WWE Backlash 2017 Results: Best and Worst Moments

Best: Battle For America

It’s not a stretch to say that Kevin Owens and AJ Styles are two of the best wrestlers in WWE, if not anywhere. Was there any doubt that these two would put on a terrific match?

If you want storytelling in a match, this one had it. You like ridiculous looking, high impact moves? This match is for you. How about a baffling, but feud prolonging, countout finish that makes both guys look good even if it cheapened the match a little? Uh, yeah, it was here too.

Nothing makes me happier watching a wrestling match than a guy adapting his normal moveset to attack an injured body part. When Styles tweaked his leg or knee, Owens was like a shark that smelled blood in the water. The cannonball splash in the corner to the knee was gloriously brutal. Something so simple, yet not used often enough.

How about AJ trying in vain to hit the Phenomenal Forearm despite the pain in his leg, only to be unable to do it? Having suffered through an ankle lock before didn’t help matters, but AJ knew it was his home run shot. Any baseball player will tell you, though: sometimes when you swing for the fences, you strike out. It’s a well-placed gamble in a championship match – just didn’t work out here.

I feel like I’m the only one who really hated the finish to this match, but it is what it is. It’ll give us more of these two, at the very least, so that’s a plus. I just hated how contrived it seemed. Hopefully the rematch will have a more definitive ending.