FEEDBACK: REVIEW-A-WAI 4/18 - Backlash 2003

[Elio Cannella]

Hey guys, I just finished listening to the Review-A-Wai edition from last week where you reviewed the April 10, 2000 edition of Nitro and had to see this for myself....I have to ask you John & Wai, how in the world did you ever get through that. That had to be the most painful 2hrs ever. Looking forward to your review of Backlash 2003. Keep up the great work guys

[Allen Gaynor]

The Big Show - Rey Mysterio match is one that always comes to mind when I think of this show. Show was being booked like a monster at this time, which lasted until he got doused with feces later that year. That's not a comment about the writing at the time, he literally was doused with feces on Smackdown. But back to Show-Rey, I enjoyed their match here, and another one they has in 2005 on TV, not sure why they have never done a longer program. Or maybe even put the tag titles on them. The only other memorable part of the show was the main event. I've always enjoyed Goldberg. He was limited in there for sure, but aside from a few bouts with Sid, his matches were never boring. Even though his WWE matches were a bit longer, I didn't think they dragged on, and particularly was entertained by this one against The Rock. Goldberg had an intense physical charisma that has yet to be matched by any of the clones we've seen since, ir. Crimson.

[kobossy]

I remember this PPV, specifically that the Rock promo before his match with Goldberg was really a far cry from the Rock we used to have. At this point he was Hollywood Rock and I wasn't a really big fan of that version. Rock as the Comedian Jock and People's Champion were always his peak. In this promo his timing was all off, he way over exaggerated the wrong parts, he rambled on nonsensically (whereas the Rock of years past was clear, concise and to the point), and we started to see the disturbing trend of "take 2-3 funny sounding words and throw in a swear word at the end." Hence we got the painful part of him calling Goldberg a "whisker biscuit bald headed bitch" (just a precursor to Kung Pow Bitch, which is just as bad). Where did Rock exactly decide along the line that this was funny? I thought this promo really showcased how far the Rock had fallen from his former glory, and I find it almost unwatchable. 1997-2002 was Rock's promo career for me, beyond that is for the most part pretty sad by his standards.

[AlexStefany]

I hate it when you guys get to review shows like these. Cause they're so boring its not even entertaining. I'd rather hear you guys review a bad WCW show from the 80's or 90's were you guys can make fun of the stipulations, bad lighting, bad mics or work rates. Etc.
Anyways this era of Raw was the one that drove my friends away from wrestling forever.
I only remember every raw starting with a 15 min HHH monologue, while trying to look like 80's Flair.

[Billy Kidman's Jorts]

What did the Rock mean when he said "Goldberg, you were a big fish in a small pond, but I am a giant whale in a tear drop. When you think about that it sounds like he is putting over WCW as bigger than the WWF.

The Big Show spot were he swung Rey attached to a stretcher in to the post like a bat in one of the coolest spots I have ever seen.

[Kevin Paralis]

I remember this show somewhat well, wanted to watch the dvd before I left my feedback but didn't have the time. The memory starts when Goldberg was announced on WM 19 to appearing at Backlash. That was all the info my 2 friends and I needed to make the trip from Wilkes-Barre, PA to the Centrum in Worcester. We got into the city and some time to kill before the show so we stopped at the local mall and what a mall it was. It consisted of closed or vacant store fronts and a food court with 2 or 3 places to eat. While walking through the mall we did notice that Jerry Lawler and some young blonde girl were walking around. We thought about going to talk to him but we noticed he would start making out with her whenever people started getting close to him. What a prick I thought.

We then moved on to the show which was a fun experience. Steiner went from World title matches on ppv in Jan and Feb to battling Rico on Heat in April, what a fall for the genetic freak. The opening tag match with Team Angle and the Guerreros was good. I remember being pumped for the re-introduction of Sean O'Haire and thinking he could be a top star. Boy was I wrong. His match with Rikishi wasn't bad from what I remember but it didn't lead to anything either. I don't remember anything about the World Tag Title match other than the fans playing with a beach ball during the Dudleys entrance. Then as Bubba was on the 2nd rope posing the beach ball came within 15 to 20 feet of him and he looked pissed. I remember it was visible on the live ppv but the angle was changed for the dvd. I was in the concession area for the Trish vs Jazz match so I didn't get to see that title change. Show vs Mysterio will always be rememebered for Show swinging Rey like a baseball bat into the ring post. I felt so bad for Rey because he had no way to protect his face and he went down with his upper body(mainly his head) hitting first. I hope he got a good payday for that one. Cena then came out with his Jankees jersey and I actually thought there was a chance he would leave with the title. He didn't and went to the opening 6 man tag the next month at Judgment Day. Nobody could have guessed that he'd be the top guy 2 years later. The six man tag was ok I suppose. I don't remember alot other than Triple H in purple and Jericho doing his little boxing shuffle during his entrance. The main event was great for what it was. Goldberg came in and basically sent Rock on his way to Hollywood. He'd be back for WM 20 but this was his last singles match until a few weeks ago.

Overall a good show to see live. Probably not the same sentiment had by someone who only watched on tv or the dreaded dvd which featured the re-dubbing of a lot of theme songs. Booker T, Ric Flair, Rob Van Dam, Kane, The Dudleys and Sean O'Haire all had their music changed. I always wondered why WWE would bother using music if they're not gonna foot the bill to sell it.

[gonzo.at]

just watched cena vs lesnar on youtube. short promo before match kept me up-to-date concerning storyline. that was actually quite good by the production team. the match was low-average. those 2 guys bore me, in 2003 as well as in 2012.