WWE Backlash 2009 Review

The fallout from the 25th Anniversary of WrestleMania sees Edge try to reclaim his World Heavyweight Championship against John Cena in a Last Man Standing match. Also, Randy Orton's rematch for the WWE Championship he lost against Triple H comes in the form of a tag match that features Triple H teaming with the McMahons and going up against Orton and the rest of Legacy.

Match 1: ECW Championship - Jack Swagger (c) vs. Christian
With Christian finally being back in the WWE, he gets his first big singles match on PPV against the young Jack Swagger for his ECW Championship. Although Swagger was still a fresh face to the company at this point, the WWE was really putting some stock in him with big matches against Matt Hardy and even John Cena that saw him more than hold his own. Solid opening match here with Swagger looking great throughout the match but Christian being able to score the ultimate upper hand with the help of an exposed turnbuckle along with a Killswitch. Christian wins his first "world championship" in the WWE. Great moment to start off the night. 
Winner: Christian
Rating: ***1/2

Match 2: Chris Jericho vs. Ricky Steamboat
Chris Jericho's reign of terror against the legends continues as he faces Ricky Steamboat in a singles match here after Steamboat decided to steal the show at WrestleMania. As pleasantly surprised as we were to see Steamboat hang with Jericho a month prior to this, it was even much cooler to see him surpass the newer and higher expectations that were set for him. He more than held his own here and even impressed me here more than most of the current roster at the time as he performed moves you would not have thought someone of his age would have even thought of doing. Despite being able to survive a Codebreaker, Steamboat would still fall to Jericho and his Walls of Jericho submission. Steamboat again impresses, shame this would basically be his last match in the WWE. Wouldn't have mind seeing him being involved in a program for Summerslam that year or something.
Winner: Chris Jericho
Rating: ***1/2

Match 3: Kane vs. CM Punk
Even after CM Punk won his second Money in the Bank match at WrestleMania, he was still consistently brushed to the side. Case and point, his match here with Kane. Decent match here with the action you would come to expect from the two. Despite giving his best efforts, Punk would eventually fall to Kane and his Chokeslam. Again, decent match for what it was but I have to question if the company really cared much for Punk at this point despite having him have a solid heel run in the summer.
Winner: Kane
Rating: **3/4

Match 4: I Quit - Jeff Hardy vs. Matt Hardy
One of the more underrated feuds of 2009 was certainly between the Hardy brothers as their bad blood reached its newest height here in an I Quit match. Of course, these two have been going at it throughout their whole lives and it shows here. They understood that this was a personal feud and made it feel that way throughout the match. No time for headlocks and rest holds because they brought the fight to each other here. Jeff Hardy was able to put his brother in a predicament by taping his hands and legs together before roping him down on a table. Matt Hardy utters the words "I quit" to the referee after begging his brother to not dive off a ladder onto him. Even still, Jeff did not oblige and drove his whole body right through and him and allowing himself to put his feud with Matt behind him in the process. For Jeff, he would go on to have the biggest summer of his career while Matt would unfortunately get lost in the scuffle.
Winner: Jeff Hardy
Rating: ***1/4

Match 5: Santina Marella vs. Beth Phoenix
Welp, The Great Khali comes out for his usual kiss cam segment and demands for Santina Marella to come out so he can get a kiss. However, Marella claims that he already has a lover in Jim Ross. Yes, this really happened. Ross looks visibly pissed over all this as Khali demands to see Santina and Ross kiss. However, Beth Phoenix comes out and challenges Marella to a match for "her" title of Miss WrestleMania. With the help of Khali hammerfisting Phoenix on the top of her head, Santina quickly pins her to score the win. Afterwards, Khali rips off Santina's shirt as she runs out in embarrassment. Wow, how did that make the PPV? That was painfully bad.
Winner: Santina Marella
Rating: n/a

Match 6: WWE Championship - Triple H, Shane McMahon & Batista (c) vs. Legacy (Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase)
Can anyone tell me the last time the WWE Championship was on the line in a tag match? Even less, when was the last time a singles title was on the line in one? Either way, I kind of dig this and gives us something different. After all, isn't that what all you internet fans always beg to see? Something different? Much of this match felt like it was Legacy just beating on the weakest link of the match in Shane McMahon. Almost to the point where it dragged on a bit but not enough for me to lose my attention. Cody Rhodes was able to eliminate Shane from the equation with a steel chair shot behind the referee's back before hitting Batista in the throat with it. As Batista tried to unleash his revenge on Rhodes later on with the chair, Triple H pulls the chair out of his hands which allows Randy Orton to capitalize on the distraction. Orton hits an RKO and follows it up with a punt to win the match and capture the WWE Championship. Loved how Orton and his squad quickly left the scene as soon as he scored the pin, almost as if he was fleeing from a crime scene. Nice touch. As much as I love the swerve of having Orton win here, it just would have made so much more sense to ride his momentum and have him win the belt a month earlier at WrestleMania. Regardless, the match was pretty enjoyable for what it was and really set up for some good stories between the three former Evolution members which would eventually get scrapped due to injuries and reasons. How cool would it have been to see a Triple H and Batista feud around this time? 
Winners: Legacy (Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase)
Rating: ***1/4

Match 7: WWE World Heavyweight Championship - Last Man Standing - John Cena (c) vs. Edge
As much as we always talk about the rivalry between John Cena and Edge, we tend to remember their matches in 2006 and completely forget their revived run in 2009. This is unfortunate because this match at Backlash should certainly be remembered as one of their best matches. They really brought out all the stops for this match with some awesome spots throughout like Cena darting steel steps at the face of Edge and even delivering an Attitude Adjustment to him into the crowd. The action was pretty nonstop from start to finish with the exception of there probably being too many counts from the referee which got pretty annoying at times. The fight spilled throughout the concourse of the arena before they took it on the stage. As Cena was ready to deliver another Attitude Adjustment to Edge on top of the stage, The Big Show came out of nowhere and Chokeslammed Cena through one of the spotlight props off the stage. An explosion rang immediately as the referee counted to 10. Wow. That was probably one of the coolest finishes to a match I have ever seen and it came off so realistic and flawless. Perfect way for SmackDown to get their World Heavyweight Championship back on its brand and a satisfying ending to a great match.
Winner: Edge
Rating: ****1/4

Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
The last time I watched this show was years ago and in all honesty, I completely forgot how much of a better offering this was than WrestleMania a month ago. Aside from the ridiculous segment with Santina Marella, everything on the card was either good or great with the main event being the shining point of the show.
Rating: 8/10