Rapid Results
- Ruby Riott put Bayley away with a Riott Kick on the Backlash kickoff
- Nia Jax retained her RAW Women’s Championship against Alexa Bliss with a Samoan Drop
- Carmella retained her SmackDown Women’s Champion after contorting Charlotte in a pin
The Rundown
Sasha Banks and Bayley were seen backstage as Bayley geared up for her match against a determined Ruby Riott. Bayley attempted to convince The Boss to appear in her corner tonight, but Banks shut down the idea. She says Bayley suddenly wants help but has no problem leaving her to get jumped.
Even though Bayley got the control early on, Ruby Riott was able to send Bayley crashing into the canvas. Bayley tried to put her away with a series of pins, but Ruby escaped each attempt. She continued to belittle Bayley by clocking her with a right hand and slamming her off the turnbuckles. Sasha watches on, analyzing her former friend who is trying to stay one step ahead. Sarah Logan‘s antics allow Ruby to drive Bayley into the mat with a STO, which sends her out of the ring.
Bayley fights out of a choke, but Riott sends her face-first onto the canvas. She targets Bayley’s arm before wrapping her arms around her neck once again. Ruby prevents Bayley from escaping by slamming her head against the turnbuckles and choking her on the ropes. Logan aids Ruby with a cheap shot to Bayley. Bayley tries to outsmart Ruby, but Riott drives Bayley into the turnbuckle with her knees.
She goes back with a submission but Bayley manages to escape and lay Riott out with a springboard crossbody. Bayley begins to build momentum against Ruby and takes down Logan with a hurricarana! She stuns Ruby off the ropes and soars with an elbow from the top rope, but Ruby kicks out. Bayley tries to shove Ruby into Liv Morgan, but Riott counters, sending Bayley into her. She then nails her with a boot and Riott Kick to pick up the win.
The personal feud between Nia Jax and Alexa Bliss reached new heights as Bliss vowed to take title back from ‘the real bully’. Without Mickie James in her corner, Alexa Bliss’s chances got drastically slimmer. The bell rang and Bliss went after Nia’s knee. She went for a sleeper hold but Nia Jax managed to escape. Jax caught her by her hair and twisted her arm before headbutting her and sending her across the ring like a ragdoll. She kicked Nia to her knees before sending her down with a wicked punch. She stayed on top of Nia by choking her against the ropes and stomping on her spine. Her continuous torment only lasted for a couple of minutes until Nia tackled her to the ground.
She went for the flipping senton, but Bliss rolled out of the way and took advantage of the downed Jax. She takes it to Nia with a fury of strikes until Nia catches her midair. She ascended to the middle rope with Bliss on her shoulders, but Alexa countered and started choking Jax, attempting her to wear her down. She flipped Alexa off of the top rope, whipping her onto the canvas. She sends Alexa in every direction across the ring and goes to the middle rope. Bliss shoves Nia over the ropes, sending her to ringside. She positions Nia over the steps and bashes her skull with a DDT! Once back in, the scrappy side of Bliss showed.
Jax went to the middle rope with Alexa on shoulders once again, but Alexa escaped. She then kicked Nia’s hamstring, sending her to the mat. Bliss went to the top rope and went for Twisted Bliss, but the champion caught her! She re-positioned her and drove her with a Samoan Drop! Nia retains! She gets on the mic and tells everyone to be themselves, no matter how different they are. She says in the end, the bully always gets their ass beat.
The fiery Carmella put it all on the line against the woman she took the title from weeks ago, Charlotte Flair. Carmella took her opening moments to mock Flair, who was then met with a boot from the challenger.
The champion rolled to ringside and snatched her title from the time keepers area. Flair blocked her from exiting and chased her around the ring before slamming her onto the ground and rolling her in. ‘Mella held onto the apron for dear life as Charlotte pulled her off. She went for the Figure 8, but Carmella kicked her off. She escaped to ringside where Charlotte tried to take her out with high risk maneuver. However, Carmella dodged in seconds and when Flair turned around, she beheaded her with a crucial kick. She mounted Charlotte and slammed her arms against Charlotte before tightening her arm around Charlotte’s neck.
She took every opportunity to humiliate Charlotte as Flair was being worn down by Carmella’s submission. Charlotte tossed Carmella off of her, but she bonked her with yet another deadly kick. She trapped Charlotte back up, putting her to sleep for a moment. Flair got to her feet and dropped Carmella with a backpack stunner, but Carmella was able to escape her next move, sending her to the canvas by pulling her down by her hair. She then kicked Charlotte around and positioned her arms behind her back, then stomping on her spine before digging into it as a submission.
Charlotte jumped and dropkicked Carmella from behind. She got the momentum on her side as she lit Carmella’s chest up with chops. Carmella’s disrespect was now being given back to her. Charlotte tried to boot Carmella on the apron, but she swatted her foot into the ropes and slammed her on the apron. She then bent her with the ring post and continued her attack inside.
Carmella was met with a spear and a rollup, but Carmella reversed it into the Code of Silence! Charlotte got to her feet, but Carmella rolled through. She got up only to get kicked in the face by Charlotte. She went for the Figure 8, but Carmella kicked her off once again. She ascended the ropes and went for a moonsault, landing on her feet as Carmella avoided it. Flair tweaked her leg and Carmella kicked the back of her knee! She used all of her weight and contorted Charlotte in a pin to pick up the win!
Backlash Babble
Unpopular opinion: I liked both matches.
Nia Jax and Alexa Bliss was extremely entertaining to me. The spots were great and there was only one time I was confused on what was happening. However, I will say it was incredibly unrealistic. Alexa had the momentum on her side the entire time except for the handful of seconds Nia was able to gain. I would have liked to see Nia do more, but it is what it is and I’m interested in seeing who steps up to her next, since Alexa is written off with an injury.
Carmella and Charlotte was different. At first, it was too slow for me, but it started picking up towards the end, I wish they had the same energy but I was impressed with Carmella and how she was always one step ahead of Charlotte and able to counter everything she offered. It was nice to see her win without The IIconics and the entire locker room running out. I also loved the end. It reminded me of Melina vs Michelle McCool at Night of Champions 2009, which is one of my favorite matches of all time.