Backlash 2020: Edge and Randy Orton Rescue a Very Strange Night

Crews and Andrade give the Kickoff a compact title match that benefits from having a simple goal and very little nonsense. Andrade attacks with the sharper combinations and tries to make Zelina Vega and Angel Garza's presence matter, while Crews keeps answering with power and bursts of speed that fit his new role as champion. Kevin Owens blocks Garza from creating the decisive distraction, which gives the closing stretch room to settle in the ring instead of at ringside. Crews finally catches Andrade and hits the Spin-Out Powerbomb for the pin. It is not a hidden classic, but it is a clean defense and one of the easier matches on the show to recommend.

The women's tag title opener moves quickly because six wrestlers are constantly creating new legal combinations and interrupted pin attempts. Bayley and Banks work like champions who know they do not need to dominate the entire match; they only need to steal the final opening. Bliss and Cross provide the cleanest babyface momentum, while the IIconics add enough chaos to keep the champions from controlling the pace for long. The finish fits that structure perfectly. Bliss lands Twisted Bliss on Peyton Royce, but Banks slips back into the ring and rolls up Bliss before anyone can recover. The champions retain through awareness rather than overwhelming superiority.

Hardy and Sheamus work a physical singles match that is considerably better than the tasteless material used to build it. Sheamus targets Hardy's leg and tries to grind the match down, while Hardy keeps finding enough space for the Twist of Fate, Swanton Bomb and the bursts of reckless offense the crowd expects from him. The strongest moment comes late when Hardy launches from the barricade and Sheamus meets him in mid-air with a Brogue Kick. Back inside, a second Brogue Kick ends the match. The wrestling is sturdy and the finish is excellent, even if the feud surrounding it does both men fewer favors than the actual match.

Asuka and Jax have a match that never quite finds a rhythm before the finish removes the chance for a satisfying conclusion. Jax controls with size and power, while Asuka keeps looking for submissions and sudden counters that can neutralize the difference in strength. There are flashes of a useful champion-versus-powerhouse story, but the pacing remains uneven and several exchanges feel more cautious than urgent. The ending is the bigger problem. Both women fight outside the ring, trade holds and attacks, and fail to beat the referee's count. Asuka retains by double count-out, but nobody leaves the match looking meaningfully stronger and the rivalry simply rolls forward.

The handicap title match is built around one amusing idea: Miz and Morrison want the championship, but only one of them can actually become champion by scoring the fall. That selfish wrinkle gives the otherwise predictable match its lone interesting turn when Morrison appears to have Strowman beaten and Miz breaks the pin before realizing he may have sabotaged his own team. From there the ending is inevitable. Strowman chokeslams Miz, powerslams Morrison and retains. The match is short, competently executed and easy to understand, but the champions' threat level never rises high enough to make the title feel genuinely at risk.

McIntyre and Lashley give Backlash its best live wrestling match by working with a heavyweight seriousness the rest of the card rarely reaches. Lashley attacks before the bell with the Full Nelson and spends much of the match forcing McIntyre to survive rather than simply overpower him. McIntyre keeps answering with counters, including an Alabama Slam and a Kimura attempt, while Lashley repeatedly looks one clean Spear away from taking the championship. The finish is the frustration. Lana appears, argues at ringside and is knocked into MVP after McIntyre's Glasgow Kiss. McIntyre then hits the Claymore for the pin. The match is strong enough that it did not need the distraction.

The title WWE gives this match is absurd on purpose, which leaves Orton and Edge with the unenviable task of wrestling underneath a billboard that already declares victory. They answer by constructing a long, deliberate greatest-hits match filled with counters, stolen finishers and callbacks to stars from earlier generations. Orton uses the Angle Slam and Pedigree; Edge answers with the Batista Bomb, Rock Bottom and Killswitch; both men trade each other's finishers and repeatedly survive. The pre-taped production adds amplified crowd noise, alternate camera angles and Howard Finkel's archived introductions, making the match feel intentionally removed from the rest of the Performance Center card. Orton finally uses a low blow behind the referee's back and the Punt to win. It is not the greatest match ever, but it is comfortably the greatest match on this show.