Backlash

Card Information:
 Held in: ARCO ARENA
Location: CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
          on April 2004 at 7:30pm

X-Pac pinned Edge after a legsweep in 0:09:46.
Rating: *** 1/2
Click here to see highlights.

Good opening contest to get the fans excited.


Interview:
Where's Rocky?
Click here to see highlights.

The Rock isn't here yet, and not even Hogan knows where he's at.


Shannon Moore pinned Rey Mysterio with the Twisting Moonsault in 0:12:37.
Rating: *** 3/4
(Shannon Moore retained the WWE Cruiserweight Championship.)
Click here to see highlights.

Another good match, as Shannon Moore once again retains his gold.


Jeff Jarrett and Rob Van Dam battled to a double countout in 0:13:47.
Rating: ** 1/2
Click here to see highlights.

The two competitors didn't seem to care about the count-out.  They just
continued to brawl all the way backstage.


Interview:
Evolution speaks on The Rock...
Click here to see highlights.

Evolution claim that The Rock is on their side.


The Kliq (Kevin Nash and Shawn Michaels) defeated The Big Show and Ted DiBiase
 when Michaels pinned DiBiase after a piledriver in 0:02:46.
Rating: * 1/2
(The Kliq (Kevin Nash and Shawn Michaels) retained the WWE Tag Team Championship.)
Click here to see highlights.

In a surprisingly quick match-up, the Kliq retain their titles, leaving the
Big Show excessively angry.


Chris Benoit pinned Mick Foley after a dragon suplex in 0:11:21.
Rating: *** 1/4
Click here to see highlights.

A big win for Benoit, without any need for help from Paul Heyman.


Interview:
Lesnar is ready for Regal...
Click here to see highlights.

Brock Lesnar issues a warning to William Regal, prior to their match.


William Regal pinned Brock Lesnar after a Northern Lights suplex in 0:16:45.
Rating: * 1/4
Click here to see highlights.

A surprising win for Regal over Brock Lesnar, without any dirty tricks or
cheating involved.


Val Venis pinned Scott Hall after a fisherman suplex in 0:04:31.
Rating: **
(Val Venis retained the WWE Intercontinental Championship.)
Click here to see highlights.

Another rather short title match, as Venis retains the gold.  After the match,
Chris Benoit appeared on the ramp, telling Val Venis that he was next.


Interview:
Hogan faces the music...
Click here to see highlights.

So, after the speculation, the talk and the rumours, The Rock showed everyone
who's side he was really on.


Hulk Hogan and The Rock defeated Evolution (Ric Flair and Triple H) when
The Hulkster defeated Flair by disqualification in 0:09:17.
Rating: ** 1/4
Click here to see highlights.

Flair's manhandling of the referee led to the DQ.  Hogan and Rock posed dow
after the match.


Steve Austin pinned Chris Jericho with the Stone Cold Stunner in 0:15:16.
Rating: ***
Click here to see highlights.

Jericho was initially counted out, but begged for the match to continue.  He
was still soundly defeated in the end.


Interview:
The Hitman wants the belt back....
Click here to see highlights.

Can Bret win the title back, or will the Warrior retain?  It's time to find
out!


No-Countout-No-DQ-Match:
The Ultimate Warrior pinned Bret Hart with the Big Splash in 0:04:50.
Rating: ***
(The Ultimate Warrior retained the WWE Championship.)
Click here to see highlights.

Yet another short title match, as the Warrior manages to retain the gold.



Card rating: ** 1/2


Match observations: 

Backlash wasn't really all it could have been, with a number of matches falling
way below expectation.

All titles were retained tonight, and with the exception of the Cruiserweight
title match, none of the title bouts lasted any longer than five minutes, which
is certainly not what you would expect on Pay Per View.

Chris Benoit, Mick Foley, Steve Austin and Chris Jericho all provided us with
saving graces in their matches, but the whole show could simply have stood to
be much better than it was.

It turned out that The Rock had no intention of joining Evolution, a fact that
frustrated Ric Flair so much that he decided to attack the referee in his tag
match.  That led to the DQ when the ref eventually came round.

Expect some sort of rematch between Jeff Jarrett and RVD very soon as well, as
their match ended up in a sloppy double count-out finish.

Overall, there's not much else to say about the show, other than that things
will hopefully pick up on the next Raw.

Next Show: Raw