iB's Diatribe on WWE Backlash 2004

[Guest I Got Banned for Sucking]

iB's Diatribe on WWE Backlash 2004

19/04/04

By iB

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The Raw-exclusive WWE Backlash has finally rolled around, and the card looks pretty good from the outset. Will Mick Foley teach Randy Orton a lesson in brutality? Can Edge defeat a man twice his size? Will Chris Benoit hold onto the belt in his hometown?

 

That's just some of the action that Backlash offers to you, and it's under wraps.

 

I sound like I write for a fucking kayfabed website.

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Excellent video package to open up, with some great face shots and of WrestleMania XX included. So far, all video packes associated with the main event feud have been, which is the main match focused on.

 

Two Pay-Per-Views in a row where the opening video package has been above average.

 

****1/4

 

This is WWE Backlash - 19/04/04 here in Australia, the 18/04/04 actually, as we are LIVE on Pay-Per-View from the Rexall Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, home of... what's his name again? Your announcers are Jim "J.R." Ross, Jerry "The King" Lawler, Carlos Cabrera and Hugo Savinovich - $20 says their table's not fully stable

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Scheduled for one fall: Shelton Benjamin VS Ric Flair

 

Nice choice for an opener. Flair's a loved heel, and as we can see from the opening pop, Benoit's getting over pretty damn well.

 

A few times in here I hoped that there wouldn't be a pinfall, because Pay-Per-View matches have been somewhat disappointing lately, but this one wasn't.

 

Some good wrestling throughout, and I'm surprised that Benjamin won clean - there's not a problem with that (except for his new finisher possibly being the CROSSBODY~!), but I expected an interference of some sort, to keep Flair's credibility. But then again, whether the general consensus of fans know it or not, Shelton was the only man at the University of Minnesota capable of taking down Brock Lesnar, so that's good enough for me at this point. So is Benjamin winning clean and being pushed - I look forward to the future for him.

 

Good opener, pretty good match.

 

***

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Randy Orton's thoughts...

 

Pretty standard promo - entertaining to hear, but there was not much original material in here, and it's pretty much what we've been hearing throughout this feud.

 

**1/2

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Scheduled for one fall: Tajiri VS Jonathan Coachman

 

The fact that WWE chose to try and pass this off as a wrestling match, however hokey, over good comedy, makes this even more insulting.

 

Nice workrate by Tajiri, as usual, and I don't have a great deal to say about this at all except that we've been seeing it a lot lately and it's sounding cliched, but it looks like a Garrison Cade push, and that was about the only positive - I should have thought of that before tipping Tajiri, even if I didn't give a shit. It was pretty obvious.

 

Honestly, was a Pay-Per-View match such as this needed for that?

 

*

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It's all about The Game

 

I liked these arrivals shown from Heat - it was interesting to hear how the Edmonton crowd responded to each Superstar individually.

 

**3/4

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Nice video package for this one.

 

***1/2

 

2-on-1 Handicap match scheduled for one fall: Christian & Trish Stratus VS Chris Jericho

 

Better than I had anticipated.

 

Thankfully, majority of the match was kept to Jericho and Christian, and unlike WrestleMania, we didn't get the feel of WWE telling us that "this is a long, drawn-out feud, so you're in for a long match, folks, whatever happens" - an interesting and enjoyable match.

 

It's probably actually a good thing that Trish was involved in the match, well, that her name was on the card anyway, because this way, Jericho goes over clean on both, "no outside interference, no shenanigans, tomfoolery", so there's no loose ends, the feud's over, and hopefully, Jericho's going to the title picture.

 

Oh, and I love that running enzuigiri.

 

***1/2

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Eugene goes for a wander

 

I don't mind the formula that WWE are using to get Eugene over, if they ever actually plan on putting him in the ring and not simply exploit his mentally-handicapped gimmick.

 

But this segment was unfunny, as WWE usually are when trying to get a laugh, and Molly and Gail were just so fucking annoying.

 

*1/2

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Welcome home, Chris Benoit

 

I was thinking of titling the main event this, but decided against it.

 

Great video package showing where Benoit started, the first annual Chris Benoit day, and other material.

 

I don't exactly know how to rate this, but I liked seeing this side of Benoit, and delving a bit further into what exactly went on when he arrived home.

 

Nice arrival pop, too.

 

Oh, and uh, I noticed this in the main event, but seeing as we're seeing his family here, holy shit, Benoit's youngest son looks like him.

 

****1/4

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Womens Championship match scheduled for one fall: Victoria (Champion) VS Lita

 

Rather ironic that we didn't get a decent Womens Championship match at WrestleMania XX, but we do at Backlash.

 

Even more ironic is that at WrestleMania, Victoria and Molly Holly were the competitors, and here, Lita was involved.

 

Pleasantly surprised - an entertaining match from Victoria, and even more surprisingly, Lita. I was surprised with some mat wrestling, however it was. Will Lita's

 

I was definitely worried about Victoria's safety, thinking that Lita could just try and do something stupid (or just something regular) and injure her, and on her second hurricanrana, almost, but thankfully, no.

 

Post-match, the Gail Kim/Molly run-in was pretty lame (at least, the dialogue was), and this no doubt means Victoria teaming with Lita, and will probably end up as a Fatal 4-Way for Bad Blood. Hey, at least it's not Gail VS Lita, which would either be an absolute spot-fest and/or a train wreck. Presuming that that's not what we get.

 

More than I expected - as much as I hate Lita's style, at least she didn't injure Victoria and put on a half-decent wrestling match, without much of her opponent's help.

 

Oh, and I love the face Victoria.

 

***

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We're straight into the next match, via our announcers.

 

Video package: ****

 

No Holds Barred match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship scheduled for one fall: Randy Orton (Champion) VS Cactus Jack

 

Wow - I was expecting a pretty tame match, but got exactly the opposite.

 

Ok, at first I was a little pissed-off that the Cactus Jack gimmick couldn't even be done properly - not announced as Cactus Jack by Lillian Garcia, not called as Cactus Jack much by our announcers, he's got Mick Foley's music and he was using that damn sock. It's not exactly a hard gimmick to do. But nonetheless...

 

This was an excellent match for the feud, possibly even better storyline-wise than a Hell in a Cell would've been.

 

A barbed-wire bat, trash can, thumbtacks, a bed of barbed-wire, a cookie sheet, a bump table, gasoline, Fuji Dust and almost a blowtorch contribute to making one of the greatest No Holds Barred matches that I've ever seen.

 

It told just such a damn good story - everything made sense, one man trying to beat the other, Orton trying to beat Cactus at his own game, and Cactus trying to teach "Young Master Orton" a lesson in brutality.

 

Great in this was Orton's trash can full of flimsy-ass little objects (at least a flimsy-ass little barbed-wire bat), signifying that he's coming to beat his opponent at his own game, and his slow introduction of the thumbtacks. Overall, despite it not exactly being a wrestling match, despite it being unrealistic of Orton to come back and deliver that final RKO for the 1-2-3, it was the match of the night for me. For someone that didn't see it, that may seem like a lot, but it isn't. Even if I was kind of marking out for Cactus to win, and would've loved to see that bat in flames... Why wasn't that used, do you think?

 

Through all the brutality, bumps and blood-shed, my respect level for Orton has gone through the roof. We knew that Foley would do anything for such a great angle, his trademark match and to put Orton over, so the ball was in his court - and he smacked it back. Hard.

 

****1/2

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The battle's over for Orton, but not against cliches for his leader

 

Nice feel given off by the congratulatory greetings to Orton by Triple H - no, it was probably just Orton.

 

Nothing much special about the promo afterward by Trips, except he made you think twice about just whether or not he was going to win.

 

**3/4

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Heat-filler scheduled for one fall: La Resistance VS The Hurricane and Rosey

 

I hate Heat filler usually, and was extremely pissed when this one came on.

 

But the fact is, the match wasn't all that bad. Like usual, it continued from Raw, and it got The Hurricane on Pay-Per-View - he's very talented, and he got his paycheque.

 

Another plus here was that this is continuing on with William Regal and Eugene - whatever is in store for him.

 

Not bad, and The Hurricane needs a win. Another one.

 

***

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The Heartbreak Kid isn't welcome here

 

Ooh, did you hear that heat for his arrival? I love it.

 

***

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I can't believe this one got a video package. Not much of one for a nothing feud.

 

*

 

Scheduled for one fall: Kane VS Edge

 

Wasn't expecting a great deal here when it actually sunk in to me, and I wasn't disappointed. Well, I was, you know what I mean...

 

Considering that both guys need carrying, that pretty much explains it. Somewhat boring, and it was stupid not to use the Undertaker - judging by Kane on Raw after WrestleMania, it can't be, unless WWE are too stupid to remember that.

 

Edge was obviously getting the win, and cast or not, it still makes Kane look weak, and him not doing anything meaningful in the forseeable future isn't exactly a good thing.

 

*3/4

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Time-wise, this looks to be a long one.

 

Great package. ****1/4

 

And they managed to keep it different from the opening.

 

Triple-Threat match scheduled for the World Heavyweight Championship: Chris Benoit (Champion) VS Shawn Michaels VS Triple H

 

Man, what a pop for the Champ.

 

Now... I was somewhat skeptical heading into this one. Just could they top WrestleMania? Could they top what was being touted as the greatest WrestleMania main event of all time. That's saying something.

 

From the outset, I'll say that no, they did not. And from the outset, I'll also say that these three men worked a more-than-worthy Pay-Per-View main event.

 

Well, it seemed to me like they went all out to start, which is great - if they can keep it up. You don't have to go all out at the start to do a worthy match - it affected it later on.

 

Very interesting was observing the reactions given to both Benoit and Michaels - we knew that Benoit would get a massive pop, and he did (understatement of the year). And yes, I loved the crowd's reaction to Shawn Michaels - and to see what I can only see as real emotion.

 

This is Chris Benoit. World Heavyweight Champion. Hometown. The state of Alberta.

 

You're Shawn Michaels. Need I say any more?

 

I knew that Shawn'd lock in that Sharpshooter, and anyone with half a brain knew that he'd get some excellent, excellent heat for it - and I'll admit that, when he had the Sharpshooter on Benoit, and it was Earl Hebner that ran in, I felt at least a twinge of worry - Vince knew what would go through the fans' minds, and he wanted to give us a bit of a scare - he succeeded.

 

Overall, I liked this Main Event quite a bit. Easily a Match of the Year contender, as some say? Well, that depends on who matters. And who say it. Me? I'd say no. They didn't top the main event, and it was stupid to try. Even if it is in Benoit's hometown and they needed material, a great main event is enough - why try and top possibly the greatest WrestleMania main event of all time at was is touted as the greatest WrestleMania of all time?

 

There was some problems in it's construction, such as the workrate at the start affecting the match later, and it not working with all three men as well as at WrestleMania - but WrestleMania was pure art.

 

However, the difference in reactions for both Chris Benoit and Shawn Michaels was enjoyable, and I liked the match - both men have now tapped-out, and Shawn to the Sharpshooter - not just to see if it would overshadow it's predecessor, but to watch it itself - it was an entertaining wrestling match. Why try to overshadow a match with such merits?

 

****1/4

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Overall on the show, it was one of WWE's best Pay-Per-Views in a while, yes, if you discount WrestleMania. The best split-brand Pay-Per-View in a while. The best Raw-brand Pay-Per-View ever.

 

Nothing overly bad - Benjamin and Flair, Christian/Trish VS Jericho, Victoria and Lita and The Resistance/Hurricane and Rosey were all in the "good" category, which is most of the card.

 

The main event and the No Holds Barred were in the "very good"-"excellent" category.

 

And the rest was below both categories, but hey, it looks like something good could be coming of them, and they didn't ruin the entire show.

 

Nice work.

 

***3/4

 

'Til next time,

Beau

 

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