WWE struck gold with Bad Bunny.
The mega star wrestled the match of his life on Saturday night at Backlash, defeating Damian Priest in a spectacular, chaotic San Juan street match that reintroduced a couple of players from WWE’s past.
Bad Bunny is one of the most popular musicians in the world, and he has clearly put in the work to ensure his cameos in WWE are well-received. He exceeded expectations in his first-ever singles match. Priest also deserves significant praise for making sure Bad Bunny was protected at all times while always looking like a superstar. Further enhancing the match were surprise cameos from local legends Carlito and Savio Vega, which were executed with precision—and generated massive responses from the crowd in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Savio Vega is here in Puerto Rico at #WWEBacklash to take out The Judgment Day! pic.twitter.com/mBuFevlENZ
— WWE (@WWE) May 7, 2023
Bunny-Priest was the match of the night, which is saying something, because on practically any other card, that distinction would have belonged to Bianca Belair and Iyo Sky. While Sky was unable to dethrone Belair, she did deliver her most memorable main roster match to date. Her athleticism and in-ring savvy are ridiculously high, and she won over the crowd, perhaps foreshadowing a babyface turn. She had outstanding chemistry with Belair, who continues her title run, while also laying the groundwork for the inevitable split of CTRL-Damage.
Puerto Rico is LOUD and bringing the energy at #WWEBacklash right now in this #WWERaw #WomensTitle Match! pic.twitter.com/JxezdRRkqo
— WWE (@WWE) May 7, 2023
There was also a victory for The Bloodline’s Solo Sikoa and The Usos, who defeated Matt Riddle, Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens. The Bloodline-KO/Zayn story has not kept its momentum since WrestleMania, but Roman Reigns, who did not wrestle at Backlash, was an enormous factor in that. Seth Rollins worked an entertaining bout with Omos, and there was an emotional showing from Zelina Vega in her bout against Rhea Ripley.
Here are the results:
- Raw women’s champion Bianca Belair defeated Iyo Sky
- Seth Rollins defeated Omos
- United States champion Austin Theory defeated Bronson Reed and Bobby Lashley in a triple threat match
- SmackDown women’s champion Rhea Ripley defeated Zelina Vega
- Bad Bunny defeated Damian Priest
- Solo Sikoa and The Usos defeated Matt Riddle, Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens
- Cody Rhodes defeated Brock Lesnar
Making his way to the ring as Puerto Rico sings along to Chambea, @sanbenito is here at #WWEBacklash ready to compete! pic.twitter.com/fK5Wzn7GnX
— WWE (@WWE) May 7, 2023
WWE has tapped back into a time-tested concept by bringing pay-per-view cards to cities with rabid fan bases and highlighting the stars from that region. This happened last summer with Clash at the Castle in Wales, as well as more recently at February’s Elimination Chamber in Montreal. It is a page out of WWE’s playbook—Canadian Stampede in ’97 featured the most compelling 10-man tag of all-time because of the rabid crowd in Calgary and the performers with roots in Canada—and those in attendance in San Juan, Puerto Rico, elevated this card to new heights, particularly when Bad Bunny was in the ring.
The lone area worth critiquing is whether Cody Rhodes and Brock Lesnar deserved to be in the main event over Bad Bunny and Priest.
After coming up short last month at WrestleMania 39, Rhodes defeated Lesnar to close out Backlash. It was a solid match, with Lesnar bleeding and going to great lengths to ensure Rhodes looked like a credible threat. Rhodes outsmarted Lesnar to win, rolling him up in the middle of Lesnar applying the kimura lock. The standing ovation Lesnar received after the show went off the air was a worthy tribute, as Lesnar has built a legitimately legendary career and, remarkably, still too often seems under-appreciated.
Puerto Rico showing some love to Brock Lesnar after #WWEBacklash went off the air. 🙌🏼🙌🏼 pic.twitter.com/CCgC3xO13N
— 𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐕𝐞𝐧 (@WrestlingCovers) May 7, 2023
While Bad Bunny certainly would have flourished in the main event, putting Rhodes and Lesnar there was the right call. That was the biggest, most significant story on the card, with the longest lasting impact. The best WWE parallel I can think of was Lawrence Taylor headlining WrestleMania XI against Bam Bam Bigelow over a Diesel-Shawn Michaels world title match, but that isn’t a fair comparison. Taylor was a world-famous athlete and one of the greatest to ever play professional football, and he and Bigelow generated significant attention outside of the wrestling bubble in advance of that WrestleMania, which the Michaels/Diesel match did not. In this case, Rhodes’ story with Lesnar will play a far more central role in WWE going forward than anything else that was on the show.
At this stage, Lesnar is primarily working the opening match of a pay-per-view or the main event. So finishing the show with Rhodes-Lesnar made the most sense long-term, but that does not take away from the absolute brilliant display from Bad Bunny and Priest. On a night full of highlights, no one shined brighter than Bad Bunny.
