Matthew Roberts takes a look at WWE Home Video’s latest event release, Backlash 2023. After one of the greatest WrestleMania’s of all time the WWE went to Puerto Rico for Backlash. They were rewarded with a white-hot crowd and we were rewarded with another top-notch PLE.
Backlash 2023 kicked things off with the Raw Women’s Title match between Bianca Belair and challenger Iyo Sky. With Iyo being as great as she is and Belair always at her best when opposite someone really good (which isn’t the knock some of you might think) this had great potential and it certainly delivered. The interference fuelled ending was predictable but didn’t hurt the match too much. You would have thought that Omos against Seth Rollins had no chance of following that opener but if they didn’t match it they nevertheless put on a match that was far better than anyone might have imagined.
The three way for the US title with Theory, Lashley and Bronson Reed was a fun, fast-paced romp before home-town/country hero Zelina Vega challenged Smackdown Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley. It was built around Vega having little-to-no chance and worked well as that wit the underdog doing her utmost but in the end falling to the dominant champion.
Next up was Bad Bunny against Damien Priest. The crowd was insane for this one and that helped propel it to be one of the greatest celebrity matches of all time. If not THE best. The extra curricular stuff worked a treat and added to the fun. Poor Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn & Matt Riddle and the Uso’s & Solo Sikoa couldn’t follow that. It didn’t help that a six-man screamed “Raw TV main event” in the first place, nor that the tag champs against the Uso’s thing had already peaked. It was fine, but nothing too special.
And so we came to the main event as Cody Rhodes and Brock Lesnar went at it. It was a good match to end an excellent PLE, managing to make both men looks like winners and at the same time not give too much away from the feud to come.
Backlash can often feel like “after the Lord Mayor’s show” coming as it does after WrestleMania. But the combination of great matches and a super-hot show made this one of the best Backlash shows in many years.
9 out of 10.
Photographs courtesy of Fetch and WWE. Thank you to WWE Home Video for our review copy of WWE Backlash which is out Monday 26 June on DVD. You can buy your copy from WWEDVD.co.uk by clicking here.