Vince might conflate him with Gangrel and just banish him to Main Event, and when he's there, languishing, his career-uh dead-uh, somebody on r/SquaredCircle will still call him the next Undertaker.
The lack of trust in Heyman explained the ancient-feeling line-up, and the desperation informed the Greatest Wrestling Match Ever tagline. Ratings are down. There's no end in sight. Wrestling has this strange way of totally losing its audience for a while, or even forever. WWE should know this; they've lost half of the f*ckers since 2015. And so WWE, as if trying to impress a crush, told a fantastic lie in panic, which they then had to back up. I smell a sitcom!
And it was far more of a sitcom than the f*cking comedy match.
8. KICKOFF: Apollo Crews Vs. Andrade - United States Championship Match
At one point in his main roster career, Apollo Crews (Apollo) had a longer name than Andrade (Andrade 'Cien' Almas).
In March of this year, Apollo was getting decimated by Sheamus in one minute and 10 seconds. In April, he was taking Aleister Black to his limit in 27 minute TV epics. He is now the United States Champion in June.
The WWE midcard is a very disposable business, a shrugs-whatever byproduct of Vince McMahon's whims that, for the pedants and cynics, is difficult to take seriously. You can't map the arc of an Apollo Crews, unless you want to depress yourself. This isn't the start of something for him. With Paul Heyman gone, his lack of charisma will see Vince McMahon tire of the push. It's this sense of inevitability that permeates the Kickoff match and its ruthless pointlessness. This is as much a title match as it is a Main Event offering in three months.
A rematch of a rematch of a rematch of a rematch - they've shared the same ring six times since April 27 - the wrestling was really good. Apollo played along with the rope holding thing, countered Andrade's stomp, and launched him headfirst into the turnbuckle with a release overhead throw. That was well thought-through. That played effectively on the idea that these two men have developed a keen understanding of one another's games.
That was perceived as disposable content.
Star Rating: ★★★