Review of WWE: Backlash 2006

Introduction

Held on 30th April 2006 from the Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky, Backlash was aptly titled given that many of the matches were derived from the outcome of Wrestlemania, held just three weeks earlier.

On that night, WWE Champion John Cena surprisingly held on to his title, overcoming the crowd-favourite Triple-H. Here, Cena engaged in a championship match with both Triple-H and Edge, in a bout where the first person to score a pinfall would win the championship.

Much of the build-up for the event, however, was focused on a match described as Vince & Shane McMahon vs Shawn Michaels & God. No, not a wrestling character called "God" - actually God.

Yes, sometimes I am very, very embarrassed to be a wrestling fan.

Video

Video is presented in 4:3 fullscreen PAL and is very good for a DVD of this genre. It is also a tremendous improvement over the original live TV broadcast aired by Sky. Live-recorded sports events simply do not look any better than this.

Audio

Audio is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 and is also good for a DVD of this genre. Commentary - provided by Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler - and sounds are always clear, and there are no audio sync issues.

Features

The extras here are limited by the length of the main feature. However, we do have a post-match interview with a bloody Triple-H, and a conversation between Joey Styles and RVD, which sets up a series of events (also included) with Styles, The Spirit Squad and Jerry Lawler, culminating in a tremendous interview with Styles. Also included is a hilarious visit by the McMahons to a church. Hilarious, that is, unless you blatant blasphemy concerns you.

Conclusion

Backlash 2006 was quite the mixed bag; the first two hours of the show were really rather awful, only for the final hour to make up much of the ground.

The opening bout between Chris Masters and Carlito was a very average affair, the type of contest that one would expect on free television, and not on pay-per-view. The same can be said of Ric Flair vs Umaga, which was way too short and one-sided to be considered anything other than pure time-filler.

Things got even worse in the next bout, as Mickie James defended her WWE Women`s Championship against Trish Stratus. The bout started promisingly, but Stratus suffered a dislocated shoulder during the bout - if you`re squeamish, don`t watch the replays - at which point the match fell apart. You can`t blame the participants for the accident, but the finish of the match left the crowd very disappointed.

Rob Van Dam and Shelton Benjamin turned things up a notch in the next match - although these two can do much better - before The Big Show and Kane contested one of the single worst bouts I`ve seen in many a year. Your DVD player`s SKIP function is recommended.

At this point came the match that "everybody" had come to see, pitting Vince & Shane McMahon vs Shawn Michaels & God. Thankfully, there was enough hard work put into this match to overshadow the complete nonsense that was this "God" storyline, which Vince McMahon somehow believed people were going to pay money to witness. The fact that the pay-per-view buyrate was one of the worst of recent times gives me hope that he won`t try such controversy-breeds-success tactics again.

The Triple Threat match main event was the best match on the show, with all three men putting in a strong effort. There was once again a surprise ending too, which made a nice change.

Overall, Backlash 2006 was far from a great event, although ultimately far from a dire one. Based on the opening two hours of the show, this could have been the worst WWE pay-per-view in a long time, and that`s saying something. But thankfully, the penultimate match and the main event took away from some dreadfully bad "action", especially in the Big Show vs Kane contest.

This year`s Backlash is really only one for the completist.