Welcome to another edition of Triple Threat from Smark Out Moment, where three of us get together to discuss three questions based on one big topic going down in the week of professional wrestling.
This week, Dallas Allsopp, Callum Wiggins and Tony Mango review WrestleMania Backlash 2022.
This weekend marked the first pay-per-view following WrestleMania 38 - but was it more than just a rehash of that glorious show?
Question 1: Can Omos use his victory over Bobby Lashley as a springboard for success? Or is this just a false dawn for the big guy?
ALLSOPP: I genuinely think he can. He may not be the next Kane in terms of being a big man who can put on solid matches, but he most certainly is not a Giant Gonzalez! I find his height intriguing, and against the right opposition, not to mention some smoke and mirrors, he can be a very entertaining threat on the roster. I felt his victory over Bobby Lashley was solid enough, so I nervously hope this is the start of a new star.
WIGGINS: I'm just going to lay my cards on the table - Omos isn't very good. Yes for a guy his size he moves around pretty well. But his offense is straight out of the Great Khali playbook and he can't sell to save his life. His partnership with MVP and this victory over Bobby Lashley are signs that they still want to invest in him to a degree. However, I envision this as an eventual springboard for Lashley towards a WWE Universal Championship opportunity in the coming months.
MANGO: In the grand scheme of things, how many people have been positioned as "the next Andre the Giant" and actually achieved anywhere close to that success? I'd love to say Omos will continue to improve and be a big deal, but I don't think he's even going to reach Great Khali levels of success as far as titles and main event status goes. A win over Lashley on Backlash after a loss at the much bigger show in WrestleMania isn't a great sign that this will amount to much in the long run.
Question 2: Which match did you enjoy more - Edge vs AJ Styles, or Cody Rhodes vs Seth Rollins?
WIGGINS: I've found both Edge vs AJ Styles matches to be very underwhelming and paint by numbers. They're technically sound but nothing about them excites me. At least Cody Rhodes vs Seth Rollins has the interest of Rhodes being back in WWE, and Rollins is consistently excellent in the ring.
MANGO: Cody Rhodes vs Seth Rollins was the overall better match from bell to bell on both nights. Despite it being a solid match, I still don't see the point in running it back again, as it served no purpose other than to watch a rerun, whereas at least the AJ Styles vs Edge match was the introduction to Rhea Ripley joining the group. But if I were going to recommend either of those segments for someone to check out, it would be the Rhodes match.
ALLSOPP: Cody Rhodes vs Seth Rollins was the better contest in my eyes. They went balls to the wall in order to put on a fantastic match, matching the high level of quality they set themselves from the original encounter at WrestleMania. Whilst Edge vs AJ Styles was great, it was more storyline heavy, which dragged it down slightly.
Question 3: Was it the right decision to have The Bloodline win the main event?
MANGO: 100% definitively no. This was painfully stupid. WWE built up a meaningful title unification and threw it away in favor of "just getting Roman Reigns on the card" but didn't want to have him defend the title, only for him to potentially take a few events off? Why not just have Reigns against Drew McIntyre and the title unification and stop stretching things thin? A six-man tag team match would've been underwhelming even as the main event of SmackDown, let alone the main event of a pay-per-view. But while the match itself was fine if you ignore everything else and view it within the bubble of "but was the in-ring action good?", you can't even justify its spot on the card of pushing forward a feud between McIntyre and Reigns! Had McIntyre won, that would mean they did this to set up him as No. 1 contender. With Reigns winning, it just means we're going to wait weeks for a match that means less AND people are even more sure Reigns will just win. WWE effectively annoyed fans, did a pointless match, killed 3 events' worth of potential better booking and positioned McIntyre poorly all because they feel the need to drag things out.
ALLSOPP: Meh. I struggle to fully appreciate The Bloodline winning as it seems like a formality at the moment. I absolutely love Roman Reigns, but he now seems to have surpassed the level of superiority that ‘Lol Cena Wins’ had. In order to create a compelling story, they needed to lose. Alas, that didn’t happen, which I consider to be a major lost opportunity.
WIGGINS: No, absolutely not. Fundamentally, the last 2+ years of booking has pushed the narrative that there is no one on Roman Reigns' level. This means any potential challenger that comes up against him is a weak challenger, who no one believes can defeat him. So this was a perfect opportunity, in a nothing at stake 6-man tag, to have Drew McIntyre pin an Uso or even Reigns himself, and build credibility before a future title match. Instead, it was just another "Roman wins lol" moment. What a waste.
Those are our thoughts on the issue, but where do you stand?
Let us know your answers to these questions in the comments below!
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