WWE Backlash 2020: Results, Highlights, and Grades: Orton vs. Edge meets the hype
Here are results, highlights, and grades from WWE Backlash 2020.
WWE presented Backlash as the June pay-per-view this year. While it was mostly made up of matches from the Raw brand, this event did feature a high-profile WrestleMania rematch with astronomical hype in Edge vs. Randy Orton.
Here are the eight matches that were advertised ahead of time on WWE.com:
"“Greatest Wrestling Match Ever” – Edge vs. Randy Orton WWE Championship Match – Drew McIntyre (c) vs. Bobby Lashley Universal Championship Handicap Match – Braun Strowman (c) vs. The Miz & John Morrison Raw Women’s Championship Match – Asuka (c) vs. Nia Jax – Jeff Hardy vs. Sheamus Women’s Tag Team Championship Match – Bayley & Sasha Banks (c) vs. Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross vs. The IIconics United States Championship Match – Apollo Crews (c) vs. Andrade Raw Tag Team Championship Match – The Street Profits (c) vs. The Viking Raiders"
Did the underwhelming card surpass expectations? Was Edge vs. Orton as good as WWE promised it would be? Let’s break down all the action.
Andrade vs. Apollo Crews (c) – United States Championship Match (Kickoff)
Result: Apollo Crews retained via pinfall
Rating: 2.5/5.0 Stars
Grade: C+
It’s bad enough this anticipated rematch was bumped to the Kickoff, but then it only had around seven minutes of in-ring action before Apollo Crews pinned Andrade to keep ahold of his first and only championship in WWE.
We knew what these two are capable of after their recent encounters, but this was basically a brief rerun of those great battles. We also had Kevin Owens on commentary, while Angel Garza and Zelina Vega made their presence known at ringside.
Owens keeping Garza out of the match was expected, but it was a little disappointing to see that was practically the finish. Crews nailed the sit-out powerbomb on his adversary for the three-count.
For a Kickoff match, it was fine for what it was. Even still, WWE had the opportunity to do so much more, especially on an hour-long pre-show. Kevin Owens can only be Apollo’s buddy for so long, so I would’ve liked to have seen some dissension here. Crews vs. Owens vs. Andrade vs. Garza should be the next move. Book it!