WWE Backlash (2009 TV Special) User Reviews

Another Bog Standard PPV

[stuartnicol1 · 7/10 · 29 May 2009]

This PPV gave me mixed emotions.

On the bad side however was ANOTHER Hardy vs Hardy match. They had a fantastic extreme rules match at Wrestlemania XXV which should have ended the feud. This "I quit" match was just plain weak. effectively a wrestling match with barely any use of anything extreme and a weak ending. A poor way to end the feud.

The other down point was yet another time filler match between Kane and CM Punk. Weak story, if any, and a weak match.

However there was yet another fantastic display (age considering) for Ricky the Dragon Steamboat in his match against Jericho (who was also very good) The 3 Championship matches were actually highly entertaining. ECW match was good apart from Jack Swagger making a ring post incident look a bit shoddy by chickening out a touch. The WWE championship was actually entertaining with a good return for Batista and the ending of the World Heavyweight championship match was a very good end to a quality match. The Santina vs Beth match/incident was a good laugh too.

All in all it was clear that not enough effort went into the whole card but some solid matches made for an overall bog standard WWE PPV.

Good show. Matches worth seeing!

[morantjavonte · 7/10 · 19 April 2023]

Backlash 2009 Thoughts

Backlash 2009 was the 11th Backlash PPV event produced by the WWE. The event took place on April 26, 2009 in Providence, Rhode Island at the Dunkin Donuts Arena. Attendance was at 8,357 with a low buyrate 182,000. It's unfortunate that WWE was having competition at this time to see who was getting $50 every month and that would be UFC. This would also be the last Backlash event to use the Post-Wrestlemania theme concept until 2021 as the next year, WWE replaced Backlash with Extreme Rules.

The Card featured 7 matches with the main event being John Cena defending the World Heavyweight belt against Edge in a Last Man Standing match. Triple H defended the WWE Championship in a 6 man tag match with Batista & Shane McMahon at his side with all having personal heat against Randy Orton's stable of Legacy. Other matches included Christian vs. Jack Swagger for the ECW Championship and Matt Hardy vs. Jeff Hardy in a WrestleaMania rematch but this time an I Quit Match.

The Good - I thought the main event was spectacular and as of now, in history books, is an underrated match. What I gave it made me shocked that it's not talked about much today. Cena & Edge rivalry was always unique and intense that it no doubt ended this show on a high note. I think the selling for 10 counts for both stars was a little off but they worked well. The 6 Man Tag for the WWE Championship was really good too. A little botch ending from the ring bell kind of confused me but it was good. I still wish Triple H & Randy Orton could have had a decent match at WrestleMania after such a huge intense feud. I also shockingly was impressed with Christian vs. Jack Swagger. I forgot how well they worked together during Christian's period as the top guy of ECW. Great chemistry. Chris Jericho vs. Ricky Steamboat was what you expected. Steamboat still had it to keep up for a decent match. Can you imagine a Ricky Steamboat in his prime against Chris Jericho?

The Meh - A major underwhelming match was Matt Hardy vs. Jeff Hardy. I'm not sure if the two are just not ment to be against each other or the match was just not very good. For an I Quit match it wasn't so special as neither man attempted to get the other to say I quit for majority of the match. CM Punk vs. Kane was also somewhat okay but not really needed. I was confused of the point of the feud. It just seem like a random match as Kane was the near victory guy at WrestleMania for the Money in the Bank. The Chokeslam though was awesome.

The Bad - It wasn't really a match but the Beth Phoenix/Santino Marella thing wasn't really funny at all. It was more cringy actually and had terrible acting and lines. Typical early PG comedy.

Overall - An enjoyable aftermath PPV of WrestleMania. There was really no bad or downright terrible match on the card and every match was at least watchable and not boring to follow. The main event was again the highlight of the night but the 6 man tag and ECW Championship match are also worth checking out too.

Score - 7 out of 10: Good

0 = Terrible : 1 = Bad/Lackluster : 2 = Decent : 3 = Good : 4 = Awesome : 5 = One of the Best of all Time

1. Christian vs. Jack Swagger: ECW Championship - 3.5/5

2. Chris Jericho vs. Ricky Steamboat - 3/5

3. Kane vs. CM Punk - 2/5

4. Jeff Hardy vs. Matt Hardy (I Quit Match) - 2.5/5

5. Beth Phoenix vs. Santino Marella - Not worth it

6. Batista, Shane McMahon & Triple H vs. The Legacy: WWE Championship - 3.5/5

7. John Cena vs. Edge: World Heavyweight Championship (Last Man Standing) - 4.5/5

Best Match - John Cena vs. Edge

Worst Match - Beth Phoenix vs. Santino Marella (WWE sees this as a match so.....)

Most Memorable Moment - Big Show chokeslams Cena off the stage

Top 5 Performers

1. John Cena - Outstanding Performance. Also impressive showing of that strength with the stairs.

2. Edge - Outstanding Performance

3. Christian - Underrated

4. Jack Swagger - Great Performance

5. Ricky Steamboat/Chris Jericho - Rare tie.