In 1999, WWE was still doing the “In Your House” PVVs in between the “Big Four” shows (WrestleMania, SummerSlam, Survivor Series, Royal Rumble). They were successful but the concept was winding down by that time. Backlash was set up as the show directly following WrestleMania which is always the start of a new creative year in WWE. In 2000, it was made its own PPV and the post-Mania spot has allowed the show to have some very notable moments.
The PPV would vanish after 2009 before being revived in 2016. Sadly, the 2018 show was seen as so poor that it hasn’t been used since. With a total of fourteen shows, “Backlash” had some great matches but also several that were utterly terrible. Even a great match couldn’t salvage some shows while others were packed with some fun stuff. It’s a shame the title has faded as “Backlash” used to mean something in WWE. Here are the 5 best and 5 worst Backlash events as a reminder of how important it was for WWE.
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10 WORST: 2017
The show wasn’t consistently bad but the main event overshadowed what good there was. The Kevin Owens-AJ Styles US title match was a fantastic battle and Nakumra vs Ziggler was good too but other bouts were rough. That included the tag title match, a rough six-woman tag bout and Luke Harper vs Erick Rowan.
What will always doom this show is the main event as Jinder Mahal defeated Randy Orton for the WWE title. Seeing a life-long mid-carder elevated to the top of the company in just weeks was a moment that fans wished they could forget.
9 BEST: 2009
Despite not much expected, this turned out to be a quite good Backlash. Christian won the ECW title off of Jack Swagger while Ricky Steamboat proved he could still go in the ring against Chris Jericho. The Jeff/Matt Hardy “I Quit” match was enough to erase the horrific Women’s match.
The wild six-man match between Legacy and HHH/Batista/Shane ended with Orton winning the WWE title. The main event had Cena and Edge in a half-hour war ending with Edge winning the World title to close out a solid show.
8 WORST: 2006
Sometimes, a good main event can’t make up for a poor show. This is a pretty good case as the bad outweighs the good on this card. RVD vs Shelton Benjamin was a decent fight with RVD winning the IC title and MITB. The main event of John Cena/HHH/Edge was a nice match too.
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However, the undercard had a terrible Trish Stratus/Mickie James rematch, Umaga squashing Ric Flair and Big Show and Kane in a match so bad even Jim Ross was calling it ugly. There was also the infamous battle of the McMahon vs Shawn Michaels and “God” which alone makes this one of the worst shows of the year.
7 BEST: 2007
A show where Vince McMahon wins the ECW title in a handicap match might be expected on the “worst” list. Yet the rest of this card was pretty solid. The opening Hardyz vs Cade and Murdoch tag title match was terrific, Benoit/MVP was a good installment in their feud and Melina and Mickie James had ten minutes for a good bout.
The Undertaker/Batista Last Man Standing match may have been marred by a draw finish but was a brutal war. The Fatal 4-Way main event was a fantastic closer with Cena, Edge, HBK and Randy Orton going all out to end a much better show than expected.
6 WORST: 2002
Aside from a good Kurt Angle vs Edge match, this card was pretty unsatisfactory. Scott Hall and Bradshaw was terrible, Brock Lesnar squashed Jeff Hardy and even Eddie Guerrero/RVD for the IC title wasn’t as good as fans hoped. The Undertaker and Steve Austin had a far too overlong match with a poor finish that sucked the life out of the crowd.
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The main event was Hogan beating HHH for the WWE title in what was clearly a final go-around for the aging Hogan in the main event. It showed 2002 to be a poor year for WWE.
5 BEST: 2016
After seven years, the Backlash label returned and in fine style with this SmackDown exclusive show. The opener was Becky Lynch becoming the first SmackDown Women’s champion in a good Six-Pack Challenge bout. The Miz and Dolph Zigler had a pretty good IC title match and a fun moment was Heath Slater winning the tag titles with Rhyno.
The main event was a terrific battle between Dean Ambrose and AJ Styles with the crowd backing both guys. It ended with Styles winning the WWE title and show how SmackDown was the better brand at the time.
4 WORST: 2003
This was a rough show coming after the messy WrestleMania XIX. The Los Guerreros vs Team Angle opener was great but the rest of the show was downhill. Sean O’Haire and Rikishi was ugly, Big Show and Rey Mysterio had a bad match and the six-man tag of HHH/Ric Flair/Chris Jericho vs Booker T/Shawn Michaels/Kevin Nash was pretty poor.
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Even Brock Lesnar facing a young John Cena wasn’t impressive. The main event was the “dream match” of Rock vs Goldberg that was a massive letdown. This show truly was in a bad time for WWE.
3 BEST: 2004
This card was an amazing follow-up for WrestleMania XX. While there was the dud of Jonathan Coachman vs Tajiri, the rest of the show was solid. Shelton Benjamin got a big rub by beating Ric Flair while Victoria and Lita had a good Women's title match and Chris Jericho/Christian/Trish Stratus combined for a fun bout.
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The highlight was the bloody "I Quit" Match where Randy Orton became a true mega-star by taking massive punishment to beat Cactus Jack. The main event was a fine Mania rematch as Chris Benoit retained the World title over HHH and HBK to make this one of the best PPVS of that year.
2 WORST: 2018
Maybe it’s no shock this show was so bad that WWE hasn’t used the PPV name since. It started off well with Seth Rollins vs the Miz but then went downhill. The Jeff Hardy/Randy Orton U.S. title match was boring, the Carmella/Charlotte Flair match a mess and Daniel Bryan just dull beating Big Cass.
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The bigger problem was that the AJ Styles-Shinsuke Nakamura match wasn’t the main event and was a badly booked draw to boot. The real main was Roman Reigns and Samoa Joe in a match that had fans walking out of their seats. The PPV did not go out on a high note.
1 BEST: 2000
After the misfire of WrestleMania 2000 main event, WWE more than made up for it with this show. The undercard had great bouts like Chris Benoit vs Chris Jericho and Dean Malenko vs Scotty 2 Hotty. There was also the Big Show doing a hysterical Hulk Hogan impression while facing Kurt Angle.
The topper was the main event as HHH defended the WWE title against the Rock with Shane as referee. Just as it looked bad for the Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin returned to destroy everyone with a chair, allowing Rock to win the title. One of the best shows of that entire year.
