WWE Backlash review: The crowd makes the show

The story coming out of WWE Backlash wasn’t so much about a match or a result. It was about the crowd.

Much like last year’s Backlash, the show in Lyon, France had monumental heat for every one of the matches that took place, creating an environment that made WWE look like the hottest promotion on Earth. All matches from Saturday's premium live event benefited from this, and made the show an absolute thumbs up just to hear the crowd react to anything and everything.

Cody Rhodes retained the WWE Championship in a very good match against AJ Styles, a true WWE main event match in structure. There isn’t much to say about it, as it was good! Not a match-of-the-year contender by any means, but they had a good match in front of a hot crowd. You can say that for most of the matches that took place on Saturday.

One thing I’ll praise WWE events over is the brisk pace. That’s refreshing in a world where I have to spend all day covering an AEW pay-per-view that starts at 3:30 pm PST and doesn't finish until Tony Khan stops talking at around 11:30 pm.

Anyway, the rest of the card:

• The opening match had Tama Tonga and Solo Sikoa earn a win over Randy Orton and Kevin Owens when, of all people, Tanga Loa came in and interfered, seemingly becoming the newest member of The Bloodline. The match was your typical very good WWE-style weapons match, but the crowd made it memorable. One thing is for sure: France likes singing Randy Orton’s theme.
• Bayley retained the WWE Women’s Championship in a three-way over Naomi and Tiffany Stratton. This was a match made to showcase Stratton, as it’s clear she’s getting over and improving to the point where she may become a top star sooner than one would think. As much as I liked this match, I am wincing as the next title program is probably Bayley vs. Nia Jax. I can’t wait for that. Just kidding, I can.
• Damian Priest kept the World title, denying Jey Uso thanks to the help of JD McDonagh and Finn Balor. The match was a backdrop for the Judgment Day drama, which I think is finally leading to the split that's been teased for well over a year. Still, I thought this was good as well, a big step up by Uso after a very disappointing WrestleMania match.
• There was one title change on the show, with Jade Cargill and Bianca Belair winning the Women’s Tag Team titles by defeating The Kabuki Warriors. I also thought this was good, and I think Cargill is improving. It’s a smart idea to put her in a team for a while with someone like Belair. The only problem is, what other tag teams are there in this division?

With Backlash out of the way and King of the Ring coming up, we should be getting some ideas for SummerSlam in the next few weeks, at the very least planting the seeds for the next big stadium show in the US. We’ll likely see that once the dust clears from the King and Queen of the Ring tournaments that begin on Monday’s Raw.