United States Championship
Two Wrestlemania feuds collide here at Backlash over the United States Championship. I have no doubt that Jacob Fatu will walk out of here with the title still. Although this feud could have been set up better than it has, this should be a great big man match full of chaos and carnage.
LA Knight has been feuding with Jacob Fatu and Co for quite some time. Drew McIntyre and Damian Priest’s feud can be dated back to Wrestlemania XL. The other major story though is growing tensions between Jacob Fatu and Solo Sikoa. Solo still wants to be the leader and call the plays, but Fatu is done being a follower. He is the champion and he is calling the plays.
The Match
The match begins with a brawl between the biggest rivals. LA Knight takes everyone out and hits a double Superstar elbow on Priest and McIntyre. Now it is Drew’s turn to take everyone out with a series of Neckbreakers. Eventually we get down to McIntyre vs Fatu in the ring, which is the 1v1 everyone wants to see. The Scottish Psychopath and the Samoan Werewolf go to war, Fatu comes out on top. McIntyre hits his impressive German Suplex from the Tree of Woe on Fatu, who turns it into a Swanton Bomb onto Knight. Fatu then hits the running hip attack to Drew, a suicide dive to Priest and another swanton to Drew! Awesome spot.
Each man takes turns hitting finishers, McIntyre hits the claymore on Knight and Priest nearly steals the pinfall, which is great storytelling since Drew has accused Priest of benefiting from him for a year. McIntyre claymore’s Knight, but Priest pulls out the referee. Drew is PISSED. They take each other out on the outside. Knight dodges Fatu’s moonsault and hits a pair of diving elbow drops for a near fall. Priest and McIntyre are too focused on destroying each other in the production area. They’re on some electric equipment, Priest hits a South of Heaven chokeslam down through 2 tables!! Holy shit indeed St. Louis.
Knight sets Fatu on top of announce table and goes for a super elbow drop but Solo Sikoa pulls Fatu off. LA Knight is taken out by the debuting Jeff Cobb! The camera does a poor job capturing the moment. Cobb destroys Knight and throws him in the ring. Jacob Fatu does not look too impressed with this. Fatu hits the hip attack and the moonsault. Fatu leaves Backlash still US champion.
Analysis
B+ Grade – A great big man match as I expected. The match maintained excitement from the opening bell. There were some great spots here. The South of Heaven chokeslam was cool of course, but I liked the subtle storytelling between McIntyre and Priest throughout this match.
Jeff Cobb debuting in WWE is a big deal, but unfortunately I don’t think the moment resonated with the crowd as much as they wanted it to. There was a pop for the Jeff Cobb reveal, but it went pretty quiet after the fact. I don’t think many people knew who he was. The debut was effective though and although Fatu did not win clean, it continues the story of frustrations between Fatu and Solo.
Women’s INtercontinental Championship
Real life best friends have become enemies at Backlash. Becky Lynch substituted for Bayley at Wrestlemania due to a backstage attack and helped Lyra Valkyria win tag gold. The following Raw, Becky & Lyra lost the tag titles back to Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez. Afterwards, Becky attacked Lyra. Lynch was the one who attacked Bayley, not forgetting they have been rivals for the past 6 years. Becky feels disrespected that Lyra become Bayley’s friend and takes credit for her rise in WWE. Lyra takes all the credit for her own career and she promises to be a better person and a star than Becky is.
It is a simple story, but a great one. These two Irishwomen have the potential to steal the show here. Lyra Valkyria defeated Becky Lynch for the NXT women’s championship a few years ago in their only match against each other.
The Match
Becky shows a lot of aggression in her offence. Lyra traps Becky in a what I call a “Shuggy Boat”, swinging Becky between her legs. Valkyria locks in a series of Surfboard stretches. Lynch is getting mostly booed which is a testament to her great heel work. An exploder suplex gets a 2 count. Becky Lynch beats Lyra up in front of her fiancée in the front row. This fires her up and the women trade palm strikes in the ring.
A fisherman’s buster from Lyra turns the tide as she builds momentum. Impressive Superplex by Lyra only gets a 2. They trade pinfalls. Lyra counters the Manhandle Slam, she takes out Becky with a crossbody to the outside. Diving leg drop by Lyra gets a near fall. Moonsault is countered by Lynch.
Becky counters Lyra into an armbar but Lyra counters into one of her own. Becky gets the disarmer in but Lyra counters into a near fall. More back to back counters, Becky hits the Manhandle Slam. Lyra kicks out! Becky grabs a steel chair but the official stops her. This distraction allows Becky to expose a turnbuckle. German suplex by Lyra, then a moonsault for a 2. Becky hits a second Manhandle Slam and Lyra kicks out again! The referee stops Becky using the exposed turnbuckle. Lyra hits Nightwing but the referee is out of position and Becky manages to kick out.
They trade counters and pin attempts, Lyra catches Becky in a pinfall. Becky resumes the assault after the match and tries to break her arm with a Disarmer. Lyra also might have a broken nose after an accidental shot to the nose. Becky is escorted away, Lyra manages to stand but she is in a bad way. She leaves Backlash as champion, but not unscathed.
Analysis
A- Grade – Excellent match by these 2 women. I loved the story of Becky initially being the superior wrestler, but ultimately unable to finish the job against the rising star. This is probably the best match Lyra Valkyria has had to date. A star making performance and respect has to be given to Becky for helping that happen. I said this might be the best match of Backlash and it certainly was.
Props to Lyra for being able to finish the match and take the post-match beating. She was clearly hurt at the very end there, clutching at her nose and eyes. I don’t think it was a nose break, but hopefully whatever it is, isn’t serious.
Men’s Intercontinental Championship
These 2 competed in the first ever Wrestlemania Intercontinental Four-Way match. Penta got a singles match on the following Raw but a returning JD McDonagh assisted Dominik Mysterio’s win. Penta continues to be feuding with the Judgement Day and also has resumed his feud with Chad Gable too. Tensions have risen between Dominik and Finn Balor too. Although Balor claims that it is all water under the bridge, I think he is secretly planning an exit strategy. This feels like a thrown together match here, I thought we would have a better Backlash card than what we got.
The Match
The action starts off quick with duelling headscissors. Superkick followed by a backstabber by Penta gets a 2. The crowd are chanting for ‘Dirty Dom’. quite heavily. Mysterio lands an awesome suicide dive DDT. Dominik continues his dominant start, Penta finally fights back with a slingblade bulldog. Penta dives onto Dom from the ring post. Dominik goes for the Three Amigos, Penta dodges the second and lands a crucifix bomb for a 2.
Dominik takes a page from his girlfriend Liv Morgan, hitting Penta with Oblivion. That was cool. They counter each other on the apron, Penta hits the Mexican Destroyer on the apron! Out comes the rest of the Judgement Day, but Finn Balor takes way too long and gets caught by the referee. Was that intentional? The rest of the Judgement Day are not happy with him. They’re banished from ringside, Penta hits a huge dive taking them all out.
Finn Balor tries to get involved again, El Grande Americano appears and hits Penta with his loaded mask. The frog splash gives Dominik Mysterio the win at Backlash.
Analysis
B Grade – This was a solid match over the Intercontinental championship. It is nice to see Dominik wrestling more frequently, he has improved leaps and bounds over the years. Penta looked great in this match too.
There was quite a few people out for interference, so it was a messy finish but it all made sense in storyline. I liked the story with Finn Balor, I imagine this won’t be the first time Finn Balor causes problems for the Judgement Day.
Pat McAfee vs Gunther
Here is a match no one expected to see booked for Backlash. Gunther attacked Michael Cole and Pat McAfee on Raw after Jey Uso’s championship celebration. He doesn’t like them praising Uso. Pat McAfee stands up for his broadcast colleague and challenges the Ring General to a match. Personally, I don’t want this to go long. I want this to be a murder. Gunther needs a dominant win.
Before this match starts, Michael Cole apologises for 2 things. Putting Pat in this situation, and for the first time ever, being incredibly biased in calling a match. BRO, did you forget 2010-2011? You were incredibly biased on a weekly basis.
The Match
Gunther easily overpowers Pat early on. Pat botches jumping the ropes, but he recovers quickly, running right into a big chop from Gunther. Gunther slowly dissects McAfee. Pat stands in a fight position comically like some sort of cartoon character. Howay mate, take it seriously.
Gunther mocks Michael Cole and beckons him into the ring. The crowd chant “you tapped out” at Gunther, making him even angrier. Gunther drops him with a German Suplex and then locks in a sleeper hold. Pat fights out, but eats another German Suplex. Gunther continues to laugh and mock Pat McAfee. Gunther dodges a top rope moonsault. Pat flips out of a German Suplex and hits a trio of crappy punts. Gunther kicks out at 1.
They trade blows and Pat comes out on top. Bicycle kick and a superkick by Pat but Gunther drops him with a powerbomb. Gunther locks in the Boston Crab, Michael Cole leaves commentary and begs Pat to survive. He transitions into an STF and throws stiff elbows. Gunther drags in Michael Cole, Pat saves him from a powerbomb. Cole grabs Gunther’s foot trying to help Pat score a pin, but it is only a 2. Gunther drops Pat with a lariat, locks in the sleeper and Pat eventually passes out.
After the match, Gunther shows respect to Pat before leaving.
Analysis
C- Grade – I did not like this much. What did WWE want to do here? Did they want to put over Pat McAfee as a resilient underdog? Or did they want to put over Gunther as a violent monster who should be feared? I think it was the former.
I think the story of the match was fine. Gunther was on offence 90% of the match and basically bullied him throughout but Pat showed that he had a lot of fight in him and was able to survive longer than people expected. It was never going to translate into a classic wrestling match, because it was more story driven. Not a lot of moves were hit and there was a lot of stalling. A lot of Pat’s work in this match was awkward and clumsy. It should not have went as long as it did. It got boring and damaged Gunther’s credibility.
Michael Cole was annoying in this match. He did a good job being Pat McAfee’s friend, but not a good job as a commentator. It is hard to blur those lines and we have seen in the past when commentary get involved, it can jeopardise the product. His commentary suffered and took away from this match.
Gunther came out of this looking worse than he did going in. Not only was he unable to beat a non-wrestler quickly, not only was he caught by surprise by Michael Cole, but he showed them respect after the match? Why?!
John Cena vs Randy Orton, WWE Championship
Our Backlash main event. One last time. John Cena vs Randy Orton is a rivalry older than time. I shouldn’t need to recap it. Here, John Cena continues his path to try and destroy wrestling. Randy Orton is the next man trying to stop Cena from succeeding.
Randy Orton wrestles in his hometown and is looking to defend the legacy of his family and the WWE.
The Match
John Cena offers a handshake, Orton accepts it but Cena throws an eye poke. Orton fires back with a tackle and an eye poke of his own. Eventually, John Cena tries to talk out on the match but Orton chases him down. Cena drops Orton with a clothesline. They both throw mounted punches at each other in the corner, Orton coming out on top after 20 punches. Orton stomps away at Cena, targeting every body part.
John Cena begins the 5 moves of Doom. He hits the 5 knuckle shuffle but Orton counters the AA. Cena counters the apron DDT and goes for the STFU. Orton counters the Attitude Adjustment with an RKO. They trade strikes, Cena hits an AA for a near fall. Cena goes for the shoulder blocks again, Orton catches him with an RKO! Orton goes for the punt, Cena dodges and hits another AA for a near fall.
John Cena mocks Orton and goes for a punt but misses, the referee is taken out. Cena hits a third AA but there is no official for the pin. John goes for the WWE title, another RKO by Orton. The referee makes it but Cena just manages to kick out. Orton sets up the announce table, Cena strikes and the referee is taken out yet again. Orton puts Cena through the announce table with an AA! He is not done. Orton fishes out a table from under the ring. Orton AA’s Cena through the table. Randy Orton hits an RKO in the ring and only gets a near fall.
John Cena tries to use the WWE Title again, but misses and we have ANOTHER referee bump. A bunch of officials come down to the ring to maintain order, Randy Orton drops all of them with RKOs. Orton lines Cena up for the punt yet again, but here comes R-Truth saving his childhood hero. He gets dropped with an RKO, Cena low blows Orton and drops him with the world title. The referee crawls into the ring and counts the pin. John Cena leaves Backlash still world champion.
Analysis
B- Grade – An overbooked mess of a main event, reminiscent of the Attitude Era. Ref bumps and finisher kick outs galore. The match was never going to be top tier between these 2. They have struggled to have great matches together in their prime never mind in the twilight of their careers. However, the hot crowd helped and this was a fun nostalgia trip for the most part.
Things started to get very silly towards the end, but I guess it was the only way to ramp up the drama. A lot of it just felt a little unnecessary. 3 ref bumps? A second AA through the table spot? A million RKO/AA kick outs? It felt overindulgent. Less is more and all that. Sometimes more is indeed more, but this was so much more than could be digested.
R-Truth would be brutally assaulted by John Cena at the Backlash Post-Show. It will be interesting to see how this transpires and will Truth finally stand up to his “hero”.
Final Thoughts
B Overall Grade – Backlash 2025 will go down as another solid B PPV in the events history. The event started off strong with a pair of great openers. Jeff Cobb’s debut will be have huge knock-on effects over on Smackdown. Lyra’s victory was surprising but a welcome one.
The quality dipped after this though. Whilst Penta vs Dom was a solid match, it lacked the intensity you would expect from a PPV encounter. Gunther wrestled his worst WWE match and I don’t put any of the blame on him. Then, the main event was a chaotic mess that appeals to certain tastes. It neither underperformed or overachieved. It was about as good as it could have been.
Compared to previous Backlash events, this was a step down. It was missing the spark that we have seen in France and Puerto Rico. This just felt like another show, which isn’t the worst thing in the world but considering the level WWE have been operating on, it is noticable.
Backlash was solid, but it struggled to generate much momentum so soon after a disappointing Wrestlemania. The match of the night goes to Lyra Valkyria vs Becky Lynch.
Check out a list of the 10 worst Backlash matches of all time!
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