WrestleMania Backlash 2022: A Rematch Card That Had No Business Being This Good

Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins begin WrestleMania Backlash by removing the surprise factor that powered their WrestleMania match. Rollins now knows exactly who he is facing and spends the early minutes showing that preparation matters. Rhodes has to prove the first win was more than a perfect return-night circumstance.

The match is built around counters rather than escalation for its own sake. Rollins has answers for the Disaster Kick and several familiar Rhodes sequences, while Cody keeps forcing him into increasingly narrow escape routes. The twenty-minute runtime gives that idea room to develop.

The best stretch comes when both men start borrowing from one another's intentions. Rollins mocks Dusty Rhodes and searches for the Atomic Elbow, while Cody repeatedly flirts with the Pedigree without committing to it. The rivalry feels personal without needing weapons or interference.

The finish is intentionally symmetrical. Rollins tries to steal the match with a handful of tights, Rhodes rolls through and uses the same shortcut to secure a second straight victory. The result keeps Cody undefeated while giving Rollins a grievance strong enough to demand one final match.

Current Cagematch voting lists the match at 8.56 from more than four hundred sixty votes, and the reported Observer rating was 4.5 stars. Bleacher Report later included it among WWE's best men's matches of the first half of 2022. WrestleFile lands at A / 9.2.

Omos and Bobby Lashley run back a WrestleMania match that already established the basic question of whether Lashley can overcome the size difference. MVP's betrayal adds a clearer story this time because Lashley is now fighting both his former manager and the giant he chose. The wrestling remains limited by the matchup.

Lashley creates brief momentum whenever he can force Omos backward or threaten the Hurt Lock. Omos is most effective when the match stays simple and he can use reach and weight rather than complicated movement. The slower sections expose how little variety the pairing has.

The finish gives MVP the deciding influence. He strikes Lashley with the cane while the referee is distracted, and Omos follows with the Choke Bomb. The victory evens the series without asking Omos to beat Lashley cleanly.

That protection becomes the reason the feud continues through a cage match and eventually a handicap match. WrestleMania Backlash therefore feels like the middle chapter of a rivalry that already seems long. The result is useful and the match is not.

Cagematch currently lists the match at 3.74 from more than two hundred votes, and the reported Observer rating was 1.25 stars. It is one of the two clear low points on an otherwise strong card. WrestleFile lands at D+ / 5.2.

Edge and AJ Styles get a second chance after their WrestleMania match never fully reached the level the names promised. Damian Priest is barred from ringside, which initially suggests the rematch will be more direct. For most of sixteen minutes, it is.

Styles wrestles more aggressively and attacks before Edge can settle into the slow control style that defined portions of the first match. Edge responds by targeting the shoulder and forcing Styles to work through damage whenever he reaches for the Phenomenal Forearm. The match has better urgency than the WrestleMania version.

Priest eventually appears in the aisle and Finn Bálor runs out to neutralize him. That distraction opens the door for a masked person to knock Styles from the ropes. Edge traps him in the crossface and Styles passes out.

The reveal matters more than the finish. Rhea Ripley unmasks and joins Edge and Priest in Judgment Day, immediately changing the faction's ceiling and giving Ripley a new direction. The match becomes a key bridge to the group's next form.

Cagematch currently lists the match at 7.11 from more than two hundred seventy votes, while the reported Observer rating was 3.25 stars. The wrestling is good and the post-match development gives it lasting value. WrestleFile lands at B / 7.7.

Ronda Rousey and Charlotte Flair finally find the intensity their WrestleMania match was missing. The I Quit stipulation removes the referee controversy that defined the first result and replaces it with a simple question of who can force the other woman to surrender. The feud immediately feels more physical.

The fight moves through ringside and into the crowd without becoming directionless. Kendo sticks, barricades and chairs are used as extensions of the submission story rather than random scenery. Rousey and Flair repeatedly create situations where escape matters more than pinning combinations.

Flair's Figure Eight provides the strongest false finish because the chair gives Rousey a believable way to break the hold without saying the words. Rousey then turns Flair's own chair setup against her and traps the arm through the steel. The final submission looks suitably nasty.

Rousey forces Flair to say I Quit and wins the SmackDown Women's Championship. The storyline arm injury writes Flair off television for months, giving the result a decisive sense of closure. The rematch accomplishes what WrestleMania failed to do.

Cagematch currently lists the match at 7.57 from more than three hundred votes, while the reported Observer rating was 4.25 stars. Bleacher Report later ranked it among WWE's best women's matches of the first half of 2022. WrestleFile lands at A- / 8.7.

Madcap Moss against Happy Corbin is the card's purest television feud transplanted onto a premium live event. The breakup has a clear character basis because Corbin blames Moss for his WrestleMania loss and resents the former sidekick becoming popular. The match itself has very little urgency.

Corbin controls most of the pace and tries to keep Moss from turning the match into a showcase of speed and power. Moss hits the expected fallaway slam and survives Deep Six, but the crowd treats the match as a breather after the I Quit fight. Nine minutes feels longer than it should.

Moss wins with a sunset flip rather than a defining finishing move. The result gives him the first major singles victory of the rivalry without making the feud feel complete. Corbin attacks him afterward on SmackDown and the program continues.

The next stage becomes much more violent when Corbin targets Moss' neck and forces a No Holds Barred rematch at Hell in a Cell. That match has a clearer purpose than this one. Backlash functions mostly as setup.

Cagematch currently lists the match at 3.72 from roughly two hundred votes, while the reported Observer rating was 2.25 stars. The audience reaction and later continuation confirm its filler status. WrestleFile lands at D+ / 5.1.

The Bloodline against Drew McIntyre and RK-Bro arrives with almost no stakes after WWE abandons the planned tag-title unification match. On paper, a non-title six-man main event feels like a downgrade from the WrestleMania aftermath. In the building, the star power overwhelms the premise.

Roman Reigns spends the first half withholding the confrontation with McIntyre. Every tease makes the eventual exchange louder, while Riddle absorbs the long control segment that gives the match a traditional tag structure. Randy Orton's entrance into the action repeatedly spikes the crowd.

The closing run turns into controlled chaos. McIntyre lands the Claymore on Reigns, Orton fires off RKOs and Riddle catches Jey Uso with a top-rope RKO. The match gives all six wrestlers a moment without losing track of the legal participants.

Reigns has made a blind tag before Riddle's RKO and immediately Spears him for the pin. The finish protects the obvious future challengers while keeping the Bloodline dominant. It also previews McIntyre-Reigns without giving away a singles match.

Cagematch currently lists the match at 8.02 from more than three hundred votes, and the reported Observer rating was 4.5 stars. Bleacher Report later included it among WWE's best men's matches of the first half of 2022. WrestleFile lands at A- / 8.9.