More On The Backlash Crowd Fight, Justin Credible/Backlash

Apr 27, 2009

Mike Nicolau of Dighton, Mass passed on the following report to prowrestling.NET, shedding more light on the fan fight that occurred at Backlash:

I’ve been to probably twenty wrestling shows in Providence, and this was one of the best crowds, by far (second only to an August 1988 Superstars taping that featured a phantom Ultimate Warrior IC Title win and Jake Roberts stripping Rick Rude down to his g-string). My friend works at a local radio station and always gets free tickets, but I wasn’t sure if I was going to attend Backlash, because WWE has been boring me to tears lately. The late announcement of Ricky Steamboat vs. Chris Jericho easily put my ass in that seat. The rest of the show was surprisingly spectacular.

The opener was very solid. Lots of heat for Christian. Swagger did a good job working the ribs, and the crowd was pulling for him (even during the bearhug!). It was a very good match with the right outcome. Christian is officially back.

I was fairly disappointed in the crowd during Jericho vs. Steamboat, as I’m sure a lot of the younger fans just see Steamboat as ‘some old guy.’ The match was very good, but I was hoping they’d get twenty minutes. I popped big time for the WM3 body slam/small package near-fall. The Steamer got a respectable ovation after the match as he waved to the fans.

Like the other reader who commented earlier, I went for beers during C.M. Punk vs. Kane. Kane’s entrance is always fun to see live, but the excitement ends there. I was surprised to hear Kane announced as the winner as I took the first sip of my frosty $6 beverage.

The Great Khali and Santino Marella segment garnered a few chuckles from the audience, but I heard nothing but complaints about how terrible it was; a complete waste of time.

The crowd was surprisingly uninterested in the Jeff Hardy vs. Matt Hardy match for the first two-thirds of it. A fight broke out one section over from us, and I got to see a guy punching a couple of other guys in the face; he was a beast! He got escorted out by security to big cheers. He was also greeted by cheers when he was returned to his seat about ten minutes later. The crowd picked up for the finish of the match.

The six-man was very good also. This was the match I was looking forward to the least, but there was a ton of heat and everyone worked hard. It was fun to see how many famous finishers Shane McMahon was going to steal. From what I recall, he used classic finishers from Demolition, The Hart Foundation, Jake Roberts, and Randy Savage. I was totally expecting a big-boot/legdrop combination, but it never came. The crowd counted along and popped HUGE for Randy Orton’s win. And I believe this was the first time I’ve ever seen Triple H do a stretcher job – an historic event indeed.

Since our tickets were comped, my buddy and I had planned to skip out during John Cena vs. Edge, but the match was so good that we were forced to stay until the very end. We saw the security guards near the barrier preparing for something near our section, so we assumed they’d be fighting into the crowd. Sure enough, they went over the rail and battled up the stairs (past Justin Credible) and right by us. The Attitude Adjustment into the crowd and the chokeslam off the stage were the “Holy Shit” spots of the night, for sure. The crowd was red hot for the entire match, and both wrestlers did an amazing job. The match had good psychology, drama, memorable spots, and a satisfying finish. Thumbs up to all involved.

So, overall Backlash 2009 was a great show. And I parked for free! The only money I spent the entire night was on beer. I have absolutely nothing to complain about. Well, I’d liked to have seen an Taker vs. HBK rematch, but now I’m just being greedy.

YOUTUBE VIDEO ONLINE: MAJOR WWE BACKLASH CROWD FIGHT – TOP POST!!!