WWE Backlash 2025 5/10/2025

 WWE Backlash 2025 5/10/2025

We are in St. Louis, MO. Wade Barrett and Michael Cole are on commentary.

This is a really weak line-up. Cody, Roman, Punk, Seth, Jey Uso, Logan Paul and Bron Breakker are all missing here and the only match that is really worth anything is the main. Even most of the top women are missing.

WWE United States Title - Jacob Fatu (c) vs LA Knight vs Damian Priest vs Drew McIntyre

The four fight to start. Fatu misses a splash and is neckbreakered. DP is backdropped. LA dropkicks Drew through the ropes then slingshot shoulderblocks Fatu. LA sunset flip backcrackers Fatu then slams Drew. LA ddt's DP then hits a double elbow drop on him and Drew.

LA reverse ddt's Fatu. Fatu takes a high/low from DP and LA. Fatu is sent shoulder first into the post. LA tries to hit DP and is ear clapped. Drew belly to belly's LA then spinebusters DP. Drew neckbreakers LA and DP.

LA lariats Drew. Fatu superkicks LA. DP top rope hurricanrana's Fatu then lifting flatliners LA. DP double axe handles Fatu off the steps. DP ropewalks then crossbodies Drew off of it. DP rebound lariats Fatu. Drew is lariated over the top by DP and DP corkscrew kicks LA. Fatu pop-up samoan drops DP on the rail outside. Drew and Fatu stare down. They trade punches. Drew takes a pop-up samoan drop from Drew. Fatu corner hip attacks Drew. Drew is in tree of woe and LA stomps him. LA running knees Drew. Drew crackerjacks Fatu off the buckles then Fatu no sells it and topes DP outside.

Fatu top rope swantons Drew. LA BFT's Fatu. DP hits a south of heaven on LA then Drew claymore kicks DP. Drew hits a future shock ddt on Fatu then one on LA. Drew claymore kicks LA. DP pulls the ref out on the count, screwing Drew yet again.

Drew stares down DP. Drew throws DP over the rail and goes with him. Fatu misses a double jump moonsault on LA. LA double jump elbow drops him. LA then does another double jump elbow drop for 2.

DP and Drew fight into the production area. Drew's head is banged off a box. Drew and DP fight on a box. DP hits a south of heaven on Drew through tables nearby.

Drew and DP both seem like they are out of the match as medical staff check on them. Fatu is sent into the post and has his head banged off the commentary table. Fatu is laying on a table and Solo Sikoa rolls Fatu off to save him from LA.

LA goes after Solo and is hit by Jeff Cobb outside of the rails. LA is sent into the post and the rails. Cobb splashes LA against the post. Fatu doesn't look pleased and Solo shows him that LA is down in the ring. Fatu hits a double jump moonsault on LA and pins him.

Thoughts: They made the best of this that they could and it was a good match. There was a lot of action, we got a south of heaven off of boxes onto tables and we got the debut of Jeff Cobb. We'll have to see where it goes with Cobb here as him, Fatu and Solo don't feel like a permanent thing. It made for a good moment though.

WWE Women's Intercontinental Title - Lyra Valkyria (c) vs Becky Lynch

They lock up and shove each other in the corner. BL waistlock takedowns her. BL shoulders her over. BL armdrags her and is crucifixed. BL armdrags her. Lyra trips her then does a rocking chair. Lyra surfboards her.

Lyra northern lights suplexes her. Lyra hits a step up enzugiri. Lyra dropkicks her throughthe ropes. Lyra is up top and BL throws her down. BL hits mounted forearms. BL rubs Lyra's face in the mat and pounds on the back of her neck.

BL hits chops. BL misses a corner charge. BL exploders her for 2. Lyra is thrown out. BL baseball slides her. Lyra is sent into the rails Lyra's boyfriend LJ Cleary is in the front row and BL has words for him. He has wrestled with NOAH. BL piefaces her, Lyra slaps her then takes a slap flurry. Lyra rolls her up and running fisherman suplexes her. Lyra hits lariats and various strikes. Lyra step up enzugiri's her. Lyra doctor bombs her for 2.

They fight on the buckles and Lyra 2nd rope superplexes her.  Lyra backrolls her for 2 then BL tries to use the ropes to pin her. BL tries to boot her off the ropes and is pushed over the top. Lyra then plancha's her outside. Lyra hits a top rope guillotine legdrop on the back of BL's neck for 2.

Lyra does a 2nd rope moonsault and BL gets her knees up. They trade forearms. BL hiptosses her into an armbar attempt. Lyra then does an armbar.

BL does an armbar. Lyra armdrags her for 2. BL uranages her for 2. BL goes out to grab a chair. The ref stops her. BL then takes the top turnbuckle pad off. Lyra germans her and hits a big spin kick to the head. Lyra 2nd rope moonsaults her for 2.

Lyra pushes her into the buckles and uranages her for 2. Lyra hits a nightwing for 2 while the ref is trying to put the turnbuckle pad back on. Lyra rolls her up for 2. BL eye pokes her then cradles her for 2. Lyra then cradles her and pins her.

BL then beats up Lyra after then puts her in an armbar. Officials then broke it up.

Thoughts: It went a little long but I liked the idea of Becky outsmarting her and besting her at times. The finish wasn't that good and the turnbuckle pad stuff didn't work that well either.

WWE Intercontinental Title - Dominik Mysterio (c) vs Penta

Penta is shoved and dropkicks Dom. Penta flying headscissors him. Dom flying headscissors him. Dom is superkicked in the corner then takes a backcracker for 2. Dom topes Penta into a tornado ddt. They chop each other outside and Penta is sent into the steps.

Dom stomps Penta then hits mounted forearms. Dom chinlocks him. Dom bends over and is kicked. Penta does a slingblade bulldog. Penta dives on Dom off the top to the outside. Penta jumps off the top and gets kicked. Dom hits a suplex then Penta avoids a 619. Penta slingshot crucifix bombs Dom for 2.

Dom hits Liv's oblivion for 2. They fight on the apron and Penta canadian destroyers him on the apron. Carlito comes out. JD and Finn come out. Judgment Day gets ejected then Penta tope con hilos over the ref onto them.

El Grande Americano comes out and headbutts Penta off the of the buckles. Dom hits a top rope frogsplash on Penta and wins.

Thoughts: There was nothing wrong with it but this was a Raw match, not a PPV match, especially with the dirty finish.

Gunther vs Pat McAfee

Gun throws Pat off the lock up. Gun wristlocks him. Pat headflips out and avoids a chop. Pat side headlocks him and front facelocks him. Gun puts him on the apron and slaps him on  the head. Pat forearms him, trips going in and hits forearms. Gun chops him.

Gun boots him while he's down. Pat hits punches and chops. Gun asks him to come on. Gun then chops him down. Gun boots him then chops him down. Gun shoulders Pat over and misses an elbow. Pat kicks him in the back.

Gun kicks him in the back. Cole cheers on Pat. Pat trades chops with Gun and is facekicked down. They chop each other and Gun release germans him. Gun grabs a sleeper then germans Pat. The go on the buckles. Pat misses a top rope moonsault but lands on his feet. Pat flips out of a german and hits kicks on Gun for 2.

Pat slaps him and hits chops. They trade forearms. Pat makes him cover up. Pat pump kicks and superkicks him. Gun blocks a kick and powerbombs him. Gun crabs him Cole gets up from commentary and either cheers or discourages Pat. Gun hits bad elbows to the side of the head. Gun grabs Cole and pulls him in.

Cole tries to explain himself. Gun grabs him. Pat jumping kicks Gun. Gun facekicks Pat. Pat gets a 2 count on Gun. Gun goes for a suplex and Cole holds Gun's foot down on the pin attempt. Gun stares at Cole. Pat sleepers Gun. Gun hits a stiff short-arm lariat. Gun does a grounded sleeper and chokes Pat out for the win.

Thoughts: It was what you would expect and was fun with Pat getting lots of comebacks in and Cole trying to help out. Pat fought well like it was a streetfight here and him busting out the moonsault was impressive. He got more in on Gun than I expected. 

WWE Title - John Cena (c) vs Randy Orton

They lock up and let go. Cena eye pokes him and side headlocks him. Orton then eye pokes him back. Orton punches and side headlocks him. Orton shoulders him over. Orton side headlock takeovers him then side headlocks him. Orton shoulders him over. Cena goes to walk out. Orton hits him from behind. They get back in and Cena hits mounted punches.

Cena hits corner punches. Orton then hits corner punches. Orton does the garvin stomp on Cena. Cena sleepers him. Orton sleepers him. Cena then does a sleeper. They trade sleepers and Orton backdrops him.

Cena hits flying shoulderblocks then hits a blue thunder. Cena does the five knuckle shuffle. Orton hits lariats then powerslams him. Cena rolls up Orton for 2 and goes for the STFU. Orton hits a draping ddt. Orton goes for the RKO. Cena does an AA but Orton kind of RKO's him while taking it.

They trade shots. Cena hits an AA for 2. Cena flying shoulders him then Orton hits an RKO. Orton misses a punt and Cena AA's him for 2. Orton gets pushed into the ref and knocks him down. Cena hits an AA. Cena grabs the title outside. Orton hits an RKO in the ring for 2.

They go outside and Orton is knocked into the ref. Orton is sent into the post. Orton AA's Cena on the commentary table. The table doesn't break but falls apart like 10 seconds later after Cena pushes the side.
Another table is set up outside. Orton AA's Cena through it. Orton RKO's Cena inside and a new ref counts 2 on the pin attempt. Orton argues with the ref. Orton ducks a belt shot and the ref is hit with it. Orton RKO's Cena but there is no ref. Nick Aldis and officials come down and try to wake the ref up. Orton is shocked.

Orton argues with Aldis then RKO's him and the other officials including Davari, Helms and Noble. R-Truth comes down as Orton goes to punt Cena. Truth begs Orton not to and Orton RKO's Truth. Cena low blows Orton. Cena hits Orton with the belt. A ref crawls in and Cena picks the win up.

Thoughts: It was all smoke and mirrors here with refs going down multiple times, Aldis and officials coming down and even R-Truth coming down. The first half of this was a bit slow with them trading sleepers and headlocks. The second half had various table spots and people getting hit with the title. I wouldn't say it was great but it was interesting and it was good enough. This is obviously leading to something with Truth and likely some kind of Orton/Aldis match. Cena won as expected here. 

Cena gets on the mic after and asks for the music to be cut. He says he doesn't need music, he needs competition. He says he doesn't need the fans. He says this is what the last real champion looks like.

Overall thoughts: I liked the opener. Lyra/Becky had the right idea. Dom/Penta would have been better on Raw. Gunther beat up Pat as expected though Pat got a little more in than I thought. Their match was fun. The main was good enough but was filled with shenanigans and not a classic. The main is clearly leading to other programs though which is good. I'd give it a 6 out of 10. The wrestling was good enough but the card was very weak outside of the main and they could have done better with it. You don't need to see this one.