Here’s our final review of WWE Backlash 2016!
Apollo Crews vs. Baron Corbin
Reactions: This Kickoff match got announced during the actual PPV pre-show, so we weren’t expecting too much from it. But to our pleasant shock and surprise, this was a fine showcase of two up and coming young studs. Crews has proven to be one of the more athletic and exciting Superstars on the current SmackDown roster. While Corbin hasn’t really impressed much in the ring (he’s a beast on the mic, though), he proved he’s steadily improving during this match. Both men put on a good contest where the action stayed at a constant pace and a lot of big near falls came into play. Thanks to the new WWE Brand Era, we get to see matches like this get the time and PPV placement they deserve. This was a pretty good outing.
Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars
Alexa Bliss vs. Becky Lynch vs. Carmella vs. Naomi vs. Natalya vs. Nikki Bella (Six-Pack Elimination Challenge for the WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship)
Reactions: SmackDown made sure to ring in the new era of Women’s wrestling for the Blue Brand right. All six women did an great job showcasing their brand and their individual talents. Alexa and Carmella were the dark horses of this match, but they almost made us think they’d win it due to how extra fierce they were. Carmella was focused on destroying Nikki, Naomi was a high-flying machine, Natalya got in some powerful maneuvers on each lady in her path and Becky was a suplexing machine. The Tower of Doom moment stood out the most, plus Carmella’s quick elimination of Nikki and Becky’s triumphant victory made this opening match such a treat. The pace of this match never let up and we loved the ending. This was a fine match to welcome the first ever SmackDown Women’s Champion.
Rating: 3 & a Half out of 5 Stars
The Usos (Jimmy Uso and Jey Uso) vs. The Hype Bros (Zack Ryder and Mojo Rawley) (Tag Team Match to Qualify for the Tag Team Championship Tournament Final)
Reactions: The Usos have went full heel, just as we expected. They no longer don the face paint that the crowd adored, which is something that stood out the most to us. And you know what? We love it. The Hype Bros hype and The Usos’ new attitude made this matchup a bit more interesting. This one wasn’t amazing by any means, but it was a fine match that gave us a good look at some newly pissed off Samoan twins. Ryder and Mojo pulled off some big moves (especially on the outside), but The Usos cut them off on more than one occasion. The Usos work to take out lower limbs now it seems since they did just that to Ryder. Moments after tearing his leg up, The Usos eventually made Ryder tap out. The match was ok, but getting to see The Usos emerge as heels again was what really had us a bit more invested in it.
Rating: 2 & a Half out of 5 Stars
The Miz (c) (with Maryse) vs. Dolph Ziggler (WWE Intercontinental Championship)
Reactions: After seeing both of these guys fight countless times, we weren’t all that invested in seeing them doing it again. But their matches have never been unwatchable, which was the case here. This was a solid IC Championship match. What made it just a bit more special this time around was Miz’s constant taunting of Daniel Bryan. Not only did The Miz use Bryan’s “YES!” thumbs up chant, he used some of his best moves. Ziggler and Miz engaged in a war that resulted in both men having injured limbs throughout. The leg work from The Miz and the shoulder work Ziggler focused on dishing out also made this encounter stand out from their previous meetings. The ending may have been a cheap copout to keep Miz as champ, but it makes sense for him to win that way anyway. This was actually kind of enjoyable.
Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars
Kane vs. Bray Wyatt (No Holds Barred)
Reactions: So Bray got the jump on Orton during a backstage brawl, which led to him getting a cheap forfeit win. But Bray’s night wasn’t over since Kane came out to take him on in a No Holds Barred match. What we got here was another fun matchup where the rules were thankfully relaxed. Without that stipulation, we’re sure we’d be down on this match has a whole. The chair shots were plentiful, plus we loved that big Running Senton Bray pulled off on Kane through the announce table. Bray and Kane shocked us by putting on a pretty intense brawl that went all over the place. Kane didn’t slow down things too much and Bray was his usual crazy self. Orton came out to strike down Bray with an RKO, which was followed up by a big chokeslam to end the match. What we got here was a surprisingly solid hardcore battle.
Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars
The Usos (Jimmy Uso and Jey Uso) vs. Heath Slater and Rhyno (Tag Team Tournament Final for the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship)
Reactions: The Usos came back out to compete, but their return was clearly overshadowed by the super over combination of Heath Slater and Rhyno. The Usos focused on utilizing their newfound heel-focused offense to ground Heath, which was something the majority of this match entailed. Heath fought for his life, which played a big part in building up his eventual tag to Rhyno even more of a huge pop-worthy moment. Rhyno helped add a bit more intensity to this affair as soon as he hopped into the ring. Heath help up his end of the bargain and worked just as hard to keep the crowd enthralled. The match itself was decent enough, but what truly mattered here was the crowning of new SmackDown tag team champions. HEATH’S GOT A CONTRACT AND A NEW DOUBLE WIDE, BABAY!
Rating: 2 & a Half out of 5 Stars
Dean Ambrose (c) vs. AJ Styles (WWE World Championship)
Reactions: The face that runs the place…IS THE NEW WWE WORLD CHAMPION! AJ’s undoubtably WWE’s 2016 MVP. He’s constantly showing out against anybody he faces and he did that again right here. Ambrose’s match against Ziggler at this past SummerSlam was a disappointment, but this performance of his was a hell of a lot better. AJ was his usual cocky self and he pulled out all of his best moves to ground Ambrose. AJ’s work on Ambrose’s leg was smart, but Ambrose was a crafty lil’ bastard who fought tooth and nail to keep his title run intact. Ambrose pulled off some awesome offense here and there, including a stiff Shotgun Dropkick to AJ that pushed him to the outside. Plus Ambrose catapulted AJ head first into the ring corner and dropped him with a double axe handle right within the crowd. There were so many near falls, a hot audience and some breathtaking moves being dished out throughout this excellent main event. AJ may have ended the match under dubious circumstances, but it resulted in a new champion getting crowned. AJ pulled off his biggest WWE win in an amazing title match.
Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars
Match of the Night
Dean Ambrose vs. AJ Styles!
Final Verdict
The return of Backlash resulted in a pretty good show. The Women’s Championship match was such a great way to kick off this PPV since it gave us a barn burner of a match. A lot of the other contests on the card were solid, but the main event clearly made this show worth seeing for the 1st time or re-watching. This was a event that featured several WWE milestones: the crowning of SmackDown Live’s 1st ever Women’s Champion and New Era Tag Team Champions, AJ’s official start as WWE World Champion and the welcome debut of a heel Usos tandem. This entire PPV was a breeze to sit through since it wasn’t overbooked to death. Make sure you check out AJ vs. Ambrose and the Women’s Championship match more than anything else. Backlash 2016 was much better than we expected it to be. SmackDown Live’s off to a good start with their new brand exclusive PPV’s.
Final Score: 3 & a Half out of 5 Stars
Here’s an advertisement for SmackDown’s next brand exclusive PPV:
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