WWE: WrestleMania Backlash

[GD]

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Universal Championship Match
Universal Champion Roman Reigns vs Cesaro

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Triple Threat Match for the RAW Women's Championship
RAW Women's Champion Rhea Ripley vs Charlotte Flair vs Asuka

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Triple Threat Match for the WWE Championship
WWE Champion Bobby Lashley vs Drew McIntyre vs Braun Strowman

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Smackdown Women's Championship Match
Smackdown Women's Champion Bianca Belair vs Bayley

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Lumberjack Match
Damien Priest vs The Miz (w/ John Morrison)

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Smackdown Tag Team Championship Match
Smackdown Tag Team Champions The Dirty Dawgs (Robert Roode & Dolph Ziggler) vs Rey Mysterio & Dominik Mysterio

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[GD]

Please enjoy this clip of Shanky Singh doing Shanky things.

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[RP]

If you want to..

- Mix the product up a little bit

- Make a star out of a guy who deserves it

- Start a great long running feud that is fresh

- Not only not be predictable, but be unpredictable and shock some people

You have Cesaro win the belt from Reigns.

[RP]

Everything on this card is equal to anything AEW might put out for a PPV, with the exception of Reigns vs Cesaro... and that is IF they actually do the right thing which is give Cesaro the win/belt and actually make a fucking star. I'm not sure why you put Cesaro in this spot unless you're ready to make a star out of the guy. They can easily put him over with the win, take the strap and then give it back a few PPV's after..... getting a nice long feud out of it and making a star at the same time.


I think this is too much logic i'm spitting towards WWE.

And frankly, that should be the entire point of Reigns being heal.

That's the point of a major over heal... to make a star. It's literally right here, tee'ed up for WWE. You can make a superstar out of Cesaro right now.

I dont think they have the mind to do this. I think WWE lost track of the business a long time ago.

[RP]

It would be shocking..

unpredictable...

it would work...

and it would be for the absolute right guy and the right moment....


But there is not a damn person working in WWE with the right of mind that would actually make it happen.


So same shit...


And it sucks most for Roman Reigns because he's so damn fucking good right now. He's the best in the business. And he should be putting guys over. That is how this shit works. It's rare these days that you find a heel that can make a major babyface. Roman Reigns is in the position to make a major babyface and Cesaro is literally perfect.

I just dont trust WWE to do what is right here.

[RP]

DEAR WWE,

MAKE A SUPERSTAR RIGHT NOW! YOU HAVE LINED YOURSELF UP TO MAKE A SUPERSTAR! PLEASE DONT FUCK IT UP! Roman Reigns has heat for years! This is how you did it in the old days! This is how you make stars! MAKE CESARO A FUCKING STAR! THIS IS A BIG MOMENT! DONT FUCK IT UP!

[RP]

( They will fuck it up by having the match end in a DQ and then have Reigns go over Cesaro cleanly in the next PPV )

Thats WWE.

[RP]

... That's why no one watches anymore.

[Rammsteinmad]

Will there be a live audience? I really want Cesaro to win the title and get a much-deserved pop in front of a crowd, not the piped in cheers from some TV screens.

[Fignuts]

Cesaro isn't a star though. He's obviously impressive in the ring, but he doesn't have the personality to be a star in WWE, no matter who he beats.

[Emperor Smeat]

Only match on that card that looks really good or interesting is Reigns vs. Cesaro. Maybe Bayley vs. Bianca as well depending on what they do for last minute build on SmackDown tonight.

Rest is meh either because the builds have been bad or just haven't been interesting to watch.

[GD]

Card feels very predictable. Not that it's a bad thing. Smackdown feels so incredibly superior to RAW at the moment in terms of storytelling and interest.

[Jordan]

I wish they'd let fans in for main card shows like they do NXT. Makes no sense. They need that energy so bad.

[#1-norm-fan]

After a month of full crowds being back the joy is gonna wear off and we’re gonna be saying “I wish there were no crowds again so that the silence could be excused.”

[#1-norm-fan]

One day I’ll show my grandkids clips of these shows in front of no crowd and be like “Everyone was still SO over. Just like they were in past generations. Sucks there was no live crowd so you could hear it.”

Then when they ask me to show them footage of the 20 years prior or the years following where there WAS a crowd I’ll be like “Sorry. NBC burned all of it because they are heathens who hate fun. And anyone who posts their own footage online has been put to death ever since they became the first corporation to be elected president. But I’ve got this one video of Rock vs Hogan from WrestleMania 18. You go sell this on the black market and buy yourself a spaceship.”

[Emperor Smeat]

According to PWI, the RAW Women's Championship Triple Threat match is currently scheduled to open tonight's show.

Mike Johnson also reported that WWE has been tinkering with the match order for tonight's card all day so its possible that might not even open tonight's show.

As of ten minutes ago, Charlotte Flair vs. Asuka vs. Rhea Ripley for the WWE Raw Women's Championship is slated to open Wrestlemania Backlash PPV.

The match order for the show has been tinkered with all day and at one point, the Raw Women's bout was slated for later in the show, so it's always possible things get bumped around. It's been one of those days with a lot of shuffling in terms of match order.

[xrodmuc316]

BATISTA!!!

[Emperor Smeat]

Just suddenly realized that Rhea's "Nightmare" nickname makes no sense since nothing about her heelish persona on RAW is that evil or threatening.

That nickname would be a way better fit for Alexa Bliss and her Fiend style antics.

[xrodmuc316]

I miss the more enhanced version of Charlotte

[Emperor Smeat]

Ouch at Charlotte landing flat on her back from her moonsault to the outside that she almost completely overshot.

[Emperor Smeat]

:lol: at the botched double pin spot by Charlotte. Her and Asuka messed up the setup of that spot.

[Emperor Smeat]

Ending was a bit weird but RAW Women's title match was very good overall.

Managed to make Charlotte look a bit stupid with how it went down and her just looking on as Rhea managed to retain her title.

[Emperor Smeat]

Either WWE suddenly got cold feet on the idea of the Mysterios winning the SD tag titles tonight or something dumb is going to happen during this tag title match.

[Emperor Smeat]

Yikes at that very stiff kick by Ziggler to Rey's face. Might have legit knocked him out for a moment.

[Emperor Smeat]

That might have been one of the most anti-climatic history making moments in WWE history.

Dominik was like that person in a group project who barely does anything but still gets an A like everyone else who did all the real work.

SD Tag title match was pretty good but also dragged on too long.

[Emperor Smeat]

:lol: at zombies hanging around backstage all because of the trailer for Batista's new Army of the Dead film.

That would explain the tweet by Batista before the show.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Wishing good luck to all the WWE Superstars competing tonight at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WMBacklash?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WMBacklash</a>. Sorry I couldn’t make it … but some of my friends will. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ArmyOfTheDead?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ArmyOfTheDead</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/WWE?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WWE</a></p>&mdash; The Artist Formerly Known as Super Duper Dave (@DaveBautista) <a href="https://twitter.com/DaveBautista/status/1394030800727851011?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 16, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


OMG the zombies might actually end up invading the Lumberjack match after that teasing again.

[xrodmuc316]

LOL Batista taking over with zombies.

Yes that actually happened :rofl:

[Emperor Smeat]

Someone in creative must have been baked beyond their mind when they came up with this stupid shit.

Feels like this was a dumb idea or directive from NBC since WWE didn't start doing wacky skits for real ads during PPVs until the Peacock deal happened.

[screech]

lol zombies

[Emperor Smeat]

:lol: at Morrison getting "killed" by the zombies.

Looks like Orton vs. Fiend at Mania 37 has some strong competition for dumbest WWE match of the year.

[screech]

That was...something

[erickman]

:lol: at Morrison getting "killed" by the zombies.

Looks like Orton vs. Fiend at Mania 37 has some strong competition for dumbest WWE match of the year.

cornett will have a lot to say about this match

[Emperor Smeat]

Just realized while watching this Bianca vs. Bayley match, which has been good so far, that all of the notable moments from Damian Priest's feud with Miz & Morrison have involved something wacky going down or him being a side player.

For someone rumored to be the next hand picked top star for WWE's Hispanic market, that seems very counter-productive instead.

[Emperor Smeat]

:lol: at back-to-back PPV matches for Bianca where the finish gets messed up somehow.

Mania had Cole botching the big ending call and now Mania Backlash had the ending shenanigans with Bianca's hair causing the finish to be botched.

[xrodmuc316]

This is exactly the type of match AEW is incapable of putting on no matter how much "Hoss Fights" talk they push.

They are beating the hell out of each other and I love it! When WWE does it right, it's not even close.

[Emperor Smeat]

WWE title match was very good. Best match on the PPV soo far.

[Triple A]

Trying to watch now but video simply won't load on Peacock again... just the loading icon endlessly... happens like 80% of the time I try to watch anything...

[erickman]

Trying to watch now but video simply won't load on Peacock again... just the loading icon endlessly... happens like 80% of the time I try to watch anything...

so peacock still sucks glad i droped it after mania

[Emperor Smeat]

Hell in a Cell being next month is interesting since I looked up when was the last time that happened and turns out it never did before as a PPV.

Wonder if WWE wants to do something really special with the Cell in the ThunderDome this year before going back on a regular touring schedule.

[GD]

I tuned in for the main event. Roman Reigns is in a league of his own.

[Emperor Smeat]

Its only been a few weeks in but Pat McAfee has felt like a way better fit for Cole in the booth than Corey Graves ever was.

Something about how they've mesh together and their interactions feel way more genuine or like two close pals chatting than how Cole & Graves was most of the time. Like maybe the best pairing in the main roster booth since JBL's first run with Cole.

[wwe2222]

Its only been a few weeks in but Pat McAfee has felt like a way better fit for Cole in the booth than Corey Graves ever was.

Something about how they've mesh together and their interactions feel way more genuine or like two close pals chatting than how Cole & Graves was most of the time. Like maybe the best pairing in the main roster booth since JBL's first run with Cole.

Agreed. He’s been pretty good.

[GD]

Pat McAfee is a breath of fresh air. He's also rejuvenated Cole to an extent.

[Emperor Smeat]

Universal title match was amazing. Reigns has been on a roll with bangers of PPV matches this year. Helps a lot he had Bryan and Cesaro to work with to produce those gems.

Also legit surprised at the lack of any shenanigans that went down during it.

[Emperor Smeat]

:lol: at Rollins suit.

Looks like someone blasted him with a bucket of paint backstage.

[GD]

Universal title match was amazing. Reigns has been on a roll with bangers of PPV matches this year. Helps a lot he had Bryan and Cesaro to work with to produce those gems.

Also legit surprised at the lack of any shenanigans that went down during it.

Agreed. Cesaro looked mighty valiant in defeat.

[Emperor Smeat]

Guess Cesaro is going on a nice vacation soon although bit weird to end the show with Rollins beating the shit out of Cesaro since it took away the spotlight from the magnificent match and win Reigns had.

Wonder who Reigns & Lashley feuds with next for their belts since neither has any real credible or string challengers at the moment now that Drew & Cesaro's chases are likely over.

Mania Backlash was very enjoyable overall. Only real weak point was the Lumberjack match and the finish to the SD Women's title match. Everything else ranged from good to great.

[Sepholio]

Rollins out here looking like Frank Drebins brother-in-law Rainbow.

[xrodmuc316]

Guess Cesaro is going on a nice vacation soon although bit weird to end the show with Rollins beating the shit out of Cesaro since it took away a bit from the magnificent match and win Reigns had.

Wonder who Reigns & Lashley feuds with next for their belts since neither has any real credible or string challengers at the moment now that Drew & Cesaro's chases are likely over.

Mania Backlash was very enjoyable overall. Only real weak point was the Lumberjack match and the finish to the SD Women's title match. Everything else ranged from good to great.

I think Roman is going to end up with Jimmy Uso next, though not likely in the Cell.

Lashley beating Braun, and Drew being the one that these Lashley through the set, I think him and Drew end up in Hell in the Cell.

They will probably go triple threat with Bianca, Bayley, and Sasha for the other HITC match that night if I had to guess.

[xrodmuc316]

Pat McAfee is a breath of fresh air. He's also rejuvenated Cole to an extent.

Probably because of that time McAfee was going to legit kick Michael Cole's ass at Mania, 34 I think it was :rofl:

[Emperor Smeat]

I think Roman is going to end up with Jimmy Uso next, though not likely in the Cell.

Lashley beating Braun, and Drew being the one that these Lashley through the set, I think him and Drew end up in Hell in the Cell.

They will probably go triple threat with Bianca, Bayley, and Sasha for the other HITC match that night if I had to guess.

Yeah Drew vs. Lashley does make sense based on the ending of their match tonight since that's been WWE's lazy way of extending feuds for PPVs via multi-man matches.

Hell in a Cell should be the feud ender since they've been feuding a lot this year but WWE probably going to extend it beyond its freshness date like they did last year with the Orton vs. Drew feud for the title.

[Emperor Smeat]

:lol: at Batista's reaction when he found out what his zombie pals were actually doing on tonight's show.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Wtf you telling me?!! You think I booked a bunch of fucking zombies. I’m on a damn plane! Shouldn’t you be tweeting Vince?! ����█♂️ <a href="https://t.co/Eb8wNdijRI">https://t.co/Eb8wNdijRI</a></p>&mdash; The Artist Formerly Known as Super Duper Dave (@DaveBautista) <a href="https://twitter.com/DaveBautista/status/1394118646822227969?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 17, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[xrodmuc316]

:lol: at Batista's reaction when he found out what his zombie pals were actually doing on tonight's show.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Wtf you telling me?!! You think I booked a bunch of fucking zombies. I’m on a damn plane! Shouldn’t you be tweeting Vince?! ����█♂️ <a href="https://t.co/Eb8wNdijRI">https://t.co/Eb8wNdijRI</a></p>&mdash; The Artist Formerly Known as Super Duper Dave (@DaveBautista) <a href="https://twitter.com/DaveBautista/status/1394118646822227969?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 17, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

LOL that is awesome!

[Big Vic]

<s>7</s> 2 pages for a PPV. Weak as shit.

[Jordan]

The zombies was hilarious. Obviously completely stupid but in the best way. I have no criticism of it, it was funny. What would be special would be if The Miz slowly starts turning as weeks go on, turning sick and losing his temper with Morrison until Hell in a Cell where they book a one on one match and Miz turns full fast moving Zombie on that night. Instant classic.

Also yeah Sheamus/Ricochet, and WWE/Universal championship matches were fantastic. The tag match was pretty good too minus the commentary. I didn't see all of Bailey/Bianca but what I saw was good. I can't stand Charlotte so I zoned out during that match because she absolutely sucks.

[#1-norm-fan]

Wrestlers getting eaten by zombies. This is where we’ve come.

[Fignuts]

It was one of the dumbest things I've seen done in a wrestling ring. I wouldn't have had as much of a problem with it if they did it as shtick, but they actually played it dead serious. Like if there was a legit zombie apocalypse going on. Only these particular mindless zombies are very mindful of the rules.

And then the show just goes on as if two of their superstars weren't just eaten. Miz and Morisson don't even get a 10 bell salute. What happened to the zombies? Did Bruce Campbell kill them all off screen?

[Jordan]

It was not taken seriously, give me a break. It was comedy all the way.

[#1-norm-fan]

So two rivals got together to film a comedy skit during a match?

It didn’t make sense as wrestling, it didn’t make sense as comedy, it didn’t make sense as a zombie show...

[erickman]

if the wwe want to work with other wrestling companys they can have zombie miz and morisson and bliss vs decay. i would watch it

[Sepholio]

Eh.....everyone is talking about the Zombies. I'd say mission accomplished in terms of what they were hoping to get out of it.

[Big Vic]

Really don't think it's a draw.

[#1-norm-fan]

Ah. The old Vince Russo “People are talking” take.

You could actually make a coherent product and tell stories that people wanna pay money to see the culmination of... but nah. Let’s go for remarkably bad.

I’m sure that’s what they were going for. That doesn’t really make it better though.

[#1-norm-fan]

There’s a reason average sports teams don’t just tank every game just to make sure they’re so bad that people talk about it.

[Emperor Smeat]

The zombies stuff was both a bit funny and very stupid at the same time.

If the zombies were more of a recurring gag during the show, it would have fit better and not be something that popped up out of the blue and was completely forgotten as a thing afterwards.

Even the ending to the whole zombies thing was a bit dumb since it was just a fade to black screen and everything went right back to normal as if it never happened.

Its also a bit of a bad sign for Damian Priest that WWE needed to go the wacky route in order to liven up his feud with the Miz & Morrison since his matches against them have been somewhat dull outside of the one with Bad Bunny involved.

[drave]

suspend dat disbelief

[Sepholio]

Ah. The old Vince Russo “People are talking” take.

You could actually make a coherent product and tell stories that people wanna pay money to see the culmination of... but nah. Let’s go for remarkably bad.

I’m sure that’s what they were going for. That doesn’t really make it better though.

There’s a reason average sports teams don’t just tank every game just to make sure they’re so bad that people talk about it.

LOL what? Sports teams do this shit all the time. The Philadelphia 76ers intentionally tanked for almost a decade before finally making another run in the last couple years. And why do they do it? For an inevitable payoff down the line, #1 draft picks in the 76ers case, a potential high profile Batista match for WWE in this case (not to mention whatever they were paid for the spot).

Come on man. WWE isn't trying to make people take zombies seriously here. It's a stupid one off promotional spot with the sole goal of placating one of their guys by hyping his other project. There are a whole lot more people talking about Batistas new movie now than there was before. Working as intended.

Is it what I wanna see from wrestling? No, not really. Did it do what WWE wanted it to do? Absolutely.

[#1-norm-fan]

What WWE wanted to do was fucking stupid. That’s the point.

They want you to buy into feuds on a serious level on the same exact show that they’re having two rivals stop and team up in the middle of a match to fight off zombie lumberjacks before one of them is apparently eaten alive. You don’t try to get people seriously invested in shit but also sometimes zombies. Pick a fucking lane.

[#1-norm-fan]

And on a side note, I don’t know shit about basketball but I highly doubt a team literally tanked for almost a decade. If they did though, my point was it wasn’t just to get people talking. Which your original post made it sound like you were equating with success.

[Jordan]

The best thing to happen would be that Miz week after week starts showing signs of illness and eventually decay before going full zombie and finishing his career as a zombie wrestler. He doesn't want brains he wants TITLES.

[#1-norm-fan]

I can see it. I’m pretty sure Vince is in the middle of giving up trying to become Walt Disney and instead trying to become Ed Wood.

[Ruien]

And on a side note, I don’t know shit about basketball but I highly doubt a team literally tanked for almost a decade. If they did though, my point was it wasn’t just to get people talking. Which your original post made it sound like you were equating with success.

They did to it and called it "The Process". Now a player is called "The Process".

[#1-norm-fan]

I need more info on this but I don’t wanna derail the thread with it. We need to take this to the sports forum.

[drave]

google The Process NBA. 1st hit