Backlash 2007
Man, Backlash always used to be such a STACKED show, didn’t it? Maybe because they needed a good reason for people to spend another *however much PPV’s cost* usually in the same month as WM?
The Hardy Boys Vs Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch – World Tag Team Championship Match
Alright, we start off with what should be a pretty sweet tag match on paper!
Love me some Hardy tag matches, and Cade & Murdoch felt like such an “old school” tag team which is something I always liked about em.
Matt and Jeff are on a roll early on, getting a prolonged babyface shine period compared to your average tag match. And it’s a ton of fun.
Then the power and BRAWLINGNESS(c) of their opponents sends them on the defence.
Cade & Murdoch are pretty awesome at just beating the fuck out of anyone in the ring with them. Like I said, they feel like a real old school tag team, and this really is something I’d expect to see in the mid 80’s with The Rockers against Dick Murdoch and… whoever the fuck teamed up with him (seriously, how many partners did DICK have lol?).
Hot tag feels a little cold, which is somewhat surprising giving it’s THE HARDY BOYS. Maybe just more disappointing, I dunno.
JEFF JUST DIED~! He was doing the old “jump off of Matt into the opponent in the corner”, but Cade moved Murdoch out of the way and Jeff crashed and burned HARD.
CANADIAN DESTRO… SUNSET FLIP~! 
Finish kinda comes out of nowhere too… huh.
Well this wasn’t quite what I was hoping tbh. Hot tag and finish fell flat for me, but everything else was really good. Just could have been better in those couple of places.
Rating: ***
CAL SCALE – 2
UMAGA IS BREATHING HEAVY~!
Melina Vs Mickie James – WWE Women’s Championship Match
MELINA 
FAP FAP FAP.
MICKIE JAMES FAP FAP FAP .
I think I might actually watch this match, it could be good!
No seriously, it could be good 
.
Both women are showcasing their WRESTLING SKILLS early on, and they are both pretty good at it. Melina isn’t someone I’d always praise for her in ring work (she’s a tremendous manager on the outside though), but she looks great here. She fakes getting something in her eye then fucking BLASTS Mickie in the face with an elbow .
Man, how often does Mickie take a big bump off the ropes to the floor? Not often you see the female wrestlers in WWE do anything like that. Most struggle to take a decent bump off the fucking apron lol.
MELINA USING HER LEGS . She’s got a fucking FULL NELSON applied using her LEGS. I think that might be the best thing I’ve ever seen.
MICKIE AND MELINA BOTH DO THE SPLITS THEN HAVE A BACK AND FORTH PUNCH BATTLE . Ok, THAT might be the best thing I’ve ever seen!!!
SCORPION DEATH DROP BY MELINA~! And she retains her title!
Yup, this was indeed a good match . Glad I watched it.
Rating: ***
CAL SCALE – 2
Maria interviews Edge, then pulls out some paper from between her tits . Someone asked her to ask Edge the question “how did you win your first title”, and of course Edge talks about cashing in MITB and whatnot. Turns out that MIIIIIISSSSSSTEEEEERRRR KEEEENEEEDDDDYYYYYY. KEEEEEEEEEEEENEEEEEEEEDDDDDDDDYYYYYYYYYY was the one that asked about it. He’s the current MITB holder at this time btw. For people who forgot. 
MVP Vs Chris Benoit – WWE United States Championship Match
Huh, forgot this match existed. Only remember them having the WM match (which was decent at best) and then their 2/3 falls match (which was garbage). Is this the one people tend to call good? I fucking hope so.
JBL calls MVP the future of this sport. If only he could see into the future . Anyone else remember the reports going around the interwebs around this time about MVP? Saying how people backstage respected and liked him because he would watch and study tapes of matches from the likes of Benoit and Eddie etc so he could learn as much as possible. Shame he didn’t learn anything 
.
these two guys had a match on SD days before? Sure, MVP walked out on the match but still… come on. Are we gonna get Lesnar Vs Reigns on Smackdown before WM? People would probably prefer that to them having a match at WM, actually. Fuck those people. I kinda wanna see them go at it. Not expecting some great match, but hey, there is a good chance it won’t suck. Unlike this match which has a high chance of sucking because MVP is awful. He’s totally the worst Power Ranger.
Only thing I’ve enjoyed in the first 5 or so minutes is an overhead belly to belly suplex by MVP.
GERMAN SUPLEXES~!
MVP does some stuff.
GERMAN SUPLEXES~!
MVP does some stuff.
GERMAN SUPLEXES~!
MVP does some stuff.
Small package from Benoit. Match is over.
Well. This wasn’t bad or anything. Wasn’t great either. Just… there. I could easily live with myself if I never saw or spoke about this match ever again lol.
Rating: **
CAL SCALE – 0.5
Orton tries to make a move on Cena.
Bobby Lashley Vs Vince McMahon, Shane McMahon & Umaga – ECW Championship Match
Well Lashley manages to not kill himself in the first minute, so that’s good . Fuck me though, he lifts and throws Shane around like he’s nothing. Wonder how powerful the guy actually is. We need a wrestler’s version of World’s Strongest Man. Get Lesnar, Henry, Big Show, Cena, Lashley, Kane, Cesaro and a couple of others and have them running with anvils and lifting Atlas Stones! Hell, some wrestlers have competed in the competitions in the past! Billy Graham, Ken Patera and Jerry Blackwell lol. Oh and Henry won the first Arnold Strongman competition, but I’ll still claim that was set up for him to win.
So as we get a few minutes into this match, Lashley is still dominating and making Shane and Umaga look useless as he tries his best to get to Vince.
The numbers end up costing Lashley control of the match, and now the SAMOAN BULLDOZER can maul Big Black Boabby Lashley.
Shane controlling Lashley with an MMA submission hold. Does Lashley still fight btw? Has he gone up against anyone worth a damn yet? How about the first ever triple threat MMA match? Punk Vs Lashley Vs Lesnar!!!
BEAR HUG~! GIVE THIS MATCH A MILLION STARS~!
WWE ban Piledrivers and shit because they are dangerous, but don’t do anything about Bear Hugs? Do they have any idea how dangerous they are to the RATINGS?!??!
Shane is looking awesome in this match. He tags in after the bear hug and a Samoan Drop, then just fucking unloads with forearms onto Bobby’s back and he looks more brutal and stiffer than the rest of the roster at the time bar like Finlay, Regal and Benoit.
Lashley’s come back is nice, even if the set up was escaping a booooring rest hold. Shane continues to impress me with his bumping ability.
SPEAR TO UMAGA~!
LASHLEY GETS HOLD OF VINCE~! Powerslam coming up and… Shane grabs his leg to stop him, and Umaga decks him.
ECW TITLE TO THE FACE~! Shane could win the match, but Vince wants to be the ECW champion!!!
1…2… KICK OUT~!
Well, if the title to the face doesn’t do it, the Samoan Bulldozer will!
SPASH FROM THE ROPES~!
1…2… KICK OUT~!
Lashley does not want to lose the ECW title!
Vince sends Umaga back in to finish the job once and for all.
ANOTHER SPLASH~!
Vince tags in, makes another cover and…
THE NEW ECW CHAMPION… VINCENT KENNEDY MCMAHON!!!
A mostly fun match. Shane ruled and Lashley was pretty good too. Umaga was fine, and Vince was just there to get the win .
Rating: **3/4
CAL SCALE – 1
Joey Styles going mental on commentary and then Vince running into a bunch of ECW originals and mocking them might be the greatest thing I’ve ever seen. Since that double splits spot earlier in the show… .
The Undertaker Vs Batista – World Heavyweight Championship Last Man Standing Match
.
First move is a boot to the fucking FACE from Undertaker . They ain’t gonna waste time locking up here, not when it’s a Last Man Standing match!!!
Undertaker is going into this match injured, and would be the injury that causes him to drop the title and have surgery 
. If it wasn’t for the bicep injury, he was apparently supposed to get a lengthy title run. Would have been awesome .
Batista almost drops ‘Taker while attempting to power him up for a running powerslam. Thankfully he is able to still bring him down to the mat with a slam and not drop him on his head .
Anyone else think the Last Man Standing match needs to be… re-worked? I mean, we REALLY don’t need those count attempts from a fucking slam, do we? EVERYONE knows it’s gonna take at least a finishing move to end the match, and on a PPV between two monsters like this, it’s gonna take something HUGE. Is it a Texas Death Match where you have to pin your opponent before the referee will start the 10 count? That at least makes sense. If you can pin em, then you might have a good chance of keeping them down for a full 10 count. A slam 2 minutes into the match ain’t gonna do SHIT.
Every year around this time (it’s March for those who read this after it’s posted lol), rumours circulate about Undertaker’s condition and it’s usually something along the lines of “he’s fucking dead” but it turns out “he’s in great shape for a guy at 50 who has been wrestling for as long as he has”. Point being, how on EARTH is this man still able to walk? The crazy bumps he takes into the steps knees first is insane. Foley already has trouble moving around because of the shit he did, and Undertaker can’t be far behind, right?
The referee for this match is MICKIE HENSON… who USED to be called Mickie Jay, but they changed his name cos it sounded too similar to Mickie James .
Anyway, the match lol. Yeah it’s great. It’s 2 heavyweights battling for the WHC. Their WM match was spectacular. Their SD cage match is often forgotten because it didn’t happen on PPV, and that’s a shame because it’s awesome. Cyber Sunday is my personal favourite of their series. Hell in a Cell is still to come. And here we have their LMS match, and yeah, it’s still awesome. Probably the weakest of their PPV series (in 2007), but that’s just a testament to how epic their series was. Who knew Batista could not only have a great match… but a SERIES of great matches? And who did it take to get that out of him? The motherfucking UNDERTAKER. HHH failed, but the Dead Man didn’t .
STEEL STEPS TO THE FUCKING FACE~! Batista is bleeding and almost lost the match right there! See, I can at least buy a 7 or 8 count from THAT rather than a slam.
Undertaker sees the blood flowing from Batista’s face and immediately starts punching the open wound .
At WM, Batista put Undertaker through the announce table. So for revenge, it’s Undertaker’s turn! LEG DROP THROUGH THE TABLE~!
Batista was blasted in the fact with steel steps, busted open, punched in the face and THEN driven through a table and… HE’S UP AT 9!!! THE ANIMAL IS STILL IN THE MATCH!!!
SPEAR~! Batista with a spear OUT OF NOWHERE! That’ll buy him some time to rest and maybe even get the win! Nah, not the win.
SPINEBUSTER~!
SPINEBUSTER~!
SPINEBUSTER~!
3 fucking Spinebusters in a row! Batista knows he needs to hit everything he can in order to keep Undertaker down.
Well, the Spinebuster didn’t work, so time for a Batista Bom… CHOKESLAM~!
Both men are down and hurting. Will we get a draw? Nah, that’d be a bullshit finish… .
Ha, cool to see Undertaker being the one to mount the corner for punches and get POWERBOMBED!
The Undertaker barely makes it back to his feet, and Batista cannot believe it. Time for a steel chair! RIGHT IN THE FACE~!
Batista doesn’t even give the referee a chance to count, as he picks Undertaker up for a Batista Bomb on the chair… but gets a back body drop for his troubles!
TOMBSTONE~! It won Undertaker the WHC at WM, and now he’s depending on it to win here.
BATISTA IS UP!!! What is it going to take to keep either man down?!?!
They work their way up to the top of the stage, hoping that they can try their luck outside of the ring, since nothing in the ring has worked.
They keep teasing something big off the stage, but nothing comes of it until…
SPEAR~! SPEAR OFF THE STAGE~! BOTH MEN CRASH DOWN TO THE FLOOR AS PART OF THE SET FALLS ON TOP OF THEM!!!
The match ends in a draw, with both men fucking DEAD from that huge bump. A great way to keep the series going, and not have one guy look THAT much better than the other buy surviving the LMS match.
Yeah, I love this. Undertaker and Batista beat the absolute FUCK out of each other, hitting their big moves, before going for it all with a bump off the stage. Pretty much exactly what the match should have been and needed to be.
Rating: ****1/4
CAL SCALE – 6
John Cena Vs Shawn Michaels Vs Edge Vs Randy Orton – WWE Championship Match
A text vote was cast and Cena got 50% of the votes to win this match. FIFTY PERCENT. Out of 4 possibly choices. These days he’d be lucky to get 20% probably lol.
So the fans give Cena a 50 & chance of winning, but in reality he only has a TWENTY FIVE PERCENT CHANCE .
We get a 4 man version of the spot from the Vengeance 2002 triple threat, where Angle was trying to get the attention of Rock and Undertaker, and ended up getting decked in the face. This time it’s HBK and Cena getting in each other’s face and Edge & Orton wanting the attention.
After those two halfwits get decked, HBK and Cena go at it as a continuation of their 45 minute war from Raw the previous week .
Aaaaand that lasts about 30 seconds before Rated RKO show up again, clear house, then have a staredown of their own which doesn’t get much of a reaction tbh lol.
This match reminds me, I should watch that lengthy Raw match between HBK and Cena again soon, as well as the Orton Vs Edge match from around this time as well. Remember both very fondly, but haven’t seen either for some time.
MOOOOOOOONSAULT~! HBK takes out everyone!!!
DOUBLE LEG DROP~! Cena hit both HBK and Edge with that top rop leg drop while his opponent bends over . Basically a super Fameasser, right? The Cenasser?
Whole match is a fast paced action packed crazy fun MOVES~! fest. And that’s not always a bad thing. When done right, guys going out and going all out like this can be a ton of fun, and this is one of those times where I can sit back and ENJOY them doing it.
Finishing stretch is crazy as fuck, with everyone busting out as many finishers and big moves as possible.
F-U TO ORTON~! SWEET CHIN TO CENA~! CENA LANDS ON ORTON~! CENA RETAINS THE TITLE~!
Did we ever get another Cena/HBK match after this to finish their rivalry? Cena had the win at WM, HBK got the win on Raw, and then Cena only retains the title here because HBK kicked him on top of Orton… so unfinished business, right? All I remember is HBK goes on to a feud with Orton, gets taken out for 4 months and when he comes back Cena is out injured too lol.
Anyway, good main event. A ton of fun for sure, though I still think it gets a little overrated at times. Doesn’t even come close to the GOAT 4 way from IYH Final Four in 1997!
Rating: ***3/4
CAL SCALE – 4
Overall CAL SCALE – 15.5
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