WrestleMania Backlash 2021: Six Good Matches and One Zombie-Sized Mistake

The championship booking is mostly strong. Rhea Ripley pins Asuka rather than Charlotte Flair, which keeps Flair's claim alive without making Ripley look like a temporary champion. Rey and Dominik Mysterio win the SmackDown Tag Team Championship in a way that gives Dominik a genuine comeback moment after being attacked earlier in the night. Bianca Belair survives Bayley by using her braid for leverage, a finish that gives Bayley an argument for a rematch while still keeping Belair's first post-WrestleMania defense intact.

Bobby Lashley's triple-threat retention is clean in the sense that the rules allow him to exploit timing. McIntyre hits Braun Strowman with the Claymore, Lashley throws McIntyre out and Spears Strowman for the pin. Roman Reigns' victory over Cesaro is even more useful because Cesaro loses by technical submission after Reigns systematically destroys his arm. The challenger is beaten without being embarrassed, and the post-match attacks by Jey Uso and Seth Rollins create multiple directions for SmackDown.

Then there is the zombie match. Damian Priest beating The Miz is the correct result, but almost nothing about the presentation helps either wrestler. The promotional concept becomes the story, John Morrison is theatrically devoured, and Miz is surrounded by zombies after the loss. The match earns attention for the wrong reason and interrupts an otherwise coherent night.

The ThunderDome presentation was polished by this point, but WrestleMania Backlash also shows why WWE needed real crowds back. The virtual-fan environment can amplify entrances and make title matches look important, yet it cannot provide the spontaneous emotional swing that the best portions of the card deserve. That limitation is especially noticeable in Reigns-Cesaro, where a live crowd might have made Cesaro's comeback stretches feel even larger.

The event's visual low point is impossible to separate from the Army of the Dead promotion. Zombies surround the ring, chase Miz and Morrison and are treated as actual threats within the match. WWE reportedly received a substantial promotional fee, but the money does not make the segment fit the surrounding show. The tone jumps from championship wrestling to horror-comedy and then immediately back to serious title matches.

Outside that segment, production is strong. The Mysterios' title win gets a meaningful celebration, the heavyweight triple threat uses the entrance area and LED set effectively, and the main event is shot with enough patience to emphasize Reigns' methodical attack on Cesaro's arm. This is a professionally presented show with one presentation decision so extreme that it overwhelms the memory of everything else.

WrestleMania Backlash 2021 has several pieces of lasting importance. Rey and Dominik Mysterio become the first father-and-son team to hold a tag-team championship in WWE, giving the event a genuine company first. Roman Reigns versus Cesaro becomes Cesaro's only one-on-one world-title match on a WWE pay-per-view and one of the strongest showcases of his singles career. Braun Strowman's appearance is also notable in hindsight because WWE released him less than three weeks later, making this his final pay-per-view appearance before his 2022 return.

The event is also the first Backlash to stream on Peacock in the United States and the first WWE pay-per-view presented from the ThunderDome at Yuengling Center. It sits near the end of the pandemic-era presentation; WWE announced its return to live touring only days later.

Unfortunately, the zombie lumberjack match is part of the history too. The segment drew mainstream criticism and later won Wrestling Observer Newsletter readers' Worst Match of the Year award. That contrast defines the show: meaningful milestones and strong wrestling sharing a card with one of WWE's most infamous promotional tie-ins.