Although last year’s was a considerably hotter affair in Lyon, 2025’s Backlash still delivered an enjoyable and fairly varied five-match pro wrestling show.
As the first post-WrestleMania premium live event for WWE, this felt like a critical moment to secure a continuing viewership for the Netflix audience.
United States Championship – Jacob Fatu(c) def. LA Knight, Drew McIntyre, and Damian Priest: As an opener, this was an entertaining and athletic hossfest that nudged (almost) everyone effectively into their post-Mania story directions.
Fatu comes away still red hot, keeping the title and with increasingly palpable tensions with Solo Sikoa. Priest looked great and comes out looking reinvigorated after his big loss at WrestleMania. McIntrye got to show off and add another legitimate complaint to his ledger – he earned the #1 contender’s spot only to have to put up with a four-way match.
Knight’s the only question mark here – his next arc didn’t quite come into view here. I suspect a short TV absence followed by a return with a clear new rivalry to dig into would do him wonders.
Fatu’s massive and increasing popularity definitely presents a booking quandary while he’s still paired with Solo Sikoa. He’s an anti-hero kind of babyface who’s currently aligned with a clear heel. So when he squares off with someone like like McIntyre, there’s enough clarity for the audience. But against Knight, for example, the audience becomes divided in their affections. This can work, but it’s definitely trickier territory.
Oh, and speaking of athletic hosses, Jeff Cobb’s here now!
Intercontinental Championship: Although Becky Lynch (the character) is channeling a Terry Bollea-esque entitlement and inflated ego, the idea that Rebecca Quinn (the performer) is actually behaving like Terry Bollea is out of whack – and her performance here should lay those comparisons to rest..
The build to this match was clever and super effective. With a relatively short timeframe (the approximate three weeks from WrestleMania to Backlash), Lynch and Valkyria drew on their shared history as mentor and mentee to give this story its drama and elevate it beyond the “you have the belt and I want it” stakes that often characterise shorter builds.
The in-ring storytelling on the night pulled the storyline and character threads together perfectly – Lynch wrestling with arrogance and starting to lose her grip on reality, and Valkyria moving with grit and an earned confidence in her wrestling ability. The result pushes them both further into these character arcs – great all round, but especially for Valkryia who has needed something like this since her arrival on the main roster.
It’s worth noting that at over 18 minutes, this match felt spacious and unrushed. The pacing was expert, with room for bigger spots to have impact and for plenty of character moments for the audience to take in.
Shoutout to Valkyria for digging out the Eddie Guerrero arm drag reversal to the Manhandle Slam. A+++
Intercontinental Championship – “Dirty” Dominik Mysterio(c) def. Penta: At under ten minutes, this short match felt like a vehicle to get to the storyline-developing shenanigans of the finish. Finn Bálor continues to act increasingly suss and Chad Gable / El Grande Americano draws Penta further into an eventual feud for the soul of lucha libre.
And while this didn’t feel or play like a marquee match, it’s fantastic seeing how Mysterio is really starting to put it all together – his character work has developed exponentially over the last twelve months but he’s also quietly grown his in-ring game, too. His diving DDT to the outside here was the match’s highlight.
Gunther def. Pat McAfee: This was the hottest match with the live crowd on the night. There’s something about the breakdown of the expected order of proceedings that can really just get a pro wrestling audience to come unglued – the best Brock Lesnar matches have tended to have this kind of chaotic energy.
McAfee doesn’t have the same kind of in-ring polish or repertoire as Gunther, of course, but he does have a unique energy and a total preparedness to commit. And in conjunction with Gunther’s all-round expertise, the two produced an unexpected magic.
And while I understand the argument that this match being competitive lessens Gunther’s shine (as a character), this captivating spectacle actually showed how much range he has (as a performer) – which I think expands his storytelling horizons within WWE infinitely more than a simple squash would have done.
Undisputed WWE Championship – John Cena(c) def. Randy Orton: With Orton the very first of a number of possible Cena feuds WWE can run back through the rest of this year, it was always going to be difficult to build a real sense of jeopardy here – and this match never truly felt like it might go any other way than a Cena victory.
That said, in the true spirit of running it back, this match absolutely felt like a PG-era PPV main event: it was long (27 minutes), included multiple ref bumps, some finisher kickouts, some finisher stealing (always fun), a table spot, and of course, a Cena win.
Now don’t get me wrong, this was fairly entertaining and it did feel like a bout between classic Cena and classic Orton – but it wasn’t quite as magical as I feel current Cena and especially current Orton are capable of. It’s also possible that the unexpected liveliness of Gunther / McAfee and the sheer length of this one worked against it on the night.
Curtain Call: One (1) women’s division match on a premium live event card of five is simply not it. Valkryia and Lynch had the match of the night with a no-notes execution of an excellent story. But neglecting to feature either top champ (IYO SKY or Tiffany Stratton) is no goodly.
And with their Kurt Angle vs. Shane McMahon chemistry, Gunther and Pat McAfee delivered a weirdly magnetic gem, Backlash’s other real highlight. The rest of the card wasn’t especially memorable but at least we’re mostly moving forwards with everyone – which I think is probably enough to keep folks tuning in in what could be called WWE’s post-WrestleMania “off season”. Onwards to Briefcase Wars Money In The Bank!
