Top 5 Backlash Matches in WWE History
With Backlash just around the corner there’s a lot of hype for some matches, some good some bad. For example many people are looking forward to Kevin Owens vs AJ Styles in what is sure to be a spectacular match, however on the other hand Jinder Mahal vs Randy Orton for the WWE Championship may not be lighting anyone’s world on fire, but there’s no denying there’s much anticipation and intrigue for the match going into the event whether it be for the right or wrong reasons. All in all though, it looks like a mostly stacked card with each match having it’s own specific build to it, and should prove to be an entertaining show to watch. With that being said, it remains to be seen whether it will be able to top some of the past editions of the show, and I think it’d be nice to take a trip down memory lane and take a look at 5 of the greatest Backlash matches in the long almost 20 year history of the event. Keep in mind, this is an editorial and is going to be a mixture of both fact and opinion. I will try my best to stay objective, but with a top 5 list there’s only so much you can do, so if you disagree with anything on here I do not begrudge you that right. So without further ado, let’s get right into it shall we?
Honorable (or maybe dishonorable in this case) Mention: Chris Benoit vs HHH vs Shawn Michaels for the World Heavyweight Championship: Backlash 2004
I may get some heat for this, but I can’t in good conscience put this match on the list for reasons I’m sure are obvious, but I just felt like it needed to be brought up with how good the match is. I know it’s been said to death a million times about a million matches, but if you can just push the Benoit tragedy out of your head for a small amount of time, this match really is such a treat to watch. The finish is especially well done, playing off of the Montreal Screwjob, only in good fashion when Shawn Michaels locks in a sharpshooter on Benoit, only to have Earl Hebner run down to a chorus of boo’s from the Canadian crowd. Still, Benoit was able to counter into a sharpshooter of his own and retain his title via submission in a hard fought 3 way battle. A truly wonderful piece of art in this business, and it’s a shame it can’t make this list for reasons out of my control.
Number 5. AJ Styles vs Dean Ambrose for the WWE Championship: Backlash 2016
Starting it off with the match that happened most recently, AJ Styles vs Dean Ambrose earns the number 5 spot on this list for multiple reasons. The first is the obvious reason, which is AJ Styles winning the WWE Championship for the first time in his career, something many thought would never happen. However the match itself is somewhat of a sleeper classic, with many beautiful ebbs and flows in the momentum of the match, and some terrific bumping and selling from mister Styles. The bump he takes on the floor when he gets baseball-slide dropkicked off of the apron is a thing of true beauty, and at times the match comes off as somewhat of a one man show despite the fact that Dean Ambrose did put in a very good effort. There are certain things that drag this match down however, such as the lack of consistency in Ambrose selling his leg, selling it one second but then running around like a wild man the next, which is why the match only makes it at number 5, but it’s definitely not something either man should be ashamed of. It’s a very good match with a memorable finish that was able to send the people home happy, and that’s all that matters in the end in this business. These two men showed that they have great chemistry in the ring together, and hopefully it’s not the last time we see AJ Styles winning World Championship gold in WWE.
Number 4. John Cena vs HHH vs Edge for the WWE Championship: Backlash 2006
Another match that doesn’t get enough praise for how good it is is this underrated 3 way classic between the three biggest stars on RAW at the time for the top prize on the show. John Cena was in the midst of his “Super Cena” reign of terror with the WWE Championship, and two of the men that he had crossed paths with during this time were HHH and Edge, and both wanted a championship match. Both got it, and ended up being inserted into a triple threat match for the championship. Much to the opposite of the previous match, this match felt like a bloody and realistic fight, visceral and violent all throughout the bout even into the end. I’m not a huge fan of blood in wrestling, I don’t dislike it but I’m somewhat indifferent, but when you see how much these men bleed, you realize why so many fans clamor for blood to be brought back into WWE, as it adds to the illusion ten fold and makes the hell that all 3 men are going through to get this title seem all the more torturous. When you take the ruthlessness of HHH, the underhanded tactics of Edge, and the valiant courage of John Cena and throw them all together, you end up with a beautiful mixture of brutality and storytelling, that come together to create what in this writers mind is an instant classic, and in many ways epitomizes what pro wrestling is supposed to be. Cena may have ended up retaining his championship in the end, but the people were not unhappy with the match they had saw, and it was the perfect way to also bridge Cena from his feud with HHH to his classic feud with Edge later that year.
Number 3. The Rock vs Stone Cold Steve Austin for the WWF Championship: Backlash 1999
It may be somewhat of an unpopular opinion, but I liked Austin and Rock’s first match at WrestleMania in 1999. It’s assuredly not their best match together, but it’s vintage Attitude Era booking which a fast paced match that doesn’t slow down much and tells a great story through selling and brawling. However, their match not but one month later at Backlash, was better in terms of build up (with a McMahon as referee, naturally) and the actual in ring delivery. As a matter of fact it seemed that everytime these two men stepped in the ring with one another, they were able to top what they did last time, but I digress. This match is much faster paced, much more chaotic, and told more of the story that was Austin vs Rock as opposed to Austin vs the Corporation. There were no superkicks, 630 splashes (…dive) or ultra-impressive chain wrestling from either man really, it was a brawl all the way throughout that was able to tell the tale of how much both men hated one another and wanted to prove they were the better man. They punched each other in the face, stomped each other into the ground, threw each other into everything and anything they could find including the stage and set itself, and had one of the most memorable moments of the Attitude Era when Rock grabbed a camera to film Stone Cold as he was beating him, only to get a pair of middle fingers and a stunner for his troubles. In the end, an accidental screwjob from Mr. McMahon would cost The Rock the match and plant the seed for his babyface turn, but in the era they were in a finish like that didn’t subtract from the match, it added to it, which made the match even better. It may not be like anything you would see today, but the crowd reactions are unlike anything you’ve ever heard before.
Number 2. Mick Foley vs Randy Orton in a Hardcore Match for the Intercontinental Championship: Backlash 2004
Some may argue this match should be number one, but it should all make sense in the end. Up to this point, Randy Orton was in most people’s minds nothing but a hyped up pretty boy that the company wanted to be the future, but didn’t really show why. He was good enough to get by on his looks and his smoothness in the ring, but he hadn’t really had the match that would make him stand out yet, nor had he shown any real commitment to the business or reason for him to belong there. That was all about to change. To blow of what was a lengthy and memorable program with Legend Mick Foley, the “Legend Killer” was to do battle with the Hardcore legend in a no holds barred match that would be a call back of some sorts to some of Foley’s deathmatches in the 90’s. While it may not make me sound very objective, I’m not a huge fan of the deathmatch style of wrestling, I’m somewhat of a wrestling purist you might say, but if there was ever a way to do that style of match, this was video footage of it 101. They don’t just immediately start maiming each other, and carving each other up, everything is built up slowly and teased to make sure it gets maximum effect when it hits, and boy oh boy did everything get maximum effect. In this match is probably the most famous thumbtack bump in wrestling history when Randy Orton, at only 24 years of age was thrown shirtless into a giant pile of thumbtacks off of a failed attempt at an RKO. One very underrated spot however, is Foley teasing going to the back to end the match as a no contest, then in the biggest moment of “eh, screw it why not” in wrestling, charges and yells and dives off of the stage onto the young, bloodied body of poor young Randy. In the end, Orton was able to escape the sadistic Foley by hitting him with a pair of RKO’s, one being on “Barbie,” the barbed wire bat that Foley himself brought to the ring, and by the end of the match Randy Orton had made the full transition from boy into man. An absolutely excellent and perfect example of how just because barbed wire, thumbtacks and other foreign objects must be involved, does not mean a match can’t tell an amazing story.
Number 1. HHH vs The Rock for the WWF Championship: Backlash 2000
It really can’t be anything else. The match itself is great yes, one of the greatest examples of only doing what you have to in the ring to protect yourself, but what you’re really looking for here is the finish. The Rock is alone against not just HHH, but Stephanie McMahon, special referee (again) Shane McMahon, Vince McMahon and his stooges Pat Patterson and Gerald Brisco. Just when all hope appeared to be lost for “The Great One” Stone Cold Steve Austin, for the first time since the last November, returns to open up a can of whoop ass on pretty much everyone that wasn’t named Dwayne Johnson, allowing for The Rock to hit a People’s Elbow, and have Linda McMahon come down to order Earl Hebner to count the 3, seemingly bringing multiple storylines to a satisfying end, and making everything feel right in the world. Then to close the show, Austin and Rock toast not to each other, but to the WWF Championship, for it is truly the only thing that can bring them together. They may not like or respect each other, but they respect the championship which is exactly how wrestling is supposed to be. This match is the epitome of everything that was happening within the company at the time, and in microcosm was able to sum up what the entire Attitude Era was about in one match. A truly magnificent finish to the greatest Backlash match of all time.
