Review: WWE Backlash 2025
Backlash! The Backlash to WrestleMania. Where what happened at WrestleMania, experiences Backlash.
Live from St. Louis! The Gateway to the West! The mighty Mississippi! Home of the Cardinals, which sucks!
Arriving: Pat McAfee! His hat is backwards so you know he’s serious today. Gunther! Lyra Valkyria! Becky Lynch, who is bad now, you can just tell. Randy Orton gets off a bus or the like and the crowd is happy, because he is from here.
Jacob Fatu (c) vs Damian Priest vs Drew McIntyre vs LA Knight
WWE United States Championship - Fatal Four-Way
Yeah, man, Jacob Fatu is on his way. The crowd is into this dude, and it comes from the fact that he’s just legit, he carries himself in a way that you believe in his every motion. His aura has been clear since he showed up in WWE. I mean it was clear before then if you watched him anywhere, but WWE really is a different stage, and he’s just got it.
Knight, who’s still over everywhere, gets the hot start. This is an intriguing four-way idea, in theory, because everyone here is best as a bruiser but all of them can move, that modern “big guy” thing, hey look at how this guy can do things A Cruiserweight Does, isn’t that interesting (no, not really, because 1537 guys have been that guy for 25 years now). Kinda interested to see if anyone really stands out, work-wise, or maybe more compellingly if someone shrinks in the mix of four guys with similar skill sets.
Priest’s over-selling has become a comical trademark of his work. Michael Cole sounds like the world’s biggest square when explaining Fatu’s jail background. McIntyre had the promo on Friday where he laid out an impending reality for Fatu — that he’s going to have to be more than “all gas, no brakes” at a certain point — so they get a Kane vs Big Show battle royal stare down spot.
Fatu’s explosiveness is what’s making him stand out big and the crowd is just going nuts for him when he gets rolling hard. Knight hits BFT on Fatu, but Priest hits South of Heaven on Knight, then McIntyre with the Claymore on Priest, who falls on Knight — the DX lads love a “falling over into a pin” bit.