Backlash, while predictable, was what it needed to be for WWE — a stepping stone for its new champions and stories after WrestleMania with plenty of quality matches.
Cody Rhodes’ reign got off to a strong start, and Bayley and Damian Priest each have some things brewing around them.
We did get one minor surprise as a new Bloodline member debuted — just not the one people expected — and getting new women’s tag team champions means WWE nearly has a completely clean slate with its title holders from before WrestleMania.
The victors weren’t hard to call — and sometimes that’s a problem in these smaller PLEs with five to seven matches on a card — as WWE announced WrestleMania 41 will be in Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas next April 19-20.
The crowd in Lyon, France, was loud, unrelenting and mostly a fun part of the show on Saturday afternoon.
Here are five takeaways from Backlash:
A new Rhodes
Cody Rhodes wrestled as a world champion for the first time in WWE, and it was a very good start to his reign against the right opponent in A.J. Styles, who turned in an inspired performance.
The two told a story of toughness, resilience and gamesmanship.
Early on it was about Rhdoes needing to overcome the punishment Styles dished and showing he wasn’t going to back down, evolving later on into a series of both men countering each other’s heavier moves.
Rhodes showed a new level of champion’s resilience in this one, kicking out of Styles’ springboard 450 splash and a Phenomenal Forearm.
When he got hit with a Burning Hammer driver made famous by Kenta Kobashi, Rhodes popped up and fired up a babyface comeback at the two count.
Rhodes, knowing he was going to have to dig a little deeper to beat Styles, delivered a Cody Cutter after springing off the top turnbuckle.
After getting fired up and pounding his chest, he delivered a Cross Rhodes to pin Styles’ shoulders to win.
Amazingly, the crowd was louder for this match than at any other point, and for me, it took away from things a little bit as it felt like they were more interested in going to chants we had heard all night than having a truly emotional response to what we were seeing in the ring. It became distracting at times.
New Blood
The Bloodline continues to grow, and it may not be done yet after the new member that debuted at Backlash wasn’t the one fans thought they would see.
It was Tama Tonga’s brother Tanga Loa (they are both sons of the legendary Haku) and not former MLW champion Jacob Fatu who arrived to bail out Tonga and Solo Sikoa.
Loa showed up just in time to pull Kevin Owens off of a pin of Tonga after hitting him with an avalanche brainbuster through multiple chairs.
The shocked look on Paul Heyman’s face over Loa’s arrival sold the whole thing.
His getting involved opened the door for Sikoa to finish things off with a Samoan Spike on Owens.
The match — which Nick Aldis made a street fight after Owens, Randy Orton, Sikoa and Tonga brawled before the bell — was non-stop action. They took it into the crowd and used tables, the ring stairs, kendo sticks and garbage cans.
Orton got his RKO’s on both opponents, including to Sikoa “out of nowhere” on the announce table and it didn’t break.
This was a great way to open up the show.
Tiffy’s Time is coming
The best parts of the triple-threat match for WWE women’s championship were the consistent pin attempts and the fact that there were very few moments of isolation — allowing all three women to consistently be in the action together.
It made for some fun sequences of counters and reversals — oftentimes leading to Bayley needing to jump in and make a save.
Stratton left an impression in this match, her first for a championship on the main roster, showing the poise, ability to interact with a crowd and physical gifts that have so many people high on her.
That included turning a cartwheel while holding Naomi into an Alabama slam onto the announce table.
Finally, Naomi and Bayley had enough of the young upstart and teamed up for a 1D that took her out of the match for the first time.
It left the two babyfaces in the ring to settle things.
Bayley was able to reverse a pinning combination to finally keep Naomi’s shoulders to the mat.
The two hugged in the ring and Stratton is left to go back after Bayley for a one-on-one match, having not been pinned.
Cracks in the foundation
Building heat within a faction in victory isn’t always an easy thing, but WWE was able to do it with The Judgment Day as Damian Priest was able to retain his World Heavyweight championship against Jey Uso.
JD McDonagh and Finn Balor provided critical help to their faction mate despite Priest having said he didn’t want it. He chided McDonagh after his first time interfering before Balor came to his aid.
Priest didn’t see McDonagh save his bacon by putting his foot on the ropes after Uso delivered super kicks and then an Uso splash that appeared to have the match won. The champ was able to counter Uso going up for another splash into a top-rope chokeslam to finish it.
Priest then flipped on McDonagh and Balor for their attack on Uso after the match — directing them to just stand next to him and celebrate.
WWE has set up a story to follow as Priest tries to assert himself as the group’s leader with Rhea Ripley on the shelf as well as setting up a formula for Priest to eventually lose if Balor and McDonagh quit helping him.
The match itself was solid with some great back-and-forths and a drama-filled moment as Uso — who was grilled by the new Bloodline before the match — kicked out of a South of Heaven late.
WWE’s new golden girls
Things got a little messy during the Women’s tag team championship match between Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill against Asuka and Kairi Sane. There was one point when the referee had to tell Sane she wasn’t the legal participant in the ring as she went for pin, and it didn’t get righted for a bit as Asuka tagged in when she didn’t need to before Sane was tagged back in correctly. Even then, the action felt a little out of sorts for few minutes.
That being said, there was a lot of good here, including Cargill countering Sane’s top-rope dive into catching her head down by the former AEW star’s legs, lifting her onto her shoulders and then seamlessly dropping her into position for a Jaded. That was off-the-charts cool.
Cargill also pulled off a springboard off the rope we haven’t seen from here before.
Having her and Belair coming up with some tandem moves is going to be fun to watch.
Belair, who was the babyface in peril for a lot of the match, ended it with a K.O.D. of Asuka onto Sane, whom she pinned to win the match.
The victory makes Belair the eighth women’s triple crown champion in WWE.
Biggest Winner: Tiffany Stratton
Biggest Losers: Asuka and Kari Sane
Best Match: A.J. Styles vs. Cody Rhodes
Predictions: 5-0
Grade: B+
