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Columns & Editorials Backlash History| Backlash History |
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| Written by Stephen Ashfield | ||||
| Monday, 28 April 2008 11:04 | ||||
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BACKLASH HISTORY- By Stephen Ashfield I suppose in some ways the 'Backlash' PPV has a real problem every year. It takes place with the spectacular WrestleMania still fresh in our minds and it can, more often than not, be a case of 'after the Lord Mayor's show.' Recent years have seen the PPV dominated by rematches from WrestleMania and that's the case this year with the ECW and World Heavyweight title matches falling into that category. Time then to look back at the history of this PPV. It all began back in 1999 on April 25th in Providence, Rhode Island when it was part of the 'In Your House' series of PPVs that saw WWE extending the number of shows above and beyond the usual big four. I don't think even then we imagined there'd be a PPV each and every month. 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin went into the PPV as WWE Champion (well WWF actually but better not upset the pandas). In the main event he kept onto that title beating The Rock with Shane McMahon as the special guest referee. Nine years after this PPV amazingly Hardcore Holly isn't still with WWE but holding a title. This night nine years ago he also went into the PPV holding a belt but he lost the Hardcore title to Al Snow. The IC title was in the hands of The Godfather and those days the title actually got defended on PPVs. He retained the title beating Goldust who was accompanied by The Blue Meanie. Talking of Meanie his best mate (NOT) Bradshaw pinned Christian on the PPV after interference from Viscera. It wasn't a singles match because you se we were in the age of the Ministry of Darkness and Bradshaw was a mere Acolyte those days teaming up with Farooq who never said the word 'damn' and Mideon (who kept his clothes on) as they faced the Brood of Edge, Christian and Gangrel. Triple H beat X-Pac, The Undertaker beat Ken Shamrock, The New Age Outlaws earned themselves a crack at the tag titles by beating Jeff Jarrett and Owen Hart and Mankind was back in the Boiler Room beating The Big Show. A year later the 'In Your House' experiment was over and 'Backlash' was held in Washington DC. Triple H was WWE Champion after retaining his title at WrestleMania but for the first time the title changed hands at this PPV as The Rock beat Trips to win the belt and Steve Austin made his return. Edge and Christian beat the DX team of X-Pac and Road Dogg to keep their tag titles and the Light Heavyweight title actually existed with Dean Malenko beating Scotty 2 Hotty to retain in a match given nearly 13 minutes, the third longest match on the card. Again a Holly held a title coming into the PPV, this time it was Crash who kept his Hardcore title in a six-way match against The Hardys, Hardcore Holly, Perry Saturn and Tazz. Eddie Guerrero beat Essa Rios to keep his European title and Chris Benoit beat Chris Jericho to keep his IC title. Just think this was just eight years ago and those title holders, Crash Holly, Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit have all passed away since (Big Boss Man was also on the card). Comedy came from Big Show who beat Kurt Angle in three minutes while dressed as and acting like Hulk Hogan. Trish Stratus had a painful night, not only did she have to manage Test and Albert (T&A) who beat the Dudley Boyz but got herself powerbombed through a table after the match. A year later the PPV was in Rosemont, Illinois and the WWE Light Heavyweight title featured so prominently the year before was put on Heat as again a Holly started the night as a champion. Crash Holly had the title but lost it in three minutes to Jerry Lynn. Molly was on Heat too (if you see what I mean) but lost to Lita in a couple of minutes. To the PPV proper now and the unthinkable had happened at WrestleMania when Austin won back the WWE title but allied himself with Mr McMahon. Now he was teaming up with Triple H and beat The Undertaker and Kane in the main event to win the tag titles meaning Austin was now a double champion and so was Triple H who had the IC title. All three titles were on the line in that match. The year before WWE gave Kurt Angle a three minute match and a comedy one at that. It was a totally different story this time around as he took on Chris Benoit. The scheduled half hour match went into extra time as Benoit beat Angle by four falls to three in a match that was four minutes longer than the main event. Rhyno beat Raven to retain the Hardcore title and Matt Hardy won a triple threat match against Eddie Guerrero and Christian to keep his European title but why give this match less than seven minutes? Five minutes longer was given to William Regal who beat Chris Jericho in a comedy let's take the proverbial out of the British Duchess of Queensbury Rules match. Most remembered move of the PPV came from Shane McMahon who beat The Big Show in a Last Man Standing match with an elbow drop from the top of the Titan Tron putting Big Show through a table. Kansas City hosted the PPV in 2002 and a familiar face was back in the main event. Hulk Hogan had been the star of WrestleMania 18 in his match with The Rock, turned face almost immediately and beat Triple H in the main event to win the Undisputed title.The Cruiserweight title changed hands as well with Tajiri beating Billy Kidman. Jazz kept her Women's Title in another painful Backlash for Trish Stratus and Eddie Guerrero beat RVD to win the IC title while Billy and Chuck beat Maven and Al Snow to keep the tag belts. Scott Hall gave Bradshaw another bad Backlash experience beating him in five minutes but whereas we probably guessed Hall wouldn't be around for too much longer, we couldn't have guessed how Bradshaw's career would progress in the coming years. The Brock Lesnar push continued as he beat Jeff Hardy in five minutes, Kurt Angle finally got a win at the PPV beating Edge in 13 minutes Longest match of the night was The Undertaker v Steve Austin with Undi winning in 27 minutes to become number one contender to the undisputed title. Ric Flair was special guest referee, I wonder if he'll ever do that again? A year later the Brand Extension had taken place and the PPV held in Worcester was restricted to those on Monday Night Raw. Brock Lesnar was WWE Champion and retained his belt beating John Cena. Poor old Trish had another crap Backlash losing her Women's title to Jazz. Team Angle (Benjamin/Haas) beat Los Guerreros in 15 minutes to keep their WWE tag titles and the team of RVD and Kane (still with his mask on but not for much longer) beat The Dudleys to retain the World tag titles. Sean O'Haire was getting a big push at the time and beat Rikishi in just under five minutes. It was David v Goliath time as The Big Show beat Rey Mysterio, the team of Triple H, Ric Flair and Chris Jericho beat Shawn Michaels, Kevin Nash and Booker T with Trips pinning Nash and in the main event Goldberg pinned The Rock as his big push towards the title gathered steam. 2004 saw the PPV held in Canada for the first time in Edmonton and it was still a Raw only PPV. The main event saw a WrestleMania rematch as Chris Benoit again beat Triple H and Shawn Michaels in a triple threat World Heavyweight title match with it being Michaels' turn to submit. Randy Orton won a great IC title match against Cactus Jack fought under Hardcore rules to keep his IC title. Victoria beat Lita to keep her Women's Title, Shelton Benjamin was getting a push as he beat Ric Flair but of course it didn't last that long. Jonathan Coachman beat Tajiri with help from Garrison Cade and it being Backlash there was misery for Trish of course. This time around she teamed up with new boyfriend Christian losing a handicap match to ex-boyfriend Chris Jericho. Superheroes The Hurricane and Rosey beat La Resistance (Grenier/Conway) and Edge beat Kane in just six minutes. Poor old Matt Hardy was in the Sunday Night Heat match losing to Val Venis and when you're losing to him you know you're a million miles away from a push. In 2005 Backlash was held in Manchester, no don't be silly England didn't get another PPV, this is the Manchester in New Hampshire. Still a Raw only PPV and again the main event was a WrestleMania rematch as Batista again beat Triple H and kept his World Heavyweight Title. Hogan was back again, this time teaming with Shawn Michaels (24 hours later Michaels turned heel on him) beating Muhammad Hassan and Daivari. Shelton Benjamin was enjoying a good run and beat Chris Jericho to keep his IC title. The tag titles were decided in a Tag Team Turmoil match and it was The Hurricane and Rosey who won the belts. Other classic teams in the match included Simon Dean and Maven, The Heart Throbs and La Resistance who beat Tajiri and Regal who were the defending champions. A year after successfully defending his World Title, Chris Benoit lost a Last Man Standing match to Edge in 18 minutes. Chris Masters won a Master Lock Challenge against Melissa Coates, it being Backlash you'd have thought that would have been Trish who suffered that fate. Don't worry though poor Stratus was stuck with Viscera and he lost to Kane in six minutes. She then betrayed Viscera and got splashed by the great big lump. To 2006 now and get ready to boo because John Cena is champion now retaining the WWE Title pinning Triple H in a Triple Threat match that also included Edge. All bad things have to come to an end and finally some good news for Trish as she beat Mickie James by DQ. No sorry this is Backlash and Trish can't have a good time and here it comes. Not only did that DQ win come by Mickie choking Trish with the Women's title belt it meant that Mickie kept the title. It can't get any worse for poor old Trish though can it? Think again Trish managed to dislocate her right shoulder during the match! Her misery had come to an end though as this was her last appearance at the PPV. Shelton Benjamin's push ended when he lost the IC title to RVD in a match that also saw Van Dam's Money in the Bank contract on the line. Shawn Michaels teamed up with Hulk Hogan the year before, this time around his partner was 'God', well a spotlight really and he (she?) didn't help much as they (?) lost to Mr McMahon and Shane McMahon, the latter getting another Backlash victory. 'God' hasn't been seen in the ring since. Carlito got a dodgy win over Chris Masters, Ric Flair got squashed by Umaga in just over three minutes The Big Show went to a no contest with Kane due to the May 19th storyline used to promote 'See No Evil.' Last year the PPV was back to normal with all the brands represented including ECW. John Cena retained his WWE Title winning a Fatal Four-way against Edge, Randy Orton and Shawn Michaels. Cena pinned Orton, could history repeat itself this year? Mind you it could well do but not necessarily give Cena his title back as it's an elimination match. The ECW title changed hands and ECW fans everywhere held their head in shame as Mr McMahon won the belt. He teamed up with his son (again on the winning side at Backlash) and Umaga beating defending champion Bobby Lashley in a handicap match. The Undertaker was World Heavyweight Champion again after his win over Batista at WrestleMania and in a rematch they went to a draw in a Last Man Standing match meaning Undi kept the title. The Hardys beat Cade and Murdoch to keep the tag titles, Melina beat Mickie James to retain the Women's belt (could Mickie be replacing Trish as the unlucky Diva at Backlash?), Chris Benoit repeated his win at WrestleMania beating MVP to keep the US Title but time was running out for the Canadian. So now we come to Backlash 2008, again a mixture of new feuds and Wrestlemania rematches that often see a repeated result. Enjoy the show everyone and relax Trish you're safe at home this year.
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