Top 5 all-time matches from WWE Backlash/WrestleMania Backlash

Best Backlash matches of all time No. 5: Seth Rollins vs. The Miz- Intercontinental Championship (Backlash 2018)

For as talented as Seth Rollins is and as likable as he can be, WWE never really got it right with him as a babyface, for the most part. Whether it was waiting too long to turn him, framing him as a someone who fans had no reason to cheer other than “the heels didn’t like him anymore”, stalling his momentum with random title changes, or matching him up with a popular cool heel, WWE’s constant missteps with him illustrated their recent difficulties with producing quality protagonists.

For a few months in 2018, though, it seemed like WWE — and Rollins — had finally figured something out, and who would’ve thought the “it” would be presenting Rollins as a fighting Intercontinental Champion with who defended his title against anyone who wanted a title shot.

At Backlash 2018, “anyone” came in the form of The Miz.

Now, let’s get some things out of the way as it pertains to Miz. At best, he is a very, very mediocre worker, and is a midcarder right down to his bone marrow, regardless of how many times he’s held the WWE Championship. But there is a formula for him to have good matches: put him opposite an over babyface who can bump and sell his tepid offense, have the match in front of an engaged audience, and simplify his responsibilities.

In this match with Rollins, all of those things came to fruition, with Miz doing his best to keep up with “The Architect” during several sequences. Of course, Rollins made much of this match work, and while you could rightly argue that anyone could’ve filled Miz’s role (as we saw a month later when Rollins faces Elias), Miz made for a good foil here and the mix of him, the crowd, and Rollins performance helped turn this into a modern classic.