WWE Backlash 2018 review: What we learned, takeaways, future projections

Braun Strowman & Bobby Lashley vs. Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn

What we learned: I don’t exactly know what the worst thing to come out of this match was. Is it that nobody cares about Bobby Lashley? Come on, the crowd was dead when he came out. Or is it that his finish is actually just a suplex? At least when Goldberg held somebody up for that long, he twisted them into a Jackhammer. And trust me, if I’m defending Goldberg, something has gone terribly wrong. I’m not going to say that we learned that there’s friction between Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn because that’s like saying that water is wet.

I’m not going to say that there wasn’t anything enjoyable to come out of this match, because I could honestly watch Kevin Owens bump for Braun Strowman all day long. But that’s about as excited as I got for anything here, except for maybe the announce team pondering the reasons why Sami Zayn didn’t participate in the Greatest Royal Rumble, which actually was hilarious. This was the most predictable match of the night, and I think the hope here was to get Lashley some cheers and some recognition, which is supposed to be happening when you’re next to Braun Strowman. Okay, he got the pin here and showed off the power by getting Owens up into whatever we’re calling that finisher. Guess what? Nobody cared. And yes, Owens and Zayn got into it with Zayn even slapping KO at one point. That’s the only storytelling to come out of this one.

What’s next: Owens and Zayn need to get away from all of this. Sure, they could split up again, and I have no doubt that they could put on yet another great series of matches with one another. They always do. But I’d love to see them chase the tag titles. Give them some purpose. They’ve been getting manhandled in recent weeks so perhaps a title feud would be a nice reward for them.

Braun Strowman is going to be WWE Universal Champion at some point. Whether he’s the one who beats Lesnar or if he goes over Reigns, it is going to happen. It’s just a matter of when. The key is to find him something meaningful to do until then.

As for Lashley, the situation is more complex. His return to WWE was supposed to be a big deal and he’s done nothing. He needs a big time storyline if anyone is going to care about him, but I suspect that he’ll just do what he’s been doing until we get to Money in the Bank, which I don’t think he’ll win. I would say that if Big Show was around, they’d just throw him in there to give Lashley someone to do something with, but it’s not known when he’ll be back yet and those matches likely wouldn’t be that great anyway. Somebody give me a reason to care about Bobby Lashley. He’s a phenomenal athlete but I think he’s just stuck in a bad spot right now, which isn’t good for someone who’s only been back for a month.