It’s time for another of those weird and wonderful reviews, where I take a look back at a DVD release of a pay-per-view I’ve already reviewed, and this time the honour goes to World Wrestling Entertainment, and the 2009 version of Backlash.
The show that immediately follows Wrestlemania can often be an interesting affair, and this is definitely the case with Backlash, with some new rivalries coming into play, and some old ones continuing, and this year’s version proved to be a very good show.
It began well with former NWA World Champion Christian challenging Jack Swagger for the ECW version of the title. It seems a little strange saying this, but this seemed like a battle of the generations. Christian always puts in a good performance, while Swagger has all the makings of a top-line star. This one is followed by a match which is definitely a battle of the generations, with Chris Jericho taking on the legendary Rick “The Dragon” Steamboat. Steamboat put in a hell of a performance at Wrestlemania, and, if anything, this one was even better, mainly because he didn’t have any partners to rely on or to hold him back. You have to wonder what WWE would do with him if he decided on a full-time return.
Kane versus Money in the Bank winner C.M. Punk is a strangely compelling affair. It’s a very good match, showing that the Big Red Machine doesn’t need to face other monsters all the time to be entertaining. But this one is overshadowed somewhat by the Matt Hardy v Jeff Hardy I Quit match. Many thought that this feud would be over after Wrestlemania. Thankfully they let it play out a bit more. After all, we wouldn’t have had that great ending.
After an awful segment with the Great Khali and Santino Marella in drag, the two main events certainly delivered. The six man tag which saw WWE Champion Triple H defend his title alongside Shane McMahon and Batista, making his first comeback of the year, against the combined forces of Randy Orton, Ted Dibiase and Cody Rhodes, with a rather unique stipulation, was well played out. But the best was saved for last when old rivals Edge and John Cena fought it out in a Last Man Standing match for Cena’s World title. This was billed as their final encounter, the final part of the feud that dated back three years, and it certainly delivered, with another of those great pay-per-view endings that just had you gasping.
Backlash is definitely one of the best WWE events I’ve seen this year, and it carries over to DVD very well. My only gripe about this release is the distinct lack of extras. While WWE excels itself with the extras on their various collections, they kind of let themselves down with these releases. Here, we only had a segment showing Triple H being carted away in an ambulance. It would have been nice to see a few pre- and post-match interviews as well.
But hey, let’s end this review on a positive note. Should you go and buy this DVD? Yes, yes you should.