The OaO Backlash 2007 thread.

[Hawk 34 0]

Aside from the hiccup of the McMahon deal and the general blandness of SD (good work but the element of importance is lacking especially in the main event), WWE is kicking with Shawn-Cena and Punk/Burke right now.

[cabbageboy 0]

Well, Orton jobbing was the no brainer. I'm shocked he didn't take everyone's finisher before tapping out to the STF.

 

Hawk let me address your points:

 

1. I actually have liked some of Cena's work, mostly his brawl matches like JBL "I QUIT" or maybe the Umaga match. In standard matches I just think most of his offense looks bad and he can't even execute either of his finishers (FU or STFU) with competence. Most of my criticism of Cena is valid. He'd be much better off jobbing the belt and taking a bit of time off and coming back fresh, since I think he works better as a challenger chasing the title than he does as this absurd Superman champion who lacks the credibility to pull off such a role. And yes, having your opponent knock you unconscious but right on top of another guy for a pin is like something straight out of a HTM IC title match from 20 years ago, if 4 way matches had been invented back then.

 

2. Yeah, we all know the ECW belt is by and large a joke in theory, but it hasn't been in practice until tonight. Van Dam held it in higher regard than the WWE title when he had both...Big Show defended it in all sorts of hardcore matches until it shortened his career. Lashley has been dominant and while he hasn't been jawdropping he's at least had a credible run. All of the solid work--regardless of the actual champ--that they did building the ECW belt up as something credible was washed away with Vince winning. It doesn't even really matter if Lashley simply crushes him to regain, since that subjects us to more Vince ad nauseum. It'd be best to have Vince relinquish the belt, move Lashley over to Raw full time, and then Lashley can crush him with no belt involved, and ECW can hold a tourney and start fresh.

[UseTheSledgehammerUh 0]

Michaels was probably smack-talking Cena because he's jealous that Cena's a bigger star and better world champion than Shawn was.

[Hawk 34 0]

There’s a fine line in taking Cena’s reign as being stale and in some respects, that holds merit in that he’s not losing the title. It’s an entirely different degree to make a reach and compare this reign to HTM which was such a different circumstance in the booking, character and direction.

 

It’s really light and day between these two. Does it hurt to an extent that Cena lacks a long list of credible challengers? Possibly but that’s not on Cena. The vitriol reserved for Cena by people around here and elsewhere is as if Cena is a manipulative conspirator, when he isn’t. Face chasing the title is traditionally a better route then the long reigning face champion but it’s so rare in this day and age especially from the WWE promotion to stray from the rapid title changes that its more refreshing. If Cena continues to deliver the goods in the ring as he has in 2007, easily being the top worker this year with only direct competition from the likes of Morishima and Jacobs…that’s a damn good year. Have your dissension with Cena but don't demean the quality of what he's done by making horrible comparisons like HTM. Jeff Jarrett's reigns were HTM worthy. That'd be an apt comparison. Not Cena.

[theintensifier 0]

Sounds like another great WWE pay-per-view? I read the report from Caldwell on PWTorch, and he dubbed the two main events at ****1/2, is that very accurate? (Very doubtful)

[Golgo 13 0]

I figure Vince is deluded enough and believes he's actually doing good by ECW. He's essentially playing Mr. McMahon to Austin in the form of ECW. He thinks since it worked for Stone Cold, being the asshole here will benefit ECW. The question being, since Lashley basically failed and I assume actually will be moving to Raw to feud with Umaga, and with the Originals apparently being buried, who steps up as the face of ECW. I'm hoping Punk steps up as sort of a tweener, McMahon recruits the ousted Burke as his ally and the NB and Originals get stuck in-between.

[Wrestlefreak 0]

Overall, this was a good PPV. I wish WWE put Taker over ALOT stronger than they did. Great match though.

 

MVP/Benoit was another highlight.

 

Mcmahon as ECW champion is so stupid.

[JHawk 0]

McMahon as ECW champion (and not getting it off of some fluky finish) has officially killed the ECW brand...

 

 

 

...and officially ruined my faith in WWE ever getting it right.

 

That is the last time I'll spend my money on anything with the WWE logo on it in the near future.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

Vince won the ECW title?

 

OMG.

 

I so want to see Sandman come in on Tuesday and cane the shit out of him or something..that would be hillarious.

[JPopStarKami 0]

I doubt the marks are going to think 'ECW SUX!!!11' because Vince won the belt. Most of the viewership of today really doesn't care about prestige or anything like that. Sad, but true.

 

I've been waiting to see Lashley lose the title, even if it had to go on Vince. Personally, I think they should have Vince vacate the belt and let them do a tournament. The Originals can fight the New Breed for it, thus freshening up the fued.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

I guess they'll have to re-edit that PPV poster with Lashley/Corvon thing..

[Enigma 0]

Vince won the ECW title?

 

OMG.

 

I so want to see Sandman come in on Tuesday and cane the shit out of him or something..that would be hillarious.

After the match, McMahon was shown backstage gloating in front of the ECW originals and they just stood there like retards.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

A tournament actually wouldn't be a bad idea. Do NB vs Originals, maybe with a few other guys from the roster thrown in.

 

One weird thing about this, in kayfabe terms...shouldn't Umaga be pissed that he didn't get the belt? He's already been a champion once, so you'd think he'd want to win the ECW Title, or at least Estrada would want him to win it.

[JHawk 0]

McMahon as ECW champion (and not getting it off of some fluky finish) has officially killed the ECW brand...

 

 

 

...and officially ruined my faith in WWE ever getting it right.

 

That is the last time I'll spend my money on anything with the WWE logo on it in the near future.

I'd better edit that. I like 24/7 too damn much. If they ever drop the old NWA shit I might reconsider that.

 

But PPVs or DVDs? The DVD would have to be something special, and fuck their PPVs.

[razazteca 0]

Sounds like another great WWE pay-per-view? I read the report from Caldwell on PWTorch, and he dubbed the two main events at ****1/2, is that very accurate? (Very doubtful)

Is there something wrong with Batista health wise I ask cause he looks different since his series with HHH and why am I cheering for his opponent every time? I don't know the current direction of his matches has been going that being mostly brawls just doesn't excite me much. The HBK/Cena/Edge/Orton one was the better of the two matches that deserves all the praise but the Last Man Standing one was like watching a one arm man get beat up by Clint Eastwood if he was a Hells Angel member.

[Guest jonnymack]

I was at the show last night and it was a really good show with a crowd that was way into it. I loved both the main events, except for both finishes. I will say that Batista/Taker are putting on some unbelievable matches and if a double count out is what it takes for a 3rd match then I'm all for it. The 4-way match was freaking awesome, all the way up to the end. What a cheap way to retain the belt. That's a finish usually reserved for a heel champ to retain. I'm sick of Cena retaining but I can't take away from a great match by all.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

With the finish last night, does that finally take Orton and Edge out of the title picture for the time being? Neither of them deserve another title shot, kayfabe-wise.

[pochorenella 0]

Tonight was only Cena's 6th title defense since winning the belt at Unforgiven last year. I find that interesting, less than 1 title defense per month. And I like it that way.

I also answered this in the CWDWAT thread but what the hell. It seems you're only counting PPV defenses and I'm pretty sure Cena's had Title defenses on RAW as well, maybe even SD! I seem to remember one against Johnny Nitro and another against Chris Masters which was a Masterlock Challenge. And are you counting SNME as well? Can someone verify this?

[bob_barron 0]

Cena's faced Edge in a steel cage match, Edge on RAW in Dec, Umaga twice, HBK at WM, the Backlash 4-way...

 

anything else?

[theintensifier 0]

And against Masters in a Masterlock Challenge on 12-4 bringing the total to seven defenses since 9-17-06.

[theintensifier 0]

Excellent match with an even better finish. This is probably right at the top of the best four-ways in company history. Usual spots of guys getting hurt and laying out early. A big spot was Michaels doing a moonsault off the top rope to the floor on all of them. They also did a tower of doom spot, and everyone would tease their finishers but someone from the blindside would stop it. Finish saw Edge spear Orton, then Cena have Edge an FU. Michaels then superkicked Cena, who fell on top of Orton and the ref counted three. An excellent deal because at the end the focus was on the fact Michaels was the last guy standing, had beaten Cena on TV, but Cena escaped with the title, making you theoretically wanting to see the rematch instead of the usual forcing of a rematch.

 

This was the best WWE PPV show in a long time.

 

http://www.wrestlingobserver.com/wo/news/h...t.asp?aID=19394

 

I agree with his assessment. Although, I would prefer it to be Edge, not Michaels.

[UseTheSledgehammerUh 0]

Forgot the Masterlock Challenge. A "Masterlock Challenge" isn't a wrestling match, so I skipped it in the results I was looking at. So yeah, seven.

 

Cena has defeated Nitro on Raw at least twice, and Coach, and faced Umaga, but none of those were title matches.

[Dogbert 0]

Looks like having all the brands combine for one PPV a month was a good idea.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

Backlash was a pretty good show overall but the two top matches really made it great. Batista-Undertaker was another good brawl between the two. While I can understand some people not liking the non-finish, it was necessary in order to extend the program, with Melter saying in his latest update is set to headline next month's PPV. The main event was great, and the booking and execution of the finish was top-notch and all four wrestlers deserve credit for hitting everything perfectly and not messing anything up. Edge gets to lay out Orton, Cena gets to lay out Edge, Shawn gets to lay out Cena, but Cena manages to still retain the title. The only one of the four who didn't look strong in the finish was Orton, which was expected. Did he even get to hit the RKO at all during the match? It builds up to Cena/Shawn III, which I have no problem with in terms of the match, which should be good, but there is the looming shadow of Hunter returning; if Shawn does win the WWE Title, which could happen, you know it'll just segue into Shawn vs. Hunter Part 657, and it wasn't that good of a feud the last two times.

 

The only thing I really hated about Backlash was Vince making himself ECW Champion. It's not exactly been made to seem important to begin with, but Vince getting the belt just means another screwy decision, either Vince losing in a screwjob or more likely him just vacating the belt, is probably on the horizon and that's not what you should be doing to a title that is, theoretically, meant to be of great importance. After all, if the ECW title is made to look like a joke, why should anyone care if Lashley or anyone else chases after it? It makes any feud involving the title seem no big deal. Maybe they'll salvage things with Lashley vowing to get back his title and Vince acting all arrogant that Lashley will never be ECW Champion again. Whatever they do, they can't treat the title has more of a joke, or it serves no purpose and makes Lashley's quest to get the title back look unimportant.

[King Cucaracha 0]

I can't have been the only one who didn't enjoy Batista-Taker, can I? I know neither guy is a cruiserweight at the best of times and they were both carrying, I assume, legitimate injuries. But the first ten minutes felt like thirty, it was so slow and plodding. It picked up in the middle but then the finish... I mean, who didn't see THAT coming? The moment they started up the aisle you knew somebody was going off the stage. I didn't expect the full Royal Rumble 1999 redux ending, but they've successfully turned what should be a geniune holy shit moment into just another high-spot by doing it over and over and over again. Didn't do anything for me.

 

Also, I can't be the only one who was bored rigid by the Women's Title Match. Maybe it was because it was 1:30 in the morning, I dunno, but I don't remember them doing anything of note until the splits spot. And then the finish was just 'meh'.

 

 

I really enjoyed the opener though. Really good, old school kinda tag team match. Cade and Murdoch deserve a long run with something to do because they're an actual tag team. They've gone past the point of being two singles guys paired up and they're a believable team now. MVP vs. Benoit was okay. Maybe not their best match. And the 4-Way was excellent. At the risk of being one of those guys who mentions ROH at the drop of a hat (sorry Hawk, ), they should do like ROH and put more multi-mans on the card, especially now there's so many less spaces on PPVs. If there's one thing WWE can do well virtually every time besides video packages, it's booking 3 and 4 Ways.

[theintensifier 0]

Orton hit the RKO on Michaels I think.

[Lt. Al Giardello 0]

MVP Vs. Benoit was a very very very good match.

 

They need to have a best 2/3 falls match to end the feud with MVP getting the title.

[The Niggardly King 0]

I'm digging these simple storyline builds... of Cena/Michaels, Benoit/MVP, and Burke/Punk. If they follow through, and finally push Cade and Murdoch... and maybe an Umaga babyface turn... then it's going to be a good time watching WWE.

[Guest Johnny B Radd]

The reason for the ECW title change?

 

http://www.wwe.com/shows/ecw/news/lashleyshoulder

 

RVD/McMahon ECW title program???

[Hawkius Maximus 0]

I think their going somewhere with Umaga if that finish was any indication.

 

Everytime he had Lashley beat, and Vince wanted in, Umaga's confusion and growing rage increased. He didn't know what the HELL was going on and it was both confusing and pissing him off, and he didn't even celebrate when they won until like...five minutes into the celebration.

 

Their either going to build off that, or it was just another fantastic acting job by Jamal.