WWE Backlash

A solid PPV. To be fair ALL of WWE's PPV's throughout 2005 have been solid.

Match 1 saw the greatest pure athlete in my opinion, Shelton Benjamin put his Intercontinental Championship on the line against Chris Jericho. This was a fantastic battle, which saw Benjamin winning the contest.

Next up William Regal and Tajiri put their Tag titles on the line as they challenged the Raw tag teams. They won The Heart Throbs, Romeo and Antonio in a 3 minute bore, then won Simon Dean and Maven, but lost to La Resistance. Finally The Hurricane and Rosey pinned Rob Conway to capture their first Tag Team titles.

Next up Kane took on Viscera. Oh yes, this was complete with One Man Gang style elbow drops and King Kong Bundy style splashes, but after 6 minutes of slow action, Kane chokeslammed Big Vis for the win. Afterwards Vis splashed Trish Stratus! Next up Hulk Hogan and Shawn Michaels took it to Muhammad Hassan and Daivari (hey did anyone else think that Hogan and HBK would lose?!.)These two men certainly made the ladder match at WM XXI memorable and they did just that in this match. Yes I'm talking about Edge and Chris Benoit in a brilliant last man standing match. Moments included Edge superplexing Benoit off the top rope onto a bin and Benoit doing to the diving head butt off the top of a ladder but missing. Edge won.

Then the main event, which consisted of World Heavyweight Champion, Batista and Triple H. Batty won, which made me realise how can Trips lose TWO times on the row to Batty?! Overall Grade A

***spoilers****

Another year, another beginning. With the upcoming draft between Raw and Smackdown, it's our last chance to see some of these guys go at at, and go at it they did.

Match #1 - INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP (Jericho vs. Shelton Benjamin) What can I say, this was indeed a great match. As introductory matches go, this could have held a higher slot in the event card if WWE had wanted. Best match of the night. Both superstars showed amazing performance with Shelton making like Rey Mysterio. This guy is truly an athlete and seeing him bounce up to the top rope to superplex Jericho was just awesome. Benjamin reverses the WALLS into a pin for the win. (9/10)

Match #2 - TAG TEAM TITLE (Regal/Tajiri vs. Heart Throbs vs. Simon Dean/Maven vs. La Resistance vs. Hurricane/Rosie) Also a great entry. Regal and Tajiri beat the "Heart Thobs" causing Simon Dean and Maven to come out. This part was somewhat slow but entertaining. Tajiri was able to pin a Heart Throb so Regal got his chance at a pin with his knee to the jaw on Simon Dean. Then, oh, yes, the French guys. We just love them...they stole it with a pull of Regal's tights. Finally Rosie and Hurricane came out with the victory after an awesome double team move off the turnbuckle/Rosie's shoulders. (7/10)

Match #3 - Last Man Standing (Edge vs. Benoit) An OK match. Not as entertaining as the intercontinental match. There was plenty of counting and drops (a German suplex off a ladder anyone?) Edge came away with the victory after hitting Benoit over the head with a brick. (6/10)

Match #4 - Kane vs. Viscera - A slow match but, then again, that's what one would expect from the big guys. Kane chokeslammed Viscera after he got a little too close to Leta's mouth. Some other highlights include Lita hitting Trish with her crutch and Viscera bear hugging then dropping on Trish. After that, the crowd loved him, so, it worked. (5/10)

Match #5 - Hogan & HBK vs. Daivari & Hassan - Pretty good match, but heck, it was nice to see Hogan again. Didn't get to see that leg drop though. All an all, a nice match with HBK super kicking Daivari in the face for Hogan's pin. (7/10)

Match #6 - HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP (Triple H vs. Batista II) If you saw Wrestlemania 21 and enjoyed the main event, your bound to have enjoyed this one. Probably better than the Wrestlemania version, it was quicker and better organized. PAcing seemed to flow and Triple H didn't get destroyed like before. There was more of a battle present rather than a slaughter. Refs were falling like dominoes and one even got a massive pedigree. Nice finish, action, and pacing. Batista delivers the Batista bomb after receiving some turnbuckle punches from HHH. (8/10)

Pretty good PPV to start off this year. It's actually more of a tribute to the shows' present rosters with the upcoming draft. Christian even came out to do a little rap. It had CLB all over it but was an alright little segment. Also TRUST COMPANY's song Stroner complimented the main event well. (7/10) So far so good.