After seeing the electricity the France crowd was giving on last night’s Smackdown every wrestling fan knew they were in for a treat with this afternoon’s Premium Live Event. With only five matches scheduled and with this being one of the more predictable shows this year, the expectations were low, but WWE did what WWE does best, put on an amazing show. With all of that being said, was Backlash 2024 worth the hype? Let’s review!
Randy Orton and Kevin Owens vs Tama Tonga and Solo Sikoa: If you did not get goosebumps when the entire crowd was singing Randy Orton’s theme song, I would question your wrestling fandom. This crowd was insane! Before the bell rang all four men went at it and Owens was attacking all of the security guards. Nick Aldis came out and declared this match a no-disqualification match and that just took the action all over the arena. This match was insane and a great way to start the show. The crowd ate this up and did not sit for 40 minutes. As Owens was about to get the win Tonga Loa pulled the referee out of the ring and he made his debut. The Bloodline stands tall in an amazing opener, I guess there are no consequences for this show.
Winners: Tama Tonga and Solo Sikoa
WWE Women’s Championship: Bayley vs Tiffany Stratton vs Naomi: Wow, in the first five minutes, the women were distracted by the crowd as they did not expect that type of electricity, but when this match got going it went all the way. Stratton was the MVP of the match as she truly shined in every aspect both offensively and defensively, she will be champion by the end of the year. Just like I had predicted, Bayely pinned Naomi to protect Stratton to lead to the eventual one-on-one match. The One-D that Naomi and Bayley hit on Stratton was incredible, go watch this one you won’t regret it.
Winner: “And Still” Bayley
WWE World Heavyweight Championship: Damian Priest vs Jey Uso: The presence of the crowd doing Uso’s dance with him during his entrance was crazy and a scene that if you told me a year ago would have happened I would not have believed you. I thought this was the match on the show that was put there to calm the crowd down and it lived up to that expectation. Finn Balor and JD McDonagh came out to help Priest retain the title and he was not happy about it. He nearly got into an altercation with Balor, so it looks like the end of Judgement Day is coming sooner or later. I will give Uso this though he has been able to get over with the crowd and put on some decent matches, one day his time will come it just was not going to happen tonight.
Winner: “And Still” Damian Priest
WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships: Kabuki Warriors (Asuka and Kairi Sane) vs Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill: This match at times was rough. At one point Sane tried to pin Cargill and the referee said she was not the legal woman, which she was. Immediately after this, she tagged in Asuka which made not only the live crowd confused, but everyone else watching from home. Despite this spot amongst a couple of others, all four women were able to get it together and put on a decent match. Belair did most of the work as Cargill came in at the end, dominated and got the win!
Winners: “And New” Jade Cargill and Bianca Belair
WWE Undisputed Championship: Cody Rhodes vs AJ Styles: Two former Bullet Club members fighting for the WWE Undisputed Championship on the week of the Bullet Club anniversary, New Japan wins! Throughout the entire match, the cameras kept shaking due to the crowd jumping up and down. This was a fantastic main event. The crowd was singing throughout it and no one was sitting throughout the main event. Even though this was the first time Styles and Rhodes wrestled, they both brought it and I would not mind if they ran this back at another Premium Live Event down the line, Rhodes retains!
Winner: “And Still” Cody Rhodes
Overall: I did not have high hopes for this show because it was only five matches and it was predictable, but the crowd turned that around. From the start of the show till the main event the crowd was unglued and was into every single thing that happened on the show, and that made the matches better. The women’s triple threat was the match of the night and the surprise of Tonga Loa sealed the deal on this show. Go watch this one just so you can feel the electricity of the France crowd.
