Deadseriousness 2023 WWE Backlash Review: Bad Bunny is the GOAT

I typically only pay attention to the major WWE PPVs. There are far more surprises and title changes and just overall more interesting things happening at say, Summerslam, compared to Backlash.

BUT, I’ll write anything for pageviews and folks seem to like these shows plus, I wasn’t going to watch the Lakers free throw contest against the Warriors so why not switch to Peacock and see Cody Rhodes get ripped to shreds by Brock Lesnar?

Let’s go match-to-match and talk about 2023 WWE Backlash together:

Raw Women’s Championship — Bianca Belair (c) vs. Iyo Sky

Maybe I’ll sit down and write a full article about it but I think we’re going to look back at this current era of professional wrestling where champions have year-long reigns and realize we lost a chance to create a bunch of new stars. Iyo Sky is a tremendous wrestler but she will never be a world champion because Bianca Belair is never losing and now Rhea Ripley is set for another year-long championship reign.

Admittedly, I wasn’t fully engaged in this show yet. I was on my phone figuring out my Door Dash order. WWE needs to introduce something new to this Bianca Belair reign because they have no idea how to make me care about her matches. Plus, she’s been wrestling against this Damage Control faction for like, 6 months straight. Who cares?

Bringing Sami Zayn into the Bloodline story put some real juice into the Roman Reigns boring title reign. Bianca needs to interact with someone completely new. Like, why is Becky Lynch getting this story against Trish Stratus and not the Women’s Champion?

It was a good match so I’ll stop complaining but yea, going forward I need Bianca to lose or start facing totally new women.

Seth Rollins vs. Omos

I think it’s quite obvious that Seth Rollins will be the new World Heavyweight Champion and this match pretty much confirms that. Rollins has lost like, every PPV match he’s had for about a calendar year. This win against Omos starts that train moving to the inevitable win at Night of Champions (when he will also inevitably lose the belt to Austin Theory).

As far as this particular match goes, it was fine. Omos has grown on me as an in-ring performer. He does some decent heel work and really understands his assignment. He’s like a more charming Great Khali.

United States Championship — Austin Theory (c) vs. Bobby Lashley vs. Bronson Reed

Triple H and WWE have figured out the value of triple threat matches and now they can’t stop having them. They’ve learned that this type of match can make multiple wrestlers look like stars simultaneously. Bronson Reed has significantly benefitted from appearing in these multi-man matches and dominating for long stretches without actually winning the belt.

.@BRONSONISHERE just busted out a Moonsault at #WWEBacklash!#USTitle pic.twitter.com/1BC2RcsD6N

— WWE (@WWE) May 7, 2023

For me, this was the Bronson Reed show. I can’t think of one interesting thing Bobby Lashley did in this match but I remember every Bronson moonsault and powerslam. Again, WWE’s addiction to making every champion hold belts for years upon years has led to a complete lack of character development.

Basically, Austin Theory can’t lose the United States Championship because he doesn’t have an actual character away from the belt so they have no idea what they would do with him without it. Even though Bronson Reed should be the champion right now, and even though Austin Theory beat John Cena at Wrestlemania, WWE is stuck in this position because they don’t know how to tell captivating stories anymore and they don’t understand how to build a character which is why once again, LA Knight is missing from a PPV despite being the most over wrestler in the company.

SmackDown Women’s Championship — Rhea Ripley (c) vs. Zelina Vega

I love WWE’s new thing where they build up whichever wrestler is from the city their next PPV is and then have them dramatically lose in front of all their friends and family. Sami Zayn lost in Montreal at Elimination Chamber and Zelina Vega got her ass beat in Puerto Rico.

Shout out to Zelina for getting that huge moment. Winning the match didn’t matter. She lost her father in 9/11. She was fired during the pandemic for making money outside of the WWE and made her way back to a big championship match in front of an incredible crowd.

What a performance by @ZelinaVegaWWE at #WWEBacklash! pic.twitter.com/6Sw7ewl4rG

— WWE (@WWE) May 7, 2023

Rhea Ripley is one of the best in the business. Last year, Rhonda Rousey was the Smackdown Women’s Champion and all of her matches sucked because Rousey is afraid of taking bumps and the Smackdown roster lacks experienced talent. With Rhea in the same position, I’m excited to see her make a lot of women look like stars losing to her just like Zelina Vega just did.

Bad Bunny vs. Damian Priest (San Juan Street Fight):

Bad Bunny is a sicko. There is no reason at all for the most famous human on the planet to not only agree to a fucking street fight but to agree to be powerbombed off a ladder through a table. Bad Bunny is just a sicko.

Bad Bunny just got put through a table by @ArcherofInfamy at #WWEBacklash!@sanbenito pic.twitter.com/ws7dI3gi8K

— WWE (@WWE) May 7, 2023

Imagine Prince or Britney Spears letting the Undertaker hit them in the face with a garbage can lid. There is no debate about who the greatest celebrity wrestler is. Logan Paul is well known online or whatever but Bad Bunny is the biggest star in the world and just had one of the best matches you’ll see in 2023.

The roof just blew off for the return of CARLITO in Puerto Rico at #WWEBacklash!!!

Now that … THAT’s cool! 🍎🍏 pic.twitter.com/WPBQ5DzbHl

— WWE (@WWE) May 7, 2023

Shout out to Carlito who I thought was the coolest man ever when I was like, 11. It’s a shame he never got to compete in the main event and be presented as peers to guys like John Cena but perhaps he’ll be back in the company considering he looks like he’s in far better shape today then he did in his prime.

Thank you, Bad Bunny.

Matt Riddle, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn vs. The Bloodline (Solo Sikoa and The Usos):

If you read my Wrestlemania review then you already know I’m over Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn vs. The Usos. It’s fucking done. They beat them for the titles. Who cares anymore?

This story is moving into Solo Sikoa becoming the main character and probably being the one who turns on Roman Reigns at some point but they’ll keep flirting with Solo turning on The Usos every week for the next 6 months. Who cares?

I also think they killed all of the Sami Zayn momentum. He was must-see TV for so long and now I don’t give a shit about what he’s doing. This whole match was a yawn for me.

Cody Rhodes vs. Brock Lesnar

None of this match made sense. None of this Cody Rhodes story makes any sense. They want us to look at Cody as if he’s this heroic superhero but then he keeps taking all of these strange shortcuts.

At the Royal Rumble, Gunther started the match and made it the entire way only to lose to Cody who came in at no. 30. So Gunther looked like the heroic superhero who lasted the whole Rumble while Cody came in last second and stole it from him.

Then the company is built around Cody ending Roman Reign’s title reign only to awkwardly lose at Wrestlemania and everyone who works for WWE telling us that Cody isn’t done ‘finishing the story’ or whatever. Then Roman Reigns gets drafted to Smackdown and Cody to Raw which means those two men won’t interact again anytime soon.

So when Brock Lesnar attacks Cody Rhodes on Raw, you think they’re telling the story of Cody getting his ass beat and losing a bunch so that he can hit rock bottom and then rise like a Phoenix from the ashes.

But just like the Royal Rumble, this match is booked to make the other wrestler look like the heroic underdog.

The match starts with Cody beating up Brock Lesnar before the bell rings which is some shit a heel would do, not the superhero of the show. Superman doesn’t fight dirty regardless of the circumstances.

Then, Brock gets busted open halfway through the match and fights through the adversity, ya know, the way a heroic good guy would while Cody pounds on his exposed head, ya know, like the bad guy would.

Cody Rhodes got Brock Lesnar to bleed! When Brock rocks with you he’ll do whatever you want #wwebacklash pic.twitter.com/HPwlvdvHFL

— Public Enemies Podcast (@TheEnemiesPE3) May 7, 2023

And then the match awkwardly ends with Cody rolling up Brock and randomly getting the 3 count. Brock Lesnar is one of the greatest ground wrestlers ever and he got beat on the ground by Cody.

None of this Cody Rhodes story makes sense UNLESS, Cody isn’t actually the hero of this story. If WWE is telling the story of Cody slowly becoming a heel then everyone deserves Oscars. It would be a fascinating character study and if they pull that off then Cody Rhodes is truly that once-in-a-generation superstar.

But it seems more like WWE doesn’t know how to book this guy at all. Cody Rhodes leaves Backlash looking weak as hell stealing a victory the same way a coward heel would. Cody Rhodes is being booked like Christian instead of getting a clean win like John Cena.

Like, why wasn’t Cody Rhodes the one bleeding? Something as simple as switching those optics would’ve saved this match. Stone Cold vs. Bret Hart is one of the greatest matches ever because Stone Cold was covered in blood screaming in pain in the sharpshooter. It would’ve made no fucking sense for Bret Hart to be the one bleeding.

Whatever, this story is going to last all year. Let’s see where this goes…

Regardless, Cody is still the funniest wrestler in the game.