3 things that went wrong at WWE WrestleMania Backlash 2022

In the grand scheme of things, most of the wrestling we consume, even the really good stuff, ultimately means little outside of the enjoyment we get from seeing these skilled athletes perform at the highest level of their profession. But even with those stakes in mind, this year’s WrestleMania Backlash pay-per-view felt like a show that only existed because of WWE’s self-imposed obligation to air far too many of these “premium live events”

As discussed in another piece, there was more to like about this show than dislike, but that doesn’t mean WWE avoided the tropes that tend to frustrate the fans that haven’t given up on the product. So, let’s talk about those creative errors.

These are three things that went wrong at WrestleMania Backlash 2022.

“Judgement Day” adds Rhea Ripley, remains this goofy thing that you’re supposed to take seriously

Fans understandably have high hopes for Edge’s Judgement Day group, primarily because of Damian Priest and, now, Rhea Ripley’s involvement and the hope that this will lead to them moving up the card.

To be sure, the idea of Ripley and Priest receiving a push of any kind is a tantalizing one, but this try-hard of a faction that Edge has put together seems like a foolhardy way to accomplish that.

After all, it’s hard to imagine that Edge’s alleged part-time, Hall of Fame magic “become a main eventer” dust will transfer to Ripley and Priest when the man is struggling to generate his own heat without relying on insulting the locales Raw visits.

Even in this rematch against AJ Styles — a well-respected babyface— the audience reacted to Edge’s offense with the sort of disinterest usually reserved for your Austin Theorys and Baron Corbins.

There’s also no reason to expect WWE to make this work if the finish to Edge/Styles is any barometer. Priest was banned from ringside for this match, and for normal promotions, that usually serves as a clear path to a clean win for the babyface. In WWE, it’s a challenge to circumvent its self-Imposed rules to craft a “clever finish”.

See, when Priest showed up at the rampway during the climax to this match, he “technically” wasn’t at ringside and when he ended up at ringside, it “technically” wasn’t his fault (Finn Balor came out to brawl with Priest). And nobody ever said anything about RIPLEY not being at ringside! It’s classic WWE overthinking, which also explains why this faction isn’t clicking.

Happy Corbin vs. Madcap Moss

WWE put Happy Corbin in a bad spot — between the main event and Charlotte Flair vs. Ronda Rousey — but the interest from fans would’ve been the same for this one regardless of its placement on the card.

The two worked hard, and the march was harmless enough, but this felt like a SmackDown match (and not an interesting one) that randomly got a spot on this show, and the audience reacted accordingly. And look, this isn’t to say that every match needs to be a classic, but it’s simply the reality of what this match was.

Also, if WWE is serious about pushing Moss, then it needs to overhaul this gimmick. Otherwise, he’s gonna have a lot more of these matches in his future.

WWE putting this show on the calendar

That a six-man tag that received little build (oh, sorry, actually building to a tag title unification match for weeks with no intention of paying that off was the build to that match) main evented this show says everything about how important WrestleMania Backlash was to the larger WWE canon.

Yes, the importance of the show has no bearing on quality, but if WWE plans to ask fans to watch 12 (or more) of these shows per year, it wouldn’t hurt to give them a reason to watch beyond it being a WWE show.