One month ago today, one of the most extraordinary wrestling shows I’ve ever had the pleasure of watching took place. Not in the usual sort of arena for WWE, but in San Juan, Puerto Rico at the ‘José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum’ … and it took place in-front of one of the all-time great wrestling crowds. Maybe helped by the fact this was the first WWE major show in the country for nearly 20 years, maybe helped by the fact the country’s bigger pop-culture star was featured on the show, but regardless… this show was something special. Top to bottom I thought the wrestling was great, and I’m pretty excited to watching this one back and then writing about it.
So without going in anymore, here is my review of WWE Backlash 2023!
Bianca Belair (C) defeated Iyo Sky to retain the Raw Women’s Championship
It was obvious right away from this match, that this was a HOT crowd. And here they helped turn a very good match into a great one. Iyo might be one of the very best women’s wrestlers in the world, and she showed it here, she was also very much favored by the crowd. The wrestling between the two, whilst they had one of two things that went array, was fast and good, and towards the end it got really great…
After Iyo had countered one move, she hit a moonsault off the top onto Bianca on the outside, which got a 2 count. Sky went for a hurricanrana off the top, only for Belair to catch her and hit an avalanche powerbomb, but only got a nearfall… We knew the ending was near when Bayley and Dakota Kai made their way out… Iyo grabbed Bianca’s hair, only for Bianca to throw Iyo into Dakota and knock her off the apron, Iyo then got a very close nearfall 2-count.. Bayley tried to interfere, so Bianca got rid of her from the equation… The referee went to check on Bayley, which was when Dakota Kai hit Bianca with a big head kick… This then allowed for Iyo Sky to go for her Moonsault, but as she did this Bayley had a hold of Bianca’s hair (trying to keep her down), but the ref cottoned on to this, and so Iyo slightly delayed hitting her move and thus gave Bianca time to recovered and eventually avoid it, she then hit the KOD and got the win. So Bayley had inadvertently cost Iyo the match was the story they told. Bianca had a fair few big matches during her most recent title run, this was right up there with the best of those for me. Iyo is just incredible.
****3/4
We then had a backstage segment with star of the show Bad Bunny talking with Rey Mysterio… (get a load of that POP when the 3rd man enters the scene)
Seth ‘Freakin’ Rollins defeated Omos
A match that was not what we expected, with a build that was not what we expected, produced a contest that played out… not as we expected. Rollins has since had his ‘flowers’, and the big man stood across from him here is GETTING THERE… slowly… but this was the best match of Omos’ career so far.
Naturally, the crowd really liked Rollins, and Omos got the heat on himself right away when he kicked Rollins with a big boot. The ref had to ask Rollins if he was ready before he could ring the bell as a result… The story of the match was a classic one, the fighting and flying babyface trying to chop down the big giant, and to their credit they told it well. Rollins eventually managed to get Omos down to one knee, he then tried to hit a PEDIGREE, but Omos hit a back body drop. Rollins did though manage to get a tornado ddt, and then hit a frog splash… but Omos kicked out at ONE! Rollins hit a number of strikes, and tried to get the stomp, but Omos just sat and no-sold it! Omos then hit a huge chokeslam, but Rollins kicked out of the pin. Seth then DID hit the Stomp, but MVP distracted the ref so Rollins couldn’t get the pin, so MVP took a superkick for his troubles, and then he hit Omos with the curb stomp again, but Omos kicked out. Rollins was shocked, but roared on by the amazing crowd belting his theme song, he decided a different tactic was needed… so he went to the top rope and hit Omos with a SUPER Curb Stomp for the 1, 2, 3! Crowd loved the finish, and so did I.
This was better than I thought it would be and exceeded expectations for sure! Omos with his second ‘that was better than I thought it would be’ match on PPV of the year (to follow the Mania match with Lesnar). Good stuff all round!
***1/2
Austin Theory (C) defeated Bobby Lashley & Bronson Reed to retain the United States Championship
I thought this was super fun. It could be argued this was somewhat predictable, as it followed a similar formula to the match where Theory won back the US title, with Rollins losing after Lashley was thrown out, this time Theory chucked Lashley out and pinned Bronson Reed.
Although it was the big man that got pinned, it did feel like a showcase match for him, which was GREAT! Reed went close to winning after hitting the Tsunami to Lashley, only for Theory to break up the pinfall attempt. In an amazing visual, Theory had Bronson Reed on his SHOULDERS, only for Reed to slip out as Theory went for A-Town Down… Reed then slammed the champion, and went for a moonsault right away after, only for Lashley to hit a big Spear to Reed… which led to the finish, and once again Austin Theory escapes STILL the United States Champion. I liked this match.
***3/4
Rhea Ripley (C) defeated Zelina Vega to retain the SmackDown Women’s Championship
This was something pretty joyous to witness, and on any other show it would be talked about since even more than it has been. Zelina Vega entered for this match to one of the most amazing ovations we’ve seen for a home-country fave in many years, and she was understandably emotional as a result.
Zelina was given a ‘chancla’ by her Mum in the crowd and she threw it at Rhea, but other than that the match went as expected (I don’t see as a bad thing personally), Zelina has been the victim of some… bullshit… via WWE so I am pleased they let her have her special moment on this night and in her country, but there was only one winner of this one. Vega did have a couple of good hope spots, she hit a 619 and then the meteora for a nearfall, and earlier countering a Rip-Tide with a spike ddt… But Rhea dominated most of the match with her obvious size and power advantages, and she hit a big head kick followed by the Rip-Tide for the 1, 2, 3.
Vega did however get a HUGE ovation after the match, which again was wonderful to see.
***
Next up… well it didn’t go on last, but this was THE main event lets be honest. I personally would’ve had this close the show, and I absolutely stand by that having see the match play out. But anyway… lets get to it!
I can’t even put into words Bad Bunny’s entrance… so…
Bad Bunny defeated Damian Priest in a San Juan Street Fight
First off, naturally people will talk about Bad Bunny as the huge pop-culture star, who just so happens to be a huge wrestling fan and has taken to it like a duck to water… but Damian Priest had a career night in San Juan. He did an amazing job of helping this match be as good as it was. We expected a brawl, we expected carnage, and we expected a red-hot atmosphere… we got all of those and then some!
Priest didn’t want to give Bunny any respect early on, but right away we had a pin attempt from Bad Bunny off a Michinoku Driver, and I just knew this was going to be special. Bunny was a great babyface, but Damian Priest was a excellent heel monster, snapping a kendo stick in half to nullify it’s effectiveness. Priest even hit his finish a few minutes in, but that wasn’t enough, he pulled him up from the pin, this was about to be PUNISHMENT…
The crowd went absolutely insane every time Bad Bunny was on offence; throwing a chair to Priest’s face and then getting chased by Bunny with a trashcan. Priest took over after and even used the kendo stick that bunny had been gifted by Savio Vega earlier in the night. Of course, given it was a street fight, they fought into the crowd… and we had a crazy spot where Priest hit a falcon arrow to Bad Bunny from way up high and sent him crashing through some tables below. A tonne of officials came out, but Priest pushed them all away and dragged Bad Bunny to the ring to try and finish the job.
Priest soon after kicked the ringpost, and this was Bunny’s chance to take back some of the match… he attacked the injured leg with a kendo stick, and then against the post with a chair, before then going for one last chair shot… but Priest begged him to stop, but as Bunny hesitated Priest then kicked him in the face. Priest went for a chair, but Bunny got a low blow, and this was when the interference began… and this is where the crowd went into nuclear levels of noise again… (apologies if I miss anything that happened after, it was WILD)… Dom and Finn came out to attack Bunny, Rey Mysterio came out for the save, but that wasn’t enough… and with Judgement Day seemingly on top…
CARLITO ran out!!! Ungodly pop, and ‘Caribbean Cool’ cleared house! Eventually, Dominik and Balor were backed up the ramp… but SAVIO VEGA got in their way… and then from the other side, Zelina Vega brought out the LWO, and then all the faces attacked Balor and Dominik… Eventually as they retreated, Bad Bunny tried to get the win…
Bad Bunny tried to get the submission on Damian Priest, but was grabbed by the throat and Priest went for a chokeslam, only to be countered again into a pin attempt that got a 2 count. Priest ran at Bunny, only to crash into a steel chair, Bad Bunny followed this up and soon got another nearfall. Bunny then went to TOWN with a chair, and finally hit a Canadian Destroyer for the win. HUGE, HUGE, HUGE crowd pop for Bad Bunny getting the win. And the LWO, Carlito and Savio all came out to celebrate.
This was a JOY to watch. I don’t think it could’ve gone better all-round if they tried, I can’t ever remember a crowd being so hot for a match. Amazing to watch, professional wrestling at it’s finest. Maybe not the best technically we’ve seen, but my GOD this was a TONNE of fun. Bravo to everyone involved, this was exceptionally well done.
****1/2
The Bloodline (Solo Sikoa and The Usos (Jimmy & Jey)) defeated Matt Riddle, Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn
In the long story of The Bloodline, this was one of those ‘middle part’ matches, where we didn’t quite get an all-timer angle, but it was still a key part of the story. Going into this one, The Usos were approaching their ‘last chance saloon’ in the eyes of the Tribal Chief… And Solo Sikoa was on hand to ‘do what must be done’… should he need to. On the opposite side were the kryptonite to The Bloodline, and a much more serious Matt Riddle. In-ring wise it was bound to be fine, story-wise we simply all watched, and waited…
The match itself was good, there were two underlying stories throughout the match, one that The Usos weren’t as… ‘on it’… as usual… In fact, early on we had a miss-communication spot after KO dodged a superkick from Jimmy Uso, and he accidentally hit Jey Uso instead! Kevin Owens then took down Solo Sikoa, and followed by hitting the pop-up powerbomb on Jey Uso for a nearfall. We had some really good spots and all the action was smoothly done, which makes sense given the in-ring familiarity these 6 guys have with one another… The other story of the match was the big one going in, and that was Solo Sikoa (acting as the ‘body’ for Roman) and what he would do (if anything) to The Usos…
Jey Uso was furious with Sami Zayn, yelling at him for trying to ‘destroy his family’, and he went for the running hip attack… but Solo tagged himself in… Solo went to do his move, but Jey tagged himself back in! In fact… he pretty much SLAPPED Solo across the body!… Solo was bemused and then got caught with a Helluva Kick by Zayn after Jey ducked out the way, then Zayn hit Jey with a kick, only for Solo Sikoa to break up the following pin attempt.
Solo then looked like he was about to attack Jey Uso, only for Matt Riddle to hit him with a big knee. He then got chucked out the ring by Jimmy Uso, who then got caught with a superkick by KO, and then he got hit by the Spike from Sikoa. Solo then got angry as he though someone was about to attack him, so he grabbed them and set them up for the Spike… but it was Jey! Jey seemed shocked and questioned his younger brother about if he was REALLY going to hit him??? Zayn then broke this up before we could hear the answer, and not long after we had the finish… Riddle tagged in and hit the Bro Derek to Jey Uso, and then Solo tagged himself in and hit Riddle with the Spike for the victory.
****
Cody Rhodes defeated Brock Lesnar
As I said before, I don’t know if I’d of put them on last, but I also can totally understand WWE wanting the WrestleMania main-eventer and a multi time champion to close a PPV… It was set-up as this would be a fight, less a hold for hold match, and so it proved.
As Brock matches go, this was fun, and different… as much as it was a fight, the finish was down to a wrestling maneuver which was funny…
We started RED HOT, as Cody came charging out during Brock’s entrance and hit him with the steel steps, and then with a chair! After the ref officially started the match, Cody carried on his momentum, and hit a Disaster Kick. He then tried to hit the Cody Cutter, only for Lesnar to catch him and hit a German Suplex. Lesnar then took Cody to Suplex City, one after the other… but during one, Cody ripped off a turnbuckle pad as he was trying to find something to grab onto… Brock then ran at Cody, but Rhodes moved and he went flying into the turnbuckle that had been exposed!
Brock was COVERED in blood after, and Cody tried to take advantage with a move followed by another Disaster Kick, he then hit a number of strikes to the already bleeding head of Brock, and he followed these with another Cody Cutter and a Cross Rhodes, only for Lesnar to kick out at 2. Cody tried to hit another Cross Rhodes, but Lesnar blocked it and hit an F5… BUT CODY KICKED OUT! For the finish, Lesnar got Cody in a Kimura… only for Cody to counter it into a cradle, and so he rolled him and Brock over so that Lesnar’s shoulders were down, and he held it for the 1, 2, 3! A huge win for Cody, and something we don’t see all that often as Brock Lesnar of all people, got caught off guard. Solid main event match.
****
A quite unforgettable PPV. Maybe not the MOST news-worthy show in terms of storylines, but definitely one that more than served its purpose in terms of building the stories… Even in the month since this show, a lot of the things that happened now make total sense with the things that have gone on since. But as I said in the intro, this crowd was an ALL-TIME great audience for any wrestling show ever, and I certainly wouldn’t be upset if this was a yearly thing now in terms of the post-Mania ppv going to Puerto Rico, or even just taking it outside of America? But for sure, this was a GREAT night for WWE, and one that allowed for a pop-culture megastar get to live out his dream. And that in itself, is cool as fuck to me.
Josh.