Viva le Backlash

[LaGoosh]

Cody doing the fighting spirit spot after kicking out at 1 from a Burning Hammer was so goddamn funny and so incredibly Cody. I love that absolutely ridiculous man and his ridiculous nonsense.

[d-d-d-dAz]

I haven't seen Smackdown and only just turned Backlash on. I'd heard about the great crowd, but fuck me Kevin Owens just got an Austin pop and I can't wait to watch the rest of the show (spoiler; I'll probably only watch the KO match and the main event).

KO for champ.

*edit* Wait. Orton's pop might have been bigger. Shit. Orton for Champ.

Edited May 5, 2024 by d-d-d-dAz

[Supremo]

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

I think that's the best crowd in the history of the company. To be that hot, for everything, all night long? Unbelievable. Just a shame they were served such a nothing, by-the-numbers, filler show. The greatest nothing. Best worst. The tastiest empty calories. Imagine a proper, substantial show in front of those maniacs? If they've got any sense they're already planning the next trip to that same venue, with something like a Money in the Bank or a Survivor Series. Imagine a Royal Rumble? Fucking hell.

The show peaked with the opener, which massively over-delivered. A wild, fun brawl. Absolutely brilliant watching how much the crowd affected everyone. They all looked thrilled. Cole and Graves sounded like kids on Christmas morning. Easily the most animated I can ever remember Randy Orton, putting in about three times the effort he normally does. Hilarious when he got so caught up in everything that he got lost and couldn’t find the other three lads in the crowd. Fucker nearly jumped off the guardrail, too! Real laugh-out-loud moment when he suddenly decided better of it. Never change, Randy. Kevin Owens was in fine form, too. He's a nutcase at the best of times, so it was genuinely scary seeing what he might do with so much adrenaline. Poor Tama Tonga bore the brunt of Kevin’s excitement. Potatoed to fuck. Smashed to bits. His back was a mess by the end.

Fair play to Tama. That’s the best thing he’s ever done. Took a beating, looked great. He’s really surprised me thus far. Never thought he had it in him. It’s why I won’t immediately write off Tanga Loa. He’s mostly shit, and Guerrillas of Destiny vs. The Usos has stinker written all over it, but I’m keeping an open mind. Maybe he’ll thrive in this new environment, like Tama has. Haku cameo, please.

I know The Rock’s got enough on his plate at the moment with everyone burying him online. I’m convinced the reason they haven’t released that Wrestlemania documentary yet is because Rock and Brian Gerwirtz are constantly re-editing it to make him look better. “Take out the bit where I’m three hours late! Remove that bit where I piss in a bottle!” But yeah, I wish he could find the time to record something for TV. Every time a new member of The Bloodline turns up I want The Rock to turn up like Dave Gorman and ask, “what has this done to the graph?”

Jey Uso’s entrance was the stuff of legend. Looked a billon dollars. Those clips will be featured in montages until the end of time. I suspect every crowd going forward will get the memo and switch their phone torches on. Looked phenomenal. It’s a real shame Jey Uso has it in spades until the bell rings. Forget a World Title match. This felt like two guys who should be fighting for the European Title! Still probably the best singles match of Jey’s career, but that’s not saying much. I don’t give a flying fuck about Damien Priest having ANIMOSITY with his mates. They’ve dropped a bollock if that belt isn’t on Drew or Punk by Clash at the Castle.

LOL at the highest gate announcement getting a Stone Cold pop. “Whooo! We got massively ripped off, paying over the odds for a glorified house show!” Something for the Clash at the Castle crowd to look forward to. How much money did you make the company?

The Women’s Tag match was loads of fun until it completely fell apart. Honestly felt like we were watching a rehearsal in the Performance Center. When they got mixed up and just repeated a previous sequence?  Awful! I can’t remember exactly, but I’m sure Kairi has previous with this type of thing. I’m sure I’ve seen this happen to her in matches before, with other people who can’t improvise. Charlotte Flair maybe?

Not that any of it will matter in the end. Jade Cargill can forget spots and get lost as much as she wants provided she can hit a finish like she did here. Looked incredible setting Kairi up the same way she did Skye Blue. Amazing spot. She’s still got an insane amount of upside. It’s probably the best thing for her going out on the road in tag matches with Bianca. They looked the business with the belts, too.

Main event was AJ Styles’ best match in at least five years. Really fun stuff. Cody is such a perfect World Champion. You’re always guaranteed a banger to close the night. Was blown away by those recent reports that WWE don’t really know what to do with him and haven’t got any big plans until The Rock or Roman come back. Are you kidding me?! He’s the fucking messiah. Everything you ever wanted. How do you not have plans for him?!

But yeah, good match, elevated even higher by a crowd that somehow got louder as the night went on. Those shots where you could see the hard camera shaking were amazing. Maybe it’s just me though; whilst everyone else looked thrilled by the crowd, I’m sure AJ started to look pissed off here. The constant singing no matter what they actually did in the ring seemed to be getting to him, and he looked more annoyed than when Danielson exposed him as a stupid flat-earther. What do I know though. Maybe he’s just good at playing heel. Looked furious at points. Roid rage.

As the show was coming to an end and the credits were about to roll I suddenly had a panic that fucking Uncle Howdy or tHe wYaTt SiX were going to attack Cody, which would have been complete dog shit, so that’s also another plus to this show; crisis averted, for now.

So yeah. Average show, made a million times better by one of the greatest crowds of all time. Very little I’ll ever watch back, but tonnes of fun all the same. Shame the one thing I’ll remember from this show more than anything will be how terrible Triple H is with the media, constantly letting the mask slip and exposing himself to be a complete gobshite. Seriously, why bother doing the press conferences if you’re so incapable of answering a proper question, you patronising, smug prick? Imagine if this Vince thing goes to court and Hunter has to answer real questions without drilling down on semantics or doing this Trumpian Whataboutery? He’ll be fucked. Hilarious to hear WWE PR immediately reached out to apologise to the websites he slagged off. Spineless weasel of a man. Please keep sending the fruit baskets and telling me how great I am.

 

Edited May 5, 2024 by Supremo

[JLM]

…

Edited May 5, 2024 by JLM

[JLM]

1 hour ago, air_raid said:

I haven’t seen it, but are you guys quite sure it wasn’t “seulement deux” which would mean “only two”? Makes a hell of a lot more sense in context.

 

No, it’s simplement deux. Simply/merely two. 
 

The chant is clearly SAM-PLUH-MON-DURR. Trust me I heard it like 1000 times throughout the show. 

[air_raid]

1 minute ago, JLM said:

No, it’s simplement deux. Simply/merely two. 

The chant is clearly SAM-PLUH-MON-DURR. Trust me I heard it like 1000 times throughout the show. 

Upon further research, turns out this is something the French commentary lads say.

13 minutes ago, Supremo said:

They’ve dropped a bollock if that belt isn’t on Drew or Punk by Clash at the Castle.

Drew to win it at the Clash and defend against Punk at SummerSlam.

I wonder if they will manage to hold off on Punk vs Rollins until “WrestleMania Vegas”?

[JLM]

Particularly good one here from the man himself. 

[d-d-d-dAz]

51 minutes ago, Supremo said:

It’s why I won’t immediately write off Tanga Loa.

 

 

[Hannibal Scorch]

10 hours ago, Supremo said:

Is it even a modern pro-wrestling pay per view if the hard work of everyone involved isn’t instantly undermined by a dickhead promoter at a press conference, completely mishandling the topic of sexual misconduct?

He’s terrible at this stuff. He had to have known someone would ask and that’s the best he could come up with. Must have forgotten his Serious Spectacles.

Little sly dig at Tony Khan there too with the “you can’t constantly keep hiring people”. I would love to see him react if the lawsuit gets brought up, but the chances of that now slimmer then ever if he’s willing to slander your company like he did with Fightful and PWI here.

[air_raid]

My main takeaway from the bits I’ve seen is that “Universal” is definitely in the bin for Codys title.

[Supremo]

As always, I was mostly just disappointed nobody pressed him further. Who gives a fuck about the semantics of it. It doesn’t matter whether Gulak was, “released,” or, “didn’t have his contract renewed.” A fella who’s been with your company for eight years suddenly doesn’t have a job anymore, mere weeks after being publicly accused of Inappropriate Behaviour. It’s a totally fair question to ask if they’re connected, which you should be able to answer without being a prick.

Maybe this stuff is best suited for the #MeToo #SpeakingOut thread, but what a mess Hunter finds himself in that he can’t just say, “yeah, we investigated this issue, confirmed he was a sex pest, so sacked him for the good of the company and those who work here.” To do that, you’d have to give Ronda’s accusations credibility, which would in turn gives credibility to everything else she’s said about the company being a toxic shit show, rotten to the core.

Fuck knows though. After that performance at the press conference, I wouldn’t be shocked if Hunter helped Gulak type up this embarrassment of an explanation. It’s got that exact same flavour of arrogant stupidity. Bunch of marks. They’ll believe any old shite. Eat your slop. How dare you ask a legitimate question. Did you not hear how much money we made tonight?!

 

Edited May 5, 2024 by Supremo

[Guest]

2 hours ago, JLM said:

No, it’s simplement deux. Simply/merely two. 
 

The chant is clearly SAM-PLUH-MON-DURR. Trust me I heard it like 1000 times throughout the show. 

Absolutely devastated that it wasn't "Sacre bleu!", which is what I was hearing.

I knew that wasn't it, because I've yet to meet a french person that actually says that, but the confirmation just hurts, you know?

[LEGIT]

2 hours ago, d-d-d-dAz said:

 

 Have to say though to me they just got away with it, and the ref should be given credit for acting fast and saving the spot.

[JLM]

See the trick is to sign guys who were BAD IN JAPAN, then they can only over deliver. 
 

In all seriousness I’m sure he’ll do just fine and makes good sense for this angle, but man I find the clip so bloody funny. It’s like an Orange Cassidy or Ebessan spot except he’s serious, which makes it all the better. 

Edited May 5, 2024 by JLM

[Supremo]

Twitter reminded me that Tanga Loa had a small stint in the original NXT, so of course they’ve signed him, despite being rubbish for ages. Once you’re gold and black, Hunter will always bring you back.

The Countdown to Adam Rose continues…