Backlash 2023: Puerto Rico Turns a Good Card Into a Great Event

The opener works because IYO SKY is allowed to wrestle like a threat immediately. She does not spend eighteen minutes waiting for Damage CTRL to create shortcuts. She attacks Belair's arm, uses speed to force the champion into defensive adjustments and gives the crowd increasingly credible reasons to believe the title can change hands.

Belair's power remains the match's anchor. She catches SKY out of movement, turns aerial attacks into strength spots and keeps the champion's offense distinct from the challenger's. The crowd's preference for IYO creates an unusual dynamic in which Belair has to work through resistance without changing character.

The finish is busier than necessary. Bayley and Dakota Kai interfere, the referee catches Bayley grabbing Belair's hair, SKY misses the moonsault and Belair lands the KOD. The interference at least protects IYO from looking decisively inferior.

Cagematch currently rates the match 8.39 from 668 votes and the Observer gave it 4.25 stars. WrestleFile lands at A- because the match succeeds both as a title defense and as a main-roster elevation for SKY.

There is almost no storyline reason for the match, so the wrestling has to justify the booking. Rollins does that by treating Omos as a problem to solve rather than a giant waiting for a standard comeback. Omos attacks before the bell, dominates the early minutes and kicks out at one after a frog splash, establishing that ordinary Rollins offense will not be enough.

The match improves as Rollins stacks solutions. A Stomp is not enough. A second Stomp is still not enough. The top-rope Stomp finally ends it. That escalation gives Omos more credibility in defeat than a generic giant match would.

Cagematch currently sits at 6.19 and the Observer at 3 stars. WrestleFile lands at C+ because the execution is better than the premise.

The match has the right bodies for a compact heavyweight sprint and not enough time to become one. Lashley and Reed provide the power exchanges, Theory looks for openings, and the structure is built around the champion avoiding prolonged direct confrontation.

Reed's Tsunami on Lashley creates the best near fall before Theory breaks it up. Reed later misses a moonsault, Lashley spears him, and Theory throws Lashley out to steal the pin. The finish is entirely consistent with Theory's reign and almost entirely predictable.

Cagematch currently rates it 5.53 and the Observer 2.5 stars. WrestleFile gives it C-: competent, efficient and too disposable for a premium live event.

The match grade cannot capture the entrance. Zelina Vega walks out draped in the Puerto Rican flag, becomes visibly emotional and receives one of the loudest reactions of her career. The crowd makes the title challenge feel important before the wrestling has any chance to do so.

Once the bell rings, the competitive hierarchy is clear. Ripley controls most of the match through size and strength. Vega's comeback—especially the 619 and diving Meteora—creates a brief pocket of belief, but the outcome never feels truly unstable.

Ripley wins with Riptide, and the standing ovation for Vega afterward becomes the actual payoff. Cagematch's 5.28 and the Observer's 2-star rating describe the bell-to-bell match; WrestleFile nudges higher because the emotional presentation is inseparable from the reader experience.

Bad Bunny does not wrestle like a celebrity being escorted through protected spots. He wrestles like someone who has trained for a long match and understands that the spectacle only works if Damian Priest can hurt him first. Priest dominates physically, throws Bunny through a table from an elevated platform and repeatedly gives the match reasons to end before Bunny starts his comeback.

The leg injury becomes the bridge. Priest misses the spinning kick against the ring post, Bunny attacks the leg with weapons and the match shifts from survival to targeted revenge. That gives the chaos a wrestling spine.

The interference is enormous but appropriate to the setting. Dominik Mysterio and Finn Bálor arrive. Rey Mysterio answers. Carlito returns. Savio Vega appears. The LWO joins. In another city, this could feel like overbooking. In San Juan, every entrance adds a layer of local history and identity.

Bunny ultimately wins with the Bunny Destroyer after surviving enough punishment that the victory feels earned within wrestling logic. Priest deserves equal credit for making the size difference visible without making the outcome absurd.

Cagematch currently rates the match 8.55 from 708 votes and the Observer gave it 4.5 stars. WrestleFile gives it A / 9.0: one of WWE's best celebrity matches and the defining match of the event.

The match is professionally strong and structurally familiar. Owens and Zayn bring the emotional residue of WrestleMania, Riddle supplies speed, the Usos handle the long team sequences, and Solo Sikoa is positioned as the most dangerous individual whenever the match needs a reset. That combination gives the bout a steady floor even before the Bloodline tension becomes the real story.

The best material is internal to the Bloodline. Solo's frustration with the Usos adds tension to routine tags, saves and miscommunications, making the match function as faction storytelling even when the wrestling is simply competent six-man work. Every irritated glance makes the team feel less stable than it did a month earlier.

The finish is clever enough. Riddle hits Bro Derek on Jey Uso without realizing Solo is legal, and Solo immediately spikes him for the pin. It protects the Usos' vulnerability while reinforcing Solo as the dependable weapon and nudging the family hierarchy toward its next fracture.

Cagematch currently rates the match 6.81 and the Observer 3.75 stars. WrestleFile lands at B because the execution is strong even if the formula is recognizable. The match does not reinvent Bloodline six-man wrestling, but it advances the right story without wasting twenty-two minutes.

The match starts before the match because Cody cannot afford to let Brock establish control cleanly. He attacks during Lesnar's entrance with pieces of the announce table, steps and a chair, then spends the official opening trying to preserve that advantage.

Once Brock gets hold of him, the hierarchy reasserts itself. German suplexes change the pace, Cody is forced into survival mode and the exposed turnbuckle creates the blood that gives the match its visual identity.

Cody lands two Cross Rhodes but cannot finish. Brock catches the third attempt and hits the F-5. The Kimura looks like the final answer until Cody shifts his weight into a leverage pin and escapes with the victory.

That finish is the right first chapter. Cody beats Brock without proving he can dominate Brock, leaving the rematch question intact. Cagematch currently rates it 6.57 and the Observer 3.75 stars. WrestleFile lands at B-.