User Reviews

1. Dudley Boys/Spike Dudley Vs. X-Pac/Albert/Justin Credible - Good opener. Buh Buh lost after Credible Super kicked him 7.5/10

2. WWF Hardcore Title Match: Champ-Rhyno Vs. Raven - They put a great hardcore match (that is not so easy). Rhyno retained. 8/10

3. William Regal Vs. Chris Jericho - Duchess rules match. I like both of them but this match wasn't nothing special, I've expect more. 7/10

4. 30 Minute Ultimate Submission Match: CHris Benoit Vs. Kurt Angle - Solid effort there, but it was eve too long on me. Benoit won by Sudden Death! 7.5/10

5. Last Man Standing: Shane McMahon Vs. Big Show - Funny ending how Test hook Shane on Ramp, that he could win. ANd.. Shane perform another really high jump.... Cool guy. 8.5/10

6. WWF European Triple Threat Title Match: Champ-Matt Hardy Vs. Christian Vs. Eddie Guerrero - Quick triple threat, that won Matt Hardy. 7.5/10

7. WWF World Heavyweight, IC and Tag Team Title Match: WWF Champ-Stone Cold/IC Champ-Triple H Vs. Tag Team Champs: The Undertaker/Kane - Honest, long bout. Kane had injured arm so what shall we expect. And he was extremely weak. After almost 30 minute torture Kane finally lose. 7/10

Backlash 2001 Thoughts

Backlash 2001 was the 3rd Backlash PPV event produced by the WWF. It was held at the AllState Arena in Rosemont, Illinois on April 29, 2001. Attendance was at 15,592 with a buyrate 375,000. While often said to be the first PPV post the Attitude-Era after the conclusion of the Monday Night Wars, 2001 is credited by many to still be another year of the Attitude Era as style and booking didn't really change much.

7 matches took place on the card. A huge change around this time was Stone Cold now a heel. As big as it was then, it kind of backfired as ratings declined a bit as the WWF lacked a lot of babyfaces and didn't have a official top face where the Rock was written off to go film his first movie. The main event featured Undertaker & Kane against the short-lived team of Triple H & Stone Cold with all Championships on the line dubbed "winner take all" match. Other 2 major feuds would be Kurt Angle vs. Chris Benoit in a Iron man Submission match (dubbed Ultimate Submission) and Shane McMahon continuing the feud against his father where Vince hired Big Show to take out his son in a Last Man Standing match.

The Good - The main event actually did end really good and I enjoyed the match till the end. I don't think it's an instant classic but it was an awesome match at the end and everyone was into it from the start to finish as they should have been. The Iron Man match was great too. If you want to see a better match between the two I would recommend watching their WWE Championship match at Royal Rumble 2003. But the two sold each others submissions well. The thing that drag was probably the repeated submission attempts for the first 20 minutes. Hardcore Championship and the Opening match were also great starters and the Triple Threat for the European Championship was surprisingly very good too. The fast pace action was unique and all 3 stars communicated well together.

The Meh - Jericho obviously got better booked later through out this year but this show also reminded folks how underutilized Y2J was at this time. Sure Jericho was a little more relevant than he was in WCW but many fans still believed he deserved better than this comedy feud against Regal and his storyline with Chyna a year prior. The match was eh. I didn't really care much for Shane vs. Big Show although the stunt from Shane is highly memorable and awesome. The crowd seemed loved the match though which is good.

The Bad - From a mile away, you can see something was missing on such a stacked roster. I mentioned Austin was a heel which was pulled too early (something Austin regrets too) and the Rock was on hiatus for film shooting. The show not having a top face was very noticeable and it definitely felt like a huge draw back for the WWF.

Overall - I thought it was a good show. I think it's aged better today knowing what to expect. A lot back then would look at this as a decent show after high expectations following the greatest WrestleMania of all time and the purchase of WCW. That's where I see most of the disappointment but I'm an exception. I give this show a good view.

Score - 7 out of 10: Good

0 = Terrible : 1 = Bad/Lackluster : 2 = Decent : 3 = Good : 4 = Awesome : 5 = One of the Best of all Time :

1. The Dudley Boyz vs. The X-Factor - 3/5

2. Rhyno vs. Raven: WWF Hardcore Championship - 3/5

3. William Regal vs. Chris Jericho (Duchess Of Queensbury Match) - 2/5

4. Chris Benoit vs. Kurt Angle (Iron Man Submission Match) - 3.5/5

5. Shane McMahon vs. Big Show (Last Man Standing) - 2/5

6. Matt Hardy vs. Eddie Guerrero vs. Christian: WWF European Championship - 3/5

7. Brothers of Destruction vs. The Two-Man Power-Trip: WWF Championship/Intercontinental Championship/WWF Tag Team Championship - 4/5

Best Match - Undertaker & Kane vs. Triple H & Stone Cold

Worst Match - Chris Jericho vs. William Regal

Most Memorable Moment - Shane jumping from the ramp on to Big Show.

Top 5 Performers

1. Stone Cold & Triple H - Great Performance

2. Undertaker & Kane - Great Performance

3. Chris Benoit - Great Performance

4. Kurt Angle - Great Performance

5. Matt Hardy - He looked very good.