By Tony Donofrio, PWTorch Specialist

HITS

Christian vs. Jack Swagger (ECW Title): At first I didn't understand why this match opened the show, but it proved to be a winner in this aspect. It helped to get the crowd excited and it remained so for the rest of the show. Both Swagger and Christian put on a great match in the time that was given them, which was roughly 10-12 minutes long. Swagger showed why he should be considered a big part of WWE's future (along with his match a few weeks ago with John Cena on Raw) with his match tonight. The big spot of the match that had Swagger press Christian over the top ropes displayed the type of power that he also has. Putting the belt on Christian is a good idea if they really decide to push him as the face of the ECW brand for the next 6-12 months. Another thing that I believe made this match a hit was it's aftermath. Showing the prolonged celebration of Christian in the ring and up the ramp made the ECW Title seem more important. It was nice to not see a quick cutaway to something backstage unrelated. Instead we finally saw the long overdue on-screen pairing of Edge and Christian. Here's hoping that this leads to either a feud between the two or possibly an Edge face turn to loosely reunite them after Christian questioned Edge as to what happened to the "fun" guy he used to know.

Chris Jericho vs. Ricky Steamboat: This match was a hit simply because it probably was the match that should have been on the card at WrestleMania, three weeks ago. Steamboat showed that for a 56 year old man, he still has it in the ring and can work a very strong match. Also important here was that Jericho didn't job to the aforementioned 56 year old Steamboat. As great as Steamboat has looked in the ring, Jericho (as a man who was World Heavyweight Champion for a nice bulk of last year) could have lost some credibility with a loss to Steamboat.

Jeff Hardy vs. Matt Hardy:"I Quit" Match: Coming into this match, a large part of me expected Jeff Hardy to win based on the fact that he hadn't beaten older brother Matt yet since their feud started in January. That did happen and the two had another very good match as you'd come to expect from the Hardy brothers. While the finish was dragged out a little bit and it took quite awhile for Jeff to tie Matt down to a table, it still was an exciting series of events. It seems as though this feud will now come to an end since the rosters are supposedly officially locked in following tonight's event (with that sole exception of MVP defending his U.S. Title one more time on Smackdown I guess!). This feud certainly wasn't Bret and Owen, but it wasn't too bad either. You can't complain when you have guys like Matt and Jeff Hardy working matches against each other, as far as in-ring quality goes.

Six-Man Tag (WWE Title): Seeing Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes featured for roughly the first 10 of the 25 total minutes of this match was a good decision by WWE. It shows that they have the confidence to let these young guys carry part of the co-main event of a PPV. While I won't necessarily count it as a "miss," having Shane McMahon still get the best of those two, all too often, does need to stop. With that said, DiBiase and Rhodes did come off looking stronger at the end of this match and it's about time. As far as Triple H goes, some time off of TV will do his character some much needed good. His character lately has become stale after what looked like a red hot angle with Orton was started shortly after No Way Out. When he comes back they can now recharge him as a face to pursue Orton again or hopefully turn him heel against Batista and blame him for tonight's title loss and (most likely) the concussion he suffered at the hands (or foot, if that suits you) of Orton. We'll likely see Batista continue his feud that was left hanging in the balance back in December. I was mildly surprised that we didn't see a heel turn tonight from Shane McMahon as they seemed to tease it all week, but I also wouldn't call that a "miss."

Edge vs. John Cena - Last Man Standing (World Heavyweight Title): For a match that featured two wrestlers who have faced each other far too much over the past three years, it delivered on every single aspect that it could have. The crowd was into it from start to finish, both men looked strong throughout the match, and the ending was one that was fairly surprising. They even seemed to send the crowd home happy despite the fact that Edge is the new World Champion. This also should put a much needed (hopefully for at least a few years) rest to the Edge-Cena rivalry. With that, they also started a new feud (well kind of!) between John Cena and The Big Show. Edge will now also moves onto other things (hopefully with Christian, as I said it is long overdue since Christian's return) as he hopefully will now get a lengthy run as World Champion and lose the label as a lifetime transitional champion.

MISSES

Return of the Three Man Announce booth for another PPV: Once again we got the three-headed monster of Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler, and Michael Cole at ringside, as we did for WrestleMania three weeks ago. This formula just doesn't work well, period. Ideally, if they want to do three announcers at ringside, WWE should use J.R., Lawler, and Matt Striker. At least this way you get a perspective and voice from all three brands. Plus, you don't use two play-by-play men, it makes no sense at all. J.R. in his half PBP, half Color Commentary role is ridiculous. There's an old saying that "too many cooks spoil the soup." Well, too many play-by-play announcer screw up the broadcast!

C.M. Punk vs. Kane: To me, this match was just booked terribly. C.M. Punk is Mr. Money in the Bank and loses to Kane? Kane's credibility is beyond soiled and is no longer looked at as World Champion material. Punk should have gone over in this match to help his push as WWE's permanent Number One Contender until he wishes to cash in his title shot. WWE seems to have dropped the ball on this one.

Khali Kiss Cam segment w/ Santino(a): This was a segment that should have been saved for Raw. Don't get me wrong, it was funny in many ways. However, as funny as it was, it also took another shot at J,R, that he, at least from the look on his face, didn't know was coming! Can WWE please give the poor guy a break!? That aside, I can't believe that this Santino/Santina angle is going to continue to run it seems. It was funny, yes, but the 20 or so minutes that it chewed up could have been used on something like a Tag Title, Divas/Women's Title, or IC/U.S. Title match.

Slight mismanagement of "I Quit" and "Last Man Standing" matches: The only gripes that come out of these two matches stem from the PG-ization of WWE. It's hard to believe that in those two matches, that none of the four men wrestling in them were bloodied, or left without any visible scratches to the TV audience! I understand WWE has gone PG, but I think in high profile PPV matches like this that have certain stipulations like those, blood is not such a bad thing.

OVERALL: Overall, Backlash was a very strong PPV and was more entertaining than WrestleMania was just three weeks ago. There were easily more "hits" than "misses" as the show delivered much more than I expected it to. I would give the show a solid B+ grade.

Tony Donofrio is the new Hits & Misses Specialist for WWE PPVs. You can email him at PWTorchTD@gmail.com.

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