Before I publish my WWE Backlash 2007 review, I would like to take a look back at some of the best matches in Backlash history. And Backlash had a lot of them so it was hard to choose, but here is my list.
Honorable Mention: Dean Malenko vs. Scotty 2 Hotty (2000)
Scotty 2 Hotty? In a good match?!?! Yes folks, believe it. This was a match for the Light Heavyweight Championship held by Dean Malenko and believe it or not, at the time, Scotty was a credible (and popular) contender. This match featured Dean targeting Scotty's leg and working it over to perfection. To Scotty's credit, he fought back valiantly and it seemed that he might actually dethrone The Ladies Man, Dean Malenko (remember that gimmick? WTF?). Scotty was able to hit the Worm, but Dean-O was able to shake that off and hit a Tigerbomb which Scotty was surprisingly able to kick out of. Scotty then stopped Dean when he tried to go upstairs and attempted a superplex, but Dean reversed that in mid-air and PLANTED Scotty with a DDT. And when I say planted, I mean PLANTED, it looked like Scotty was dead. Great match with a great finish and a testimony to the awesomeness that is James Bon….I mean, Dean Malenko.
Honorable Mention: Shelton Benjamin vs. Chris Jericho (2005)
This was technically a battle over the Intercontinental title, but this was really a matter of respect as Y2J wanted to prove to Shelton that he was the better man and even went so far as to make a song suggesting that Shelton Benjamin was a little bitch. I wonder why that song never cracked the Billboard 100? Anyhow, this match was pure excellence as both men showcased their technical brilliance and this was the first match where Shelton busted out the leaping-to-the-top-rope-superplex. I remember jumping out of my seat and screaming like a man bitch when I saw that. Unbelievable stuff. They continued trading some nice counter moves and getting numerous near falls until the final sequence where Shelton countered a Walls of Jericho attempt into a rollup, and Jericho countered that, and then Benjamin countered that into a jackknife rollup for the 3 count. This was a fantastic opening match and shows just how truly talented Benjamin is, which makes it all the more frustrating to see where his spot on the roster currently is.
10) Triple H vs. The Rock (2000)
This match featured Shane McMahon as the special guest referee and he seemed to be out to screw The Rock out of his chance of regaining the WWE Title. On top of Shane as ref, Rock also had to deal with both Stephanie and Vince McMahon being in HHH's corner. The match featured Rock fighting his best against the odds which included Shane fast counting and Vince & Stephanie creating distraction from the outside. This match also features one of the coolest spots ever as The Rock gave the Rock Bottom to both Shane and HHH simultaneously when Shane tried to stop Rocky from giving HHH a Rock Bottom through the announce table. The odds seemed to be too much for Rock after Vince clocked him in the head with a steel chair, but then the glass broke and Stone Cold Steve Austin came out and proceeded to beat the hell out of everybody in his way with a steel chair. Rock was able to use that to his advantage and give a spinebuster and then a People's Elbow to HHH to pick up the three count and his fourth WWE Championship. Great match with an insanely hot ending.
9) Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. The Rock (1999)
This was a rematch to the main event of WM15, but this time Shane McMahon was assigned as a ref to try to screw Austin from retaining his title. This was a No-DQ match, so these two men brawled all around ringside. The Rock was able to gain the advantage after delivering a Rock Bottom through the announce table and it seemed like it was only a matter of time until the belt was back around the waist of The Great One. In a cool little moment from this match, Rock assumed the role of cameraman while Austin was out and he flipped off Austin and talked a bunch of smack while he filmed the crowd. Then suddenly when he turned back, Austin was back up and gave him the double bird before giving him a stunner. It was cool because you saw Rock getting the stunner from his point of view so it was like the viewer at home was receiving the stunner. Cool stuff. The finish started when Shane accidentally hit The Rock with a belt, but refused to count for Austin when he covered Rocky. This brought out Vince (who was in the midst of one of his yearly one month face turns) who clocked Shane with the title belt and sent in Earl Hebner to ref the rest of the match. Soon Austin was able to hit a Stunner and hit Rocky with a belt shot to retain his title. A fun match with some entertaining brawling makes this a must-see match.
8) Chris Benoit vs. Chris Jericho (2000)
This was a battle for the Intercontinental Championship as both men were trying to make a name for themselves early in their WWE careers. The match started off with an intense lockup and the intensity didn't cease as the rest of the match saw the two young Canadians wail on each other with some stiff shots. Some memorable spots in the match included Benoit dropkicking steel steps in Jericho's knee, Benoit suplexing Jericho over the rope and to the floor, and Benoit crashing on the floor after missing a suicide dive. The two men beat the hell out of each other until Benoit had enough and got the IC Title belt and cracked Jericho over the head with it. Jericho kicked out of that so Benoit suplexed Jericho on it and went up top to deliver a headbutt, but Y2J moved out the way which made Benoit smack his head on the IC Title. The ref happened to see that and called a DQ on Jericho, believing he was the one who had brought the title belt into the ring. Jericho snapped at that point and put the ref into the Walls Of Jericho to get some retribution for a horrible decision. Even though it had a screwy ending, this match was fantastic but when it comes to Jericho/Benoit, a great match is practically mandatory.
7) Eddie Guerrero vs. Rob Van Dam (2002)
This was Eddie's return to Pay-Per-View after his much documented battle with various addictions and he showed the world that he hadn't lost a step in this fantastic match. This feud started when Eddie made his surprising return by attacking RVD the night after RVD had won the IC Title at WM18 and soon challenged him for his newly won title. RVD started off the match strongly with a lot of vicious kicks which took Eddie off of his game. Eddie was able to gain control after delivering a Dragon Screw and looked to dissect RVD from that point on. RVD would make some valiant comebacks and get a few near falls, but the match was mainly dominated by Eddie who busted out the moveset including a SWEET rolling powerbomb off the top rope. The match ended when Eddie delivered a neckbreaker to RVD on top of the IC belt when the ref was down and then delivered a frog splash for the pin. CHEAT 2 WIN!!! A great re-debut for Eddie and it would only be a couple of years before he reached the pinnacle of the wrestling world as WWE Champion.
6) Edge vs. Chris Benoit (2005)
This was a Last Man Standing match as these two men had butted heads so many times over the previous months that this was the only way to resolve it. This match featured some insane spots like Benoit getting THWACKED in the head with a garbage can lid with attempting a suicide dive, Benoit getting superplexed onto a trashcan, and Benoit giving Edge a German Suplex from a ladder to the mat below. Edge tried numerous times to make Benoit stay down after delivering a Spear, but Benoit kept getting up. Edge eventually lost his cool and clobbered Benoit with a brick that he had hidden inside his Money In The Bank briefcase. That was enough to keep Benoit down for the ten count and it showed just how tough he was that Edge needed a BRICK to keep him down for 10. This was just a compelling and fun match that is definitely one of the best Last Man Standing matches I've ever seen.
5) Chris Benoit vs. Kurt Angle (2001)
This was a rematch of their classic WM17 match, but this match wasn't fought under regular rules. It was a 30-minute ultimate submission match to determine which man truly was the better technical wrestler. They started off the match with some nice amateur stuff and Benoit seemed to have the early advantage after applying a Crippler Crossface on the floor and hurting Kurt's shoulder. Angle was able to quickly counter Benoit into a legbar once back inside the ring and that made Benoit tap around the 7 minute mark. Benoit was able to tie things up just a little over a minute later when he worked over Kurt's shoulder by applying an armbar which was enough to make Angle tap out. Benoit was relentless in attacking Kurt's shoulder at that point, but Kurt used his 3 I's to grab a steel chair and whack Benoit with it and then slap on an Anklelock for a submission to go up one on Benoit. Benoit was still out from the chairshot, so Kurt put Benoit in a Crossface for another submission to go up two points on Benoit. Angle didn't settle for that lead and tried furiously to get Benoit to tap again, but Benoit was able to counter Angle and set up a Sharpshooter, but Angle made it to the rope. So Benoit decided to up the violence by applying a Half Crab and putting his knee on Kurt's head to ensure Angle had no choice but to tap out. Benoit was only down 1 now with about 10 minutes left, so Kurt tried to buy as much time as possible to avoid getting the match tied up. That worked for about 10 minutes, until Benoit countered the Anklelock into one of his own and got Angle to tap out with 2 minutes left on the clock. Those two minutes featured both men trying their damndest to make the other tap out and Kurt finally hooked in the Anklelock as time was expiring, but Benoit didn't tap until after time had already expired. So it was decided that the match would go into sudden death and it was only 2 minutes into the overtime where Benoit locked in the Crossface to make Angle tap out and win the match. This is a great showcase of submission wrestling and anybody who likes seeing tapouts should definitely check out this one.
4) John Cena vs. Edge vs. Triple H (2006)
I've watched this match a couple more times since initially seeing it and it's one of those matches that get better with repeated viewing. Going into this match, many people expected a solid outing from these three, but they far surpassed that and gave us a fantastic match. The odds seemed to be against Cena again and many people thought there was no way that he was leaving champ, but once again he was able to pull it off with a counter rollup to the Pedigree. All three men took tons of punishment, especially The Game who bled gallons of blood. A fun match to watch that was wall to wall action from bell to bell.
3) Edge vs. Kurt Angle (2002)
This match came about after Edge beat Angle on an episode of Smackdown and began mocking him, which pissed off Angle and made him hot for revenge. Edge started off the match hot on offense and beat Kurt to the punch on everything. That all changed when Kurt hit a sweet German suplex and followed up with a suplex buffet to Edge. From there on, it was a back and forth match which both men constantly countering the others attempt at a finishing move. The final portions of the match were fast-paced and exciting as Angle countered an Edge-o-matic into an Angle Slam for a two count and then hooked in the Anklelock which Edge rolled into for a two count, and then Angle went for a steel chair but missed hitting Edge with it and instead bounced it off the ropes and into his own head which enabled Edge to hit an Edge-o-matic for a two count. The ending came when Edge went for a spear, but Angle kneed him in the face and then hit the Angle Slam for the three count. I love that finishing sequence, it's one of my favorites. These two always had great chemistry together and that statement was proven in this exemplary match.
2) Randy Orton vs. Mick Foley (2004)
This is a personal favorite of mine as I loved this feud and I felt that this was the perfect culmination for it. This match made Randy Orton a star and proved that Mick Foley is willing to put people over for the good of the business. After months of taunting and abusing Mick and even squeaking by with a win in a tag match at WM20, Randy now had to face off against Mick one-on-one. But this wasn't just any kind of match and Randy wasn't facing the lovable, friendly Foley. It was a hardcore match and Randy was now facing Cactus Jack! The match was a brutal affair that Randy was surprisingly able to hold his own in. Cactus started off the match by trying to maim Orton with a baseball bat covered in barbed wire, which Orton frantically used a garbage can to block. After a cameraman got knocked over, Orton used the distraction to drop toe hold Cactus and take temporary control of the match. Cactus was able to regain control match soon enough and busted Orton wide open with a shot to the head with the barbwire covered baseball bat. Cactus went so far as to try to try to light his barbwire bat on fire until Eric Bischoff came out and threatened to shut down the whole PPV if Cactus did that. Cactus then decided to up the violence by bringing out a board covered in barbwire, but Orton threw the Evil Baby Powder Of Cheatery to gain the advantage and slam Cactus onto the barbwire board. Ouchies! Orton then set the barbwire board up in the corner and whipped Cactus face first into it. Double Ouchies! Orton then tried to prove his hardcoreness by pulling out some thumbtacks and went to RKO Cactus onto the tacks, but Cactus countered by throwing Orton back first onto the tacks! That was the first time I ever saw somebody go into a pile of tacks with no shirt on and the sight of seeing hundreds of tacks stuck all around the body of Randy Orton was completely unbelievable. Say what you will about Orton, but that was a MAN-SIZED bump. With some extra nuts on the side. The men then brawled up the ramp and Cactus proceeded to hurl Orton off of the stage and threw some table below and followed up with a Cactus elbow from the top of the ramp. That sequence is even more impressive considering that Orton still had a ton of tacks stuck inside of him so you know it must of hurt like a bitch to land on them when he got thrown off the stage. Orton showed a whole ton of guts by kicking out of that elbow and after a couple more minutes of brawling, the match ended when Randy hit an RKO on Cactus on the barbwire bat. This was a bloody, intriguing epic that is just as fun to watch today as it was during its original showing.
1) Chris Benoit vs. Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels (2004)
This match was a rematch to (in my opinion) the greatest Wrestlemania main event of all time, but this time Chris Benoit walked in as the Champion and the match was being held in his hometown of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. These three men had some big shoes to fill as their WM match was an all-time classic and even though they weren't able to surpass that effort in this match, this match was still one of the greatest triple threat matches I've ever seen. There was a lot of heat on Shawn Michaels from the very beginning because those Canucks were booing the hell out of him since he was opposing one of their sons and we all know what happened in Montreal. To try and recap this match would take forever since it was nearly 30 minutes of pure action, but some of the high points of it included Shawn Michaels hooking in the Sharpshooter on Benoit when Earl "You Screwed Bret" Hebner ran down to ask Benoit if he wanted to give up since the original ref was knocked out. It was a moment that drew unbelievable heat from the fans in attendance because they feared that Vince would screw with them again and have Hebner ring the bell in favor for Michaels. Earl teased calling for the bell a couple times, but Benoit was able to fight out of the Sharpshooter and the match continued. The rest of the match was classic as Benoit fought off the best offense of both challengers and was able to slap on the Sharpshooter on HBK and Michaels tapped out, much to the delight of the Canadian fans. It was a measure of retribution for what happened in Montreal as the Canadian fans got to see one of their greatest homegrown talents take out Michaels. Classic stuff that should be viewed by anybody who's a fan of the WM20 Triple Threat Match (and really, who isn't?).
Okay, here it is, I hope you've enjoyed this year's Backlash, I'll watch it somewhere around Wednesday, so you can expect my review at the end of this week.
Thank you and see you!
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