Just when you thought you had ALL the answers here at Brass Ring Media, I CHANGE THE QUESTIONS! That’s right, your old (or maybe new) friend Frank Peteani is here. I don’t really chew bubble gum, but I plan to kick some ass.
I’m excited to join Brass Ring Media writing the hits & misses for WWE PLE events, with a little play on my day job naming them Smooth & Rough Landings. For those that don’t know me, I’m a six-year contributor over at PWTorch.com, currently doing a show for VIP members called Pro Wrestling Then and Now.
For many years I wrote the WWE Raw and Smackdown primers followed by a stint of doing the same for AEW Dynamite and Rampage. My final regular assignment for about a year was what I am doing now here at Brass Ring Media.
To set the stage this will be a no-nonsense, straight forward grading of each show from a smooth and rough landings standpoint. I’m going to tell you like it is and pull no punches. If you agree, disagree, or don’t understand something you’re always welcome to reach out to me on social media @frankpeteani on X, Facebook, or Instagram. I welcome respectful discussion, but won’t respond to attacks or “dunks” as they say. With that said…
Let’s parlez-vous francais et parler Reaction Violente! Google translate on my phone rules. That’s let’s speak French and talk WWE Backlash 2024. Oui oui!
Smooth Landings
Wrestler Arrivals/Opening Video: This is nothing new as WWE has been filming the wrestlers arriving to the venue in dressed in their “street clothes” for weeks now. I’ve liked this touch since they started doing it, mostly because it makes them feel like real people. Fans want to connect with the wrestlers on a lot of levels, and this helps. Showing the video afterwards with Cody Rhodes, Damian Priest, Bayley, Jade Cargill, and the others highlights the important people on whom WWE wants you to focus. They’re telling you whom they view as stars.
Opening with Kevin Owens: I don’t know if WWE thought of this detail, but I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt. Kevin is from Montreal. I remember him telling Chris Jericho on his podcast many years ago he grew up speaking French. He’s one of “their guys.” It was a nice touch to have him be the first wrestler to come out.
The Bloodline (Solo Sikoa & Tama Tonga) defeat Randy Orton & Kevin Owens: Based on the hot crowd, this was a smart way to start the show. A few things annoyed me, but I’ll forgive them. Annoyance number one? Rewarding the wrestlers with a Street Fight stipulation after brawling before the bell rings is like a store manager telling a shoplifter to at least cook him/her a meal after stealing groceries. I’ll forgive it, because the crowd was hot, and popped for Nick Aldis when he made the stipulation. Number two, the “new” Bloodline haven’t won a blessed thing on TV. Solo has basically lost every match since beating John Cena and we haven’t seen Tonga wrestle. They won house show matches in the run-up, but we don’t see that. The “old school” mentality I have wants to see them win SOMETHING on TV. The crowd doesn’t care these days, and the match felt hot given what’s been going on, so I’ll forgive. We’ve seen a ton of these weapon matches through the years, but I didn’t mind it here because the setting made sense. I’m not sure the crowd really felt the Tonga Loa surprise, but I’m glad to see him in WWE. With all of that said, the right decision was made to put the Bloodline over. If they’re going to have any credibility they need to win matches, even if shenanigans are involved.
Bayley defeats Naomi and Tiffany Stratton to retain the WWE Women’s Championship: I almost gave this a rough landing because of the “banana peel” finish and the post-match hug between Naomi and Bayley. Come on Naomi! You just lost a championship match. I don’t care if that’s your BFF. Show some dissatisfaction. With all of that said, I enjoyed the match. Now, I can’t stand triple threats or fatal four-ways or other multi-person matches, but this match didn’t have the egregious someone taking a nap for 10 minutes on the floor after taking a punch gimmick. All the women worked hard. I found myself looking at Tiffany and seeing a true championship contender. Sometimes that’s just a feeling, but you know when someone belongs. A couple of things looked rough when she was in there, but nothing that gives me any real concern. Anyway, I wanted better than a leverage pin finish, especially on a PLE, but at least the right person took the pin. I’m glad Tiffany didn’t hit the Prettiest Moonsault Ever. I like when they protect finishing moves.
Bianca Belair & Jade Cargill defeat The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka & Kairi Sane) to win the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship: I must admit it took me a bit to want this to happen. I didn’t want Bianca “stepping down” to the tag team championship scene and I didn’t want that to be the first title Jade Cargill held in WWE. With that said, I came around as it makes sense on a lot of levels. I believe Paul Levesque has been on a mission to make titles matter and this is currently on his docket. Bianca & Jade can be the instrument to make those titles matter, but WWE must do the work. Bianca can do most of the heavy lifting, as she did in this match, while they continue to allow Jade to get better in the ring. It says to me that both women are priorities in the company. They’ll eventually split and feud, so a lot gets accomplished by them being tag team champions. The match got a little rough when Jade got extensive time with both Kabuki Warriors, but it wasn’t egregious. The transition to Jaded was cool and Bianca hitting the KOD and planting Asuka on top of Kairi was cool as well.
Cody Rhodes defeats A.J. Styles to retain the Undisputed WWE Championship: While he didn’t look like a chump, AJ never really felt like a threat in this match. The outcome was never in doubt and it was tough to engage. It was still a solid main event, so it’s a smooth landing for me. Cody felt like a world champion contrary to his Raw counterpart. I got a kick out of the little Stardust bit early in the match. It’ll be interesting to see him defend the title state-side.
Rough Landings
Damian Priest defeats Jey Uso to retain the World Heavyweight Championship: They’re telling a story with Priest and Judgment Day with Priest wanting to accomplish things on his own and thus the interference made SOME sense (he accepted the help, so that’s not doing things on your own, but I guess they needed to get to the point where he showed frustration). I strongly considered calling this smooth, but it didn’t feel like a world championship match. It had a mid-card feel to it. Damian just didn’t come across like a world champion. He felt more like an Intercontinental Champion (like his hero and one of my favorites, Razor Ramon. There’s reason Razor was never WWF Champion, though.) There’s nothing wrong with that, but he’s the current WWE World Heavyweight Champion. He represents the company and Raw. The Yeet bit defined Jey down and it got especially annoying after a while with the crowd getting involved. If he wants to be a world title contender that’s got to get toned down. Maybe that’s not what he’s being positioned for?
Closing Thoughts
What I didn’t want to do was let the excited and extremely energetic crowd dictate how I felt about the show. Not for nothing, this was a glorified house show. I understand these people are ecstatic to get a WWE PLE and the crowd was amazing, don’t get me wrong, but I was starting to get a little fatigued with the chants over and over and over. That said, WWE is smart to take these “B” level PLE’s overseas. A US crowd would have been dead as a doornail outside of the opening match and Cody’s entrance.
My quibbles are small, but noted. I still grade the overall show a smooth landing. I don’t rewatch modern wrestling, but if I did, I’d probably watch the opening tag again. Perhaps the women’s tag title would get the nod down the line to see Jade’s progress. With all of that said, thank you for reading and I’ll see you all for the King & Queen of the Ring Tournament Show.
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