Backlash 2001 - Allstate Arena, Rosemont Illinois, April 29th, 2001

The first PPV of this new era, led by the vicious, unhinged and borderline demanded WWF Champion Stone Cold Steve Austin, it’s Backlash! Five championships on the line tonight - with three of them in the same match. We are guaranteed at least one title change in tonight’s main event but we’ll get there later.

The opening video focuses on Gold and Power. He who has the power, has the gold and vice versa. Historically hasn’t been true - Vince always had the power regardless of who the champion was - but it’s a good selling point.

X-Factor (X-Pac, Albert and Justin Credible) vs. The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray, D-Von and Spike Dudey)

This match and feud came from Albert bullying the much smaller Spike Dudley and Bubba and D-Von standing up for their little brother. There’s a heavy ECW influence on this card all tonight and this is the start.

X-Factor did indeed have their infamous “Uncle Kracker” theme song by this point but because of a rights issue its missing from the WWE Network version of this show so here it is for you to “enjoy” at least;

Paul Heyman has been especially good at putting over the former ECW guys, specifically the toughness of the tiny Spike and the cunning and skills of former ECW World Champion Justin Credible. 

X-Factor isolate Spike in the early going as the fans shower them with loud “X-Pac sucks!” chants.

Spike does manage to tag out to D-Von but thanks to Albert’s size and strength he doesn’t fare any better and X-Pac and Credible work him over with double teams and quick tags in and out to stay fresh. 

JR is trying to get “wizards of the wicked wood” over as a nickname for the Dudleyz and says it three times during this match.

Bubba eventually gets a hot tag and motors through X-Factor before calling for the tables. Albert stops D-Von on the outside with a bicycle kick and X-Pac and Justin drop Bubba with a double superkick in the ring to win the match for the X-Factor team.

Afterwards, X-Factor decides to put Bubba through a table for good measure but fortunately Spike and D-Von have recovered and after taking out Albert and then X-Pac with a low blow, it’s the former DX member who gets a 3D through the table. The Dudleyz lose the match but win the battle. Paul Heyman seems to think the war isn’t over between these two three man groups.

Out in the parking lot, a long black limo arrives. It’s greeted by William Regal and contains the Duchess of Queensbury who will be at ringside for his match with Chris Jericho tonight. The “Duchess” has a pretty ropey British accent. She sounds almost…American? Gasp, perish the thought. 

Lillian Garcia interrupts Kurt Angle polishing his Olympic medals. He promises to demolish Chris Benoit with ease tonight and prove he is the superior wrestler.

Earlier tonight on Sunday Night Heat we saw the debut of another former ECW World Champion as Jerry Lynn defeated Crash Holly in his first match to win the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship! He did it with a handful of tights on a roll up so we know he’s a heel y’see?

WWF Hardcore Championship

Rhyno © vs. Raven

Two more former ECW World Champions here (I told you we’d see a lot of that tonight). 

Raven turned babyface after Wrestlemania in a one-week feud with the Right to Censor and actually earned a European title match with Eddie Guerrero on this show by beating him twice in tag matches. Eddie shockingly lost the European title on Smackdown so Raven was gifted this title match instead to make it up to him for missing out. 

They start fast with the weapons as Raven drop-toe holds Rhyno into a stop sign, and Rhyno recovers on the outside and sits Raven in a steel chair and dives off the steps into him but misses and flattens the chair instead.

They fight around the ring and while all the weapons remain WWF-hardcore friendly, they wrestle with a lot more intensity than we’re used to seeing from this division and the weapon shots and slams into the security wall have a bit more spice on them. 

Rhyno get a near fall and a “holy shit” chant on the entrance ramp off a really stiff shot to Raven’s head with another metal sign.

Back in the ring, Rhyno uses the metal shopping cart that Raven brought his weapons to the ring inside as a weapon and they slam each other into that in the ring. This is physical!

Raven pops the crowd with some stiff stop sign shots to the head for a near fall, and then causes Rhyno to fall backward while holding the shopping cart above his head which lands on his chest for another near fall.

Raven avoids a Gore sending Rhyno crashing inside the shopping cart. Raven hits him with the kitchen sink (literally) for another near fall but shortly after Rhyno hits a desperate Gore out of no where to retain the Hardcore Championship. This was great! 

Duchess of Queensbury Rules match

Chris Jericho vs. William Regal

The video package for this is basically the one from Wrestlemania but with the happenings since Wrestlemania tacked on the end. 

The commentary is oddly silent during Commissioner Regal’s entrance, like something has been removed in a WWE Network edit. I wonder what it was? 

Regal introduces the Duchess of Queensbury. Paul Heyman is very flattering about her of course as a heel and claims to know what the rules are (but won’t tell us) as JR is needlessly nasty about the “Duchess’ appearance”. He also makes a bunch of homophobic jokes and continues to compare the Commissioner to Elton John, which he’s done before. The only real comparisons between the two men being that they're both English and JR thinks Regal is gay. Regal makes them both stand for her which I did enjoy. Heyman gets another shot in at Jerry Lawler talking about “legitimate royalty” which I ALSO enjoyed.

Chris Jericho is nasty about her appearance too, saying she looks like a man and says Queensbury must be the “ugly city”. She seems unscathed, but also gives away that she has an earpiece in under her wig where she’s presumably being told how to act by someone on the production team.

Jericho dominates in the early going and sends Regal in and out of the ring. After a few mins, Regal side-steps a missile dropkick attempt and takes control with a suplex, barrage of European uppercuts and a sleeper hold.

Jericho weathers the stop and comes back with a flying forearm, running bulldog and Lionsault. Jericho has the match won in about 5 minutes but the Duchess has the bell rung before he can go for a pin.

She whispers to Howard Finkle who says that the time limit for round 1 has expired. That distraction gives Regal time to recover and the match continues. 

He hammers Jericho with a couple of nasty looking suplexes landing Y2J high and tight on his shoulder and head and then goes for the Regal Stretch, but Jericho is too close to the ropes.

Jericho rolls through a victory roll attempt and locks in the Walls of Jericho and William Regal taps out! Jericho wins, but the Duchess stops Howard Finkle and he announces that you cannot win this match via submission. Jericho is cheated again.

Y2J goes to confront the Duchess but Regal stops him. He hits Jericho in the head with her sceptre. Jericho wins by disqualification. Or does he? The Duchess stops the referee and Finkle again and says that this match has no disqualifications too. 

JR’s outage at Regal clearly making up the rules as we go along sells the story here as Paul Heyman pretends he knew these rules all along.

Jericho does kick out from the sceptre shot and the match continues with the Commissioner now in full control.

Jericho continues to kick out and gets control of the match. He considers going for the Walls of Jericho but after remembering he can’t win by submission, also remembers he can’t be disqualified and kicks Regal low. He baseball slides Regal sending him into the Duchess’ crotch and then Jericho knocks down her securty and puts the Duchess in the Walls of Jericho in the ring! It’s a misguided distraction and Regal hits Jericho with three chair shots to the back, head and shoulder and wins this match.

Regal wins and helps the “Duchess”, who’s wig is now falling off, to the back

Mr. McMahon calls The Big Show into his office and gives him a pep talk and makes him promise not to hold back. He’s pretty clear - because Shane is his son, he can’t hold back. He basically wants Show to end Shane’s career tonight and gives him a big handshake and congratulations as Show laughs maniacally like a Batman villain.

30-minute Ultimate Submission match

Kurt Angle vs. Chris Benoit

Whoever scores the most submission victories within a 30 minute time limit wins

The video package for this match focuses, as you’d expect, on the submission skills and specialty moves of both men. Their feud since Wrestlemania has heavily featured Jericho and Regal too as those two matches were basically built up in tandem. The video package does make this match feel epic and grandiose for sure.

The two men start slowly, circling and feeling each other out. They lock up hard and scramble for submissions and counter submissions, taking turns getting each other prone with arm bars and headlocks but quickly scrambling out of them.

Benoit is the first to get a real hold in - the Crippler Crossface - but Angle is instantly in the ropes and rolls out of the ring for a breather as the referee holds Benoit back.

Weirdly a fan in the front row starts to shout abuse at both men about how they suck and Triple H rules and is a superior wrestler. Ok? 

Back in the ring Angle takes Benoit down but is unable to get a hold on and when Benoit goes back to the Crossface he’s again forced to scamper out of the ring for a breather.

The match continues like this and they end up on the outside trading waist locks. Benoit gets Angle into a crossface who quickly taps out, but on the outside of the ring it doesn’t count so he releases and gets back inside. A frustrated Kurt grabs a steel chair and argues with the referee about using it. It is submissions only but that doesn’t appear to mean it's a no disqualification match. 

Angle throws a cheap shot and rolls through Benoit’s legs with a knee bar to pick up the first submission at the 7:10 mark. Heyman really puts over Benoit for being smart and submitting so quickly to avoid taking more damage than he had to.

Angle focuses his attack on Benoit’s leg but a chop block is countered into an armbar for Benoit to even the score at 1-1 at 8:06. There is a 30 second rest period between falls.

Benoit keeps on the pressure with chops and kicks in the corner and focuses his attack on Angle’s arm. 

He uses another arm bar and a shoulder breaker to punish Angle but when the referee is distracted, Kurt uses a steel chair with a cheap shot to Benoit’s head and then rolls him into an ankle lock to give Angle the advantage 2-1 at 10:22. 

Kurt refuses to allow the 30 second rest and spends most of it kicking at Benoit’s legs and being told off by the referee.

He locks Benoit in his own hold and Benoit is forced to submit to the Crippler Crossface to make Kurt Angle 3-1 at 11:42.  

With the advantage and his confidence soaring, Angle takes this match a little more WWF-style, fighting on the outside and slamming Benoit into the ring steps and announce desk and using punches and clotheslines. Benoit is happy to respond and sends Angle into the ring post and continues to light him up with stiff chops to the chest. 

Kurt is relentless and after reversing Benoit into the ringsteps puts him in an ankle lock on the floor for a visual submission but much like Benoit earlier, it doesn’t count on the outside of the ring.

They go back and forth and after Angle punishes Benoit with an abdominal stretch with no submission and Benoit retaliates with a sharpshooter with Angle getting the ropes, Benoit locks in a single leg Boston crab and Kurt taps out to make it 3-2 in Angle’s favour at 18:05.

Benoit clearly feels the pressure of the ticking clock and wastes no time following up as Kurt continually rolls out of the ring and even runs away from Benoit trying to waste time. Very smart. He catches Benoit coming back into the ring with stomps to regain control of the match.

Kurt methodically works over Benoit, not so much trying to gain more submissions and just run down the clock. He uses kicks and drops elbows and gives him a stiff vertical suplex on the outside of the ring. 

A desperate Benoit counters a kick into his own ankle lock but Kurt is in the ropes. The scramble around on the mat but are both so sweaty and clearly running out of steam at the 25 minute mark. I’m sure both these men could easily wrestle for an hour but they really push themselves and haven’t stopped for a rest in this entire 30 minutes. No one can keep up this pace indefinitely. 

Kurt wears down Benoit with a long sleeper hold and then a pair of overhead belly to belly suplexes. Benoit comes back with a pair of German suplexes and then after a skirmish, gets Kurt into an ankle lock and forces him to submit to his own hold to make the score 3-3 at the 27:52 mark. 

With less than a minute left on the clock, Kurt kicks Benoit low and locks him in the ankle lock. He rips at Benoit’s ankle and seconds after the bell rings and the time limit has expired, Benoit taps out. Officially the match ends at 3-3 and is a draw. 

The referee talks to Howard Finkle and declares the match should continue under Sudden Death rules. So the next submission wins. Angle protests that Benoit DID submit again - he tapped out right after the bell. He is right. The match continues with Angle stomping at a downed Benoit and throwing him around with more suplexes. Benoit weathers the storm and out of nowhere, takes Angle down into a Crippler Crossface for a final submission and making the final score 4-3 for Chris Benoit at 31:33 in sudden death overtime. Benoit wins an excellent ultimate submission match which is well worth watching (If you’re a person who doesn’t mind watching Chris Benoit matches in 2024). 

Backstage, Undertaker and Kane are having an animated conversation. It looks like they’re arguing but I think it was Taker being concerned about Kane’s injured and heavily bandaged elbow. In the Triple H and Stephanie locker room they say that they’re probably making excuses and living in a fairyland, just like Shane McMahon. That’s a nice segue into the next match.

Last Man Standing match

The Big Show vs. Shane McMahon

Video package for this match is good but MOST importantly, this is the debut of Shane’s awesome “Here comes the money” theme song (kind of). It’s not the version I’ve linked below but it’s still better than No Chance in Hell for him. 

Shane gives Show the runaround and hides under the ring to appear behind him with a kendo stick. The fans loudly chant “Shane O’Mac” as he uses the kendo stick and the harvard story book as a weapon but Show catches his dive off the security wall and flattens the WCW owner with a clothesline and throws him inside.

Shane hits Show with multiple big chair shots with Big Show mostly no-sells until a big running one to the head takes him off his feet. That gives us our first 10 count but Show is up at 7. 

It does give Shane time to get a bag from under the ring and after putting on a mask, pours liquid all over a rag and jumps onto Show’s back and smothers him! He’s chloroforming Big Show who slowly drops to his knees and then finally fades and passes out! Shane has outsmarted the Big Show and seems to have won this match very quickly! 

Vince McMahon runs to the ring and cracks Shane across the back with a steel chair, and then again in the head. The fans give Vince deafening boos as he confiscates Shane’s chloroforming kit when he leaves.

Big Show gets up and it looks like Shane won’t make the 10 count so Show pulls him to his feet so that he can keep the match and punishment going. He flattens Shane with a sidewalk slam and pulls him to his feet before 10 again for a Final Cut. Show again pulls him to his feet and this time it's for a massive chokeslam, which Show seems satisfied with as a finishing point.

Until he pulls Shane to his feet again. That one was a mistake and as he has Shane up on his shoulders, Shane’s buddy Test runs down and gives him a big boot. Hilariously JR doesn’t sound that excited that Test is here. He takes over the duties fighting with Big Show and they brawl on the outside with Show winning that exchange too.

They fight up the ramp. It’s ironic that almost one year ago at Judgment Day 2000, Show also fought Shane in a gimmick match and Test was there to help Shane too. The face/heel dynamics were totally reversed though.

Shane joins the fight and despite all the weapon shots and double teams Show continues to fight them both off. Shane in a panic starts to climb the Backlash stage and Show wants to follow but Test is there with more weapons to hammer him down and lays Show out on a giant black crash landing area.

The fans actually start to chant “holy shit” just at seeing how high Shane cliimbed to get away from Show so imagine the reaction when he dives off, falling 50 or so feet into an elbow drop on the Big Show! It might have been higher than his bump at Summerslam 2000. Both men are down and out and a resourceful Test lifts Shane onto a camera crane and then shows impressive strength lifting the crane so that Shane is on his feet as the referee counts 10! Big Show isn’t moving and thanks to Test and an insane 50 foot dive, Shane McMahon wins the Last Man Standing match! The landing area was basically a wooden box with presumably a nice safe crash mat inside it. It looked fantastic as the wood splinted and cracked from the impact.

Just for fun, if you watch the video package for the main event, I’ve left in the replay of Shane’s dive just before it for you all to enjoy without having to go to YouTube looking for it.

Back in the McMahon office, Vince is disgusted that Shane won and tells Triple H that as far as he’s concerned he now only has one son and it’s The Game. That’s probably not a million miles from the way Vince feels in real life.

Grandmaster Sexay and Steve Blackman are at WWF New York, speaking of Shane’s amazing bump at Summerslam JR asks Blackman how he feels about Shane’s big dive tonight. It’s ruined by Grandmaster Sexay bursting in with some of his trademark “pretending to be black” gibberish. God I miss Scotty 2 Hotty.

WWF European Championship

Matt Hardy © vs. Christian vs. Eddie Guerrero

New European Champion Matt Hardy defends after former champion Eddie Guerrero who is using his rematch clause and Christian who was given this title match by Commissioner Regal as a thank you for helping the McMahon regime take out Kane on Smackdown. I was shocked to see that Lita wasn’t with Matt but Christian and Eddie are both flying solo with no backup either so it seems that their various tag partners and corner men have been banned from ringside to keep this triple threat fair.

The action here is fast paced with all three men running interference and no one getting the advantage. It’s hard to describe and follow the creative offence. 

There’s some sloppy botches as Matt has a sunset flip roll up on Eddie but hes way too close to the ropes. This is Matt Hardy’s PPV singles debut. 

Christian takes out both men with a baseball slide to the outside and Matt counters a backdrop with a slingshot off the ropes into a DDT on the floor.

Eddie follows up with a pair of brainbusters in the ring but Matt kicks out.

There’s a loud, girly scream for Matt Hardy removing his top and he counters both a top rope hurricanrana by Eddie and a superplex by Christian, dropping the latter onto the former. 

A leg drop off the middle rope almost wins it but Eddie barely kicks out. With Christian distracting the referee in the ring, Edge slips to ringside and drops Matt with a spear. Eddie shoves Christian out of the way and tries to steal the pin but Matt kicks out anyway.

Jeff Hardy runs down to even the odds and fights with Edge and in the chaos, Christian has the match and title won with an Unprettier on Eddie. Jeff Hardy stops that with a Swanton Bomb across Christian’s back and Matt follows with a Twist of Fate to pin Christian and thanks to his brother Jeff, Matt Hardy retains his European title. 

Before we watch the main event, let's get into it. Let’s talk about. Stone Cold Steve Austin’s heel turn. Why did the Texas Rattlesnake turn on the fans and align himself with Mr. McMahon and Triple H, his two most hated rivals?

In short, we still don't really know. Austin went the familiar "I don't owe you people a damn thing" route in the wake of Wrestlemania and we've been left to piece together throw away comments and in truth, there is a good reason and story buried in there even if neither Steve nor the company has laid it out for us very clearly. My analysis? Austin had lost his mojo and after returning from his neck injury was worried that he didn't have what it took to be the WWF Champion anymore. That led to paranoia and lashing out (mostly at The Rock in the build up to Wrestlemania) and the pressure of losing to Triple H at No Way Out and his big moment being the biggest Wrestlemania main event of all time and in his home state no less became too much for him. He made a deal with the devil because he needs to be WWF Champion more than he needs to be Stone Cold Steve Austin. 

This is all fairly obvious but what isn't so obvious is how that perfectly reasonable explanation of his mental state led to him going so swiftly and brutally to the dark side, beating up his long time best friend Jim Ross and massacring people with steel chairs, all while standing side by side with the man who tried to end his career and berating and insulting the fans who loved him so dearly. That takes a little bit more mental gymnastics.

The explanation on TV is that he was using Vince McMahon as an insurance policy, and that he knows better than anyone how driven and dangerous The Game is so who better to be on his side? That makes sense I think. It's more of a "I would have an easier time dominating with you than having to fight against you" which does tie into the paranoia and loss of confidence element too. So I guess it does all make sense, even if none of this made it onto TV and requires a lot of working out yourself.

The fans don't want to boo Austin and I think his motives being so unclear made it harder for fans to turn against him - they didn't get it then and no one really gets it now. But he's damn entertaining in the role and this dangerous psychopath version of the Rattlesnake is certainly captivating. JR said it best. "Something has gone wrong in Austin's head".

There is a lot on the line in this match, and I got a kick out of seeing all of the championship match graphics on screen at the same time.

Winner Take All Tag Team match

Stone Cold Steve Austin (WWF Champion) and Triple H (WWF Intercontinental Champion) (w/Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley) vs. The Undertaker and Kane (WWF Tag Team Champions)

If either Undertaker or Kane score a pinfall or submission, they win the defeated participant’s championship.

If either Stone Cold or Triple H score a pinfall or submission, they win the Tag Team Championships as a team.

After a great video package taking us all the way back to Wrestlemania. You’ll especially enjoy it if you enjoy hearing the word “dominant” and its variants, and seeing steep chair shots. It also has the replay of Shane’s dive from earlier in the show included for fun.

Triple H enters first. There’s a fun production error as Shane’s “Here Comes the Money” plays at the same time as Triple H’s motorhead theme song for a bit. JR points out during Triple H’s entrance that a victory here would make him only the second grand slam champion in WWF history after Shawn Michaels. (The Grand Slam being every available men’s title so at his point that was the Intercontinental, European, Tag Team and WWF title). During Austin’s entrance JR sadly says that Triple H may have broken his arm but Stone Cold broke his heart. JR and (mostly) Tazz have taken to calling Austin “the bionic redneck” since Wrestlemania. It hasn’t fully caught on yet. Kane’s left arm is heavily wrapped up and he doesn’t even lift it to cue his pyro. Taker does still come out on his motorbike and the Two Man Power-trip stares daggers at him as he does a lap of the ring. 

Triple H and Austin are sent to the outside with a pair of big right hands and like cowardly heels check each other’s eyes and nose for damage before trying to just leave. I bet these two were having great fun playing classic wrestling villains. Undertaker and Kane follow and have fun bouncing Austin and The Game around. Stone Cold bumps like Ric Flair in his prime for Undertaker and in the ring, Kane lifts both men one by one with a choke. It finally settles down into a proper tag team match with Kane and Triple H as the legal men. 

Stone Cold tags in and begs off and bumps for both Kane and Undertaker who tag in and out. Austin is pretty funny actually, on his knees offering Taker a handshake with his eyes closed. Character wise it doesn’t make tons of sense that he’s currently wrestling this way (like a coward) but it’s fun to see and he’s good at it. 

With some more classic wrestling villainy like eye pokes and illegal double teams behind the referee’s back, the Two-man power trip isolate Undertaker. There’s a bit of a story of Taker not wanting to tag in Kane as he’s concerned about his brother’s injured arm and when he has done so it’s been reluctantly. 

Undertaker does fight back but despite having absorbed so much punishment, won’t tag in Kane. he pays for it and Austin hammers him with punches and elbows. They try a double team but Undertaker drops them with a double DDT and Kane is able to tag himself in. He lays out both men with big boots and sends Triple H to the outside and drops the WWF Champion with a sidewalk slam and then a flying clothesline before military prssing Triple H! He readies for a chokeslam on Austin but Triple H gives him a shot to the bad arm and that’s where they focus their attacks. Kane fights them both off single handedly (literally) for an impressive amount of time before Austin drops him with an armbreaker.

Triple H distracts the referee so that Austin can hammer Kane across the arm with a steel chair. Kane is in a bad way and Triple H grinds at Kane’s arm with submission holds while his wife at ringside calls for him to “break it”. 

After an eternity of working over Kane’s arm and tagging in and out - and pulling Undertaker off the apron to stop him from tagging in - Kane finally fights back with a big boot to Triple H and then a back suplex to Stone Cold. They tease making a tag for minutes and then….he still doesn’t. Triple H gives Kane a Pedigree out of the blue but for some reason he tags in Austin to let him cover instead. Undertaker breaks up the pin and plants Austin with a chokeslam and now Kane might finally make the tag! Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley distracts the referee so he shoves her off the apron. Weirdly Triple H doesn’t really react and she just sort of gets back up and no-sells it so I think it was (shock, horror) Earl Hebner going into business for himself to get some attention. Kane FINALLY tags but the referee didn’t see it - he was knocked out of position by Triple H selling an enziguri.

Undertaker hammers Austin and Triple H with punches and slams and big boots - he’s a man possessed and runs through them both. He spikes Triple H with an enormous Last Ride Powerbomb but Earl Hebner won’t count - he thinks Kane is still legal! God damnit Earl! 

Austin drops Kane with a Stunner leaving him and Triple H - the legal men - down in the ring while Undertaker and Austin right around the ring. 

Stephanie slips one of the Tag Team title belts to Triple H to use as a weapon but Kane stops him with a big boot. Stephanie gets in the ring and she also runs into a big boot!

That brings out Mr. McMahon with a sledgehammer and while Kane stops him, Triple H goes get the sledgehammer and uses it on Kane, cracking him right in injured arm and then a second to the head. Vince throws the referee back into the ring and a three count later, Stone Cold and Triple H are the new WWF Tag Team Champions!