A Mark's View: #152: Backlash 2004 - Counterpoint
by: Mark Price on: 4/21/2004 5:49 am est I’ll say it right here and now: Edmonton, I love you. An amazing crowd can really make a show that much better, even when the matches suck. Fortunately for Backlash, they didn’t. With the exception of the meaningless last-minute tag match, there wasn’t a single match that I would call ‘bad’ on the entire show. With a few extra little tweaks here and there, Raw could be well on their way to figuring out a great, consistent formula for the brand-exclusive PPVs. The crowd was even hot for the Venis/Hardy match on Heat, which surprisingly got a good 10 minutes or so, and was a pretty good back and forth match. At the end of the night, I felt very satisfied. Everything that needed to happen happened, and they did a damn good job of impressing me along the way. It’s a rare occasion when I can say that. So, for the uninitiated, here’s how the Counterpoint works. First, you may want to go back and check out the Point preview column. Like any great movie sequel, you don’t have to see the first one to ‘get’ the second one, but it definitely helps. Here, I flash back to that column several times, comparing and contrasting my previews with my actual reactions to the matches after having seen them. Then, to juxtapose my Interest Level from the beginning of each previewed match, at the end of each reviewed match I’ll provide you with my Entertainment Level as I see it. Interest Level: ‘Fallen Angel’ Christopher Daniels [90%] The only reason this isn’t higher is because Flair and Benjamin haven’t been directly built against each other for any more than a week now. Still, I have to hand it to them regarding Benjamin. They’re quickly building a new star out of barely any previous establishment, and they hit their mark in only one week. While I’m still wishing they had set up a HHH/Benjamin rematch here, and let Benoit and HBK do their own thing, I can deal with this because I know Flair will make Shelton look good. That’s what Flair does. He knows how the business works and he knows when to put over a younger talent. After this, I can see Shelton continuing to go after Evolution, but since he’s already beaten Trips, I’m already drooling in anticipation over the potential Randy Orton/Shelton Benjamin feud over the Intercontinental title. Am I the only one who thinks a major feud between those two would bring the IC belt back up to where it should be? Those are the two to do it, if anyone is. Who should win: Shelton Benjamin Who will win: Shelton Benjamin Actual winner: Shelton Benjamin A good warmup match that got the crowd heavily into things. As usual, Ric Flair bumped and made good use of psychology to tell a good story here. Benjamin was leaping all over the place until Flair started going for the knee, grounding him and softening him up for the Figure 4. One thing I thought was pretty funny is that if you pay close attention, Flair dropped the brass knuckles no less than three times during this match. Once at the beginning, once outside the ring, and a third time at the end. Makes me wonder how he kept getting them back, or maybe he just had three sets. I’m not going to say it was excellent, but it was good. Above average, at any rate. I’m going to refer more to the concepts of the match than the match itself though... What I don’t understand is how people are already criticizing Shelton for ‘looking too green’ in this match and already discounting him as a future superstar. Some of you people are complete idiots if you’re already snapping to that judgment. The guy’s just started his first singles push in WWE for all of three weeks and he’s supposed to never make a rookie mistake or show any sign of hesitation? If nothing else, that solidified for me the whole “rookie vs. veteran” connotation about this match. Furthermore, they’re building a new star with talent and some people are complaining. Ahh, such is my love/hate relationship with the internet. Love the friends I’ve made and the creative outlets, hate all the whiners who start complaining immediately after one match or a 30 second segment. Should Benjamin stop being pushed now that he didn’t put on a ***** match with Flair? Of course not. Shelton Benjamin is living up to his potential one step at a time and I’m not complaining a bit. The really bright side is that if Shelton’s already this good now, just wait a few years. He’s better than Brock Lesnar when he started out in singles, and look what Lesnar became. Flair pulled off everything he needed to here, and Benjamin kept up well. Only a slight lowering of the grade because it could’ve been longer. Entertainment Level: [85%] Interest Level: Sinister Minister [15%] Much like Father James Mitchell, this is equal parts entertaining and goofy. If it remains Tajiri vs. Coachman, I can’t see it being a good match, but if they involve Al Snow in it again, I could see it being interesting. I spotted the Al Snow cameo almost right away as soon as I noticed the ‘ninja’ had an eerily familiar beard under the mask, and the attempted Snowplow solidified it for me. I suppose it was a nod to the short-lived gimmick he had a while back. The main problem with this is, I can’t imagine where Tajiri will be going from here. They brought him from Smackdown, out of a somewhat solid run in the Cruiserweight division, to feud with a backstage reporter and B-show commentator, of all people. What’s he going to do if he wins? Feud with Jerry Lawler? What’s he going to do if he loses? Feud with Rue? That said, I wouldn’t mind a Tajiri/Snow feud, but it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen. This match should be pretty short, consisting of a swift kick to Coachman’s head, and that’s about it. Who should win: Tajiri Who will win: Tajiri Actual winner: Coach Boy, was that preview ever wrong. It’s been said already I’m sure, but this match was better than a Jonathan Coachman match had any right to be. Sure, Coach didn’t really look like a pro or anything, but it’s nice to see that he learned a few moves and actually executed them well. At first I didn’t think that him getting any sort of advantage over Tajiri looked believable at all, but then I figured maybe he just caught Tajiri off guard. It would make sense that Tajiri got a little cocky going into this. Now it appears because of the ending that Coach is with ‘Default Man’ Garrison Cade, which is fine with me, because Coach could end up making a good heel manager. I’d like Tajiri to get a higher profile feud after his jump to Raw, but this isn’t a bad start. Not a great match by any stretch of the imagination, but entertaining and surprising at the very least. I’d say I liked this about twice as much as I expected I would. Entertainment Level: [30%] Interest Level: Brother Love [55%] There’s no real reason that a match involving Chris Jericho and Christian should drop this low on the rating scale, but I just don’t think they’ve followed through very well on the Wrestlemania buildup. That was a huge angle with a lot of promise, and since Trish’s heel turn it’s just kind of floundered. Instead of being the victim to base the feud around, Trish does the overdramatic “Hmph!” a lot, as Christian holds her against his chest and rubs her hair like a cartoon couple whenever Jericho insults her. This feud should be all about Jericho getting revenge on Christian for stealing his woman, but instead it’s more like Jericho getting revenge on Trish for stealing his...uh...Christian. Still, it should be a good match as long as Trish stays out of most of it. Nothing against her wrestling ability, just the fact that her presence in this match makes it both a handicap match AND an intergender match, two things I’ve never really liked. Jericho could use a good face win here, most likely due to some mistake or another by Trish, or when Jericho finally gets Trish in the Walls and makes her tap. Who should win: Chris Jericho Who will win: Chris Jericho Actual winner: Chris Jericho This was another match that came off better than I expected it to. Trish’s involvement was a very bare minimum, only coming in to humiliate Jericho at his weakest points and then diving for a tag as soon as he put his hands on her. It came across more like a singles match with a stipulation that Trish could run in and cheat. Therefore, it didn’t seem much like a handicap match or an intergender tag. I like that Christian seems to be improving his moveset lately, including busting out a Texas Cloverleaf which surprised me, because I don’t recall him ever being much of a submission wrestler before. Of course you can’t say much about Christian increasing his moveset otherwise, since Jim Ross seems determined to call half of his regular moves an “Unprettier” anyway. It’s too bad that he’s feeding the other commentators the lines from backstage on other shows, yet nobody’s feeding him the names of many moves when he’s on. A minor gripe for a Christian match really, but it adds up to the point where it becomes a pet peeve of mine. Otherwise, this ended the way it should’ve and could’ve served as a blowoff if they weren’t keeping the feud going, apparently with a guy who looks like the love child of Batista, Goldberg, and Bull Buchanan, and kicks like Nathan Jones. Boy is that ever a good sign! Actually, it’s Travis Bane from OVW, if you’re wondering (Who incidentally used to tag with Seven, now aka ‘Mordecai’). Still, another good match made better by presentation. Entertainment Level: [75%] Victoria© vs. Lita Interest Level: Reverend D-Von & Deacon Batista [10%] The only interest I really have in this is that I kind of wanted to see a Lita/Victoria match when they had the opportunity to feud a few months back, but they never did it. With that out of the way, this is just dumb booking. Lita and Victoria have exactly what to do with each other? At least a Trish/Victoria match might have made some sense given their history. Oh wait, silly me...‘history’. That only exists when it’s convenient. Lita won a #1 contenders match pretty randomly, which usually means the winner will face the champion on some throwaway segment of Raw, rather than a PPV. What they just as easily could’ve done is made the Trish/Lita match from last week a “winner gets the title shot” match, and given Trish the shot. Instead we get Lita with a rather undeserved title shot, and Trish in a handicap match. Interesting how I’ve spent more time talking about Trish than Victoria here, isn’t it? That’s because Victoria’s had very little to do with this feud, despite the fact that she’s the champion. Like I said, dumb booking. And where’s Molly at, anyway? Who should win: Victoria Who will win: Victoria Actual winner: Victoria You know, I actually found myself getting into this match once I realized that Lita came to wrestle. I think she looked motivated and may have stepped up her game a bit. I’m not going to say she’s better now, but I do think she’s improved since returning. A bit sloppy still, but I found myself enjoying her performance, or at least to the point where I forgot I was anticipating watching her screw up (you know you do it too, don’t lie). Victoria, what can I say? She’s improved leaps and bounds since her debut, and is making a great long-term champion. I could go for another Trish/Victoria feud right about now. Victoria’s a funny story. Usually you put a valet with a wrestler to get him over, then take her away once he’s over enough. In this case, they gave the wrestler a valet, then the wrestler basically turned into the valet’s valet, until Victoria became over enough that they took the wrestler away. I would’ve preferred this match ended with the Widow’s Peak, because I absolutely love that move, but I liked the multiple attempts at her minor-finisher, which put it over as a significant move in the match. The build wasn’t good, but this turned out to be a nice little match in between all the men beating each other up. Entertainment Level: [60%] Randy Orton© vs. Cactus Jack Interest Level: Demonic Undertaker [90%] Mah gawd, he’s strapping him to that...symbol! This could get ugly, but I say that with the best intentions. This could be ugly in a good way, if Cactus Jack is really “back” and it’s not just Mick Foley in a new outfit. I’ve been critical of Foley lately, perhaps more than he deserves, but I’d still mark for the old Cactus Jack. I want to see full Cactus mode though. The Wanted poster t-shirt, the hair tied in the back, the “bang-bang”, the theme music, the crazy attitude, and let’s not forget the insane bumps that look like they hurt like a bitch. Foley returning to hardcore is probably one of the best reasons to watch Backlash. I was worried for awhile that an Orton/Foley one-on-one match would suck, so I was very glad when it turned out to be hardcore. The whole “Evolution banned from ringside” thing makes it more interesting, but I can’t help in thinking Foley’s going to get screwed yet again in some way or another, whether it’s someone else interfering, or through some loophole where Orton leads him backstage and Evolution attacks because it’s technically not “ringside”. Either way I don’t see this being clean for some reason...Orton getting a clean hardcore win over Foley wouldn’t really make a whole lot of sense at this point. A cheap win though? Of course. Foley’s not winning the IC title at this point. No way in hell. Especially since he’s well past the point where he wants to put over younger stars. Who should win: Randy Orton Who will win: Randy Orton Actual winner: Randy Orton Nasty. Ugly. Mean. Usually negative terms, but this was probably the first match I’ve seen in awhile that deserves my rarely given custom rating of “Holy Fuck”. I expected this to get brutal, but I never dreamed they’d hit the level they did. I don't cringe easily, and I cringed many times. I went into this thinking we’d see “WWE version of a street fight, which is usually still pretty good”, but less than halfway through it I realized that’s not what I was watching. I said to myself “I’m watching a Cactus Jack match”, and I was. It was old-school Japan and ECW Cactus Jack, and even WCW Cactus Jack. That’s exactly what I wanted out of this, because aside from the brief Socko moment, Mick Foley didn’t come to that ring, Cactus Jack did. You see how much more you appreciate brutal, bloody hardcore when it’s a rarity instead of having it every single week (or every single match if you watch some indie feds)? I dare say this may surpass Shane vs. Angle at KOTR. Props to Foley for coming back and delivering what will probably be the last great Cactus Jack match ever. But MAJOR props go out to Randy Orton for showing he’s got the nuts to back up his push. He’s not just there because he’s daddy’s boy, he’s not just there because of his look, he’s there because he wants to be. You don’t leap back-first onto a bed of thumbtacks and barbed wire in your first ever hardcore match, and then wrestle the rest of the match like that, without having a will to do anything you can for the business. I don’t know what Orton did to psych himself up for those spots, but I think his reaction to that failed RKO into the tacks wasn’t entirely worked. From the shaking hands to the facial expression, I’m betting not much of that was acting. I didn’t understand why the fire wasn’t allowed, since Foley’s set “Barbie” on fire before, but it was a minor distraction. Still, I think it would have been a nice moment of comic relief if instead, Foley lit it on fire and Orton put it out with a fire extinguisher he found under the ring. Now it looks like the only bumpfest WWE can do to shock the world is to pit Cactus against Shane McMahon. Go on, just imagine it. Entertainment Level: [100%] Winner: Rosey & Hurricane More of a vehicle to get Eugene over than anything else, and to cool off the crowd after the quite graphically violent Hardcore match. Maybe I’m horrible for liking this, but I found it amusing. The main problem I have is that the wrestling match took back seat to an angle, but this was more of an extended Eugene segment than a match, so I’m going to rate it the way I rate any long filler segment on a PPV (highest it can score is 50%). I just hope that Eugene ends up doing something. Entertainment Level: [30%] Interest Level: Bible Thumpin’ Jake Roberts [40%] This is more of a morbid curiosity interest than anything else. I thought Edge was a decent wrestler at best before, but now that he’s bulked up I’m not sure what that means for him. He looks like main event material now, but will he be ready for it when that inevitable push comes? A main event push makes a little less sense right now simply because one would think Edge would be going after the guy who attacked him backstage last year and put him out of action. At the time, all signs pointed to Rhyno, who conveniently is now on Raw too. If the main event route is where they’re going, this isn’t the way to do it. It seems like every single time they try to do something with Kane, within a few months he becomes the “punishment” guy. How many times has Eric Bischoff gotten the evil grin on his face and said “You’re going to be facing... Who should win: Edge Who will win: Edge Actual winner: Edge Unfortunately that was no JOHNNY NITRO!!! to be found, so maybe that’s what was wrong with this match. It’s not that it was bad, there was just really no reason to be interested in it. It was a TV match put on a PPV to give Edge and Kane something to do, and to give the card one more match. Strange place on the card as well, this was not the match to follow up a cooldown ‘match’ like the previous one. Maybe it’s just me, but I would have switched this one out for the Women’s title match or the Jericho/Christian/Trish match. I can’t really go much more in-depth than that, since it didn’t really leave much of an impression on me, though the cast shot gives me some hope that Edge could actually play something of a tweener who doesn’t care about the rules but is popular with the crowd. Cheesy as it sounds, he “lives on the edge”. It’d work, but so would a lot of things if only WWE would listen to me and take every good suggestion I come up with. I mean come on, what’s a soap opera/sitcom writer got that I haven’t got? Okay, looks like this paragraph is long enough to look like an in-depth review of the match. I got about what I thought I would out of this. Entertainment Level: [40%] Chris Benoit© vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Triple H Interest Level: The Passion of the HBK [95%] I know it's technically not a gimmick, but I defy you to find something that’s more amusing to make fun of in WWE (aside from his bottle cap shirts and crotchless chaps). A reader recently sent me an e-mail regarding Wrestlemania XX, where he mentioned that everyone around him was chanting “Christ! Christ! Christ!” every time HBK would stomp for the Sweet Chin Music setup. I suggest you all follow suit, because I personally think that’s the funniest thing ever. Just think, we could get arenas all across the country to do this, and make a big running gag out of it. It’ll be bigger than “What?” With that tomfoolery out of the way, the reason I’m slightly less interested in this is because of a couple reasons. I know that Backlash rematches of Wrestlemania main events have been fairly common over the past several years, but I’ve still seen the match before, and I don’t want Hunter in there any more than I wanted him in the WMXX match. In fact, significantly less now. Another reason is because there was the total markout hype of Chris Benoit winning the title, and this time it’s him retaining it instead of winning it. Granted, I’ll enjoy it if/when I see him retain, but I don’t think it’s going to be quite the same. That said, this still is going to be a great match, and 95% is still an extremely high average for a match, especially given that if all goes well, my Entertainment Level in the Counterpoint will be another 100%. Chris Benoit will be on his game, no doubt about that. Shawn Michaels will bring the goods like he always does, because he’s still capable of doing so. Triple H will put in a solid effort and come out of it looking good anyway, because he doesn’t suck as much as many would have you believe. Why this is being billed as “The Final Encounter” I have no idea, because it’s not like none of these guys will never get title shots again, and for all we know they could someday have a rematch, but for some reason because of the title I now have Europe’s “The Final Countdown” stuck in my head. Thanks a lot, WWE. Like I really needed 80s cheese metal running through my mind all day. Who should win: Chris Benoit Who will win: Chris Benoit Actual winner: Chris Benoit As if I somehow psychically predicted it with the Interest Level, go back and watch this match and listen to how many times JR says "passion" when he talks about HBK. I don't know what made me notice it, but I swear it's true. Anyway... When the question of “Is Chris Benoit for real or is he a one-hit wonder?” kept coming up on the PPV, it started becoming more obvious to me who would be winning. This was Benoit’s match, and it really showed in how much he dominated it. Not trying to brag, but I called the ending last month in my WMXX Point preview. Direct quote: “Then there’s always the possibility of HBK vs. Benoit in Edmonton, and of course, the dream that HBK would tap to a Sharpshooter in Edmonton, causing the entire arena to spontaneously combust.” Okay, so I got the match wrong since it wasn’t singles, but everything else was in place. Gee, Lauren! I’d better stop being so positive all the time! I kid, I kid. Gotta say I loved Shawn Michaels’ reaction to the crowd. The look on his face was equal parts resentment and remorse. Angry they still wouldn’t let it go, yet sad that they had to taunt him with it. Of course, they threw it back in everyone’s face when HBK had Benoit in the Sharpshooter...and then Earl Hebner comes out! Funny little gimmick by teasing the tension there, which paid off great. Sometimes it’s just good entertainment to play (or is that prey?) upon the crowd’s emotions and grudges. This also probably marks the first time I’ve seen a Triple H sledgehammer shot make perfect sense in the context of the match...now Triple H has lost another title shot, and it’s technically his own fault for causing HBK to tap, after hitting him in the back with it only a few minutes earlier. My one gripe with the match was something about the ending that I found anti-climactic. I don't know why, and maybe it's just me, but I thought Shawn Michaels was going to spend longer in the Sharpshooter. Benoit never even got to sit back. Just found it odd, and gave me a weird reaction. Otherwise, everyone was at the top of their game here. Great wrestling, great storytelling, and great pacing make this not only a great Wrestlemania XX rematch, but a rematch that just about equals the original. Aww, look which member of Evolution doesn't have a title... Entertainment Level: [99%] (for those keeping track...) Predictions: 6 out of 7 Overall Interest: 395 out of a possible 700, for a total of roughly 56%. Overall Entertainment: 519 out of a possible 800, for a total of roughly 65%. That’s quite an increase from what I thought I’d get out of this, so it has nothing to do with predictability, given that I only got one match wrong. I think this is going to score very highly at the end of the year, as it’s currently the highest on my list. Even the low points weren’t terrible, but a lot of what I thought would be mediocre turned out good, and a lot of what I thought would be good turned out great. Backlash 2004 has done what Backlash hasn’t done in years, and that’s keep the momentum rolling from Wrestlemania, instead of killing it. I fear they may break their streak of good 2004 PPVs next month, but they may not break the streak of good Raw PPVs. The people I usually watch with aren’t ordering the “suckdown” PPV as they call it, so I’ll be coming to you with an exciting review from a sports bar. Mark (over and) out. |
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