WWE WrestleMania Backlash takeaways: Roman Reigns vs. Cesaro, zombies
By Ryan Satin
FOX Sports WWE Analyst
WrestleMania Backlash had almost everything you’d want to see on a WWE pay-per-view – and also zombie lumberjacks.
This was one of those shows in which a relative lack of interest in the event caused Superstars to turn the heat up, and as a result, fans were treated to some great wrestling.
Unfortunately, there was one big diversion from that mid-show involving a zombie-filled movie promotional tie-in.
Here’s a quick rundown of the results for anyone who missed it:
- KICKOFF SHOW: Sheamus defeated Ricochet
- Rhea Ripley retained the Raw Women’s title over Charlotte Flair and Asuka
- Rey and Dominik Mysterio defeated Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode aka The Dirty Dawgs to win the SmackDown Tag Team titles
- Damian Priest defeated The Miz in a Zombie Lumberjack match
- Bianca Belair retained the SmackDown Women’s Championship over Bayley
- Bobby Lashley retained the WWE Championship over Drew McIntyre and Braun Strowman
- Roman Reigns retained the Universal Championship over Cesaro
Now let’s get to the reason you all clicked on the article: My four biggest takeaways from Backlash.
Cesaro lives up to main event expectations
"The Swiss Superman" might not have won the Universal Championship at Backlash, but this match should still be considered a victory for him in the end.
As you’d expect, Cesaro impressed in the ring, and by the time the match was over, it was evident that he truly is the main event talent fans have always thought of him as.
Telling a story is the key to wrestling, and Cesaro is one of the best at that. So is Roman Reigns. That’s why their simple story surrounding an arm injury had fans on the edges of their seats (or couches).
The cocky way in which Reigns approached this match was also perfect. Refusing to treat Cesaro with respect, continuing to loudly trash talk as the match progressed – all of this made you want to see him get his ass kicked.
At times, it even felt like "The Head of Table" might lose.
When Cesaro countered out of Roman’s submission finisher, for a split second, I thought they might have him pull off the shock win of the century. That doesn’t happen often with my smark wrestling brain. When it does, though, I know performers are doing their jobs well.
Let’s hope Cesaro’s time in the main event scene isn’t over now.
This should be looked at as another example of "The Swiss Cyborg" grabbing the brass ring when given an opportunity to reach for it, not as a failure.
The Mysterios win gold
Rey and Dominik Mysterio becoming the first father-son tag team champions in WWE is pretty freaking cool.
Longtime fans have watched Dominik grow from a bleached blonde child in the feud between his father and Eddie Guerrero to a full-blown adult wrestler winning gold in WWE with a frog splash.
The match against The Dirty Dawgs was well put together, too. The Mysterios' win actually surprised me.
Rey fighting alone for so long made you believe it would be almost impossible for his team to win – even once Dominik entered the match against his father’s wishes.
In my opinion, though, this title switch should’ve happened at WrestleMania so fans could’ve witnessed it live. There for sure would’ve been some emotional people in the crowd. However, when that didn’t happen, it made total sense to finally pull the trigger on Rey and Dominik winning the tag team titles before interest in that started to diminish.
Recent champions retain
Like I said in my predictions article, there was no reason for Bianca Belair, Bobby Lashley or Rhea Ripley to lose their titles yet, so I’m glad that didn’t happen at Backlash.
Instead, all three reigns were wisely fortified by each performer having strong title defenses on the show.
Ripley got another decisive victory over Asuka to assert her newfound dominance as champion and even showed her growing confidence by taunting Charlotte Flair to rub the loss in her opponent’s face.
In the case of Bianca Belair, despite having to follow Miz and Morrison being eaten by zombies, the champ put on a great match with Bayley, and the finish made it appear as though their feud isn’t over.
That was a smart decision (in my opinion).
The program between Bianca and Bayley can be stretched out for a while, so "The EST of WWE" outmaneuvering her seasoned adversary at the start will help escalate their issues to the next level in a believable manner.
Lashley also came out of his title defense looking like an absolute beast. I mean, come on, the guy recovered from being thrown through exploding LED screens near the entranceway to retain the WWE title in what was the definition of a hoss fight!
Wrestlers vs. Zombies
Look, I know the zombie lumberjacks in the Miz vs. Damian Priest match weren’t the first supernatural occurrence in WWE history.
They weren’t even the first zombies to appear on WWE programming – shout-out to the ECW zombie – but that doesn’t mean I think this was good on any level.
I went into the match with optimism, hoping that maybe it wouldn't be lame. There could've been a silly gag at the end showing that these were all just actors or something since this was a promotional tie-in for Netflix’s "Army of the Dead" movie starring Dave Bautista. That could've at least been believable.
Instead, however, Miz and Morrison appeared to be eaten by the Netflix zombies at the end of the match. Then the show kept rolling like that wasn't a bonkers thing we all just witnessed.
Watching wrestling is all about allowing the viewer to suspend disbelief. This kind of thing makes it hard to do that.
The Fiend returning from being burned alive is one thing. My sci-fi mind can accept that a murderous devil clown was somehow resurrected by his evil sidekick looking for revenge. I have a much harder time accepting Miz and Morrison doing the same thing at any point.
Especially if their characters end up being unchanged.
Do you agree with these takes? Hit me up on Twitter @RyanSatin and let me know!
Ryan Satin is a WWE analyst for FOX Sports. Satin previously appeared on FS1's "WWE Backstage" and founded Pro Wrestling Sheet, where he broke countless news stories as editor-in-chief.
