WWE Backlash Match Ratings From Dave Meltzer
Following a successful WWE Backlash event, one of wrestling’s most prominent wrestling observers has given his ratings on every match at the show.
This past Saturday in San Juan, Puerto Rico, WWE held Backlash in front of a rabid crowd that the company announced was 17,944 fans in attendance.
It was a show headlined by Cody Rhodes and Brock Lesnar in a grudge match with Cody looking for revenge after he was brutally attacked by Lesnar one month earlier on Raw. Cody did manage to get some revenge by bloodying Lesnar and beating “The Beast” by countering a Kimura Lock into a pinning predicament for the win.
The issue between Cody and Brock isn’t over because it continued this past Monday on Raw when Lesnar cost Cody in his tournament match for the World Heavyweight Title. Lesnar hit Cody with multiple F5’s, including one through the commentary table. Brock and Cody will have another match, a Street Fight, at Night of Champions on May 27th.
Bad Bunny beat Damian Priest in a San Juan Street Fight in a match that garnered the most attention among the “Double Main Event” of Backlash that was advertised. It was a very impressive performance by the Grammy Award-winning Bad Bunny while Priest did a tremendous as well.
Priest had some help from his friends in The Judgment Day, but Bunny had backup in the form of LWO as well as Puerto Rican wrestling legends Carlito and Savio Vega. Bad Bunny would end up winning the match with a Canadian Destroyer that some people are calling a Bunny Destroyer.
Bianca Belair and IYO SKY had a terrific opening match that was won by Belair to keep the Raw Women’s Title. However, it was interesting how the Puerto Rican crowd was cheering SKY throughout the match and also booing Belair. They had a tremendous match that many people would consider to be SKY’s best match on the WWE main roster because she finally had the chance to show what she can do in a singles match.
Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter has been watching and reviewing matches for over 40 years and he shared his match ratings in this week’s Observer. The ratings are normally on a five star scale, but Meltzer is known to go over that as well. None of these matches reached five stars or above.
- Bianca Belair (c) vs. Iyo Sky – Raw Women’s Championship ****1/4
- Seth Rollins vs. Omos ***
- Austin Theory (c) vs. Bobby Lashley vs. Bronson Reed – United States Championship **1/2
- Rhea Ripley (c) vs. Zelina Vega – SmackDown Women’s Championship **
- Bad Bunny vs. Damian Priest – ****1/2
- The Bloodline vs. Matt Riddle, Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens ***3/4
- Cody Rhodes vs. Brock Lesnar – ***3/4